Yes, Still Here...

It has been almost a month since my last post....Life has been super, super busy!!  I have mentioned before that all three of my boys play baseball.  Well we have been at it since November, and it's not slowing down!  We are still playing and training!  Joshua and Clay are part of a travel team that will travel to Ohio and New York this summer for a camp with the Cincinnati Reds, a tournament in Ohio against other teams from all over the US as well as a few other international teams, then another tournament in New York, a stay in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and so much more!  It's going to be awesome!!!  There will even be a college advisor available for those who are hoping for a little college level ball action in the future....I can't believe that in 3 VERY short years, we will be facing that leap of faith!  Our first born, Clay, will be branching out into the world of adulthood!!  Just breathe...just got to breathe!!! LOL

The school year is winding down but not as fast as we would like it!  We have 6-7 weeks to go!  UGH!!  The boys will out of school June 19th but I will not be finished at my school until June 26!  Seems like it will never get here.....  Then it is EAST TEXAS bound!  We are looking forward to seeing friends and family as soon as we get there!

Clint is doing well, and his job is just clicking along!  He has been very successful in this position thus far, and he will continue to be successful....he is just that kind of guy!  I am super proud of him!  He not only works hard to bring home the bacon, he also has dedicated himself to coaching Denver's baseball team this year.  This has required multiple trips to Dubai, which is a little over an hour away!  Believe me that drive gets old!  It isn't a very scenic route...BUT you do see camels every now and then!  I really like it when we get to see the camels... The boys think I am crazy!  LOL

Now to brag on my oldest for just a minute....Clay is 15, and was chosen to play on the high school's varsity baseball team.  He was one of only two freshmen on the team!  Pretty cool!  He was an all-around ball player...he pitched, he caught, he played first, and centerfield!  Recently they had the end of the year Award's Banquet, and Clay was awarded the team's MVP award!!!!  It was a proud parent moment!!!  The coach made a wonderful speech about Clay having a great attitude, a willingness to lead, ability to teach others the game, and that during the Middle East area tournament several coaches approached them just to say this about Clay..."That boy can play!".  It was a really nice speech, that of course I did not record....ugh!!!  I started to record it but then decided not to just in case it was not Clay they were talking about...LOL!!  But then when I realized for sure they were talking about Clay, I was so disappointed that I had recorded it!  Video will be going in the future!!

Now I can't brag on one and not brag on the others as well....  Joshua and Denver acutually recently played together on the same team, and Denver pitched to Joshua (catcher) for 2 innings.  In those two innings he struck two older boys out, threw the runner out at first, and picked off the runner on third!  He is 10, and was playing with 11-13 year old boys!!  It was awesome seeing them play and work together like that!  Joshua also snagged himself a homerun during that game as well!!!  

So.....Yes, we are still here in the Land of Sand!  Many months ago my posts were full of sadness and tears, but now we are all finding a way to make peace with our surroundings and our way of life.  I am laughing and smiling more....  We miss Texas still, and that will never change!  It is comforting to know that we have so many loving friends and family members back home that care about us and pray for us every day!  Love you All!

New Adventures

Spring Break has been a time full of adventure!  Clay (age 15) went to Nepal with a group of students and teacher from his school, and the rest of us packed off for Thailand.  Both of these locations were totally foreign to us, but if we are going to be on the opposite side of the world for a while, we might as well see it!

Let me begin with an explaination of why we went to Thailand without Clay.  When we began discussing the possibility of taking a trip somewhere during the two weeks we would have for spring break, the school that I taught at did not have the same break period as the school where the boys attended.  We were only going to have one week in common.  So we decided that would be the week we would travel.  Once that decision was made, we received notification of the official travel dates for the service trip that Clay had been chosen for way back in November.  Wouldn't you know it....same week that we were planning our Spring Break trip.  So now the one week we would have in common was going to take Clay away on the Nepal adventure.  We did not like the idea that we wouldn't all be experiencing Thailand together but after much thought we all agreed that he was going to be experiencing Nepal without us, so we called it even!  LOL!

