Merry Christmas Eve!

 

                     Merry Christmas Eve from Abu Dhabi!

 

It’s been almost two months since I’ve updated and so much has happened! I haven’t been keeping notes of what I wanted to blog about like I had been so hopefully I can remember everything.

We celebrated our first UAE National Day (Like our July 4^th) Celebrations here and wow was it cool! These people love their country. Their flag was up everywhere with their “43^rd National Day” symbol. There was an air show at the Corniche (one of the beach areas), fireworks, and UAE’s version of a parade. We met some of our new friends at the Corniche and spent the afternoon with them. We got great spots for the parade and waited in the same spot for over 4 hours to see this “parade”. During the 4 hours, tons of cars decked out in UAE colors and flags came passing by honking their horns and kids spraying silly string everywhere- at people, at cars, you name it. We desperately wanted to see this cool parade and waited in the same spot for that whole 4 hours before I finally asked one of the officers when the parade started. Unbeknownst to us, UAE’s version of a parade was just what we had been watching for 4 hours – decked out cars. A car parade. No firetrucks, no police cars, no camels (I mean, come on, we are in the desert…), just… cars. So to say the least, you have to go to National Day Celebrations at least once while you live here in Abu Dhabi, but we won’t be attending anymore J

For UAE National Day, Zach and I were both off for three work days, followed by the weekend. So we took the opportunity to head over to Oman for the long weekend as Braxton and I needed to renew our 30-day visitor visa anyway (which by the way we have since received our residence visas! yippe!). Zach told me as we were on our way that he spent a little less on the hotel so that we could spend more on attractions and things to do. While I appreciated his thoughtfulness, I really did want to splurge with a nice hotel. So after driving over an hour through nothing but rocky, absolutely breathtaking mountains, with only 60km of gas left in our tank, and following random signs praying they were still correct, the mountains opened up to a breathtaking resort on the back side of the mountains. He had book a 3-story penthouse on a resort for us- complete with a grocery store, beach, pool, restaurant, and shopping- all right there within walking distance. The place was in Le Sifah, Oman and WOW was it absolutely beautiful. We stayed two nights and three days and had a fantastic, relaxing time. We visited some souks, local traditional restaurants, and spent some time at the beach and the pool. Thanks for the surprise babe. It was so awesome.

Some changes have come about at my job and I am no longer working at the same nursery that Braxton attends. Within the 8 weeks that I worked there, I was moved to 4 different positions with the last being the receptionist. While I really did enjoy sitting at the computer, helping parents, and lets not forget- drinking hot tea every day, that’s not really what I went to school for. Everyone that I worked with was lovely and I was sad to leave and not work with them every day. I am keeping Braxton there because his teacher is just absolutely fantastic and he is very settled there with his routine and friends. I have accepted another pre school teaching position at a Montessori school about three blocks from Braxton’s school and will begin there at the beginning of January. Every classroom is bilingual with two teachers in each class. I am in a French-English class and I, obviously, will speak only English in the class and my co-teacher will speak only French in the class. She has been at the school for over two years but only in the pre school classroom for two weeks so we get to make our classroom our own and start from the bottom together. I am so excited and can’t wait to begin! Braxton is aware that I no longer work at his school but is okay to stay with all of his friends and his teachers. He will be making a big transition in September anyway when he begins “big school” so we really didn’t want to move him at this point, just to move him again in September after such a recent big move to AD.

We are still going to TGI Fridays every Friday and this will be our 16^th Friday in a row J We now know all of the waiters and waitresses by name along with the store manager, local manager, and regional manager! We got them all a goody bag with candy for Christmas a few weeks ago and this past Friday we went and they had gifts for Braxton and both Zach and I. We are loving the relationships we are building. They give us a free appetizer and free dessert every time we go! Let’s just say we’re getting our “Freshman 15 of Abu Dhabi” in quite well here!

We met some friends from Indiana at TGI Fridays who have two boys- 1yr and 3yr- and we are getting to know them well. We have hung out many times and are hoping to take a spring break altogether to Thailand in March. They are home for Christmas and we miss them! I am so thankful God has brought them in our lives. You probably saw the picture we posted at Cheesecake Factory on Thanksgiving. As both of our first Thanksgivings away from our families, we spent it together eating cheesecake J

We are hosting a weekly group in our apartment complex that we call “The Hangout”. We invite everyone (over 1000) in our apartment complex buildings every Wednesday to just relax, eat, and chat. Most are ADEC teachers (like Zach) so it’s a good chance to chat with someone that is facing the same challenges in their day to day job. The first group we had about 15 people come. With the holidays and grades due at school, it’s been slim but hope to start back up full swing after everyone returns. Pray that solid relationships are built and the Lord’s light shines.

