Sisters?

Russell's here! The Fords are here! On the 23rd we picked up Russell in Dubai and then last Thursday morning...at 2:35 am. we picked up Pat, Darren, Austin, Jared and Jason at the airport here in Abu Dhabi. It has been non stop chatter and laughter since everyone got here. It also feels a bit surreal to sit in our dining room with our one window, tiny view of the Arabian Gulf...and play spades. Felt normal when we women beat the guys though.....:) Stomped 'em is more like it..... ( I can say that cuz this is MY blog.):)

Yesterday the teenagers...Russell, Ryan, Austin, and Jared headed to Dubai with our church for a weekend retreat called Desert Challenge. It is sponsored by Youth For Christ. I hope they all have fun. Supposed to be a pretty big deal with kids coming in from all over the Gulf Coast...the Arabian Gulf Coast. We toured Emirates Palace and then ate at the new Papa Johns pizza place...topped it off with a blizzard from the new Dairy Queen. :) The Fords are really enjoying our food choices here. :) It's always nice to have treats from the west.

My mother's heart is full up with my boy here. Russell looks great. He was so good about playing the pack mule and hauling all of the stuff from home for Christmas. Robert got a Wii and Russell hauled it in his backpack...along with Ryan's xbox360 and the acoustic guitar(Russell checked that in baggage but still had a load to deal with....). He also brought surprises from friends and they all made the day so very special. A couple of cards brought tears to my eyes...Christmas in the "Hood" was always a special time. But overall we feel so blessed with having him here and knowing how well he is doing. He and Ryan are having fun hanging out and it is especially fun with the Fords here.....

Pat and I had quite a deja vu experience at our little grocer's on Friday...We walked in to buy bread and my friend behind the counter asks..."Sisters??? :) Look same..." We smiled.

Happy New Year everyone.
Mattie

My Friend Kim

Many people close to me know my story...my growing up years in Latin America, becoming a Christian in Aruba, growing in my faith at the University of Texas thru Campus Crusade, meeting Mike on a summer project in Galveston, and so on. Some of these same people know about the friendship with a girl in my college dorm.... She was tough as nails when she moved into our dorm. A partier and a loner at the same time. As the fall semester went into full swing I found her watching me...when I worked the front desk, at breakfast, sitting in the lobby...She intimidated me. Then one nite, during my shift at the front desk, she cornered me. She seemed so tough to me...like she had it all together. Hey, what's up?... Nothing. How are you? ...Can I talk to you a second? ... For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what she would want to say to me.... "Why are you smiling all the time?" I was floored.
And so began my friendship with Kim.
Several weeks later, in October, Kim accepted Christ. She asked me to disciple her and for the next 3 years we spent many, many hours together.... Lots of hard times, we were both growing up, and lots of wonderful times...
As the years passed we didn't get to see each other like we would have wanted but we still were in each others' weddings and celebrated the births of our various children and encouraged each other in the tough times and laughed together in the good ones.
But today is kind of hard for me....I can't be with her...and I so want to be. Her sweet husband Carl passed away in his sleep this morning... I received the email when I woke up. She has family with her and great friends.... I know Kim. She'll stay strong and be there for her twin girls..Brooke and Anna...and she'll find strength and hope in her Saviour. She'll cry when she needs to and she'll find things to smile about and she will cling to Jesus.
It is my privilege to call her friend and sister. She taught me so much about faith thru our years together, and she still is.
But if you wouldn't mind...as you read this blog....please pray for her and for her girls...
Kim and Brooke and Anna.

We'd appreciate it..
Love, Mattie

We spent

It Still Feels Like Christmastime to Me

Wednesday nite the church had their International Carol Sing. 12 different groups got up to sing carols from their homeland. Well, technically..just one carol each(except the westerners were the only ones who kept it to just one song. :)) It was quite an evening with people from Korea, China, Australia, Indonesia, Germany, India, the Phillippines, Canada, the US, Latin America, and a couple of special songs. Mike and I sang with the US group and I also got to sing with the folks from Latin America. We sang Feliz Navidad. :) I kept teasing Jean Page about how many groups sang more than one song...we both decided that the truth was...the westerners were probably the only folks who thought it was too long anyway. :) Anyway, it was a fun evening.

Here are some pictures from our last few days. The trip to the Al Ain, the oasis city, picnic in the park with our new muslim homeschooling friends, the international carol sing...Korea and Latin America, and last but not least...that's me in the hot dog hat at the Ladies Garden Party last week. The two other ladies are also Marthas...Martha, Mattie and Marty. :)

Here are some words from one of the carols we sand at church....Sallie and I had fun singing together...

We know it won't snow in Abu Dhabi,

But we still decorate our Christmas tree,

And you can still feel the magic

From the sand dunes to the sea,

And it still feels like Christmastime to me. ...

The camels standing in the shade,

the traffic shimmers in the haze,

But it still feels like Christmas time to me.

Almost

Merry Christmas.

The Hildebrands

The Office... Party

Last nite we had the Hill End of the Year-Christmas- Holiday Party. It was in a hotel in Dubai. We decided to be brave and drive ourselves instead of taking the company bus from Abu Dhabi. I say 'brave' because driving in Dubai is always an experience, especially when you don't know where you are going. Roads are always changing from the construction and maps are never up to date. Anyway, we got lost. An hour later managed to get to the hotel.
We changed and went down to the foyer/lobby. As we stood outside the closed doors of the ballrom, it felt like the countless office parties we have attended over the years. Drinks being served as people mingled and pretended to be comfortable around 300 strangers. Hoping against hope that someone would stand and talk with us until the doors opened for dinner. It was just like home. Well, almost. Other than the fact that in that room many of the women were covered...and there were people from all over the world standing there waiting to eat. Then the doors opened...it was a blast from the 70s. Lites flashing, 3 filipina women singing on stage...That's the way, uh huh, uh huh I like it....uh huh, uh huh. And more songs from the 70s.
It was Dreamgirls Filipina style. :)
A lovely lady from Pakistan sat next to me. I met her at Lulu Island the first month we were here. We visited all evening. I hope I see her again. Her name is Ferida. The highlight of the evening was this Male dancer from Egypt. He danced something like a Whirling Dervish Turkish dance but not the same....He wore this costume of multilayerd skirts...that he controlled in patterns as he spun in circles...fast...for over 30 minutes....I am not kidding. It was amazing and beautiful. I honestly can't do it justice but didn't have the camera...it figures. After he danced the Supremes came out again and a few couples danced. Then came the belly dancer. We left. :)

As far as office parties go, we had fun. Certainly not run of the mill. We are glad we went.

Today was a ladies luncheon for church. We wore hats. I wore Marganne's hot dog hat and was a big hit. Naturally, I told everyone it was a Turkey frank...trying to be culturally sensitve here. Made a new friend from Texas....Carrollton, Texas. Graduated from RLTurner. Attended TWU. Four kids... Only thing is...she's 12 years younger. :) Oh well. We were on a roll until that part. It was fun visiting with her.

