Halloween UAE 2011

Here are our Halloween photos...a mid-week update! 

We had lots of trick-or-treaters / I would guess quite a few! 

One of the local families at the end of our street had their brother-in-law come and he performed various songs in English and Arabic! 

Caralyn with her friend Camille

We had pumpkins outside under our villa number so they knew who was participating !

Another random picture - looks awesome though - love the background. 
Attempting to really learn my camera!

Costume Of The Year!
They used a bed sheet, and a refridgerator box, and a carpet
A CAMEL!

The kids' friend even sang an Arabic song.  His dad was telling us that the song is a kids' song where the lesson is to not have your kids lie for you.  He was adorable singing.  Caralyn just kept staring at him in awe!

Jennifer and Caralyn got their henna this weekend. 
Caralyn couldn't wait to get it done. 
She even got her feet/lower legs done too!

The other day I hear E! News - and there is Cole checking it out, like he even knows what's happening in Hollywood!

Adorable! They were even smiling early this morning!

Cole - BEN TEN!

Caralyn - BUMBLE BEE!

Cole, Caralyn, and their friend down the street.  The friend and his family have never participated in any Halloween activity - but tonight him and his brother tagged along with our kids, and their dad even passed out candy!

The Week In Review...

Well this week has brought with it some great things!  Some adventures!  Some excitement!  So we got another rental car - the 4th one - after I was backing out at the mall and hit a pole!  Luckily we opted for the full insurance so we only had to pay for the police report which is standard here anyway.  And we really liked that car too!  In a week we'll have it back! 

We started hearing rumors (or rumours) that government teachers are getting a raise.  And this raise is across the board too!  If you are an Emirati teacher, you will supposedly get $15,000 AED (dirhams) which is about $4,000 USD at month more. All others are supposedly getting $5000 AED (dirhams) which is a little under $1400 USD a month.  So if that is the case - we'll be super excited!  But as rumors can turn up to be false - who knows!

This week we had the parent/teacher night at the kids' school.  And as usual we know what to expect.  Cole has difficulty focusing at the end of the day and during any down time. And he is high, academically speaking.  He always participates and has lots of questions.  His teacher mentioned that it would be awesome if there was some gifted type of environment for him to be in.  She said she will start to do some challenging things for him and see how it goes.  And as we talk to her everyday, we know the behavior side of thins.  But she has lots of patience!  And Caralyn's teacher said she is not worried about Caralyn anymore now that she's comfortable and is starting to ask for help when she needs it.  Caralyn does not voluntarily answer questions.  She does work well with several of the kids, but is more likely to go with the flow instead of being the leader.  Academically she is fine which is good since they are in grade 1 which is American curriculum grade 1.  So she is really coming out of her shell and her spelling is really improving just in the last 4 or 5 weeks!  So we're trucking along with learning! 

We're having some minor things done in our villa too!  We're moving our washing machine out of the kitchen and into the maid's quarters which is now our laundry room.  And the guy, Tony, is drilling a hole and hooking up the drain to sink that we never use and so everything will be in our place!  Then we'll look at getting curtains in the other rooms that don't have any yet. 

And we are more than excited about traveling back to the states for Christmas!  We kept watching the prices and we were trying to get a decent price on tickets without a long layover with two five year olds and not in a location where we'd have to worry about any winter weather.  We found a flight from Dubai to Houston - NO STOPS!  And originally it was going to cost $8400!  WOW!  But we saved $2600 by waiting and one night I just happened to check it out and BAM!  So the song, "I'll be home for Christmas" has a whole new meaning to it! 

Scavenger hunt!  Last night while at the Rugby club I was getting a piece of food out of my tooth and the tooth just came right out.  I luckily realized it and just put it back on.  This is the tooth that I just had the root canal on and had a temporary crown put on while we wait for the real one to come from the lab.  Well today after church, I was eating a snack and didn't think to take out the tooth while I ate and I swallowed it!  So in the next day or so, maybe we'll find it!  Back to the dentist tomorrow! 

This week Jennifer had a parent meeting.  The girls left at 11:00 and the parents(moms)were allowed to come from 12-2:30 pm.  Moms started coming about 11:30 and were only worried about how their girls were doing not really behaviors.  They wanted to know where the girls were compared to other girls in the class.  They wanted to know how their daughter could get to the top reading group.  She was able to discuss some behavior concerns but many moms were not that interested.  There of course was a language problem and a few moms would help translate.  She did find out that one girl's uncle lives in Oregon.  The girl wants an American friend.  Jennifer gave her cell number to the mom and hopes they call to set up a play date.  There will also be a big Eid party on Thursday.  Henna will be available for teachers to get that day.  The other teachers kept telling her that it will be okay to bring Cole and Caralyn.  They will dote over American kids.  She will decide if she will bring them or not.  Inshallah!

Al Ain - Town Centre

Angela's HENNA - before the scraping off...

Angela's HENNA after....Caralyn and Jennifer will be getting some this week!

Caralyn and some friends making pumpkins for Halloween.  The far left one is a local kid and I was having a hard time explaining to him what a witch was....Check out Caralyn's pose too!