Our next door neighbor, Melissa, has her parents in town from Oregon for three weeks and it’s been great to hang out with everyone! Yesterday we went to the Al Dhafra Camel Festival together and it was so cool! We rented a 7-seater SUV so that we could all ride together. (Zach secretly wanted to rent it so he could go off-roading in the sand). Nonetheless we drove to the festival and saw TONS of camels. It was basically this huge piece of dessert with camels, tents, and the Bedouin Tribes with an obvious pathway to drive your vehicle through. Well there we went, all 6 of us through this desert looking at camels. Camels sleeping, camels bathing, camels walking in the “road”, camels everywhere! Be looking out for pictures! Braxton had a fantastic time. Now this place is so full of sand that they actually have assistance vehicles riding around in case you get stuck in the sand so they come and help pull you out. Zach did decide to go off-roading at one point to get up close to the camels and we got stuck. Not just stuck, but s-t-u-c-k. Like, all of our tires were half way deep in the sand. So much so that the assistance vehicle, police officers, and just plain people pulling over to watch this SUV full of white people , had to come help us get out. I was crying I was laughing so hard. This nice Emirati guy watching on the side just finally came up, Zach got out, and he maneuvered us out of the sand in no time. Then he introduced himself to Zach- Mohammed was his name- and gave him a quick 5 minute “driving in the sand” lesson. Hil-arious. But yall, these people are SO NICE! I got it all on video from the back seat. If I can talk Zach into uploading it, you can view it J

So ‘tis the season. I feel like Christmas is more of a “family” holiday than Thanksgiving for some reason. It wasn’t hard for me to be aware for Thanksgiving. Maybe because the newness of everything was still running high. But almost 4 months into AD, I am wishing I was with everyone for Christmas. Maybe it’s because most of the friends we have made here all went home for Christmas and I’m secretly jealous. I’m certainly not jealous of the long flight, nor the money that had to be spent on tickets. But man am I jealous to sit by the Christmas tree opening up presents together. I’m jealous of the cold, scarf-wearing, boot-wearing weather. And I’m jealous to not get to put my arms around my parents’ neck on Christmas Day. Nonetheless, our first Christmas in the dessert will begin tomorrow. Today will be filled with pictures with Santa at the mall, making homemade chocolate chip cookies to leave out tonight, cutting some carrots for the reindeer, and secretly getting to eat them tonight after Braxton is in bed. Tomorrow morning will be filled with excitement as Braxton wakes up and gets to open all of his presents. I can’t wait for him to see just what’s under that tree. Him and Zach are going to have a blast playing with the nerf guns and I know he’ll be so excited to race the remote control car down our apartment complex floor. I am so very thankful for Zach and Braxton and that we get to celebrate our Christmas together, once again. I love my little family so much.

To my Calhoun family, I love and miss you all dearly. I can’t wait to board that plane in July and get to run to each one of you as we come up those escalators in the Atlanta airport. The time will come. It will be here before you know it. Just a little over 6 more months. It’s really not that long if you think about it. I mean, it’s almost 2015! So crazy! And Braxton will turn 4 years old this year- what?! My, oh my, how time does fly.

(and please don’t say, “just come home”. Because the truth is, it’s just not that easy)

Merry Christmas to all. We love each and every one of you. And miss you all more than you know. Please know we are having a fantastic time. Really. We are loving it here. Loving the people, the culture, the opportunities, and more.

Love to all!

Everyday life in the UAE

Well friends and family, it’s about that time again. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve (Michelle) updated my blog and the list in my phone to keeps my thoughts is getting pretty full.

Throughout the past few weeks, I’ve taken a few notes about some things that are just different here. Small things, but things that we have had to get use to to be able to function here in Abu Dhabi.

1.       Switches. There are on and off switches for everything. Need to do that load of whites? Better switch on the washing machine. Need to boil a pot of water for some noodles? Better flip the switch for the stove. Oh man, a cold shower? Better switch the hot water on! (We have learned to just leave that one always on…) Maybe it saves power? We will see with our first bill.. 

4.       In a moment I’ll write a brief synopsis of Zach’s trip to the hospital, but for my list of things now, “Inpatient Pharmacy”. You may not know what I mean by this unless you have worked in a hospital. But. In the US, the inpatient pharmacy is the pharmacy for patients who are admitted into the hospital AT THAT TIME. So, a patient is in room 201 and needs some meds? Well, you call the inpatient pharmacy. You are fine and well and need to pick up your inhaler? You go to the outpatient pharmacy. Easy enough, right? Wrong. After asking a handful of different people where I needed to pick up Zach’s medication, I kept being told the inpatient pharmacy. Right, but he was discharged so doesn’t that mean he is in the outpatient pharmacy? Nope. Inpatient. Which by the way once I found it, had separate lines- one for male patients and one for female patients. I was unclear if being a female if I could go to the male line- although I was picking up medications for a male. No worries, I went to the male line and all was well.