Now after the tickets were bought for the flight and the hotel reservations were made, the school that I am teaching at all of sudden realized that they were the only school in Abu Dhabi to have the Spring Break dates that they had.  According to the education council here, all schools are supposed to have the same break dates.  (I think this is because so many families do not have all of their children in the same school.  Some have kids in multiple schools.)  So my school announces that the Spring Break dates will be changed to match the other schools of the area, which of course, now gives us the entire break together! BUT, remember I just said tickets had been purchased and reservations had been made, so we left things as they were.....

Here we go to Thailand!

Clay with the Himalayas behind him!

The day arrived for Clay to leave for Nepal....we packed him a little suitcase, delivered him to the airport where he met the rest of the group, and off he went!  We went home after sending him off and packed our bags, and left out the next morning at 5:30am for Thailand!

We didn't have much communication with Clay during the entire week due to where he was internet connection was hit or miss and power outages happened frequently.  We got the occasional update from one of the teachers via email.  I knew ahead of time that communicating would be tough so I told Clay to be sure to take a lot of pictures!!!!  (And he did, such a good boy!)

Our Thailand trip was a little more leisurely than Clay's but both locations were definitely amazing experiences in their own ways.  In Thailand we ziplined through the jungle, walked across the historical River Kwai bridge, shopped at a floating market, rode and swam with elephants in the River Kwai, ate Thai food, saw amazing views of the land, swam in the South China Sea, built a sand castle on the beach, and enjoyed a relaxing time together!

 Elephants + Water = Soaked!!!

Clay spent time working on an orphanage in Nepal....providing a service to help those in need.  He meet children of all ages that lived in the orphanage, and played games with them.  They didn't really have any toys so Clay found a bunch of paper and some tape and he created a ball for them.  This led to a game of impromptu soccer between the kids from the school group and the kids from the orphanage.  The teachers reported that they all had a blast!  When they weren't cleaning or painting walls at the orphanage, the service group spent a few days trekking up the mountain side and staying in little hotels along the way, eating traditional dishes of Nepal, visiting a mountain top temple, walking among the temple's monkey inhabitants, and basically roughing it by showering with water bottles in tiny bathrooms.  Even though Clay's accommodations were not as nice as ours in Thailand he had a wonderful time, and gained an even greater appreciation for the things that we have been blessed with.  He has mentioned that he would love to go back one day with his friends from Texas!

Clay told us that Nepal is a very poor place and that trash is everywhere.  We experienced the same thing while in Thailand.  There were even some places that our taxi drivers told us to avoid due to the trouble caused in those locations by the Thai mafia.  Being able to see how other cultures live their daily lives is an eye opening experience, and I am glad that we have been able to experience it first hand.  We take so many things for granted so it is good to be humbled and reminded of just how blessed we are when we see those who have way less than we have.  It is also a lesson in how much we could all actually do without.  So many things that many of us consider neccesities are really no more than frivalous wants....  

Overall....we all enjoyed our Spring Break adventures!  God is good....All the time!!

Bakeries ..... Impressive!

Wal-Mart....Target....Brookshire Brothers....Krogers....You won't find them here in the Land of Sand.  The closest thing to these shopping establishments that you will find in the UAE are stores called Carrefour, LuLu's, Choithrams, and Union Cooperatives.  They are the so-called "one stop shop".  They have departments for clothing, toys, gadgets, electronics, cheap-o home furnishings, and groceries.  So all in all they remind me of a super center from the states, BUT here is one difference that is hard to miss....the bakery!

It is NOT just your run of the mill bakery.  It looks like a fine, fancy sweet shop!  There are chocolates, desserts, and breads of all kinds that are displayed and designed to entice you in to buy....  On top of that, the bread that has just been freshly baked beckons you to come closer before you even see the displays.

You won't find your basic sheet cake here....Oh No!  There is not a cake anywhere in sight just sitting and waiting for you to purchase and have someone add a name.  

Everything is displayed in a manner that just makes it all look expensive!  Of course, some items are pricier than others, and some are very affordable, but if you were basing it just on looks, you would think that it was out of your budget.

Besides the appearance of it all, you are also impressed by the many speciality items that are inspired creations from other cultures/countries.  Very yummy!   

The pictures that I have included are all from one location... I know that they may not do the view much justice but it is impressive just the same.  Enjoy....without the calories!

