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!

Moving to Dubai

I haven't used this blog since 2008 when Todd and I lived in Azerbaijan for a summer.  It's time to start her up again for our next adventure: Dubai!

Since high school, I've always wanted to live overseas.  I guess I got the "bug" and can't get rid of it.
Thankfully, the man I married came around to the idea of international living too.  More than the excitement of it, I simply feel that I've been called to make this move.  When Todd and I started this process of looking for international opportunities, we had no idea what it would look like (what jobs we would have) or where we would go (actually had somewhere else besides Dubai in mind).  However, we feel confident that we are walking through the doors that God has opened.

I'll give more details later, but for now here is a little bit about what we'll be doing.  I went to a job fair put on by Search Associates and interviewed with principals of international schools around the world.  I decided to take a teaching job at Al-Mizhar American Academy.  I will be teaching an all-girls 3rd grade class using American curriculum. I am very excited about this school and the chance to teach all girls again! Todd is not quite sure what type of work he will be doing yet.  He is pursuing opportunities that will allow him to do legal work in the field of human rights/public interest. 

Many have asked if we are moving to do missions.  No and yes.  We decided to move by getting "secular" jobs, but, of course, we are always on mission wherever we go. We are very excited about the adventure that lies ahead!

It's been a while

From the City of Lights to the City of Country Music

So we are back home! After 15 hours total on planes and about 2 whole days spent in airports and the lovely city of Paris, we finally made it.
We had about exactly 24 hours to spend in Paris. We stayed in a hotel near the airport and just rode the train into town. Oh, and by the way, I LOVE Paris. I did the first time I went, and still did during our short little trip this time. We had all afternoon and night to hit 5 places that we picked out to see. We headed to our first stop- Notre Dame. Before seeing the church, we ate at a little cafe near it. Mine was pretty yummy, and Todd's probably would've been if they had ever brought it! After lunch, we walked over to look at Notre Dame and its gargoyles. Lines to go in were pretty long, so we decided not to.

We then went to the Eiffel Tower. Yep, just like I remembered it. You all of a sudden look up and there is a massive tower above you. It's really a cool feeling to see it in person. Even though it was a cold and dreary day, the lawn in front of it was littered with tons of people. Again, the lines to go up to the top were massively long, so we decided to just enjoy the views from the ground.
After a while, we decided to hop on the metro again and go to the Arc de Triomphe. It was here that I realized I didn't have any "Paris book" to tell me the history behind all the things we were seeing. It really does make a difference to know background information when you see all these things. Nonetheless, the Arc de Triomphe was still pretty cool.
From there, we walked down the Champs Elysees to the Louvre. It was a much longer walk than I remembered, and we probably should've taken the metro. But the Champs Elysees is full of shops and cafes and people, so it was a fun walk.
We finally made it down to the Louvre, where we just walked around and looked at the outside (no time or money to go in....people say its overrated anyway). By this time, it has started raining....lovely. We stand under a bus stop until the rain has somewhat pass, then hop on the metro and head to Montmarte.

Montmarte is probably my favorite part of town. It's a lot quieter and seems very quaint. We stopped at an Italian restaurant for dinner. We had pizza and wine at a little table outside. Delicious! Then we walked over to Sacre Coeur- a big white church on a hill (sorry, I don't really know any more about it than that). We climbed a TON of stairs to get to the top (Todd was pretty much dragging me b/c I was so exhausted at this point!). The last bit of stairs before you reach the church was full of people just hanging out. It was almost sunset and the stairs offered a great view of the city.
We decided to end our Paris adventure with dessert....crepes! Ok, if you've never had a crepe, this is what it is....you put a thin, pancake-like crepe on a hot skillet and fill it with whatever you like. Todd had strawberry "jelly" and bananas and I had Nutella (like chocolate peanut butter) and bananas. Then you wrap them up and eat them hot. So yummy! We both decided that this was, by far, our favorite part about our day in Paris. :)
We finally made it back to our hotel about midnight. We had been up for 24 hours straight!

So now we are back. We had a great summer and are so thankful to my aunt and uncle for all their generosity over the past month and a half. We love to travel....there is so much to see and learn. There are so many people all over the world living lives that we, as Americans, probably don't even give a thought to. I mean, who had heard about a country called Azerbaijan or knew that Georgia was actually a country and not just a state? It's good for us to be reminded that the world is much bigger than just the comfy little lives we live.
So, we love to travel, but nothing beats getting to come home- getting to see our family and friends, being in our own apartment, getting to go to church, and, of course, having a car that makes going places so convenient!

So I guess that wraps everything up! Thanks for reading about our summer. I've kind of gotten into this blog thing, so if you don't mind I think I'll keep it up! Probably won't have too many exciting stories, but I'll see what I can do. :)

Last bit of pictures:
Paris: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025589&l=039f8&id=61700300

Tbilisi, Georgia

Todd and I took a trip this past weekend to Tbilisi, Georgia (Georgia is one of the countries that borders Azerbaijan to the west). It was quite an adventure and all started with a 15 hour train ride to get there. We opted for the first class tickets on the way, and we were able to have a private cabin- two beds and a little table in the middle. We watched Grey's Anatomy on our portable DVD player and then fell asleep for the night. We arrived in Tbilisi about 11 the next morning.
We stayed in a guesthouse that was recommended by a friend. The house contained 3 rooms...2 contained about 5 or 6 beds. Our had just 2. It was just your basics....minus A/C, plus a few flies and mosquitoes.

