Birthdays Abroad...

Last year, I celebrated my birthday with new friends and no family, as Rob & Belle were still in the US. This year, the family went to Dubai for a night, and most of our friends are in the US or other destinations.

Rob and Belle hit the ski slopes of Ski Dubai, while I had an iced coffee at the Starbucks in Borders and looked at books, and did a little shopping for baby T.  Then we headed to the Dubai Mall so I could have Red Lobster for dinner, followed by a stop at Baskin Robbins for banana splits.... yeah, I'm an American girl. ;)  At Baskin Robbins, we ran into some friends from Al Ain who were staying in the same hotel.  I guess this means we've made the UAE our home when we run into people we know in other cities.

In the morning, Belle and I enjoyed the rooftop pool. She was excited to see the Burj Khalifa from the pool. I was happy that the pool took the edge off the humidity and heat.

Now, we're back in Al Ain, waiting for our friends to return from their summer holidays, preparing for the school year and watching in-coming EMTs prepare to make the transition from hotel to housing, as they begin their own adventures.

I plan on spending more time at the pool in the coming weeks, reading, and doing a couple crochet projects that my amazing friends from NH have been kind enough to ship to me. If you are in Littleton, NH and like to knit or crochet, you should absolutely visit their shop. Now, I'm off to make a pumpkin hat in my super clean house (thanks to the fabulous maid my husband hired!).

The Anniversary

A year ago, I boarded a plane in Boston, leaving my family, friends, and country behind. I have learned a lot in this past year, including how much my family, friends, and country mean to me.

In the last year, I have:

• crossed the Atlantic Ocean
• swam in the Arabian Gulf
• held a falcon
• ridden a camel
• dune bashed
• attended camel races
• visited the Grand Mosque
• attended the Volvo Ocean race events
• swam in outdoor pools throughout the year (I'm from NH, this is huge!)
• visited a waterpark in March
• visited the tallest building in the world
• paddleboarded in Abu Dhabi
• visited more malls than I could ever imagine
• learned some Arabic
• went skiing at Ski Dubai
• visited Atlantis at the Palm Jumeriah
• traveled to Turkey
• visited the remains of the city of Troy
• lived in a five star hotel for a month
• had henna
• made friends that I will never forget
• and so much more....
  
  This new year already holds some promising new things, where our family will expand by a new addition in a couple months, a new school, homeschooling, and a new family compound to live in. We are also beginning to prepare for our repatriation to the US next summer. It will be a good year. Maybe I'll finally cross the Mississippi River too. ;)

Switching housing

You aren't supposed to be able to switch your assigned housing until the end of your first year. This does not mean it doesn't happen. Some people were very lucky and were able to change into more preferable places during the school year, our family had to wait until summer.

Moving is a hassle no matter where you live, but it becomes even more heinous when your move needs to take place during the time allotted for you to return to your home country, during a major month long holiday involving fasting and shortened business hours, when it is 115+ degrees every day, you don't speak the national language, and there is a bunch of running around that needs to take place because like everything else - you need a stamp for it. And did I mention, it especially is miserable when you are seven months pregnant doing all this?

The first complication was the housing we were initially told would be ours became unavailable. This put us in a time crunch because we were going up against the lease expiration of our flat and we did NOT want to spend another year isolated from other families. After many visits to housing, many meetings and many lists of available family villas, we finally received our new keys. It has been two weeks of moving, cleaning, running around, putting things together, and inshallah, tomorrow, we will have our final clearances for our old flat.  I'm very happy with our new housing - the community is full of families and children and now we can finally prepare for Baby T's arrival.

After tomorrow, I am looking forward to relaxing for a little bit and enjoying the rest of my summer holiday.

The Yas Revisited

Last August, I lived for a month in a five star hotel during Ramadan. Staying at the hotel for a month and while a daytime fast was occurring, it lost some of its charm.

This past weekend, Rob & I attended a good friend's birthday party there and stayed as regular guests. It was a lovely experience, perhaps even nicer because I got to share the experience with him. :) Some habits came back quickly, wearing the robes, ordering room service, and calling friends to meet for meals and pool time. 

This time around, we could eat and drink where we wanted. The lifeguards brought chilled glasses of water with lemon and frozen lollies (popsicles for fellow US people) while we sat at the pool. And I was able to use the tub for soaking me, and not doing laundry! 

We need to get away as a couple more often.

A year without rain...

Fourth of July is tomorrow and I am homesick. This is the first time in 17 years I will not be celebrating the parade in Woodsville and the first time in Belle's life she won't be chasing the thrown candy in front of the Railyard. There will be no fireworks or sparklers, and no BBQ with family and friends.  I had my salon do my nails in stars and stripes because I needed something patriotic (ignore the puffiness of my foot- it has been hot and stressful). It will do until we can get a US flag for our flat. I miss the USA.

In the last couple weeks, we've been staying busy. School is out for Belle and next week, the school year will end for me. We still have to pick up her report card, but I'm not terribly concerned about her grades.  Last week, all the Cycle 3 English teachers had to mark (grade) the English 12 exams for two consecutive nights. It was a lot of work because so many teachers didn't come, but thanks to some very hard working teachers, we were able to do it in two nights. It made for an exhausting week because I still had to report to school each day and of course, we had company. I think Rich ends up coming every time I have night marking.

