New Friends...New Words...New Clothing...

Day 3 in Abu Dhabi....nothing spectacular.

Before we left Houston we met up several times with other teachers from all over the Houston area.  And thanks to facebook we were able to chat with so many more people before we even left American soil.  So once we arrived in Abu Dhabi it was like we were in a new city with old friends.  It has been wonderful (yes NuNu - wonderful!) to have a group that you feel like you really know even though we are still getting to know each other.  And even with our group that is staying here at the Asfar we're getting to know people from all over the world.  And learning their "words" too.  Like one teacher who I think is from Australia referred to Jennifer going to the restroom as her "going to the toilet."  And the signs in the Abu Dhabi airport pointing to the bathrooms didn't use the word bathroom or restroom but the word toilet. And the meat at the grocery store is not called "ground" beef - it's called minced beef. 

RRR - doing our part.  Bought a few reusable bags!

Beef from Australia

Today we met up with another teacher at our hotel apartment so she could do laundry - since we are the only group with a washer/dryer in our accommodations.  She was excited to have one to use and we enjoyed chatting with her and come to find out she used to work with a co-worker of mine at Miller.  We even went shopping with her at LuLu.  This time we actually bought food to cook dinner.  Some familiar foods - spaghetti, tacos, and grilled chicken.  It was interesting picking out the meat since they separate it based on where it originated.  So we could pick minced beef from New Zealand, Australia, or Ireland.  We went with the New Zealand.  Also saw they have grass fed beef too!  Angus that is! 

Then we browsed through some clothing items - Jennifer wanted some shawls to wear while she's here teaching.  Caralyn wanted one too.  I wrapped her head and isn't she adorable!!!

We picked up lunch that was already prepared and the kids weren't too keen on it but ate most of it.  And it's quite cheap too! 

We're trying to get the kids to try some of the more local foods and it's not going that well of course. But we'll keep trying a little at a time.  They did want to buy some graham cracker/cookie type item which helped because they had Sponge Bob and Dora on them.  We'll see if they actually eat them.  I was hoping to get some tortilla chips but there were none to be found!  Guess I'll have to pick up a few bags when we hit the Chilis in a few days! 

Made spaghetti tonight - Barilla pasta and Classico sauce. 

After dinner the family caught up on Big Brother 13 via cbs.com.  

 

Tonight we did our police checks - at 11PM!  Got back at 2 AM!  Ramadan season means everything is late at night.  No eating in pubic during the day- not even chewing gum.  Around 6:50 when the Iftar dinner starts (the feast they all partake in at sundown) the city comes alive.  The mall's are packed and so are the restaurants.  At night the main streets are lit up with lights - RAMADAN KAREEM!  Which roughly translates to like "Happy Ramadan".  We were like herded sheep going through rooms, lines, and fingerprinting, and waiting on the bus for others to finish.  It was interesting (not necessarily surprising) that us men folk were called in first and even skipped several women who were in groups before us. When Jennifer noticed this happening - I just said, "welcome to the Middle East!"  Now back at the apartment and going to bed!  Let's see how long the kids will sleep in! 

Chinese food in Abu Dhabi - we'll have to try that!

These are the lights we saw along Sheik Rashid Bin Al Maktoum Rd.  Or street #2. Or Airport Road.