Incredible India

Oh, India.  You are a country like no other. You are smelly, dirty, either too cold or too hot, but there is something about you that keeps making me want to go back.

Todd and I spent a week in India.  Left Dubai on Christmas night and returned on the 1st.  This trip was very different from when I spent a summer there in college doing missions.  Here are a few differences....the summer I was there, the temperature was over 100 degrees, I wore no make up nor did I ever fix my hair, I wore local clothes, sat on dirty slum house floors to teach my students, huddled around the A/C unit in my room to cool off, and walked or rode in rickshaws around town.  This time, the temperature was too cold for my liking (especially coming from Dubai, where I have no winter clothes), we had a driver who took us everywhere, ate at decent restaurants, and huddled around the space heater to get warm in our hotel.  I also noticed Muslim influences in Indian culture so much more where I only saw Hinduism before (amazing how spending a few months in a Muslim country changes your context of seeing things).

In Agra at the Taj Mahal.  It was so foggy when we first got there, but most of the fog finally lifted and we got a few good pics.  I love the love story behind the Taj. (Look it up if you don't know it!)

At the base of the Taj Mahal.  

We did ride a few rickshaws!

Elephant ride through town.

In Jaipur at the Amber Fort.  Such pretty hills and mountains surrounding this fort.

I love that I got to experience India again, and this time with Todd. And I have a feeling it won't be our last trip to India!

American Thanksgiving in the Middle East

It's happening.  We have been here just long enough that we are starting to get homesick.  So thankful to have my Aunt Brenda and Uncle Thom not too far so that we could spend Thanksgiving with them.

 We took the short hour flight to Bahrain on Thanksgiving night (my first Thanksgiving in 27 years that I had to work AND go to school!) and celebrated the holiday of giving thanks, eating food, watching football and being with friends and family on Friday.
Speaking of friends, our friend, Nailah, went with us to Bahrain.  We teach at the same school and live on the same floor in our apartment building.  She's fabulous and I'm so glad she came!

Sweet Molly. She's really good at laying around. :)

My aunt and uncle are such great hosts.  Since living overseas, they've always had big Thanksgivings and invite all their friends.  This year they hosted about 35 people!  Needless to say, we stayed up late the night before cooking desserts and making sure we had all the ingredients for the tons of casseroles we planned to make (yum!). Thanksgiving morning was spent watching the Macy's Day Parade (old tradition) and then sitting by the pool (Think it should be my new tradition!).

We did get to see a little bit of Bahrain before we headed back to Dubai.  A few things I learned about Bahrain:

1. It's an island

2. They have protests there due to differences between Muslims (Suggested read: After the Prophet by Lesley Hazelton)

3. Bahrain is connected to Saudi Arabia by a causeway.  Many people live in Bahrain and work is Saudi (like my uncle!)

4. Sometimes you try to go to something (like a museum telling the history of a fort) and it is closed because of a holiday you didn't know about (so I can't really tell you anything about the fort in the pics below!). :)

Missed the rest of my family this Thanksgiving, but even so, many things to be thankful for this year (including Skype which let me talk to most of them)!

Our Family is Growing

No, we are not pregnant, but we are excited to announce that we have a new addition to our family!  Meet Sheikh Gundy the cat.

Some of you know that we've been talking about getting a cat for forever. Well, we finally gave in and found this cute little guy who was abandoned by his mom and rescued by a lady who runs a "cat hotel" here in Dubai.

What's with his name?  We wanted to name him something that had to do with the Arabic world, so we picked "Sheikh" (pronounced shake) which is what the rulers are called here.  His middle name, Gundy, is after one of our best friends from college, Justin Gundy.  We once told him we would name our first pet after him. :) He's probably hating that we named a cat after him (maybe it would be better if it was a dog??), but it's now written on this blog so there is no changing it! :)

My husband is awesome.

Muscat, Oman

Todd's visitor's visa was about to expire in the UAE so he had to leave the country and re-enter.  We decided to make a weekend of it and went to Dubai's bordering neighbor, Oman.  

We flew into Muscat, the capital, and spent two days exploring the city.  Muscat has about 1 million people, but somehow feels like a small town.  Perhaps it was largely due to the friendliness of every taxi driver we had.  Omani born, each driver seemed to be so proud of their country and wanted to tell you everything about it.  Our last day, we even had a taxi driver offer to take us up a mountain for some great views and didn't care what we paid him! (Taxis here are not metered, so you have to bargain.)

Other than riding in taxis, my favorite part was walking around in the Mutrah Souq, a large open-air market where you bargain for everything.  We picked up a few souvenirs...probably could have gotten them cheaper, but oh well.  We also spent a lot of our time walking around. (Note to self: Oman shuts down from 1:30-4:30 daily.  Don't bother walking in the heat.  Go back to hotel and take a nap. (Which we did.)) 

