Weekend in Al Ain

Nathan got his work visa, but we don't have our residence visas yet. In order to get our residence viasa, we have to have marriage certificates and birth certificates certified by their respective states and then by the US to show that we really are related to Nathan. So until we get our visas, we have to have our passports stamped every 30 days to renew our visit visas. This past weekend we went to another city in the Abu Dhabi emirate (Abu Dhabi is both the name of a city and an emirate) called Al Ain. It was about a 2-hour drive. We stayed on top of the 2nd largest mountain in the UAE called Jebel Al Hafeet in a beautiful hotel called the Mercure. We had fun playing miniature golf, doing all the awesome waterslides at the pool (and a swim-up bar!!) and visiting the zoo. We drove across the border to Oman to get our passports stamped and then came right back. I'm glad we are living in the UAE b/c apparently they don't believe in toilet paper in Oman :) Well, I guess none of the Emiratis do either; there's always a sprayer beside the toilet, but in just about every place in the UAE there's also toilet paper for we fussy Westerners. Oman doesn't provide that same courtesy.

Sand dunes on the drive to Al Ain

We enjoyed the change of pace we found in Al Ain. It's a much smaller town, and there are many less ex-pats. It also seemed a lot greener and not near as humid as Abu Dhabi.

Ready for her meal at Al Areesh (I found out later that's what they call the palm frond huts the Arabs used to live in).

This is the mosque downtown. It was worship time and there were thousands of shoes on the steps as we drove by, but we didn't take a pic since there were people outside.

The typical side for a Lebanese meal.

I think she liked the hummus.

Fabric store

Camel caravan in the dessert of Oman

As we As we slowed down and rolled down our window to take a pic, they waved and said "Hello! Welcome!"

Drive up Jebel Al Hafeet

Scenic overlook

Our balcony view of the miniature golf course, which we played right after we got there.

The napkin princess

Sitting on a traditional majlis

Gracelyn waking up her favorite playmate, and Audrey so excited to see her. The hotels in the UAE only have rooms with 1 queen bed or 2 twin beds, so if you're a family, you either have to purchase 2 adjoining rooms or get a child cot (foam mattress for the floor) and we brought a "baby cot" (pack n play).

Out front of the Mercure Jebel Al Hafeet

Our friend Carolyn. She and her husband met up with us there and we had the best day at the pool together.

We loved the waterslides. Audrey must have gone 100 times. There were no rules about taking a baby on your lap, either, so Gracie got a few joyous rides down as well.

Digging in a patch of sand together in the shade. It was such a nice temp at the top of the mountain and no humidity!

Daddy kissing the chockie ice cream monster

Wow- a tree to climb!

The Al Ain Wildlife Park was a really nice zoo I thought. We had been told it wasn't like a US zoo, so our expectations were low. They had mostly African animals, but the girls had a great time. We found out the hard way it didn't open til 4pm and is open til midnight in the summer. It's much cooler in the evening and the animals are all very active.

A cute monkey at the zoo. 

Truly Audrey's highlight of the entire trip- getting to hold a ball python. She loves snakes!

Quite possibly the creepiest, most evil animal on the planet- a hyena. It got really close to the glass at one point and was staring at Gracie licking its chops.

Audrey making a new friend. We had many people ask to take their children's pics with our kids. It was funny to us, but flattering.

Nighttime train ride. This was the last thing we did. Then loaded up the kiddos and they slept on the drive home. What a nice weekend it was!

Pics around Abu Dhabi

View of downtown. There is a mosque in the foreground (the steeples) and the golfball building is Etisalat, the national phone/internet provider. They have offices all over.

Yum- Can't wait to eat at the Butt Sweet House!

It's illegal to take pics of the women here, so I took a pic in one of the many sheyla/abaya shops in the mall. They have tons of ornate ones to choose from.

Typical Middle Eastern wares store

Going for a stroll in our neighborhood.

Typical yard in our compound. 

Girls eating at the tiny table at Mugg and Bean.

These sheikh signs are everywhere.

Down at Port Zayed near the fish market. The water is a gorgeous turquoise.

Wow! What an amazing experience at the Fish Souk / Market. There were dozens of stands, each trying to get you to look at their fresh catch. They hold this every day using fish straight from the gulf.

One of my favorite meals yet! This was at a local hole-in-the-wall Lebanese restaurant. This is the spread you get before your meal no matter what you order. We ordered a ton of food and our entire bill was 50dirhams (about 13 dollars). The wait staff everywhere you go loves kids. They gave Gracelyn and Audrey cookies and took Gracie in the back to show her to the cooks. This is very typical here I had heard, but it made Daddy very nervous!

Marroush, the restaurant from above

Gracie wearing Mommy's shoe in our bedroom. The floors are tile all over. I haven't seen carpet anywhere, probably b/c of all the dust here.

Audrey did a photo-shoot for "Gaga" (that's what she calls her) in her bedroom. You can see Audrey's new duvet.

Audrey iceskating. There are actually 3 places in town to iceskate.

Doing "Lady and the Tramp" at the Noodle House in Shangri-La Hotel.

View off the balcony of Noodle House. That's the Grand Mosque across the water.

It was hot and windy but she was lovin every minute!

The yacht marina at the Shangri-La. There are some ladies in abayas enjoying the view.

The sun setting by the Grand Mosque. The cranes are everywhere. There is construction taking place all around Abu Dhabi.