This reminds me of my sister - Caralyn's saying - "get away from me!"

Chalk...the whole street enjoyed it!

Caralyn and two of her new girlfriends...she loves having girl time where they do her hair and such.

We take turn cooking with a few folks here...we had homemade pot roast and mashed potatoes.

KFC - Even the cartoon characters wear burgas...

I love my camera and taking unique pics - this was a praying mantis across the way - and I've never seen one up close....awesome! 

So.....this was car #3 - first one was from Abu Dhabi, so when we moved to Al Ain we rented one here.  Then we were hit in a parking lot and then we got this one.  And the DAY WE GOT IT, we were at the mall changing the electricity into our name, and I was in a hurry to leave and get to my dental appointment and was trying to make sure I did not hit some man who couldn't seem to figure out how to walk by and CRUNCH - hit a pole. Even more interesting was that I had to actually call the police, fill out a police report to get the car repaired.  And then to actually explain on the phone what a "pole" is.  Then when he comes with his lights and horn and starts taking pics, of course, everyone stops to check it out.  And I know they were puzzled because there was no other car involved.  It was some good entertainment! 

Come Emiratis hanging out at Starbucks.

@ Church - Friday School!

Halloween party @ Al Ain Rugby Club

Dusk...Al Ain Town Centre

Cole's new haircut - he wanted a buzz!

Love this photo...

Loved this photo - so this guy is making, by hand of course, the tassel thing that they wear with their thawb - or kandura. 

Candy floss - cotton candy as we know it! 

Get this - and if you lived here you'd expect it - but what these Emirati folks do at this pizza place near my dentist is just drive up, and lay on the horn until a pizza world worker comes out and takes their order and then they drive off.  Then they come back to pick up their order, and do you think they actually get out of their car to get it?  Of course not - they lay on the horn again - and wait for it to be brought out to them. 

Long Time No Update...

 

Some women wear these for coverage.

The kids still sleep together!  All snuggled together!

We get to do homework now!  Fun!!!

We actually had some rain one morning.  Local teachers were telling me that if it continued they'd dismiss school early!  Really???

Florida's Natural OJ - Even in the UAE!

Two things...Caralyn was getting some practice writing some arabic.  Here she is writing the letter "alip" in Arabic.  Not sure what letter it is, maybe an L?  And did you read the top left?  It says "I Love Davin"...oh great - starting already!  Uh oh...

Cole coloring...

This is what they serve as the school lunch at my school.  They can also choose a cheese sandwhich or chicken. 

Cole's math work...check out the name...it says Ben Ten.

Working on homework! 

The dog - Massie (I think) - that the local guy had with him.  Adorable!

Working on work that wasn't completed at school....wonder why??!?!?!

Cutie!

So last week when someone asked us why we haven’t really updated our blog – I just said, “Well, nothing has really been happening – we’re in a routine and life is good.” Well since then we’ve had some great experiences and even some not so great ones.
If you don’t know – I was diagnosed (not like it’s some life threatening thing) with Colitis and have been taking medicine daily and was told by the doctor that I will be on meds forever.  I tell you this because last week we had to go and get a refill.  And to do this – using my insurance – I needed to see a doctor.  Here people go to hospital (side note: Why does America say, “Go to the hospital” yet here and other places people say, “go to hospital” or he’s “in hospital”) see the doctor who is there and go on with life.  And some then find a doctor to go see regularly and life is good.  I didn’t really care either way just wanted my meds.  Well we went after church since our church is in the middle of the hospital compound.  Thought it would be quick, but no – 3 hours!  Then I only got a 2 week supply because the doc who gave me the 2 week supply didn’t really know anything about my meds and so she phoned the head internist who then knew what to do.  She recommended I see him in a week.  So I set up the appointment for 7:30 in the evening!  Love it that doctors have split shifts and work 2 or so evenings a week!  Awesome for us!  So I met with him – he said things are fine – keep taking the new meds and if you know anything about colitis – you know if the meds are working or not!  So when we left the hospital I told Jennifer that one of my front teeth was sensitive.  Well it only got worse as the day progressed.  So then I went in search of a dentist.

So along with interesting doctor’s hours – dentist are no different!  I called at 7:00 pm on a Friday (which is the weekend here) and the office was open that evening until 11pm!  Crazy!  I made my appointment for the next morning – Saturday – which is like Sunday in America.  Met with the dentist and she said I had to go see some colleague of hers because I had some abscessed or something.  So I call this other dentist and it’s his cell phone!  Hilarious!  He, along with his office staff, attempted to give me directions.  So here I am – can’t eat much because it’s difficult and hurts, and can’t get directions from anyone to get to his office.  If they had addresses here like lots of other countries’ do then this would not be an issue.  And while I love the adventure of finding a place – not while I’m in pain!  (And Dad – it was pain – not discomfort!)  Finally get home and talk to Yolanda and she gives me the number to her dentist and call him right away.  He is busy but tells me if I have pain to go see him in 30 minutes.  I jumped in the car and went right there.  He takes me right in – checks it out and does an x-ray that pops up immediately on the TV in front of me.  Awesome!  He said I had an infection and needed meds for 3 days and then he’d do the work. So last Tuesday I went to the dentist at 6:00 pm for my root canal and temporary crown, and then my internist at 7:30.  Busy evening but never missed work!  And the dental work was painless.  He started the Tuesday appointment by saying, “I think we can do it without numbing your mouth!” I immediately sat up and said, “no way!” So he did numb it up and life was great!  And the work is soooooo much cheaper here!  I remember getting a crown or two back in high school and I swear (wallah in Arabic!) it was like $800 or $900 per crown – if not more that my folks paid for.  Here I got the most expensive one because he said it’ll last longer and it’s $1700 AED which is only $454. 