We headed out to explore the city our first day....the 4th of July. We went to the Old City in hopes of following a walking tour that was in our guide book. We started off OK, but then got somewhat lost. Our book has the street names in English, but the actual street signs were written in cyrillic. Not helpful. We finally made our way uphill to an ancient fortress that overlooks the city. The views were great. The city is very hilly with a river running through the middle of it. Georgia is also a Christian country and you could see tons of church steeples poking up here and there. Really a cool sight.
Next to the fortress is the huge, silver statue of Mother Georgia. She holds a cup of wine in her left hand to symbolize Georgia's generosity, and a sword in her right to remind everyone that Georgia will fight if crossed.

After we made our way back down, we saw a few more churches and other sights around town. We were pretty exhausted and ready to eat dinner and head home. My aunt and some other people told us that we needed to eat at this restaurant called The Hangar while we were there. It is owned by an American and we figured they might be doing something special for the 4th of July. We finally found the restaurant, and with it American flags and waitresses with patriotic hats. We were early and not too many people were there. We actually got to talk to the owner, who later invited us over to her table with some friends. A local news channel was there and they wanted to ask us what the 4th of July meant to us. After a couple of us talked, they asked us to sing a national song. So, we sang the Star Spangled Banner (not the prettiest version you've ever heard).
It was a fun night full of hot dogs, hamburgers and good conversations with English-speaking people. They even did fireworks....however, we were too exhausted to stay that late. Maybe my first 4th with no fireworks!

We got up Saturday morning and headed to see the Sameba Cathedral a.k.a. The New Church. It was yet another little hike to reach it, but the church was pretty impressive and worth it.
This huge church was just built in 2004. The inside walls were white and seemed to reach forever upward. Again, great views of the city were all around.

Now, to my favorite part of the trip....the bath house. One of the oldest parts of Tbilisi is called the bath house district, where these ancient bath houses are still in use. In the past, women would spend all day hanging out at these bath houses with friends. Men also used to gather there for maybe something like a guys' night out. So what's inside? Well, basically it is like a sauna with a hot tub, showers to rinse off, and a marble bed that you can get massages on. I think most people do the public baths (they are pretty cheap), but I guess we are a little too modest and opted for a private cabin. We both got massages...yes, completely naked....a little weird, but OK. The massages consisted of sloughing off dead skin (amazing really), “bathing” us, and giving us the roughest massages we’ve ever had. It was great! I highly recommend it!

**NOTE: The following story is MUCH better told in person. Please ask us about it!
It was time to head back to Baku. We got 2nd class train tickets this time because they are cheaper. This means we were in a cabin with 2 other people (“bunk beds”). We got on the train to find no one in our cabin yet. We rode that way to the Georgian border where we stopped to go through customs. As they came around to check our passports, Mr. Customs informs us that our visas are expired and we will have to stay in Georgia til we get new ones. What?!?! Almost immediately, I start crying (I was ready to go home....what if we missed our flight back to the US...it was too much!). Finally, after a lot of confusion, worrying, crying and a phone call, it turns out that Mr. Customs read our visas wrong and we were OK. Close call.

By this time, the whole train is interested in our business and keeps assuring us that everything will be OK. One man in particular feels the need to be our friend....

Imagine a huge burly guy with his shirt unbuttoned to his big pot belly with chest hair hanging out. He has a towel around his neck to catch all his sweat, and he smells like alcohol and smoke. This is the man who makes himself at home in our cabin and tries to speak a little bit of English with us. He even brought a huge bottle of beer to share. Thoughtful. Of course, we didn't want the beer but it would've been very rude to refuse (actually, I got to refuse because I'm a girl, but Todd really couldn't be rude...this guy might have beaten him up!). So, after the guys had a couple drinks, (while Mr. Burly slings his sweat on the floor and spills the beer on my leg) we thought he would leave. He did, but returned often trying to get Todd to come down to his cabin to hang out. By this time, the 2 sweet older ladies, who we shared our cabin with, were on the train. With their help, we finally got Mr. Burly to go away...only after Todd promised to hang out the next day. We shut the door and locked it for the night.

Todd and I were still asleep on the top bunks at 7:30 the next morning. The ladies had opened our door and Mr. Burly comes and thumps Todd on his foot to wake him up. Seriously?!?! We finally get up and Mr. Burly just won't go away, so Todd gives in and goes down to his cabin. Come to find out, Mr. Burly has tons of food and beer and even a big bottle of vodka (or maybe moonshine?) in his cabin. After some broken English conversations, lots of toasting, and a cucumber and piece of sausage eaten, Todd finally returns.

Our last encounter with Mr. Burly happens the last 30 minutes of our ride. He comes in and nearly sits on me. We think he wanted to have tea with us when we got off the train, but we booked it out of there and he never caught up.

Long story (sorry so long)...but that was our trip to Georgia!
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025469&l=aabe4&id=61700300