Time for bed. It's been quite a weekend.
Love, Mattie

Tea for 6

I just finished cleaning up from my holiday tea. 4 ladies came from the building. So with Jean and me there were 6 of us. Tanja from Serbia, Teija from Finland, Junko - Japan and Alice from Iran/London. They arrived at 11 and left at 1:30. Each lady brought something to share and we laughed and talked the whole time. We talked about Christmas traditions, our home countries, our children, and lots more. It was so fun. The ladies have asked me to teach them English so after the holiday rush we are going to get together and start lessons. All of us moved into this building in Aug. of this year. Fun, huh? Anyway, during the tea memories of the 'hood' would pop in my head..... Now my 'hood' is a pink skyscraper in downtown Abu Dhabi. Huh. Can't always get my head around that. Thanks for praying for the Tea and all. It was a great time.

We finished our second Arabic lesson. Dhabi, by the way, is pronounced Thabi...that is one of the easy letters we learned. We have now covered the Arabic alphabet...covering it and saying it correctly are two very different things...and then there's remembering the letters...hah. I love the lessons though.

One last thing. An interesting note....Remember the people who fired Mike from the project he was on? Well, they fired their second project director about 6 weeks ago...they now want Mike back. Wow. At this point he's not going. He can't imagine voluntarily returning to that place.
Kind makes our head spin, living here. You just never know.

Sallie's Christmas production was last nite at the church. It was very nice. The lady who teaches these kids really pours into them. They did a good job. On Sat. nite the kids from church will sing at a hotel in the area for their Christmas tree lighting. I should have everyone over after to help eat all the food we have leftover from the tea. :) We'll see. I'm beat.

Thanks for praying!
Love ya!
Mattie

A New Car

Well, victory oh victory. Sunday we finalized the details on our new car and Mike drove it off the lot. I emphasize Mike here as I don't know if I will ever drive that honkin' big thing. It is a 2008 Ford Expedition. Ok, to be fair to Mike he didn't really push the big car, I did. In hopes that many of our wonderful friends and family will be coming to see us...I kept saying we need something to fit in. So we now have something. Problem is we have nowhere to park it. :) Literally. As it is I park in front of construction No Parking zones all the time. As does the rest of the world here...oh well. We pray every nite for a spot. Some people just flat out pull up on the sidewalks. No kidding. It's amazing. I may have already told you about the parking but NOW we have a big car and that demands further discussion. :) It only took 8 weeks or so to buy this car. And by golly we are going to enjoy it. You bet we are. :) We need to buy a little car for me but we are just too tired to start this process again.

So, make this purchase worthwhile and come and see us!!!

It's beginning to feel ...not at all like Christmas...!

Saturday...the day to try and get everything done before 1pm because then everything is closed until 5 or so and then we are too tired to get the rest of it done. Whatever "it" happens to be for that paritcular Sat. Today the errands included....find or fix Ryan's phone, go to Aramex and pick up our first package, and pick up our new car. Yes sirree. No problem. Hah. We ask Sallie for the phone because she had it last(long story) but oops...it is in her purse which she left at the Pages....ok, so, now we have to go to their house...a bit a 15 minute drive get the phone and THEN we can fix it...but wait. When we get in the car...oops. No gas. So, now we get gas, pick up the phone but technically have not started on our errands yet. :)
We arrive at Aramex. Excited to get our first package. We are next in line. Two people behind us. Clerk asks all of us to please sit down...We, like dumb sheep without a shepherd ..all sit down. Ahh yes, you guessed it...New clerk comes in and takes the guy who just walked in off the street. But it gets better. Mike and I, at the counter now with the first clerk, are still waiting because the new guy keeps butting in on our clerk's computer...Meanwhile, out in the car, Ryan...

I told my mother that I needed to write this portion of her blog. She just wouldn't give justice to the pain and humiliation that I suffered in our Honda Accord outside.
"We will only be a minute, you can stay in the car." Good one.
I sank down in the back seat, and turned on my ipod. After the first few songs I realized how truly hot it was inside the car. It was an inferno. As the sweat dripped down my forehead I decided to unlock the car and get out.
BEE BEE BEE BEE HONK HONK HONK BEE BEE HONK. ALARRRMMMM.
How embarrassing. I am now locked inside of Hade's chariot and the alarm is going off. Why did they have to lock the car in the first place? I thought. You'd think after 16 years of living in a world of automobiles I could figure out how to get out of the car without letting the entire city know.
Eventually it shut off, and I sank back into the seat of the Honda Oven. I wait a few more seconds in the blistering heat. And I try again, this time pressing the button in front so the car unlocks, then getting out.
BEEE BEE BEE BEE HONK HONK HONK BEE BEE HONK. ALARRRMMMM.
It simply CAN'T be this difficult. I was at a loss. At this point 3 guys standing outside of the car had officially gotten annoyed at the complete lack of basic knowledge that I had demonstrated by my actions. They came up to the car, knocked on the window, and started speaking whatever language they spoke.
I played the "I'm asleep" card, appearing startled by their intrusion to the 400 degree privacy that I dwelt in, I jerked my head up and simply mouthed the words "I don'tknow what happened." Ha Ha. Yeah Right.
The minutes ticked by, I officially surrendered to the vehicle...and just sat in the backseat. Hoping my parents would come soon. Finally after 30 minutes of hell, my parents showed up. I needed out of the car.

I laughed so hard when Ryan told us. We both heard the alarm and wondered whose car kept going off? Would they please take care of it??? With package in hand and fainting son we headed to the phone store. Ryan was actually with us so he could pick out a new phone...Oops..they are going to fix the old one. Ryan didn't even need to come. :) Oh boy.

I know this is getting long...but to finish off the day. We still have no car. It's not ready yet. And I was so excited to go to Emirates Palace tonite...to see the Christmas tree lighting. Oops. They aren't lighting the tree. Who knows why?
Oh my, What a day. If you could just have seen Ryan's face. I am still laughing.

Thanks to Ryan

When Ryan heard my blog was in crisis he sat down and figured out the problem. It actually turned out NOT to be me causing the problems....So, now you have everything on the right page except for the one time I published on Sallie's. :)

National Day is over. I am so glad we do not live on a main street downtown but on a secondary one. My friend Debbie had loud noise from the cars going by her building until like 3am for 3 nties in a row. Ryan heard from school that 20 people died in car accidents.... With all the blog problems I can't remember if I've said this before but you have never seen anything like this. We are very thankful for the relative return to "normal".