Our first 2 weeks in Abu Dhabi

Well, it has been quite an experience so far. The following is from an e-mail Nathan sent out that explains our first few days here. I didn't want to reiterate everything. Plus, there's other stuff I want to talk about now, but figure we should get this out there first.

We arrived here around 8 pm on the 31st after a 13 hour and 15 minute flight on Etihad airlines out of Chicago.  Audrey was the high time sleep winner, and Gracie was the high time party pooper.  Brittany came in last on the sleep scale and first on the patience scale (no surprise there) due to her sitting next to Gracie and trying to pacify her and keep here from crying too much and kicking the seat in front of her too much.  All things considered, Brittany and I agreed that both girls did really well (Audrey especially - no breakdowns, no complaining) considering the fact that it was a long 24 hours for both of them of driving to Chicago, dropping off Lilly (our cat), waiting with Dad and Mom for our flight, and then the flight itself.  We were very pleased with the service on Etihad - pretty typical of an international carrier if you've been on one.

 

All of our bags made it just fine (thankfully), and we were met at the Abu Dhabi airport by a couple of my new co-workers who were life-savers in quickly getting us through and around the airport.  Brittany and the girls headed off to the hotel (more on that in a minute) while one of my co-workers and I set out to find Lilly in cargo.  After over 2 hours of waiting (bureaucracy again.... Oh, and the UAE vet was out at the local mosque saying his evening prayer when we arrived at his airport office, so we had to wait on that as well), we finally were able to pick up Lilly.  We dropped her off at our villa with a bowl of food and water and a sand litter box I made up (she had yellow eyes and crossed legs.... I don't think she did either thing in her kennel the whole flight), and then I went to meet the girls at the hotel.

 

The first two nights we stayed at a really nice hotel.  After two nights there, we moved into our villa.

 

Our villa is about 2K square feet, with three bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, and dining room.  I think most of you saw pics of it on e-mail.  It's about a 30 minute commute for me from door-to-door, and we're about 20-30 minutes from downtown depending on traffic.  So far it's a pretty good setup for us and I think Brittany is happy with it (which is all that really matters as far as the housing thing goes). 

 

Driving here isn't quite the nightmare that we were led to believe.  When it's busy, there's about as much traffic as you'd see in Dallas or Chicago.  What's different is the aggressiveness of the drivers.  On a 60 mph highway, you'll see everything from people going to speed limit to guys pushing 150mph (the rarity).  Generally, the trucks are doing the speed limit, the mass of cars are doing 70-80, and every now and then you'll get dusted off by someone in the 100+ mph range.  If someone is in the far left lane doing the speed limit (Dad) and there's a Ferrari hauling the mail (Tip), he'll end up on the guy's bumper flashing his lights until he gets over.  If you think of it as the autobahn, it works out pretty well.  I actually really enjoy driving here, because you have to be both defensive and aggressive.  Mom will hate it.  Bottom line - we've driven all over the place as a family, and with the exception of the ridiculous road / highway layout and procedures (turn circles - thank you British), I actually feel comfortable with the idea of Brittany and the girls driving around town once we can get another car.

 

The heat isn't too bad yet.  Right now it feels like Phoenix with humidity.  Kind of like the driving situation, we were prepared for the worst, so it wasn't a huge shock.  Audrey's first words when we stepped out of the terminal into the hot / humid night air were "I love this place!  It's hot and I get to weat up-sleeves!"  Really, you just don't want to be outside doing any physical activities (other than at the pool) between 1 and 3 pm.  Other than that, it isn't too bad.  It's going to get hotter over the next couple of months, so more to follow...

 

As to the location / city / things to do:  We're still exploring around (obviously), but we're really enjoying it so far.  It is an amazing diversity of people / cultures here, as well as a huge stratification of wealth.  Lamb is as common as ground beef; my first day I had to go to the downtown office to get a bunch of briefings, so for lunch I went to the nearby mall (just like our indoor malls, only huger and with tons of high-end shops), and I ate in the foodcourt.  I passed on the McDonalds and KFC and went for the Iranian grilled lamb instead.  Yes, I now like mall food courts again.  And yes, all the locals were eating KFC and McDonalds (no wonder they hate us...).  Anyway, we're still exploring, but from what we've seen so far, we're really enjoying the experience (Brittany and the girls seem to be really enjoying it, so I'm thankful for that).

 

Lastly, as for the people, it's been a very good experience.  I was worried about how we'd be dealt with on a personal level in just street interaction with the local Emirates as well as a lot of the middle eastern expats.  So far, it's been beyond good.  Everyone here has been super friendly.  On the third or fourth night here, I took Brittany and the girls to the same downtown mall where I ate lunch so that Brittany could walk around and get the feel for the local people in a non-business / non-military environment.  Almost across the board, every woman wearing a sheyla and abaya (headscarf and robe) would smile at her (if she didn't have a face covering on) and would say hello.  Gracie is a HUGE HUGE hit here.  We were at the grocery store and an Emirate or Saudi family was there (still having a hard time telling the difference) and one of the older daughters or younger wives of the group (still having a hard time with that one as well....) picked up Gracie and kissed her all over her face and started tickling her and pinching her cheeks and going on and on in broken English / Arabic about how adorable she was.  I think it's her big curls, cute face, and constant smile, but I'm biased.  Bottom line - I told Gracie to stay in line or daddy's getting a brand new herd of camels in trade for her.  Kidding.