Homesickness is Acceptable

I have debated with myself about posting this but I don't want to leave out any part of this transition.  Today has been a tough day....emotional roller coaster is a better description.  Straight to the point, I miss my little East Texas town with its wonderfully loving people!  Don't get me wrong, I am not unhappy...just a little homesick for the familiar.  I was just telling Clint today that I am so used to be in control of the things that have gone on in our lives, my life, our boy's lives that right now I am feeling completely out of sorts.  Maybe overwhelmed with newness is a good way to put it.  People have always told me that I am a strong, independent woman and that I always seem to have things under control....well earlier today I did not feel so strong!  I have shed some tears today....I do not like to cry because it makes me feel weak, but for some reason the thing that makes me feel weak is the thing that I do when I am really angry or overwhelmed!  I think that Clint had a good idea earlier when he told me that I need to learn the Serenity Prayer.....

God grant me the serenity 

to accept the things I cannot change; 

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; 

Enjoying one moment at a time; 

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; 

Taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it; 

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life 

and supremely happy with Him

Forever in the next.

Amen.

So for those of you that are praying for us, please continue to pray...I will never turn down prayer.  Please understand, I am not unhappy and our family is doing well.  I am just a little homesick for the familiar....pine trees, courtesy, waving to folks you know, pets, family, friends...  Things will get easier and I know that I can do this.... Clint did this for 8 months on his own, and I am getting to adjust with my family around me.  I can't imagine how tough it was for him that whole time.  I am thankful to have his love and support during this time.  

Friday vs. Sunday

For so many years I have grown up going to church on Sunday.  Sunday is the Sabbath Day.  You go to church on Sunday.  At least that is the mind set that Christian American's have.... We get into the habit of doing things a certain way, and then when that pattern is broken it throws us for a loop.  Humans are creatures of habit...we like things a certain way.  We have conditioned and taught ourselves that we are and need to be flexible to change.  This is not an easy task, and some definitely bend better than others.

Well this family is learning to do a lot of bending.  Church day here in the Land of Sand is on Fridays.  Why? You may wondering that very question... Well think about it this way, in America we speak English and we want everyone that moves into our country to adopt our language and do things the way we do. Right?  Well, if you understand my example then you will understand that mind set is world wide.  The language is not a barrier .... everyone speaks English, it may be a little broken or be heavily accented but it is still English.  Although, they worship a different deity, their day of worship happens to be on Friday.  So all of the other religions, Christianity included, follows suit and also worships on Friday.  This is a small bend that we must make, but if it is what we have to do to be able to attend church and continue to practice our faith in GOD, then it is a bend I can handle!

I am thankful that we have a place to gather with other Christians...a place to sing songs of praise...a place to hear God's word.  The government/rulers here do not have to allow the practice of other religions but I am glad that they do.  

Some people have feared for our safety when they heard that we were moving to a primarily Muslim country but I promise you all that we are all very safe!  God watches out for His people!  Continue your prayers for us....I will never turn down prayer...EVER!!

So it doesn't matter if you go to church on Sunday or Friday...You can go any day because EVERY day is HIS day!

Sacrifices are Made...

When my husband and I made the decision to up root our family and travel literally half way around the world for his job, we knew we were making sacrifices.  We were making choices that would ultimately cause our children to make sacrifices also.  This was a very difficult decision for us!  After tears were shed (by me) and a lot of research had been done (by me),  I was able to step forward with Clint and make this move!  Out of my 35 years on this earth I have only lived in a neighborhood/city for 2 years...Now I am beginning another time period of city-like living.  Clint and I have always considered ourselves to be country people!  And I still consider us country people... but now we are making adjustments to living in close proximity to others.  Our townhouse is nice and private but there are a few things that we have had to give up...(now the following things are done in the country where there are way fewer people and you usually aren't in sight of your nearest neighbor), such as the boys and Clint, going outside to urinate off the front porch (LOL), raising show heifers, walking outside in your underwear and a tshirt, running through pastures...even those that belong to your neighbor, going fishing in ponds in the woods, walking wilderness trails, riding 4-wheelers with friends, playing baseball in the yard, being with the same kids in school from beginning to end, and so many more!