5.       You are out eating at a restaurant and your child is being quite messy. Your waiter or waitress might bring you some ______. Right. Napkins. Wrong. Here, it’s tissues. “Here buddy, why don’t you wipe your hands off with this tissue?” Maybe this one isn’t that big of a deal, but I’m used to “tissues” being used to wipe your nose 

As many of you know, Zach has had kidney stone issues for years. It’s been something that if I see him holding his side, I know what is coming- ER, meds, painful passing. While I don’t think it’s quite like giving birth, he would completely disagree. Nonetheless, he is in excruciating pain and it’s very hard to see him hurt so much. After we had been in the country for two days, we made a trip to the ER for pain meds that were in our lost luggage. Three weeks later we made another trip. And finally two weeks after that we made this one. This one was a little different though. I didn’t drive him this time. The ambulance did. At 3:30 in the morning. I was awoken by him vomiting and when I rushed to make sure he was okay and to see if he needed anything, all he was able to do was muster out a breathless “call an ambulance.” Now, in Abu Dhabi there are no addresses. When I say none, I mean none. Even on legal items, the address will say something like “Behind __ Near___”. I guess it’s part of not being in a completely developed country. So here I was at 3:30 am trying to explain to this non-fluent-in-English speaking person how to get to our building. About 35 minutes later they finally arrived and I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see someone here that spoke English that I could thoroughly understand. I told him what was going on and sent him off in the ambulance, broken that I couldn’t go along. Someone had to stay with Braxton and inside my logical mind, I knew they would give Zach pain medication and he would be sleeping. I did not want to take Braxton up to sit at the hospital. I notified family and friends to pray, and then called to speak to the doctor myself. Braxton later woke up and we headed to the hospital. The rest most of you know. He ended up getting a splint from him kidney to bladder to allow the urine to drain at the stones were blocking and everything was backing up. He still has the stent in almost a week and a half later and has an appointment soon for another xray and will hopefully be scheduled for lithotripsy. While he was in the hospital some of our new friends here watched B for us. We could NOT have been more thankful as it really helped us out where I could be at Zach’s bedside and talk with the doctors without any distractions.   

I am also happy to blog that we bought baaccooonnnn!! You know what that means! PAYDAY! Zach and I received our last paychecks at the end of July and have been without income since. Only by the grace of God did we sell our home so fast and made a profit that we were able to live off of until now. We were not hungry once, did not go without shelter once, and quite frankly, still lived the way we normally do. Thank you Lord for providing. He is so faithful! Alas, Zach was paid a few days ago that started from the day we landed here and I got paid today. We were able to go shopping for some home décor as our home was so bare. It looked like a college dorm room. A few pots, a few pans, a couch, bed, and dresser. The walls are still blank as we have to find some décor that is lightweight because the walls are all concrete and we cannot put any screws into them but will have to use command strips. All in time. But for now we got some candles, kitchen table (still no chairs), some flowers, etc and it’s becoming more “home-y”. 

Another thing I have learned is: I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO IRON. Yep, there. I said it. I don’t understand why it’s so complicated. You would think, you have a wrinkly piece of clothing, you wait until the iron is hot, pass it over, and out comes dewrinkled clothing. Wrong. Atleast in my experience. My things are wrinkly, I pass an iron over it, and it comes out wrinkly like I haven’t even started to iron yet. It’s beyond frustrating.  

Maids here are very common. I said I would never have one. I may have changed my mind. Two nights ago we hired a maid service just for a couple hours to wash our floors and bathrooms. Little did I know they would also clean my dishes, make the bed, and fold the laundry. Wow. It’s cheap and I will be calling them back. It was ah-mazing.  

Another way that God has provided is this- Every evening I would have to call to the taxi service and arrange a taxi for the next morning for Braxton and I. I would get a call in the morning and have to explain to each taxi driver how to get here, and then tell him how to get to our school which is about 20 minutes away. I was late many days as sand looks like sand and I would get SO turned around and SO lost. Nonetheless, with talking with one of my co-workers one day we figured out we are practically within walking distance from each other. Now, she picks Braxton and I up every morning and we ride with her. She is from Australia and is very nice. It’s been great. Not to mention it saves us about 40 dirhams, roughly $10 a DAY! 

I know I have written before about the CRAZY driving here. Well. Let me tell you about this story. We were driving somewhere one day, I think maybe the mall and we were in the left turn lane. Now there were two left turning lanes and we happened to be in the left hand one. We have found here that sometimes even people in the right, left turning lane will still make u-turns even if the person in the left, left turning lane is not and is actually making a left hand turn. If you can understand that, you get the point. Well, this particular morning, we were in the left, left turning lane and this very thing happened. The person to our right, that should have been turning left, decided to pull a u-turn. So after our hearts stopping panicking and we stop laying on the horn, we begin to go again only to find someone from the STRAIGHT LANE also wants to pull a u-turn!!!!! WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE THESE PEOPLE THINKING?!?! It could have been a huge disaster. Thankfully, Zach saw it, slammed on the breaks and the horn, and we made it through the intersection in one piece with no contact made with another car. Phew. Most stressful left turn ever.

 We are still trying to get my sponsorship completed so I do not have to make 30-day border runs to Oman. We had to go to the Identification Authority to attempt to apply for my Emirate ID (which we later found out I cannot get until I have my VISA). So Zach went in the ID Authority and I took B to the bathroom. When we went back, I walked right up in the ID Authority to find Zach and was quickly stopped by the security guard. Evidently, it was a “mens only” and I was not allowed. That’s the first time it’s ever really affected me. Turns out to be fine though because right next door was the womens and they had a small play place for the children so Braxton played until Zach came to get us.