This week has been nuts. Classes were nuts at times and my schedule was nuts.  Monday night I had parent night and found out what time it was late that afternoon.  And I get there at 5:55 when it started at 6:00.  At home – the parking lot would already be packed, and parents would already be at the classroom door waiting.  Not here!  The call to prayer was around 6 so parents (this night was designated for fathers only – even though some mothers did come) started showing up at 6:30 – inshallah.  One Emirati mother came in to see her son’s English teacher and he wasn’t there yet and this teacher happens to be Emirati too.  The mother commented in Arabic, “of course all the Ex-Pats are here and ready and the Emirati one is late!”  I about wet on myself from laughing so hard!  And it gets even better – two days later at our weekly Wednesday meeting – we find out that the parent night for the mother’s was that night at 6:00.  And we had plans for dinner with some friends!  Irritated me but I heard to expect that! The parent nights were fine – and as usual – only the good ones typically come out.  I did get to talk to a few of the kids’ up needed it! 

The saying, “what goes around – comes around” slapped me in the face this week!  Jenn and I went to get the kids at school one day and we saw Cole’s classroom window was open.  So being the nosey parent, I stood outside waiting to hear Cole and see what he was saying or doing. Next thing I know – I see a pencil come flying out the window.  Then another.  Then another.  There were 7 or 8 of them!  And the teacher was not in the room – it was the art teacher.  So I knew it was chaos as it always is when the art teacher is in the room. I gather the pencils up and go wait for dismissal.  Then I see another kid (not Cole) standing at the window and I figured oh – it was him doing it.  I’ll just let Cole’s teacher know. Then I hear the teacher talking to Cole several times and he’s not in “time out”.  Then he comes out and I just asked him why the teacher had him in time out, etc….  Then I showed Cole the pencils and asked him if he knew who threw them out the window.  Guess what he said?  He said, “I did it!”  WHAAAAATTTTTT?  He then would not tell me if anyone else was part of it or what.  I couldn’t believe it.  But then again, I could believe it.  If it was chaos – then anything is possible!  That night we were talking and I thought of the saying - What goes around comes around!  I know I was a bad kid in elementary school.   I had it confirmed when I ran into my 2^nd grade teacher a few years ago at a training and she asked how things were and then how my father was!  He was up there for conferences plenty of times!  YIKES!    So now it’s my turn!  Fun times!  Today we were erasing all these scribbles in Cole’s math workbook and finishing the work he didn’t do for whatever reason!  And it’s not that it is not able to do it – he’s not working to his potential – I and hearing my parents voice in the back of my head as if I was me when I was little.  It is me all over again!

Last night we made a new friend!  A local!  We saw this guy coming down our “street” walking a dog.  We were not sure about him since it looked like he had a shirt but with no shorts.  Once he came closer he was looking for an outlet.  He thought he could walk through our compound and then keep going around back to his villa.  He said he’s never seen in the inside of these and was asking how big they were.  So I showed him ours and he said, “Oh it’s good for a small family.”  I knew then he must live in some large place.  So Jenn, Angela, and I sat outside and talked for an hour with on everything from his family to his opinions on the Emirati people and even religion.  It was great!  He is 17 and in school at a private school.  He was telling us about his adventure to Dubai last week to see Kim Kardashian when she made some appearance at some new ice cream shop at the mall.  He said she was “very sexy in her red dress.”  He was quite animated and cracked us up!  He was telling us that his mother is a Christian and attends the Catholic Church here in Al Ain and how sometimes he goes with her.  His parents are divorced.  And his aunt (his mom’s sister) is married to some person of royalty here – I think it was a Sheikh or something.  So because of this they are taken care of financially.  They have WASTA – which is like clout in Arabic.  His mom doesn’t work because why does she need to – she gets all her bills paid for!  She drives three cars – a Porsche, Mercedes, and a BMW.   It was great chatting with him and seeing this place through the eyes of a local. 

 We have TEN more school days left until the Eid break!  Eid Al Adha.  Not sure of the exact reason for the holiday but we’re glad to have off of work!  As of now – we have off Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  We MIGHT get off the whole week – but the local teachers assure me that even if we have to work Wednesday and Thursday, that the kids won’t come. So either way – we’re excited!!!  We are thinking of going to Dubai for a few days to enjoy something different. 

Stay Tuned…