Muscat has a long coast line with lots of beaches and pretty views.  We checked out the beach one morning and liked what we found.  We could have paid to go to a "nicer" beach with chairs and umbrellas, but we decided to go to a free one instead.  People were out swimming (in full clothes, no bathing suits) and having a good time with their families.  We felt a little out of place but soon got over it.  The water was cool and clear, the sand was burning hot. It was a nice way to start the morning.

Before we left on Saturday, we stopped to visit the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque.  This beautiful mosque is home to the world's second largest persian rug and huge chandelier.  To show respect, women have to be covered from head to foot.  The mosque and the courtyards around were beautiful.

We had a great time in Oman.  It's strange visiting a country that you've never actually given much thought to before (until we moved here) and seeing the people and their history.  Reminds me just how big the world is,  and really how small and insignificant I am in comparison.  We hope to go back to Oman again.  We heard there are lots of outdoor things to do once you get outside of Muscat.

I'm having trouble putting pictures on this blog, but most of you have seen them on facebook anyway.  If you haven't, check them out here: Oman Pictures

Last but not least, I will leave you with my Arabic word of the week: burtokali (meaning the color orange).

First Weeks of Dubai

We have been in Dubai now for 3 weeks and I have yet to post anything on this blog.  We’ve been very busy and don’t have internet set up yet at our apartment. But, today is the day! I will give you a “quick” recap of our time here so far.

Our apartment: The first two weeks here were really a blur.  My school had us very busy the first few days visiting just about every grocery store, furniture store, and “Wal-Mart” type store in town!  It was nice to see some of our options (as we have found, there are MANY options for any type of store you could ever want here). After we saw our options, THEN we started shopping.  Todd and I moved into an unfurnished 2-bedroom apartment (with a furniture allowance from my school), so we had a lot of work to do.  We shopped every day that first week and a half and found ourselves constantly going back to Ikea to get most of our things. We aren’t completely done with our apartment, but we have most of the things we need to make it feel like home for now.

My school: We started professional development for school the first week I got here. The school provided lots of good, informational sessions for us, but by the time school actually started I was on information overload! (Not to mention, I would be at school all day and then Todd and I would shop most nights.)  Our first day with students was this past Tuesday.  I have the most adorable 3^rd grade girls in my class this year!  It’s been an odd start as I’ve only had about 8 girls coming to school this week.  I have 12 on my roster (still a SMALL class!), and I’ve been told that the other girls are probably still travelling (must be nice!:)).

Around Dubai: We live a part of town that isn’t too far from everywhere, but is like a suburb to the city. During our first few days here, our fabulous aunt and uncle took us out to eat, invited us to a friend’s house, and showed us a little around town. Not to mention had stocked our fridge and cabinet with a few essentials before we even got there! We are so glad Thom and Brenda live in Bahrain and that it isn’t too far to visit! We’ve also ventured out on our own…mostly to eat at restaurants. There is quite a night life here and lots to do, so I’m sure it will take us a while to experience it all!

Trip to the Hospital:  Yes, I have already made a trip to the hospital!  I woke up last weekend and had really sharp pains in my stomach and side.  It was so severe that Todd took me to the hospital.  Turns out, it was a kidney stone and the pain stopped (thank goodness!) shortly after we got to the hospital.  Happy to report that the hospital looked clean, organized, and our doctor seemed to know what he was talking about. J I figured it would be like that here, but you just never know when you are in a foreign country!  Kidney stone was most likely formed from being dehydrated. Lesson learned: I live in the desert so drink more water.  Hopefully, that was a one-time thing!

Since I am a teacher, I hope to teach you SOMETHING about the Middle East in every blog post.  Today, I will leave you with a common Arabic word (really the only one I have learned!): Shukran (meaning thank you)

 I have LOTS more to fill you in on, but wanted to break the ice with this recap.  Will post again soon!

Caught in a Whirlwind

This has been an amazing summer.  Todd and I have been able to travel and hang out with family and friends.  The past two weeks alone have been spent in more "farewell" parties than any couple deserves.  We are so thankful for our friends and family.  I wish I could name every single one of them on here and tell you how much you mean to us.  I hope in some way or another, you know who you are and how important you are to us.  All that to say, we are feeling very loved, supported, and equipped to make this big move to Dubai (which is just in 3 days!).
The whirlwind started at the beginning of the summer, but I have a feeling it won't be ending anytime soon.  We leave the U.S. on Friday and arrive in Dubai on Saturday.  We will have lots to do when we get there (including buying things for an empty apartment, setting up services, and getting ready for school which starts in 2 weeks!).  But for now, we are packed and ready to go!