As much as we love our country way of life, we made this decision knowing that we could always go back to that life.  It is still there waiting on our return....We have family and friends and friends that are like family that are ready to welcome us back with open arms!  This move was about opportunities...not just for Clint's career but for all of us.  I know that if it wasn't for this job placing us here, we probably would never have gone to London and we definitely wouldn't have ventured here to the Land of Sand! This journey is providing us with opportunities to broaden our minds, our culture, our understanding, our hearts, and deepen our family bond!  So although we have made sacrifices, those things aren't gone....just merely on hold for a little while!  Once in a lifetime opportunity most likely so we are going to make the best of it!  We hope to travel and see as much as we can while on this side of the world!  This country girl is becoming cultured country girl! :-)

What do you want to know?

If you are a frequent follower of my blog posts, first of all thank you for joining us on our journey, and then secondly... I want to know what would you like to know?  I will continue to post on things that are happening with us on a regular basis but your thoughts and questions may be what we need to find out even more about this area.  Let me be your eyes, ears, and legs!  Since you can't be here in person, then maybe I can find the answers to your questions!  So if you have something you would like me to find out or see, post a comment!

Whipping Cream is "Whisky" Business

So dinner tonight was a traditional chicken and rice casserole... the boys ate it up!  Then I decided to treat us all to some dessert!  I had some strawberries that I had cut up two days ago and put in the freezer because I didn't want them to go bad.  Joshua has been begging to eat them!  So I promised him last night that I would make something today using those strawberries...  So how about strawberry shortcake for dessert?!  I think...yes!  Super simple...

1 can of biscuits
chopped strawberries sweetened with a little sugar
heavy whipping cream (lightly sweetened--you will have to add the sugar to your taste)

Bake the biscuits...and while they are baking start whipping the cream!

Well, only one problem... I don't have a whisk or a mixer/blender of any kind!  So how am I going to make whipped cream now????  Well you can't stop this Family & Consumer Science teacher (aka Home Ec)!  This is not my first time in the kitchen...  So what did I do?  I went old school friends... two forks and a fast moving arm!

 Well it didn't make the cream light and fluffy but it did thickening it enough to make a great topping on the shortcakes....

They were so yummy!  This will definitely be a dessert we will repeat!  It is so simple and so good!  I hope that you will try it too!

Apples to Apples ... Oranges to Oranges

So many of my family and friends all asked me the same question before we left Texas... "Is there a WalMart there?"  Well the answer to that question is no, but there is their equivalent.... the Carrefour and LuLu's.  Now of course there is also a difference between these two.  The LuLu's is like a small "Super" WalMart and the Carrefour is the Super WalMart.  Carrefour has a few more options than LuLu's. 

Cake mix options @ Carrefour

 I looked for a long time for "powdered" sugar and could not find it.... well that was because I did not know to look for ICING sugar!  Well folks...this cake baking diva can get back into business!  

The LuLu's and Carrefour have groceries, clothing, household goods, gardening supplies, electronics, appliances, sewing machines, toys, etc...

 This cooler is not $159, that is 159 dirhams.  So in $$$ that comes to $43.29.  

I was blown away when I saw this "throw back to way back" Singer sewing machine.  It is even made of metal but works like a modern day machine... how neat is that!  299 dirham=$81.40  Doesn't sound like a bad deal huh?

The hardest part of shopping is learning where everything is located and finding items that are either the same as what we had in Texas or the equivalent!  Cheetos here are not the same for example...But guess what we  found some real Cheetos (made in Plano, TX)!!   Woo Hoo!  So on things that look like they are the original, I am reading the back of packages looking for where they were made.  Sometimes I luck out and get the product that we are used to....it's a gamble friends!  

More fruits...milk, yogurts

Now we do have another option available to us... It is our B&B equivalent (for those of you not familiar with B&B...it is just a small grocery store, like a mini Brookshires or Krogers), it is called Spinney's.  It is actually right here connected to the front gate of our villa.  So it makes things very convenient when you realize you are out of sugar or milk!   I can just send one of the boys down to the Spinney's and PRESTO... got what I need!  It actually has quiet a bit to choose from.... just check out the pictures below!

Various meats and cheeses in the Deli
as well as some tasty looking desserts

Produce

Frozen Foods

This is NOT driving Mrs. Daisy folks!