One night, we drove all the way around town to get to this one restaurant we wanted to try. After driving for what felt like forever, we finally arrived only to find out they have the same restaurant multiple places around town. Nonetheless, we parked and went in to eat. When we came back out, we found a nice yellow parking ticket waiting for us on our windshield. Woo. Parking ticket. Yay. Good news is, you get a 25% discount if you pay within two weeks J

 One thing that I have been really surprised by is the amount of Christmas decorations for sale. It’s everywhere. And they actually call them “Christmas” trees. Crazy to me that a Muslim country sells so much décor that is for a Christian holiday. We have also been in one store and one restaurant that was playing Christian music. And not just music that is played on Christian radio stations that could be Christian or secular, but music that calls Jesus Lord and such. Makes my heart happy!

 I do miss home. I wouldn’t say home sick but I do miss it. And when I say home, I mean Savannah. I really miss our house and I really miss my job. Don’t want to get all sappy on my blog, but one of the reasons I wanted to do this is for you to be able to see inside the fun and see inside the struggles. Well, this is the struggle. But as I remind myself, even if we went back to Savannah, our house would not be the same. After all, we did sell it and I’m sure the people that are there now did not decorate it as we did and such. I try to remember what a blessing that house what. We got a deal on that house! And what a perfect neighborhood it was in. Maybe it’s more emotional as that was “our” first house, our first home as a family. That was our first house purchase and we really did “make it ours”. Now it’s time to make this new place “ours”. But I have to remember that it does not and will not happen overnight, but over time. I miss my job. I miss the hospital setting and all of the friends that I worked with at Candler. If we ever do go back to Savannah, I will certainly be finding myself at Candler. Although I doubt Savannah is in the cards for the future, it is now but a happy memory of our young family.

Well friends and family, I believe that is all for now. After typing three pages on Microsoft Word, I feel like I’m back in school. Again, if you’ve read all of this, thanks J Love and miss you all!!

Approaching week 6

Hello once again from the UAE!

It's Michelle writing and I thought I would take advantage of the free time on my hands to write to all my friends and family back "home". I say "home" in quotations because this sandbox is quickly becoming our home as we begin to settle into life in the Middle East.

We are approaching our 6 week mark (whoa!) here in Abu Dhabi and I can't believe how quickly the time is already rolling. We continue to learn things daily about the culture, city, and life!

I have moved positions at my job from the infant teacher, to the 2 year old teacher, and now to the personal assistant to the manger/giving all the teachers breaks to plan for one hour during the week. Yeah, try writing that job title on a resume. I also am available to fill in when a teacher calls in as I still hold the "Lead Teacher" title. All that to say, for the past four days out of all the teachers, Braxton's teacher has had a sick child and I have been filling in in his classroom. Positive: I get to hang out with him and see how he is in a classroom setting. Negative: He doesn't do the "classroom setting" when I'm in the room because he's attached to my side the whole time. Needless to say, I haven't had much of a break since last week as we ride together in a taxi in the morning, I've been in his room during the day, and spend the evenings together. Although I'm kind of looking at it as getting paid to hang out with my kid all day, I'm hopeful his classroom teacher will return soon. He was beginning to be confident of me being at the school but not always with him and now I fear we will have to go through that all again. He couldn't quite understand how I would be at "his school" all day long but couldn't come and play with him. Anyway, time will tell.

Since I have last written, a few different thoughts/learning experiences have crossed my mind and I want to take a moment to elaborate and think them through- and I invite you to join along..

1. I am not the norm. As I sat in worship this past Friday morning I sat quietly. I wanted to tune in to all of the different voices as people from all of the world sang praises to our God. Everyone in their own English accents. It's so interesting to hear them all- African, European, Pilipino, Western, you name it. I began to think of myself as the norm and if they could only say the words like I do, then they would be talking normally. Then I had a (somewhat blonde I'll admit) revelation. If when they say words and it sounds different to me, I bet it sounds different to them when I say words. After much thought about this somewhat simple thought, I discovered, there really is no "norm". We are all so unique. Which led me back to our God and His creation and how not one person is made the same.

2. In America, land of the free, Christianity is "common". Much more common there than here, anyway. And for the first time, it feels so different to say, "Jesus is King" or "YOU are the God of this city." I guess it's because living in a Muslim nation where you are constantly reminded with the mosques, calls to prayers, women in burkas, men in kandoras, of the "common" religion here, it's bold to go against the flow. And it's really given me a new view on the Gospel and what it really means to me, my life, and my family. Also, after seeing the "For Non-Muslims" pork section and spending two hours in a very hot burka, I am thankful for the freedom that is found in Christ. And it means so much more...

3. All that to say, when I meet someone else who is a Christian, I want to jump for joy! I want to give them a big hug and say, "You know my God, too?!" It's like an automatic connection for me.