Today we start Arabic lessons. Jean Page and her 3 kids will be joining us. We met the Pages in the summer at the Hone's house. It has been so nice to get to know them better and to have someone here who we feel a connection with from Texas. Although they are rather strong Aggies fans...but nobody is perfect. :) When UT lost to A&M it was a sad day over here. Sallie made a bet with Mr. Page and now she has to wear and Aggie tshirt. I watched it from the airport in Chicago...on my way back to Abu Dhabi. So sad.

I was invited to attend a birthday luncheon for my friend Nadia the other day. We went to a new place...the ShangriLa hotel. It was an amazing brunch. In honor of National Day everything was decorated in flag colors...red, black, white, green. These folks are really really proud to be Emirati.

Sure hope all the kinks are out of this thing.

Love you all,

Mattie

Let me Clarify

There are two blogs that I have written that for some reason...."probably" operator error... are not coming up on the web. So, one of them is on Sallie's blog...sandymound.blogspot.com and the other is on my blog site but in the archives section. So please go there to read the latest news from Sandyland. When Sallie wakes up this morning I will try again with some pictures from National Day activities from last nite. Oh my. It was something.
Please comment if you are able to find the hidden blogs. :)
Mattie

Oh Good Grief!

If you have ever doubted my technological skills...then go to read my latest blog...at Sallie's blog address..sandymound.blogspot.com For pete's sake...I didn't realize I was on her blogspot and posted it there. There is no hope for me.

I have, however, figured out the pictures again....:) These are of my trip to Carlsbad..and our field trip to the Heritage Village the other day.

The Journey Home

Tomorrow I begin the long, long journey home to my sweet family. I have missed them so much but I am so grateful for the time I have had here with my mom and my sister. We've laughed and cried and talked in between...It was a precious time for the Deahl girls. I am thankful for all the great memories we have of my daddy and that mom and Diana got to be beside him in his last hours. He went very peacefully...unusually so, as COPD is a very hard way to go...your lungs just fill up and quit working. I thank God that my daddy simply slipped away and then quit breathing. The nurse later said that it was one of the most peaceful and beautiful home deaths she had ever seen. I am completely sure that this was in answer to the many prayers being lifted up on our behalf. Thank you everyone. My dad did not want a funeral or any type of service so our time together was quiet.

I leave at 1pm and fly to Chicago, London(12 hour layover), Bahrain, Abu Dhabi. I am not looking forward to the trip but I am anxious to get back to Mike and the kids. They are doing well but we don't like being apart. Ryan returns Sat. from Bangladesh and then I will arrive Sunday morning around 11 am...which is about midnite Sat. Dallas time. We have lots to catch up on and then prepare for our first Christmas in the Middle East. I imagine I will have lots to tell you.

Thank you everyone. Please keep my mom, Nancy, in your prayers. She is a strong lady but this is very hard..they were married 54 years.

Lots of love,
Mattie (in El Paso)

My Dad

On Sunday nite my daddy passed away in his bed in Carlsbad, NM. Many of you know that for years my dad was on oxygen due to emphysema and other smoking related problems. Mike and I knew that when we said goodbye to him before coming here it would very likely be my last hug and kiss. I guess I just didn't expect it to happen in 3 months. No, I wasn't prepared. I am on my way to New Mexico tonite to be with my mom and family. It will be good to be together. Yesterday during that Beth Moore Bible Study ....about the time my daddy was taking his last breath...Beth took us into the Holy of Holies...beyond the veil. Where our hope is truly anchored. I am blown away by God's timing and message just for me. Intimacy with Him. That is what life is truly about...and death. What happens here, well, it's just a moment in time...preparation for when we are really living. So, I am comforted, not in what this world has to offer but in my hope....not that kind of wishful thinking hope but REAL hope....Heb.6:19,20 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. So, I am comforted.

I am sorry if I am rambling, but I have found in my life that when I am in the midst of something soul wrenching, I ramble.

21 Years ago when my daddy was diagnosed with COPD or emphysema or whatever it all was...We were sure he was going to die right then. But he lived on to meet 4 more of his grandchildren and watch all 6 of them grow into great kids and adults. (Well, Robert and Sallie are still young but he did get to spend time with them.) We are so thankful for those years, years of laughter and sweet conversations and even some tough discussions about life. When daddy was diagnosed in 1986 I wrote a poem to him. While going thru all of our papers and stuff before moving here, I found a rough draft and for some reason....stuck it in my journal. It is not a contest winner by any means, but I'd like you to meet my dad...

My Dad, My Friend

The joy you brought so lovingly
fills my thoughts unceasingly.
I cannot shake these memories,
they mean so very much to me.

A rocking chair with hugs to share,
swimming, skiing, bowling, sailing.
La Cuenta, por favor!
All this with you and more...

Your eyes that twinkle you gave to me
We've talked and shared, You always cared.
I can't imagine what life would be
if God hadn't given you to me.

Dad, could I sit in your lap again?
And tell you what you mean to me?
I love you Dad, I always will
My Dad, my friend...Peace, be still.

The last line just came to me right now. Anyway, there you have it.
Don Deahl, born November 27th, 1924 died November 11th, 2007
Thank You, Jesus, for the best dad a gal could ask for...

Love you all. Thanks for praying.
Matt

Family Fun-3 Months In

We've been here 3 months now and I have been running a bit dry on fun things to tell you, but today my cup is full. We just returned from an overnight family retreat at the beautiful Mafraq(think Aflac) Hotel outside of Abu Dhabi. We picked up Mike from work yesterday and then Robert, Sallie, Mike and I headed out of town. We arrived at a very nice, clean hotel about 40 minutes later and checked into our room. The kids immediately changed and headed to the pool while Mike and I relaxed on the balcony...That is until we heard this loud roar and looked over the balcony...where we saw two employees in masks spraying DDT all over the plants and bushes by the pool..where all the kids were swimming...and the food was set out. Oh boy. Yes, I figure they had most of the day to do it but dinnertime was when they got around to it. I actually went to the front desk to ask them to stop but when asked, the workers said they had to do it THEN. Ok, whatever. :) Soon the huge cloud dissipated and only a few of the heartiest mosquitoes survived. :)( Tom Wright...this is your town...no rules, no regulations, just kill 'em dead no matter what!!) :)

After the cloud cleared Mike and I went to sit by the pool and talk. As soon as we sat down...the pool guys turned on the music right by our chairs and blasted it! We just stared at each other and Mike grinned and said...They really don't want us here. Sheesh. All we wanted was a few minutes to catch up. We really didn't feel like we were asking for much. Dinner was delicious, though. We have had some of the best steak here and the potatoes were delicious.

Today was spent doing the Walk Thru the Old Testament. We did this years ago at Bent Tree but it was certainly different doing it with people from all over the world. We finished early and spent a couple of hours by the pool...Robert and Sallie enjoyed swimming with their new friends and I found a lady who is going to teach me Arabic. Actually, she'll be coming on Wed. to teach Sallie, Robert and me. I am excited. I also met a lady from Puerto Rico and her husband from Honduras. It was fun to talk together in Spanish. They have been here a year. He is from Siguatepecque where both Russell and Ryan have been. It was fun.