We tried to do some touristy things while Rich was here. Rob and Belle took him to the quiz night at the Rugby Club and we all went out to dinner at Zest.  Then for our big trip, we went to the waterpark at Atlantis, Aquaventure. It was our first time out on "the Palm" and it had a Hollywood, unreal feel to it. The apartment complexes and hotels there were all over the top, and the signs to go out on the different fronds were a different experience (they are alphabetized in case you were wondering). 

Our first ride was the "Rapids" which was kind of like the Lazy River at Whale's Tale, except with some cool rushing water areas that propelled you forward and some flat escalators that moved you up over terrain changes. We all enjoyed the shark slide - where you go down a dark enclosed slide that pushes you inside a tunnel through a small aquarium filled with fish, sting rays, and sharks.  Next year, when I'm not incubating, I think I will try the big plunge slide on the front of the pyramid.

The most taxing thing lately is that we are still dealing with housing, as the housing person is now withholding the housing we were promised. We are making it a priority to get accommodations with other families and children around for next year. It has been a hard year for Belle without any other children living nearby and being unable to spend time outdoors outside our flat. Rob has reassured me that this move will be easier because I don't have to do it alone.  We did join the Rugby Club so that at least we have access to a pool and gym, and Belle has become quite the fish. We are so proud of our brave swimmer.

Rob has been busy getting bookings to bring people to the airport and even has pick ups booked for August, as many people will be leaving for the summer, or at least for Ramadan.  He's also been working with another spouse who is moving out of Al Ain to coordinate border runs. He's done two border runs for people already, and will be offering his services to in-coming EMT's and their families in the fall.

For now, we are doing our best to stay cool (it is very hot - and no, the heat is not always dry - also, although the published temperatures will not read above 120, it does get there frequently and above).  We are working hard to find new housing before our lease is up (in less than four weeks!). And trying to get ready for our family's new addition in a couple months.

Exams and quality time...

We are in the thick of final exams at school. Belle had her English exam today and will be finishing third grade on Thursday after completing the rest of her subject exams this week. This means half days for her and more quality time with her dad.  At my school, the Cycle 3 (grades 10-11) girls began their exams yesterday. Today they had their English exams, where they had a reading section and writing. I will be marking them tomorrow as we had our "end of the year" staff party this afternoon, a luncheon with gifts from our principal and a gift swap among the entire staff. Like many of the staff parties, there was a background of loud Arabic music and the entire production took place in Arabic as well.  Unfortunately, the gymnasium is not air conditioned so it made it uncomfortable on this 115 degree day.  I ended up coming home and needing lots of fluids and a nap, while Rob and Belle went to the pool to cool off.

Rob and I are planning our first overnight getaway in years (in many, many years), to the Yas Viceroy in July to help celebrate a friend's birthday.  It is a nice excuse for Rob to get the Yas experience I had last August and for us to spend some quality couple time.  I think this weekend we might head to Abu Dhabi to spend some time with our city dwelling friends before the summer exodus begins.

No pictures, Miss

I used to teach 12th grade. This meant that the weeks leading up to graduation were hectic, trying to finish up curriculum while working around a marching practice schedule, chase down the graduation week speakers for speeches and rehearsal, and make sure all my grades were entered to ensure that everyone participating was actually graduating.  I even chased down students and called parents to have a student come back to make up work or do something to earn the last few points that would make the difference between a diploma or another year in high school. 

Not here.
They actually graduate BEFORE their final exams, and so at graduation, there are no diplomas issued, but laminated certificates. This is so everyone can participate in the celebration, and some girls have participated in more than one celebration.  The girls wear mortarboards and a cape (sort of like the hood you'd receive for your Master's degree). Underneath their hood, they wear evening dresses (think US prom).  Their hair is uncovered and face, so pictures are absolutely forbidden.

Instead of "Pomp and Circumstance" and the marching that I am familiar with, our girls walked out slowly to an Arabic song and then preceded to line up in a big circle, striking model poses in their evening gowns. It was like a scene from the Miss America pageant.



Then they proceeded to sit in their reserved chairs and the ceremony began. There were a lot of speeches in Arabic, gifts for their mothers and gifts from their mothers, sisters, and aunts. Food was served to all the teachers and female family members in attendance as younger schoolmates walked through our rows serving food and water.  There were slideshows of the girls as infants and in their more modest adult clothing, some dancing, and confetti cannons.  Grade 12 teachers were given a single rose, a small gift and a laminated certificate in Arabic.  And then, the teachers went to the social worker's office, shared a lunch and the day was done.

After graduation, I was invited back to a local family's home. The daughter was one of the highest achieving graduates (in the US she would have been valedictorian), but there was no party and indeed, outside of coming in briefly to greet her mother and welcome us to her home, she was absent from most of the visit. My coworker and I were served Arabic coffee and tea, and then were fed a meal in stages, starting with the chicken and rice with salad, then sweets, then fresh dates, followed by sliced watermelon and finished with cut fruit.  I had thought we were staying for just an hour, but the visit lasted for over five.  Her hospitality was incredible and upon departing, we were encouraged to visit her again, the next time bringing our whole family.

On Tuesday, our KG2 will graduate. I wonder if that will be different.