4. On a lighter note, I was filling in in one of the classrooms for the older kids and I was asking all of the kids where they were from. They were from all over but one was from Canada and when he said "Can-a-da" in his little 4 year old voice, I wanted to scoop him up and give him a huge hug! I said "Oh! We're neighbors!!" It was like a little 4-year-old piece of comfort! After all, our homes do share a continent!

5. It's been really cool to see how no matter where kids are from. Kids are kids. They all play together and language is no barrier. They all play cars, dolls, and blocks. They all have tantrums and are disobedient. And they all have soft spots and love anyone that loves them. Although, it is very interesting when a man with a kandora walks in the room, all of the Arabic kids run up and hug him and when a Westerner walks in the room, all the westerner kids run up to them. Funny how that works.

TGI Fridays. Yum. This has quickly become our new tradition every Friday (like our Saturday night). We have gotten to know all of the staff- including the manager, Mitch (Michelle) who comes by our table every Friday and gives us a coupon for 50 dirhams off for our next meal along with a free kids meal coupon. She is so nice to us and it's really cool to be building a relationship with her. Of course, all of the staff really like to see and talk with Braxton, but we like to think that they like us too :)

Zach has continued to have kidney stone issues and will be having some procedures done soon to get the massive ones out- but I'll let him blog about that. Just asking for prayers that the procedures go well and the stones can stop forming! Although, it is nice to only have a 50 dirham ($15! ) copay at the ER!

Almost two weeks ago we had a break for EID. It was explained to me that it was a holiday similar to our Christmas. We had 2-3 days off from work (plus weekend) and the intention was for any Muslims who wanted to make their once-in-a-lifetime required trip to Makah that they would have the time off. We took advantage of the time off and went to Dubai, stayed the night, and explored the next day. Maybe "explored" isn't the right word. But all that was saw was awesome. Huge buildings and it felt nothing like the typical Middle East that you think of. We spent the day at the mall, the largest in the world. I'm sure you all saw the pictures online but it certainly was a sight to see. We will be headed back to Dubai to see more. Maybe during our winter break (like our typical Christmas break).

Things I miss: Lipton cold brew ice tea
                     Ranch
                     Zaxbys, Chick Fil A, Waffle House
                     Driving (it's crazy here and I haven't mustered up the courage to take it on myself yet)
                     Addresses. Yes, addresses. They don't have them here. If you look up a 
                     location, it literally says "Behind ____, beside _______). VERY
                     frustrating. It makes living in a new city where you don't know
                     where everything is, very difficult

Things I'm thankful for: A husband to take on this adventure with
                                   Skype. All week long I look forward to our Saturday Skype
                                   session with both sets of parents. It's a chance to chat about
                                   everything and to see them. And I know they look forward
                                   to it too :)
                                   McDonalds. Yes, a taste of "home" in all of its processed glory
                                   New friends that we are meeting

Well I believe that is all for this post. I was going to post pictures but remembered all the pictures I have are on Facebook :) Love to everyone, thanks for following along in this journey with us!
                    
                    
                    

Through the Eyes of the Wife and Child: A Wife and Mother's Perspective of the Sandbox

This is a look into my story. The story of how I, personally ended up in the Middle East. The story of how I followed my husband’s lead for our family, a story of how I battled with a mother’s heart of bringing my three year old to an entirely different culture and completely disrupting his life.

Through this blog, I hope to shed light into our lives, the ups and the downs, but most importantly, how our God is sovereign and really does work everything out. How our God walks with us through our emotional struggles, our sad hearts as we leave behind our earthly families, and our excited hearts as we walked off an airplane and didn’t know (literally) to turn left or right.

I believe this whole process started way back when I was in middle school. Most of you know where this is going. It’s mine and Zach’s story. Even as a young student, I knew I wanted to marry Zach. I knew I wanted to be with him forever. Throughout the next few years that strong desire would come to fruition as we dated, married, and started our lives together. Zach began working at a youth detention center and through God’s divine intervention, landed a job at Oglethorpe Middle School in Savannah where we would then move to and begin our lives as a family. Many of you know that Oglethorpe ended on a not-so-good note, but looking back, I think that’s probably the only way that God could get us out of there to prepare us for the big move that He already knew about and had already planned. By working at Oglethorpe, Zach met a few certain people who would later tell him all about teaching with ADEC (Abu Dhabi Education Council) and what it was like to make the move to Abu Dhabi. Zach landed a job (again, only by God as we were certain he would never be able to teach in Savannah again) in an inter-city school in Savannah and it became clear he would not be there long. Throughout looking for jobs, he applied to jobs ALL OVER Georgia, went to many promising interviews, none of which ever panned out and the frustration set in. Why would God have Oglethorpe seek him out, love him for a few years, and then just out of no where be done with him? It didn’t make sense. We didn’t see the big picture. But God did.