Ryan, you'll notice, wasn't with us on this little jaunt. He had a community service project at the school last nite and then today he was the teacher for the youth group. They are studying the 10 commandments. He said it went well. Dylan sent him some stuff to use. Email is great.

I have begun my search for Christmas decorations. There seems to be a good selection here.

Love,
Mattie

Odds and Ends

Tonight was the last meeting for Ryan's trip to Bangladesh. We learned all about what they will be doing. As we still don't have our residency visas it may present a wee problem for him...but we are supposed to get them by November 8th..We hope. He kinda needs that ol' passport to head out of the country. The team is pretty large...23 kids and 4 adults. From the sound of it they are going to be very busy.

Mike is closer to moving into his office on the jobsite. He was out there today. He is pleased with it...it even has a view of the water. Now, if he can get the internet hooked up...he'll be a much happier camper. :) Today he had to call me from the office to get into his email to find something he had sent out. Not the most efficient way to accomplish things. But you gotta do what you gotta do...sigh.

We think we may own a car soon. It has been touch and go for several weeks but we think within the next week things will be finalized. Then we need to work on car number two as this jobsite is way in the opposite direction from school so.....Awww, the cycle continues. My friend Judi said...hey, wait until you have been here a year, then you have to start all over again cuz everything starts breaking...washer, iron, refrigerator. Oh boy, I can hardly wait.

I have, however, found a great place to get my hair cut. The best part is the price!!! Only 40 dirhams and I was there for an hour. Wash, cut, style, trim it up...I mean, she was great. This is just over 10.00 dollars. It was a sparkling clean shop and after 3 months without a haircut I was beside myself with joy!! :) It did take me two days to actually get there. The first time I could not for the life of me, find it. But then on Thurs. I went with my friend Pam Johnson and she got me there. Today I gave another friend directions. She made it without any problems.

That's all from here.
Love and hugs,
Mattie

Dunes and Donuts

It is Saturday morning. Sallie, Robert and I walked a few blocks to the Dunkin Donut store...but it was closed. Ok, that's a bummer. Why would a donut store be closed on Sat. morning? Sigh. Mike took Ryan to breakfast and he is going to stop and bring donuts home. I had some frustrated kiddos....:)

We are all dragging a bit this morning because we had a desert picnic last nite with new families from the church. It was such a nice evening. One of the dads took the kids sand sledding. He pulls them behind his 4 by 4 thru the dunes. According to Sallie and Robert it was great!!!

Big news! Yesterday we had clouds!! No rain but clouds....I cannot believe how nice it was to have a different sky. I took pictures...but now we can't find Sallie's cord so we'll pass them on to you once it is located. :)

PICTURES :)

We have pictures. :) Ok, it is not the prettiest presentation but what do you expect???? In order of appearance...Our first visit to the beach during our first week here. Our living room when we first moved in. Our trip to Lulu Island when we swam in water the temp. of a hot tub. ugh. Nassar..our building guy who always smiles like that and has been such a wonderful help to us. And finally, Ryan in front of the American school here. Sitting by the gated entrance, on a barricade...hmmm..... Ok, so now we will do better about getting pictures to you all. Sallie, by the way, figured it out by herself. :) What a gal!

Ryan's Home

Ryan is home from Kuwait. The team came in second in the Volleyball tournament. He gave me the details and then crashed on the couch. Each player stayed with families from the school. Ryan said his family was very nice. I am so glad he had this experience. He was kind of surprised at the country itself. Very polluted, dirt streets...not what I picture . He said the driving is really crazy. Wow. It's all in your perspective but to come from here and say it's crazy there...well, it must be wild.

Robert's Awana Club had Heroes of the Faith last nite. The kids all came dressed up in Biblical characters. Robert and I both forgot. My favorite was a little 4 year old girl who came dressed up as Martha...had the head covering and the dress, and carried in a play teapot and wore rubber gloves. Just so cute. Her brother was Luke...had a stethoscope around his neck. Robert's good buddy Ben Miller(from Colorado) was the OT Benjamin....all he did was throw a pillowcase on his back and put a sign on it that said "gold cup inside". Check your Old Testament....pretty creative.

Still trying to buy a car. Still trying to get a phone set up. Things are happening. It just takes awhile.

Love,
Mattie

The Movies

We thought it was a bad idea...like going to see Jaws before going to the beach...but wanting to get out of the house tonight we decided to go see a movie. We went to see The Kingdom, which many of you have already seen. But let me tell you....it was pretty weird seeing it from our side of the world. :) First of all...most of it is filmed in Abu Dhabi. Yep. We drive those streets and see those buildings. The Saudi Palace is actually the Emirates Palace Hotel which Mary Hone and I toured last week. Cool, huh? A couple of things....the availablilty of parking spaces...total Hollywood fiction....the actual driving scenes...not so much. Anyway, nice to get out but not exactly a relaxing evening. :)

By the way, the funky skyline is not Abu Dhabi..that is actually Riyadh...with the funny shaped building.
G'Night.
Mattie

Dr. Michael Youssef

Saturday evening Mike and I went to the Abu Dhabi National Theater to hear Dr. Michael Yousseff speak. That may not sound like big news to you but over here it was actually a historical event. This was the first time ever that an evangelist has been allowed to speak in this type of forum. We had to smile as we thought of the special week Bent Tree was having and here there we were...having our own type of "festival" but on the other end of the spectrum. We sang many familiar songs in English, led by a Filipino worship team...and then another musician came up. He led the congregation in Arabic worship music. I cannot tell you how cool that was...we were standing there and all around us praises were being lifted up. It was really neat.

Friday nite we were also busy. About 800 people gathered at Ryan's school for Picnic in the Park. It's a fundraiser for the school trip to Bangladesh in November. We had lots of fun...the picnic food was middle eastern :) and there were several music acts from the school for entertainment. We sat on camping chairs and matts and visited with people. It was relaxing... for us anyway....Ryan worked like a dog. :)

Our busy week has started....Will keep you posted.
Mattie

Our First Visitors

It's Friday afternoon here and we are getting ready to head to Ryan's school for an all school picnic. It is a fundraiser for the team going to Bangladesh with Habitat for Humanity in November. Ryan is working it, as he is on the team that is going.

Mary and Laurel Hone left last nite after their whirlwind visit to see us. We spent 4 days laughing, crying, and zipping around town to see the sights. We had a desert picnic, visited a camel farm, toured Emirates Palace...a hotel with a lobby the size of 3 football fields, had Moroccan tea, swam at the beach, ate at some fun restaurants...including Lebanese Flower and McDonalds...:) and generally had a ball. I think the best part was knowing that although we are so far away we are still connected with our friends and family back in the States. And now Mary and Laurel will both know what we are talking about when we share things. It just made all of us feel less isolated from life back there. They really blessed us with lots of fun movies to watch and some good books to read as well. Woo Hoo!