2014 International Day Festivities

Each year some of the schools in the UAE celebrate International Day.  This is a day of recognition of all the different cultures and countries that are represented here in the United Arab Emirates.  The schools make a full day out of it by having a parade of students wearing their countries colors and waving their flag.  They then have a huge area set up with food booths that are manned by the parents for each culture/country that chooses to set up a booth.  Cultural performances are also on the schedule for the day.  Some are performed by students, some by parents, and some by outside groups.

I was fortunate to have only had to work for half of the day, so I was able to join my boys at their school for these festivites.  I missed the majority of the parade but I got there in time to see the best part!! (FYI--Best part for me just because I am from the USA!).... I arrived in time to see the last country represented in the parade...the United States of America!  The parade began with the UAE group and ended with the USA group.  They were the first country represented due to the fact that we are currently living in that country, so it was the respectful thing to do.  What I found interesting and cool, was that the only national anthems played were for the UAE and for the USA.  When the group of students representing America stepped up to be announced, the crowd roared with cheers and pride!  It was awesome!!  The group was the largest but then became even larger as the high school students that had been sitting in the crowd swarmed the field and joined the middle school and elementary students, chanting "USA! USA! USA!"  You could feel the pride of the Americans! (Another really cool aspect of the kids representing America was that not only were they exhibiting pride in their country but also many were wearing things that represented their particular state!...My boys were definitely showing their TEXAS PRIDE!!)

It was a very neat experience seeing just how many cultures/nationalities were being represented by all the students/faculty/parents of the American Community School of Abu Dhabi.  After the parade, we milled around the various booths sampling cultural foods and admiring cultural dress. The whole celebration reaffirmed that I really want to see so many places in this world!  It also showed the level of pride that each person has in their own country and traditions!

 

Once we had sampled the cuisine and watched a few cultural performances on the outdoor stage, we proceeded to the auditorium to be entertained by a few more performances by high school and middle school students, as well as faculty members.  It was very entertaining!

A great time was had by all!

(I have included pictures from the day...I hope you enjoy them!)

New Year....New You?

So January is over, and 2014 is officially rolling along at a steady pace.  Are you the type that likes to make resolutions?  Do you plan and plot things that you say you are going to do no matter what?  If you are, how is that going for you?  

I am not one who states a resolution every year, at least not in the true fashion of a "New Year's Resolution".  I do set goals but the things is this, my goals are constant.  They are the same on New Year's night as they are 6 months later and then 3 months after that....so on and so on.  So what is my goal?  I am sure my goal is the same as many of yours....get healthy, lose weight, etc.

I would REALLY like to lose about 20-25 pounds over the course of the next few months, and I am in the process of working toward that goal.  My true goal is the same all year long... Lose weight or at least just don't get any bigger! LOL

So I am trying to cut back on my favorite soda, Coke....oh please give me strength (LOL), do at least 20-30 min of exercise each day, drink more water (even though I dislike it), and even though I do not eat a lot when I eat, I am going to try to make more healthy choices...even when we are dining out!

I have found that YouTube is a great tool for exercise videos...FREE!! Pinterest is a great place to keep track of exercise ideas and healthy recipes. (Love Pinterest!!--Of course Pinterest can be an addiction....once you start pinning you are hooked!)  If you have a Pinterest account, feel free to follow my board called "Operation Thin Down".

I am including in this post links to a couple of the YouTube workouts that I have found....try them out and see if they will meet your needs!  If they don't, then search for a video that does!  Good luck friends!!

(These are just a few of the workouts by Tiffany Rothe)
Warm Up
Waist Workout
Fat burning cardio

A Comparison...

So until now I have always lived in one central location.  My entire life I have lived within 30 minutes of Nacogdoches.  I grew up in the small town of Cushing, TX, then I married my hubby and we lived in San Augustine, TX, and then finally we moved to the small town of Alto, TX (what we refer to as home) to split the driving distance in half for me while I worked in Grapeland, TX.  So for 35.5 years, I have lived in East Texas.  It is all I knew.  The people, the way of life, the roads, the backroads, the scenery....all of which is our HOME.  Then June of 2013, we made a giant leap across the ocean, to the other side of the world, to the Middle East..... Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Man, what a difference!  But yet at the same time there are similarities.  This move allowed me to see that there are things that we all have taken for granted over the years, as well as there are things that I thought I knew that have been proven false.