Back in the beginning of 2013, Zach brought up the idea of moving to Abu Dhabi. My answer? No. N-O. I wasn’t even discussing it. I was not moving to the desert, I was not moving away from civilization, I for certain was not bringing my child to such an unsafe place- he can’t even defend himself! I immediately closed the discussion, if you can even call it such. I was reminded that just like Christ is the head of the church, so is Zach the head of our family. I began to pray that if God really was leading him to Abu Dhabi, I would trust his lead, but only if I also felt peace about it. I truly believe Zach is the head of our family, but I truly believe that we make decisions together and thankfully Zach has always believed the same. The more I began to pray, the more I began to be okay with the idea. I joined Abu Dhabi mom groups, I found people on Facebook that lived in Abu Dhabi and began asking even the basic questions- are there cars? toilets? grocery stores? Looking back, how naive. I can only laugh.

So our timeline began and Zach started the process with local and federal governments getting clearance to enter the country and getting all of his documents certified. I informed work that I would be leaving, after just beginning my job as a full time employee a few months earlier. We put our house up for sale and sold everything except for a few boxes and our clothes. Only by God’s grace, our house sold in about three weeks and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I moved in with a family for a few weeks to finish up my job. So at the beginning of August, I ended my job at Candler Hospital and moved back up to Calhoun to spend time with my family.

The waiting began. Waiting, waiting, and more waiting. Anticipation, and waiting. We became impatient about waiting for our ticket and constantly checking our email for our ticket that we both began applying for other jobs. Maybe UAE was a distraction to get us up to north GA to begin another career? Or maybe we were being impatient and needed to wait longer. Nonetheless, we both landed jobs within a week. Zach was offered a teaching position with a nice salary and nice benefits in Chattanooga and I was offered a job as a social worker with a local hospice agency – what I really wanted to get involved with and get experience. After much prayer, we made what was probably the hardest decision we have ever made. Either decision was a huge life altering decision. Oh how we would love to finally be close to family and be in Chattanooga. But did we really sell everything we had to move to the UAE for nothing? We each spent some time in prayer and quiet. And with a struggling heart, we both turned our positions down. Three days later, we received our plan tickets to Abu Dhabi. Oh. My. Goodness. Was this really happening? We are, like, for real moving across the world. The anxiety began to set in. And emotions began to flow from family. We would be leaving in three days. More notice than some, but short notice nonetheless.

We spent the next two days finishing our packing and running our last minute errands tying up any loose ends.

The day came. The day where ALL emotions flowed. Sadness, excitement, anxiety, you name it. So so sad to say goodbye to friends, family, familiarity, everything we’ve ever known, we now say goodbye. And anticipate a hello to new friends, new life, and a new experience.

We said our goodbyes at the airport and proceeded through security with a car seat and some carryon bags. Our plan was delayed but it gave time for lunch and lessened the 6hr layover in Chicago that was upon us. We flew from Atlanta to Chicago on a short flight and Braxton loved it. He listened so well and took everything in. Thankfully Chicago had a kid’s play area that allowed him to play and get some energy out. We then had enough time to eat dinner, change him into pj’s, and get in line to board. A 13 hour flight was ahead of us. As an individual, and a mom, I had to be mentally prepared for such a long flight. Thankfully, we had been up since 6:30am that morning and it was now close to 10pm. Braxton fell asleep during takeoff and did not awake until about 4 hours until landing. The airplane was huge. I sat beside a lady that taught with ADEC and she helped calm my nerves and told me a lot of great stories. I was able to sleep a decent amount (as much as you can in the middle seat with a 3yr old sprawled out on you) and we finally landed in Abu Dhabi. The only problem was, we just slept the whole flight, and it was now 8pm in Abu Dhabi, time for bed. Thankfully, we were all still tired and were able to go right to sleep at the hotel.

There has been so much to happen in the past few weeks that I know I will forget funny stories and new experiences that when they happened I said “Oh! I need to make sure I put this in my blog!” I’ll try to make it as short and sweet as I can, as this is already a super long post.

·         They lost two of our bags- one with ALL of Braxton’s clothes and the other with all of Zach’s dress/work clothes. Thankfully, they were found and we picked them back up at the airport after a few days

·         We experienced the extremely reckless driving of Abu Dhabi. Wow. It’s like there are no lanes here. People go in and out like it’s nothing. They beep their horns at EVERYTHING. And since there are no carseat laws, you can see infants sitting in the front seat with their parents like it’s nothing. Or a 12mo old baby standing on the parent’s lap going down the road.

·         There are no four way stops, only round-abouts. 3-lane round-abouts. Meaning, if someone from the inside lane of the round-about wants to exit, they have to cross to lanes of the round-about to do so, even if you aren’t exiting. You get the picture.

·         I’ve never been asked so many time where I am from. I can’t figure out if I say “The States”, “US”, “America”, etc. I guess it doesn’t really matter, but for some reason I feel like I have to say them all. Braxton just says Georgia to everyone

·         I’ve learned that just because someone looks like an American, when they open their mouth and speak, you never know what to expect

·         The locals LOVE Braxton. Like, LOVE. Every time they walk by the pinch his cheek, rub his head, etc. One lady even pulled on his arm and said “let me kiss you face!” He is extremely shy about all of this but slowly seems to be opening up.