Fun fact we learned from Jeff Kinney the other nite while Mary, Mike and I went over there so she could meet them. Mike was talking about the process to buy a used car and all that it takes....(going on 3and1/2 weeks) when Jeff asked him if he noticed the separate door for the women to get their driver's licenses...Mike said yes. Jeff kind of chuckled and said...The Local ladies,( all wearing black veils that cover everything but their eyes) who go back there to get their picture for the license don't have to take off their face veils for their picture....

'Nough said. We just laugh and move on.

Love you all,
Mattie, Mike, and the Kids

Island Living

group of us gathered on Thurs. nite at the beach for a picnic. Many of us there were newcomers and it was fun to meet several other new families. The water is finally cooling off so Sallie and Robert enjoyed swimming. Our friend Peter brought his guitar and we sang thru the evening. It was so peaceful and relaxing.

The night before our picnic I found out that one of my old friends from Aruba was living in Qatar. Her brother and his wife just moved here and she and I were talking when we realized that I had been in Aruba at the same time as her husband's family. I couldn't believe it. Joni was in town this weekend , and we spent Sat. morning talking until we were almost hoarse. She has kept up with several other friends from our Aruba years and it was so fun to catch up.

We christened our new grill last nite with Snapper and shrimp. The grill takes up our entire balcony...and not because it is a big grill. Mike and Ryan went to the fish market and brought home dinner. It was delicious. I've never been a big fish eater(that's an understatement) but I decided I need to broaden my horizons. Ryan made the cocktail sauce and we dined on a delicious meal. And I didn't have to cook....:)

From Mike:

The fish market was a bit of an experience itself. It is housed in a building at the port just around the corner from the Iranian souk (another story). You smell it about 50 yards before you get there, when you coax yourself inside there are about 100 booths and 300 Indian and Arab fishermen selling everthing slimy, slippery, and smelly fresh from the Arabian Gulf ! Yards of stainless steel tables laiden with crushed ice and fish. Shark, tuna, squid, lobster, snapper, red fish you name it, much of it still wriggling around a little bit on the table. We're talking fresh! Ryan and I chose the prawns (shrimp). Not Texas shrimp, more like miniture lobster, these were about six inches long, four of them made a meal for about 3 bucks. They grilled them up right at there at the market (key item here...keep the smell and the mess out of Momma's kitchen). We brought the snapper (cleaned and fileted by the fisherman...ref:note about momma's kitchen) home to cook it up ourselves on the new grill. Even food critics Robert and Sallie were transformed into seafood lovers...well sort of. The Baskin Robbins ice cream for dessert was probably the bigger hit.

Mike and Mattie
for the Seafood lovers in you!

Desert Detour

On Tuesday the kids and I joined a couple of other homeschooling families and headed out to a newly built area right by Abu Dhabi...Khalifa City. Mike actually looked in this area for places to live when he got here but decided it was too far out for us. This was my first visit there. My new friends Krista and Jean drove the one car and I followed them. We actually got a bit turned around and we saw more of the desert than planned. :) Somehow we ended up in Khalifa City B when we needed to be in part A. So, we stopped at a gas station...to ask directions...(we women do that, you know...) All of us had a good laugh when Jean came out sort of shaking her head. I asked her, "Were they able to help?" She laughed and said "I don't know...we go 5 kilometers and take a left right. " Oh boy. Well, we did finally reach Michelle's villa in Khalifa City A and had a good visit.

Mike and I are enjoying the cooler mornings these days. We go down to the Corniche(seawall) and walk in the mornings. We usually stop about halfway thru and find a bench where we take some time to pray about our life and for our friends. It's been a sweet time for us.

We are all excited about the upcoming week. First of all, Ramadan will be over today or tomorrow and secondly our friends Mary and Lolo Hone are coming on Saturday!!! They aren't staying long but we are so excited to have them here!

So that's the news from here. We love you and miss you.
Mattie

Wednesday Dinner

One way that our church here gets people from all the different cultures to interact with one another is by hosting dinners. People offer their home to a family from another culture and they share a meal together. These evenings are called Adventures in Fellowship. We got to share a meal with two Filipino gals..Amy(real name Imelda..named after the Presidents wife when she was born) and Trish..who has lived here in Abu Dhabi for 18 years. Amy did all the cooking...Trish said she was there for moral support because she doesn't cook. :)

When we arrived at the apt. Amy greeted us with a beautiful smile and promptly asked us to sit on the floor so we could play a game and get to know each other better. I love the men in my family....neither Ryan nor Mike can easily sit on the floor..as their long legs make it difficult, but both guys just smiled and plopped right down.(They aren't exactly big on icebreakers either, but didn't bat an eye):)... We shared about ourselves and then had to share about the person next to us. It was fun and I wish you could have seen the wonderful smiles on these girls faces. So warm and friendly.

Amy served some wonderful Filipino dishes and talked about them as we ate. We had a chicken dish, and rice, and a wonderful oriental type vegetable chicken dish as well. She laid low on spicy stuff...which I appreciated, and so did Robert and Sallie. :)

Before we left that nite, I asked Amy if she would close in prayer..in her own language. So she prayed in Tagalog. It was such a wonderful nite. Our own little m. festival.

Speaking of the Festival that Bent Tree will be having next week, I hope those of you in Carrollton are planning to attend. Wish we could be there. We'll be downloading the messages. I will probably cry but then I will be fine. :)

We love you all.
Mattie and The Gang

ps. Ramadan ends this week. Woo Hoo!!!! Shops will open and there will be food during the day...and we can drink water in public again. Please continue to pray for everyone who is truly seeking God during this time...that they find Him and follow Him. And that His love would shine thru believers everywhere.... Amen? Amen!

pss. we are trying to buy a car. pray we find one and then that the paperwork, etc. goes smoothly...just buying a toaster can be frustrating....:)

Crockpots at Carrefour

I managed to avoid shopping at the mall for a whole month. So, having recovered from mall overload from the first few weeks, I returned yesterday with Sallie and Robert. We needed to buy a regular phone in hopes that soon we will be able to use it. The kids and I hopped in the car and headed to Marina Mall(which you can see on the internet if you'd like).
Here's what we saw when we drove up....it took a minute to process what we were looking at...The entire front wall of glass, which is two stories high was covered in a wallpaper that looked like lattice work, with mosque type windows cut out across the top. Yes, you guessed it...the mall is decorated for Ramadan...I couldn't tell if it was to resemble a mosque or a palace. The doors all had arches placed in front of them as did the escalators, which also had the lattice paper decorating their glass sides. It was actually quite pretty, but again, very surprising when one isn't expecting it. :)

We did find a phone, but even better than that...I found a crockpot! Big deal, you say??? Well, let me tell you, it is!! My friend Mary has searched for one here for two years! I called her and she was headed over to get one. I also called my new friend Debbie who was also very excited and she wants to get one, too. What can I say? Little things make us happy. :) By the way, this is not just any crockpot with a silly little knob and two heat settings...nope, it is double sided so you can cook two different items at once and it is electronic with a time setting for how many hours and has an automatic warmer on it for when you are done cooking. Hah! Bet you are all jealous now.....:) Oh, yeah. and we got a normal old toaster.