So let's do some comparisons about a few things....
     1) The location of course.... USA to the Middle East
     2) The climate....doesn't really get cold here, cool but not cold.     
         Majority of the time is REALLY humid here, even more  
         humid than East Texas!
     3) The people...although the USA is considered the "melting 
         pot of the world", I would have to say that term can no longer 
         represent the USA only.  There are people from all over the 
         world living here! (UK, Australia, India, Lebanon, Russia, 
         Norway, France, Canada, USA, Saudi Arabia, Afirca, 
         Germany, Japan, N. Korea, S. Korea, China, etc....)  Multi-
         Cultural all the time, every day!
     4) The scenery...from East Texas pine trees, green pastures, 
         and cows to palm date trees, sand, and camels. (now granted 
         the camels are not everywhere, but you can see them at times 
         as you drive past the desert areas.)
     5) The fashion...from boots and jeans to shorts, dresses, and flip 
         flops the majority of the time.  No real "cold" protective 
         clothing needed other than a light jacket for the chilly 
         breezes and evenings during the "winter" months.  As well as 
         you will see more people wearing their native dress, such as 
         head coverings (and this is more than just a Middle Eastern 
         thing...it is really a religion thing, which happens to be in 
         more than just the Middle East...just an FYI), long robes,
         turbans, etc... Now in the Emirati culture, as well as in other 
        Arabic nations, the robe for the women is called a sheyla 
        (pronounced shay-lah) and the head covering is called an 
        abaya (pronounced uh-by-yah).  For the men the robe is called 
        a dish-dash or dish-dasha and the head covering is called a 
        keffiyeh.  When they travel, both men and women, adopt the 
        fashion/styles that you and I are familiar with wearing every 
         day.
     6) The driving...GEEZ LOUISE!  This one is a big difference 
         and irritation...LOL!  We drive on the same side of the road 
         as in the USA but courteous driving is a rarity! It is a rat race 
         for sure... The people that cause the traffic issues are those 
         that come from countries that really do not have
         traffic laws/rules and those that feel like they are more   
         important or that there destination is more important than 
         anyone else that is on the road.  So for example, they will 
         make a one lane on-ramp into a two and sometimes 3 lane 
         road...UGH!!!!  They will create lanes out of the shoulders
         of the  road!  They are not driving in the dirt.  The shoulders 
         are just very wide and they think that it there for over flow on 
         a regular basis... so irritating!  This causes more traffic jams, 
         accidents, and frustrations.  They honk for multiple 
         reasons...while back home we honk to prevent something or 
         to say HI as we pass a friend's home..LOL!  Here they honk 
         to get in front of you, to cut in behind you, to get your   
         attention when the light turns green and you haven't 
         responded in.5 seconds of the light changing, to express their 
         irritation, or just because they want to make sure that their 
         horn is still working...LOL!  They will even fly up behind 
         you flashing their lights to let you know that they are going 
        faster than you and you should move over... Makes me so 
         irritated, so sometimes my stubborn side keeps me rooted 
         where I am, and I say "go around why don't ya!" LOL!!!      
        (Can you tell this is one of my biggest frustrations? LOL)
     7) No daylight savings here...When the USA falls back and 
         springs forward, the time here in the Middle East remains 
         constant.  Why?  I really don't know, that is just how it is.
     8) The language....The majority of people speak English, but it 
         is a very difficult form of English to understand sometimes.  
         All of the different accents make things hard to understand.  
         The other languages do not use all of the words that we use in     
         the English language so they do not always understand the 
         use of certain words.  It also makes us hard for them to 
         understand what we are saying to them.  For example, I 
         might say, "I do not know." which is then translated and
         repeated/used by other language speaking groups as "I am 
         not knowing." OR I might say, "We are going to the store 
         later." which is then translated for their use to "going to store 
         later".  You will also hear these words a lot..."No problem", 
         this seems to be the standard answer for everything...LOL!
     9) Timing of how things process/or take place...In the USA, 
         we receive assignments or jobs and we are taught to do them 
          in fast, timely manner.  We jump on the task and get it done.  
         Here it is at a snail's pace at times.  They do not get in a 
         hurry to do anything in regards to processing paper 
         work/forms or to deliver things.  The favorite saying by the 
         Emirates is "In Shallah", which means "God willing".  The 
         use of this phrase in this culture means that if God wants it to 
         be done, it will get done.....eventually, and if it doesn't get 
         done then it must not have been God's will.  I am all about 
         God's will, and as I Christian I understand that his timing is 
         not always our timing BUT that does not mean that He is 
         giving us an excuse to just lay back on our heels....He gave us
         a brain to make plans and to complete tasks.  So this thought 
         process that they practice here can be extremely frustrating at 
         times.
     10)  The religion.... Here the religion of the land is Islam 
         (Muslim), which of course is not our religious choice.  We 
         are Christian.  The Islamic faith recognizes only 3 religions 
         as being TRUE religions...Jewish, Christian, and Islam.  The 
         reason they recognize these 3 is because each one follows 
         only the one God. (Now are there some differences in the 
         religions of course there are, but the main point I am making 
         is that Christianity is recognized as a TRUE religion of GOD 
         by people of the Muslim faith.)  We are free to worship God 
         here and we even have a church to worship in.  The Sheikh of 
         the UAE granted the Christian churches the right to worship 
         here in the UAE.  He even granted land and buildings for the 
         purpose of a church and meeting places.  The only thing that 
         they do not want any faiths, including their own Muslim 
         followers, to go out in public and preach or do "mission" 
         work to bring people into their faiths.  This does not mean  
         that I can not talk with others about it because I can, but it 
         has to be done in a respectful manner.  I can't stand on the 
         street corner with a sign shouting Bible verses and sermons.  
         BUT we can wear t-shirts with Christian logos and with 
        verses!!  Main point...the religions are different but we CAN
        go to church freely here.  Thank God!!