·         Everyone is so nice. They call us “Sir” and “Madame” everywhere we go and open up doors. I feel spoiled…

·         We have met some pretty cool friends from Alabama who have been here a little longer than us. It’s nice to be in community.

·         We visited Evangelical Community Church (you can google it) and it was awesome. SO MANY different countries represented. This really is a “melting pot” here. I’ve learned that you can be open about your faith as long as you aren’t pushing it. You can wear the “Christian t-shirt”, bless your food in public, and Braxton is safe to sing Jesus loves me J

·         We are trying to get out of our comfort zone and try different foods. I think we’ve done pretty well at that but it is so nice to have a McDonalds fry or a Wendys hamburger every now and then

·         The malls are HUGE. Amusement parks, ski slopes, movie theatres, so much more. And there are malls everywhere. I feel like we’ve been to so many, but there are so many more to see

·         School is going well for Braxton. He is only one of two English speaking kids in his class. And his teacher comments often on how much he talks. Ha, I guess you could blame that one on me?

·         I dearly miss Chick Fil A, Waffle House, Zaxbys, and Lipton Cold Brew Ice Tea

·         I dearly miss my family, Eden Village Church family, St.Joseph’s/Candler family, and our friends in Savannah

·         I am thankful for Skype- and our weekly skype chats with our parents

·         I am thankful for very, very friendly American neighbors all around who are more than willing to help with anything we need

·         I am thankful for phone apps that can help me convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, ML to cups, km/h to mph and Dirhams to US Dollars.

Like I said, I know there is SO much more. I am going to try to write a new blog every few weeks. We will see how it goes. Love to everyone who reads our blog. And if you read through this whole thing- whew! Thanks J Love and miss you all! 

Sand, Sorrows, and Shadows: Part 2

Z: Hello again!  We informed you how our lives were leading up to departure. We still haven't recovered from all the emotional stress as we haven't had time to relax or take a break to recuperate. We had to hit the ground running. I managed to come down with a cold the day before we flew. The flight was miserable. I coughed for nearly 14 hours and had terrible leg cramps. I don't know how many of you have flown overseas or even across the country, but being trapped on a plane with little room is not fun. I've been to Thailand twice so I can manage long flights, but this one was different. We arrived around 7:30 p.m. UAE time on Friday, September 5th. After meeting with ADEC representatives, we proceeded to retrieve our checked luggage, only to find out two of our bags and Braxton's car seat was missing! Still to this day, we can't locate his seat. We hopped on a bus, headed to our hotel, grabbed some dinner at our "favorite" and crashed immediately. We were able to rest on Saturday and visit a few malls (we'll talk about the malls in a later post) to pick up a few essentials for our week-long stay in the hotel. Back to the sickness...I still had a cold and felt horrible. Well, Sunday rolls around and guess who finds himself in the ER? This guy! Much to my dismay, two kidney stones (11 mm and 4 mm) were camping out and decided to take a hike late that night. They operate a little more naturally here so the pain meds I was given weren't too effective, but thankfully the pain subsided after the stones took a break from their mountainous trek up and down my intestinal river. I apologize for any imagery. In short, it was a painful night. Things didn't get better from there. I suffered through that pain for nearly a week; all while I went through debriefing and orientation. By the following Thursday, I had no pain. I was free...or so I thought.  That next Friday, we attended a church service and I began feeling nauseous.  For the next two weeks, (yes two entire weeks) I went through a bout of food poisoning and some kind of stomach bug. It wasn't until my birthday, October 1st, that I felt somewhat healthy and had energy for the first time since our arrival. Happy birthday! At this stage in life, it was one of the best gifts I could ask for. I learned my lesson: leftovers aren't any good here.

There are many options for food here. There is more variety than in the States. We've come across Indian, Arabian, Egyptian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, American, Mexican, European, Brazilian, New Zealand, Australian, Lebanese, and much more. We haven't come across anything, as of yet, that hasn't catered to our taste buds. Everything is seasoned well and the ingredients are fresh. That is, of course, leaving McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, and many other fast food restaurants we're accustomed to in the States out of the discussion. We've tried to venture out during the week for dinner and try something new each night to get out of our American comfort zones and experience the different cultural tastes. We have been pleased thus far. On Friday's, we've started a tradition, however. Every Friday, we visit one of the local TGIFriday's where we reflect on the week and indulge in one of our favorite American meals or desserts. This is a picture of my first Friday, traditional meal: Texas Burger. Half a pound, in all its glory, smothered in chili, queso, cheddar cheese, onion straws, barbeque sauce, and cooked to absolute perfection!

TGIFriday's is not necessarily our favorite because of the delicious, comforting food. It's our favorite because of the environment. We know the staff by name and they know us as well. They all treat Braxton like royalty! They're rather hospitable to us too. I'm hoping we are able to carry the Friday ritual on for as long as we are here. There is some symbolism involved with "thanking God for Friday". Friday is the start of the weekend here and more importantly, for the culture, it is an Islamic holy day. Christians and other religious bodies tend to hold their primary services on Friday, also. 