One last interesting thing about the malls here and many of the stores...they have flat escalators. Sort of like airport walkways but they incline. This is so you can put your grocery carts on them when you change levels. The carts have ridged wheels to stick in the runners on the escalators....I tell you..it's a different world here. :)

Sallie wants to go to buy a jewelry for her phone so we are heading out. She converted the $$ she saved to Dirhams so now we need to go spend it. :) Jewelry for her phone..good grief..is she my child???? ( We'll do school when we get home...lest you are worried about SandylandISD, Mr. Pearce.)

Shop till you drop,
Mattie, Sallie and the guys....
ps. sorry about the pix, we'll figure it out...sometime.

Lions, tigers, and bears...Dubai!!

Ok, if this works right Sallie and I will have loaded pictures for the first time onto the blog. We don't know if it worked but we hope so.

Yesterday, we went to Dubai for the first time for a birthday party. Mike, Robert and I followed Mary who had a car full of 9-12 year old girls. (Hence the separate cars...) This was the neatest place. When you walk thru the Mall of the Emirates you come to this place that is decorated and set up like a ski lodge...:)( The money here is incredible. Yeesh.) So, anyway, this huge dome thing is actually a ski resort. Two or three runs on one side and then the other side is the Snow Park. At the entrnace to the Snow Park side there is an ice cave with ice carvings. Yep. Real ones. Polar bears, dragons, etc. Then there is the toboggan run, the tubing hill, and sleds to pull around plus places to climb for a view of the whole place. It is surrounded by floor to ceiling glass walls so you can watch from the mall and stay warm. It did cross my mind that at my age I may want to move into the Snow Park at certain times....there was a little igloo that looked quite cozy. :) The temp. stayed at -4 centigrade and felt quite comfortable. :)

After the snow time we all ate and then the girls shopped. We headed for home. Sallie said they stayed up until 3 am. She is kind of grumpy today. Imagine that. :) The drive to and from Dubai takes about an hour and a half...Until this road was built it took forever as there was no direct route. Once you are outside the cities over here there is nothing but sand for miles. Wow.

All in all it was nice to get out of Abu Dhabi. Ryan didn't get to come as he had a dinner with the youth group. I'm sure we will go again. By the way, as we drove into Dubai I was amazed to see an entire city...think Manhattan island under construction..buildings everywhere, tower cranes everywhere yet none of these buildings is occupied yet. Most of them are at different stages of construction..It is like the whole city is a job site. Mary said you never know if you will be on the same roads because they are always moving them around with the construction. I mean it was AMAZING. We've heard that 30 percent of the world's tower cranes are in Dubai...I believe it.

Hope you are all doing well.
Blessings,
Mattie, Mike, Ryan, Sallie and Robert

Little Things

Ok, so over the last few days I have smiled about several things...and now is a good time to share them. I am in the middle of cooking dinner but if I don't get this down I know you will never hear them.

So, I'm at my new friend Rebecca's house that they just built. Here they are called villas but don't let the fancy name fool you...Don't get me wrong. It's a beautiful "looking" house but... not a single window in the house is the same size as any other one. Including the ones that are in the same window space...the one that opens may be one size and the other is different. She said, "I think they just measure an empty space and fit in a window." I had to smile when I noticed that even the windows on either side of the french door that opens to the deck(with a beautiful view of the Arabian Gulf) are both different sizes. Is it any wonder my sweet, engineering husband is going nuts??? This does not even cover the gaps between doors and door frames, or plumbing that really isn't fitting just right...Mike said "They grab the closest pipe and say..'this fits'...:)"

(Ok, so I know we need to realize it is different..not wrong, but actually, in construction I think it's ok to say...uhhh..this is wrong. Otherwise buildings fall down.....)

I also had a laugh when Mary and Rebecca were talking about the weather. "Rebecca, you remember last winter when we had that horrible sandstorm?" I just stared at Mary and started laughing...Picture Marganne and I sitting down and saying...Hey you remember that horrible sandstorm last year? Sandstorm just did not compute in my head. :)

And just a few minutes I sent Mike and Robert to the Mar Mar grocery store...little grocer man across the street for salad stuff and an onion and some garlic. Well they did not come home with lettuce cuz he doesn't have it today but they did come home with a BAG of garlic cloves! Yep, he sells apples individually, and onions and cucumbers but not garlic. Folks, I can count on one hand how many garlic cloves I have used in MY WHOLE LIFE and it is less than the EIGHT in this bag! What in the heck am I gonna do with all of this garlic? So I just chuckled and stuck them on the counter. Maybe I will give them to my new friends like you do when you have a garden...which I have never had either....:)

Tomorrow I am going on a bus tour with new moms from Ryan's school. Not new moms as in babies...:) Sallie and Robert are coming with me. It should be a fun field trip. We are going to have lunch at the Equestrian Club. I think it will be fun.

Well, dinner is ready. We are going to eat and then take Ryan to his Small Group. They start tonite.

Will write more soon.

Shoes

It's Friday morning. We are waking up to get ready for church. It is still kind of strange to be going on Fridays and not Sundays. Our week has had lots of ups and downs. Or maybe not ups..but normals and downs. :) Work is in constant change for Mike. He is moving to a different project but what it is exactly is unclear. This has been very stressful for all of us. Several times we felt like packing our bags and heading home. There are days.....

On the other hand, the weather is starting to cool down a bit. Evenings are nicer...not a big change but still, cooling down. Ryan got to go to Dubai with the volleyball team. I didn't have to do any shopping except for food. The Beth Moore study is going well. Robert is starting to click with his AWANA group. Mike and I are getting to know some folks. All in all, some things are feeling normal now.

The other evening Sallie, Robert and I took a walk along the beach promenade...called the Corniche. We were looking for some of the playgrounds that are dotted thru the parks by the beach. On the way to the beach we passed one of our 4 neighborhood mosques. A few pairs of sandals were lined up outside the door. It was nearly an hour later when we returned to our building, passing the same mosque. There were hundreds and hundreds of shoes covering the sidewalk and stacked on the front wall...hundreds.... I felt this overwhelming sadness wash over me. It was like the air had been knocked out of me. I think I was already becoming comfortable with my surroundings but God used this to knock me back. While we finished our walk I prayed for the men who went there to pray that nite. That they would find the God whom they earnestly seek. I hope I never forget the picture of those shoes. There are many here who celebrate Ramadan like we do Easter or Christmas...it's the thing to do. But some truly yearn to know God. Please pray with us that many will have their eyes opened to see Him. By the way, apparently the shoes didn't affect Robert the same way...His observation was "Wow, Mom, how do they find their own shoes?! ":)

We're home from church. It was nice because we actually had people to talk to as we left the building. Just like the old days with Sallie and Robert rolling their eyes at us....But...it wasn't all me. Just so you know!!!!! We couldn't drag Mike away. :)

Have a great weekend.