History is Interesting

I thought that many of you would be interested in seeing and learning a little about the history of the UAE (United Arab Emirates).  The UAE is a very young country, but it is a very strong influence in the Middle East.  The country recently celebrated its 42nd birthday....That's right 42 years young!  In the grand scheme of things that is just a baby compared to other nations around the world.

Before it became the United Arab Emirates, it was nine separate sheikhdoms (small countries).  Each sheikhdom was ruled by a different sheikh.  The main industry for the area was pearling.  The coasts of the Arabian Gulf (or what you and I have known as the Persian Gulf) were rich in pearls.  The people of the area found that this was a high commodity that could be traded, so this became their prime industry.

 
 At different times throughout history, the UAE has been under the direct influence of the Ottoman Empire, then the British before gaining its independence and forming its own governing body and electing its first president.  The British established influence as way to protect their route to the silk industries in different parts of Asia.  There were no wars fought for the UAE (once called the Trucial Sheikhdoms) to gain independence.  It was decided with mutual agreement that the sheikhdoms would not give up any territory except to the UK, and in return the UK promised to protect the coastline from pirates and other "enemies" of the time.

By the early 1960's, the UK had decided to remove all protection from the area even though the sheikhs offered to cover the costs of keeping British forces in the area.  The sheikhs set out on a path to create their own united nation.  Of the original nine sheikhdoms, two decided not to join the other sheikhdoms in the union (Bahrain and Qatar).  Of the five remaining sheikhdoms, four created a union in 1971 and then the last one joined in 1972.  In 1971 the sheikhdoms became known as the United Arab Emirates and gained their independence.

In the beginning of the 1960's the small, growing sheikhdoms experienced the oil boom!  The pearling industry was no longer the top commodity.  Pearling is still a part of the industry today but the oil industry has continued to grow since the 1960's.  With the oil boom, the area began to grow.  People from all over the world began to trickle in and populate the area.  In 1960, the population was approxiamately 100,000 people in the whole region of the UAE.  By December of 2012, the region of the UAE had expanded to just over 9 million!  The oil boom created jobs, and with that doors began opening for expats (people from other countries) to come in and work in the various positions that needed to be filled.  The oil boom also enabled the sheikhs to improve the way of life for the native Emirates (pronounced m-er-ah-tees).

 The above pictures are of the city of Abu Dhabi in the 1960's

These are pictures of the city of Abu Dhabi today.

They have come a long way in just a few short years!

42 years is really not that long!