If you think that you can handle Houston traffic like a pro then I challenge you to come on over and join the Abu Dhabi 500!  At least that is what it seems like when driving anywhere over here.... ZOOM IN, ZOOM OUT!  Get out of the way.... move it or lose it!!  I have always said when I was back in Texas that you got to drive it like you stole it...well I am putting those words into action..LOL!  Of course, all while maintaining the appropriate speed because they have speed cameras every where!  So even if people are driving the correct speed, they still make it seem like we should all be running for the nearest exit and if you aren't... then they think that there must be something wrong with YOU!  They will honk and flash their headlights at you if you are in front of them and they want around you...never mind that there are two perfectly good and available lanes that they could move to! BUT nooooooo.... they don't think that they should move...you should move!  Now although the majority of folks around here drive just like I have described, occasionally there will be a rare courteous driver!

So it has been a week since we landed here in the Land of Sand!  Things have gone well... we are getting settled in and the boys are making friends!  The only thing that I haven't had was a way to go....except for a taxi.  A taxi is fine but I really don't want to depend on a taxi for the next few years especially with our 3 active youngin's!  So Clint decided we would rent me a car until we found one that we wanted to buy.  Now I am mobile!....and I am driving like I stole it! (Figure of speech to anyone who is not familiar with this country girl's way of talking! LOL)

I had a moment of emotional chaos and being completely overwhelmed with the magnitude of the lack of direction!  But I pulled it together and managed to make it to the mall where the grocery store is.  Got what I needed and then headed back!  Well.... the drive there was super simple, and so should have been the return trip home but..... Not so much!  I exited too soon! Dang It!  And that threw me into an area called Mussaffah (OOOOOO (shiver down my spine) Say it Again!  Just a little Lion King humor..LOL!) This area is all one way directional streets and circle turnabouts!  I made probably 4-5 turns on different circles and was still lost! UGH!  The kicker was that I could see where I needed to be but could not for the life of me figure out how to get to it!  Use your map app on your phone, you might say... Brillant idea!  But wait!  My phone service has been interrupted, at least the data has!  So I can't access any data using apps, and maps is one of those!  So I had to call Clint, who then looked it up on his map app, and then navigated for me to make it back on track!  My hero!!  I kept my cool and my head throughout all of this chaos...hey it could have been worse!  

If you know me really, really well, then you know that I am a take charge, in control type of person.... well today folks, has been a life lesson from God!  Just a gentle reminder that I can't always control the things in my life and that I need to learn to let go and let God!

Not Risotto but Couscous!

Well I haven't attempted the risotto recipes yet but I did make a recipe that uses couscous this evening to go along with our supper....  We had baked chicken and potatoes with fried garlic parmesan bacon couscous patties.

The chicken and potatoes were super simple... In a 13x9 baking dish, place 4-5 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast.  Dollop butter all over and under the chicken (no need to grease the dish). Sprinkle with black pepper, salt, minced garlic, and a dash of italian herbs.  Chop up a couple of russet potatoes and scatter them over the chicken.  Cover with foil.  Bake at 275 for 1 hour.  Then turn off the heat and just let the dish remain in the oven for about 30 more minutes.  YUM YUM YUM!!!

Now for the couscous patties... They reminded me of cornbread fritters in the end but I think with a little tweaking of the seasonings they will go from good to great!  I think they needed a little more salt and garlic....

Here's what you need:

2 cups cooked couscous
4 eggs, beaten
salt to taste
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 bundle chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup fresh, grated parmesan
1/2 cup real bacon pieces
oil for frying

Follow the directions on the couscous package.  Once the couscous is done, mix with 4 beaten eggs, salt, green onions, yellow onions, and cheese together. ( I used a spoon to mix with at first but then found my hands to work better.) Mix in the bacon pieces and the bread crumbs.  If the mixture is too wet then add more bread crumbs and if it is too dry just add a little water at a time.  The mixture needs to be moist/dry enough to hold together in a patty form.  Once you have the consistency right, start heating your oil.  You don't need much, maybe about 1/2 cup.  Heat on medium high.  Form the couscous mixture into patties and then fry.  You want the patty golden brown on both sides.  Serve warm.

So we sat down at the table, said grace, and then dived in!  Let's just say our bellies were happy, happy, happy!