One month in...

Today at the Beth Moore study that I am enjoying...one of the gals shared how strange it must have been when everyone started speaking in different languages all at once. You know, you're in the middle of buying bread or whatever and BAM you don't understand what they start to say. It made me smile. It really must have been amazing. I wanted to pipe up with one of my "i think i am so funny" comments...like, that's how Mike feels everytime he is in a meeting and boom..they switch from semi-English to Arabic, but they don't know me and may not like my sense of humor. :)

We have television. The guy just left. We still don't have phone but we are closer. There is a phrase here...NQR...it means Not Quite Right. Very much like my Almost blog from a few days ago. My dishwasher continues to be a mystery to us. We have all the instruction manuals except for English, or even Spanish...so I have been trying to read the Italian one and even looked at the German..nope, not so much. It is hit or miss every time we try and run it. Either it runs without drying or it goes for nearly 2 hours, or whatever. :) I just want clean dishes. :)

The other nite was fun. I went over to the apt. of a British schoolteacher who has lived here for 4 years. I met her thru this small group Mike and I are in with our friends the Kinneys and several others. Her name is Helena and she is so sweet. She invites new teachers to her place every year to get to know them. A couple of weeks ago she mentioned that she just was weary and really didn't want to do it this year....I told her that I would come over and help. I am so glad I did. I met 4 other Brits and we laughed and had real tea...like in a teapot and everything....and I understood about every other word. :) We laughed about that, too. It was so fun. I drove them home to their "flats" and we all agreed that is was a great nite. Helena is a young gal...just turned 30, who has lived overseas for 8 years. She has such a heart for the Lord.

Mike, meanwhile, went out with the rest of our group to celebrate a couple of birthdays. They had Iranian food(very similar to the Lebanese food we had the other nite) and then laughed and talked till 10:30 or so. He beat me home but the rest of the gang went back to a home and played games till 12:30. We aren't quite there yet. Hah.!

Ryan has a meeting tonite about a trip to Bangladesh with Habitats for Humanity. You can pray for him. The trip is in November. I hope it all works out. He is going to check out playing in a Rugby club tomorrow. Very big sport here...lots of South Africans play and they are always looking for folks.

Robert is doing AWANA, but Sallie decided not to do it. She may help with the Sparks. We are all finding our way...and learning more and more about trusting.

I'll leave you with this from my Ladies Study last week. This gal who was doing the devotion and is new to Abu Dhabi shared from a book called Managing Transitions...3 questions....What are you going to hold on to? What are you going to let go of? and What are you going to reach for? I've been pondering her words....I'll let you know when I figure out my answers.

Kaballah Boomadan...town

Let me just say that I am so glad we didn't miss this. We are quietly sitting in our "flat" having experienced our first day of Ramadan...when Boom! boom! vibrates thru the room....2 blocks away, on the beach, are the biggest set of fireworks we have ever seen. Yep. bigger than Kaboom town, or Fair Park... They were set up in four different locations on the beach...and set off in sync. If we weren't standing there watching them we might have thought we were getting bombed. No kidding. It was beautiful and loud. Poor westerners...we stood there with our mouths hanging opened. It was so fun. Ryan did notice that there was no red, white and blue. :)

Things were very quiet for most of the day. Restaurants are closed until dusk. People stay inside during the day and then come out at nite. Stores are opened until 3 am. It is almost like a month long Christmas day. Gifts are exchanged...nite after nite of family and friends and food. Very interesting and we are learning a lot. We have been told that toward the end of the month people are very irritable. It is hot so I imagine that adds to the irritation. Ryan's school hours are from 8:30 until 2pm. Mike came home at 3. For the whole month everything runs on a shortened schedule.

Will keep you posted on what we learn and experience this month.
Miss you all.
M,M,R, S and R

Sept. 11

Woke up today. Took Ryan to school. On the way I said to him...today is Sept. 11. "Yeah...I know," he said, "Wonder if they will mention it at school. Probably not." But we are thinking about it. Such a day in the US but just another day over here. Very surreal.

Still feeling a bit surreal in a lot of ways. Like the Ladies Bible Study I attended yesterday. I have always wanted to do a Beth Moore study so I am taking one over here. It's about the Tabernacle and she has just redone it. Anyway, there are 27 women in the study and although there are several from different countries, the surreal part is that about 8 of us are from Texas! :) Mostly Houston...and mostly oil..but still, kind of fun to meet other Texans. I am looking forward to the Study.

Today I will go to our church and meet the ladies there. It is the kick off brunch for the fall studies. Sallie and Robert will work on school here and then I will work with them when I get home...so Sandyland ISD is still on track. The computer curriculum we are using is working well for us, although next year I would like to try and get them in school here.

Because the setting up house stuff is about done...(except a phone) things are slowing down and both Mike and I are hitting that "we really miss our friends" wall. As are the kids. Please pray for us. We are plugging in and all but it is still not home. You can't replace what we had there...and especially not in 3 weeks.

Love you all.
Mattie

Charades

Yesterday Mike and I took Sallie and Robert to the beach. One of the other Project Directors from Hill invited several Hill employees and their families to a beach party. It was very nice...and a much needed break from shopping. (Ryan didn't come because he went to the first youth group meeting at church...another story...) Anyway, we swam in water that was about hot tub temp. and then felt much cooler when we got out. One of the ladies from the office planned games. My favorite was charades...How can I describe this? First of all, about 12 adults and kids jumped up to play...no shyness here. Most were filipino or indian. All of them with big smiles and 100 percent participation. Sallie played too. They did movies....nobody remembered to say how many words, everyone pretty much talked while acting it out...and generally if one was guessed it was a total fluke. Mike and I laughed..but not rudely. My favorite part though was when Mike leaned over and said..."This is what it's like at the office everyday...." I'm still chuckling. So thankful my sweet hubby has not lost his sense of humor...and believe me, sometimes it is hard to laugh.

Take today for instance...We have spent over 8 hours trying to get our phone set up. Had to buy a desktop computer, Ryan and Mike set it up and voila..it didn't work. So, Mike and i went back to my favorite place...the Mall...and tried to return it. We went to the customer service place by the electronic section. Waited in line. And then we were told that the place to return it was on the other side of the store...opposite of the electronics..ok. So we wait in line for about 50 minutes. When Mike gets up there they unpack the whole box and plug it in. There are several people around waiting, the service return place is a small room..and they plug it in. Apparently, after we were told to come back in another 30 minutes while they fixed it and rebooted it, BECAUSE they needed to use a diptor...no, wait, that must be an ADAPTOR cuz it doesn't work without it...Hmmm....Ok....Next time it would be nice if they told a customer that WHEN they bought it...but oh well. Now, Mike is still working on it...but soon we should be done.