 

We've tried to stay in the "Shadows" and play things conservatively up to this point. We are truly seeking to build relationships with the entire culture and all those around us whether Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, or any other person with a certain belief.  We are firm in our faith and that will not waver, however, we are interested in learning about the beliefs of others. Our God has us in His hands and nothing can pluck us away.  We know we have a purpose here and are confident God is going to use us to bring glory to Himself. There are some things right now, though, we just want to stay in the shadows about, including our dress, the way we talk and conduct ourselves, and the way we live in some aspects. We feel God has something in store, but we don't want to rush or become impatient, even when the world around us is moving so quickly.

 

Well, friends, it's about that time. 6:00 a.m. means I'm late getting ready for school. It's not officially a holiday any longer, but from what I hear, less than 10% of the students will likely show up today. Michelle and Braxton are going to Oman for a border run so I'll likely have the afternoon to myself where I'll finish the blog. Until then, take care and God bless!  

Sand, Sorrows, and Shadows

Welcome to the Sandbox! Saddle up and take a ride with us.

It's been long overdue, but we finally settled enough to take a break and relax...long enough to fill you in on our adventurous new beginnings. As we approach the one month anniversary of our arrival, we want to spend some time to reflect and grant you access into our lives, the struggles and victories all-inclusive. 

We began this journey early in 2013 and started the process of applications and initial phone interviews before we gained major interest in taking on this challenge. After months of carrying on our daily lives, without giving the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity a second thought, I was contacted again in the fall of 2013.  As most of you may know, this was one of the darkest yet most rewarding times in my life. I was struggling to continue my young teaching career after losing my position as a teacher at a school in Savannah, GA. Around this time last year, I was given a second chance to teach once again in Savannah, just 4 months after what I considered would be the last time I would ever teach in that area again. I've held 3 teaching positions in the States and each one prepared us well for this adventure. The first and the last prepared me well for the conditions and challenges of dealing with kids who are more resistant. The second allowed me to meet 2 co-workers who, now, are both "playing" in the sandbox with me and have been here for a few years. Isn't any cool how God works all things out? The second also allowed me to experience teaching at a high level and maintaining high expectations for my students as well as myself. All three positions and the challenges we faced enduring them has supplied us the necessary tools to take this new journey head on without fear. In October, 2013, I had a second phone interview with my recruiting company.  After issues with the Embassy and delays with processing new teachers, I was finally asked to fly to New York and interview in February, earlier this year. I prepared well for the interview, but left feeling unsure how well I measured up to the qualifications the ADEC (Abu Dhabi Education Council) sought after. Much to my surprise, however, I received an email just a few hours later stating my interview was successful and was going to be offered a position to teach in the great nation of the United Arab Emirates!  The challenge begins!

The following 6 months were nothing short of pure chaos and frustration. I began filling out paperwork and dealing with the local, state, and federal government entities much more than I cared to. I finally learned what it meant to cross my "t's" and dot my "i's". I was overcome with deadlines, expectations, and learning the transition, all the while teaching inner-city middle school students and walking the path of day-to-day life.  Summer came and our lives settled down.  This was the first time we really started to feel the weight of what we were getting ourselves in to. We started to sell EVERYTHING we had, eventually selling our first house in the first few weeks it was on the market. We were consumed by a whirlwind of emotions, each trying to capture our undivided attention. We were nervous because we were moving to another country, the Middle East at that! As stated, we practically sold everything we had except the clothes on our back and put all our "eggs into this basket". We were sad. We were leaving our family, friends, and every bit of comfort behind.  We realized we couldn't just decide to drive up to North Georgia for a weekend any longer. We realized we were going to miss out on holidays and other special events. We realized we were leaving a great, genuine, body of believers of whom we new would be hard to find here. We came to terms with the reality we could feel lonely for extended periods of times.  We also felt excited, though. We felt at peace with the decision. We knew that God was going to be with us every step of the way. He had already providentially paved the way for us to embark on this trek. We were ready to face adventure and challenges. We were ready to experience a new culture and gain a broader perspective of the world we live in. We were ready to, every so often, "play in the sandbox". These emotions, as a package deal, engulfed us for the months leading up to our departure on the 4th of September. We took comfort in leaning on God's promises: He is sovereign, faithful, and will be with us everywhere we go. Our next step was to take a leap of faith. Sure, the country seems luxurious and full of exciting attractions to partake of. Sure, we would be earning a better income than we did in the States. However, we weren't naïve as to think there wouldn't be more famine than feast.  We knew we would struggle to fit in, DAILY. We knew we would have to be more wise and prudent with our money. We knew it would take months, if not years, to adapt to the culture and build relationships. God had prepared our hearts for all of this. We knew we would have to take one step at a time, one day at a time. We could do this only through living by faith.

I will update in a few hours. I have my PADI Open Water training at 15:00 and need to leave. Michelle will join in updating in the near future as well with pictures and her experiences through this voyage. For now, though, I hope all is well with everyone and look forward to talking to you soon! Take care and God bless!