So, we ALMOST have a phone. Yee hah. :)

Early Friday Morning

It's the early morning here...I woke up just before the first call to prayer. I like the silence of the city in the early mornings. Just the odd car or two on the street...the buildings all dark. A different place in the early mornings.

Last nite we went to ACS-the American Community School-where Ryan attends. They hosted a New Family Dinner. Mistakenly and narrowsightedly I assumed they'd serve something American. :) Why do we assume those things? I think of myself as you know...big worldview, international and all that...but still, my first thought was maybe they will serve hamburgers. :) Nope, it was not hamburgers. It was little shish kbobs, and a very flavorful rice, and veggies, and some breaded chicken. It was very tasty and very international, which is what that school is...very international.. There was another Hildebrand there..definitely original Germans..not like us, a mixed breed. :)..and Jordanians, Indonesians, Texans, New Yorkers, South Africans, French,etc, etc. It's overwhelming and energizing all at the same time.

Speaking of food, night before last we took the family to dinner at a Lebanese restaurant...The Lebanonese Flower(as you can see the cooking thing comes in spurts...I've enjoyed not cooking for a couple of days...:)). It was very tasty. A huge platter of grilled meats, a bottomless basket of pita bread and an appetizer of fresh vegetables(which are ok to eat here...water is desalinized so much safer for weak American digestive tracks) and mint tea after dinner. Memories of Morocco all over the place....For a second we thought Sallie was eating a pigeon wing, as they had pigeon on the menu, but darn it! it was just a chicken wing...Wish you could have seen her face for those few seconds of unknown....priceless.

Today the kids classes start at church...technically it is what we call Sunday school but since we attend church on Friday..they just call the classes Explorers. We are invited to a company beach party this afternoon. I am looking forward to that as well. Hope it's sunny...hah! First time it rains here I'm out there in it!

Blessings!

Almost

So, we have our friend Dennis over for dinner last nite. We asked him if we were to have a bench built for our corner window would it be done right? He smiled and said Almost. This made us laugh because that is exactly what we had been talking about earlier.

You see, our new speakers had blown out and we took them to be fixed at this store that had been recommended to us. The guy fixed them easy as could be...and we were thrilled. Well, when Mike and Ryan went to set them up again...Wouldn't you know the guy fixed it, but then put the back on upside down...it was fixed..Almost. And my washer/dryer...well, the dryer still vents into the ceiling...they never fixed it...so it runs...Almost. Our stove top has 3 burners that work... So, you get the picture.

Tonight we had a sidetable/buffet delivered...in pieces. They put it together in the apt. It's a pretty piece made of mahogany that we are using for a TV table. The guy worked two or more hours putting it together, even assembling the drawers right here. All except for the 3 last handles. Didn't have all the parts. And we wanted holes in the back piece for cords, etc. So after two hours he said he'd be right back. Hmmmm...we sat there and waited for 2 hours. Both Mike and Ryan said he wouldn't be back with the parts to finish...I said, give them until 10pm and then I'll say they aren't coming....I love this part...at 9:50 the doorbell rings and there is a different guy with the rest of the parts. ( I loved the look on their faces!) So he puts the drawer handles on and then begins to put the holes in the back with the wrong kind of saw and rips of the wood on the back panel. We have a lovely TV cabinet...Almost. They are supposed to come back with the new back to put on. We'll see. May end up like the dryer. Oh well.

We also bought a beautiful carved bookcase that was delivered today. We think they just finished staining it before they brought it over. Our books are on it with pictures from home. We are nearly done shopping. Amen and amen.

It's starting to feel more like home...Almost.

Response from Mike to Darren's Pants issues

One would have thought that the zipper on the side would have tipped him off.

Internet, Internet, Internet

Dare I say that Mike's face lit up like Highland Park at Christmas this morning? The internet guy came and we are all set up!! Mike even danced into Ryan's room to tell him...(yes, he danced). (Ryan is home sick today from school..I'm not sure the dancing helped much, but the internet did!:)) So we are now connected.

Sallie's bed also showed up yesterday. and the tv. We are almost done with the house setting up thing. I for one will be very glad to be done shopping...:) Once I figure out how to cook on this very slow stovetop we will be ready for guests. That's if I can figure out more than 3 recipes to make. Ryan did help with dinner last nite...found a good recipe and I went and searched out the ingredients. That's the hard part. It took us about 2 hours in the kitchen to prepare dinner...ummmm...that ranks right up there with shopping for me. But it was fun to cook with Ryan. Maybe there is a Super Suppers or Dinner Station around here. It's a thought. :)

(In closing, may I address Darren Ford's blog of recent days? If you have not read the most recent of his blogs...fordsinbulgaria.org....you may want to check them out....but take them with a grain of salt. He is WAYYYY more competitive than me...and he definitely wins in the pants contest. Really, I am fine with that. I will say that it was one of my finer moments though...Especially when I discovered my pants were on inside out while we were sitting in the bank and Mike had his nice suit on...etc. etc.)

So, praise the Lord for internet. Will write more as it happens.
With love from Sandyland.....
Mattie, Mike, Ryan, Sallie and Robert

Hurray!

Ok, so my washer is working now! We still have a slight problem with the dryer..It is vented into the kitchen ceiling. but we do have a washer!!

Sallie and Robert and I went to a movie yesterday...after we went shopping for rugs...sigh. We saw Nancy Drew and it was very relaxing. Not the best movie ever but definitely a nice break. Hardest part was coming out of the theater and realizing we were halfway around the world. Still, it was fun.

I now have curtains up in our bedroom and Sallie's. Just a bit longer and we may be settled. The sheets are getting a bit old. :)

The Elevator

No, still no internet or washer but please remember to thank the Lord for Jeff and Mary and their kind, generous hearts...as here I am again...doing laundry and using their computer. :)

On our way out to the car today I actually met someone on the elevator...It is very rare to see other people in our apt. building for some reason. Her name is June Ko (my spelling) and I think she may be from Korea. We smiled at each other and I asked her how long she has been here. She said she was very new...only two weeks. I laughed and said.."Us, too!" She gave me a beautiful smile. Perhaps a new friend.

Yesterday we spent the day at the Beach with Jeff and Mary...(can you tell we rely on them?) and it was so relaxing. That evening we went to IKEA again to buy curtains...good thing we had some down time at the beach cuz IKEA was a beating...again. :) We did find some curtains to use for Sallie's room. She is doing a brown and turquoise theme for her room. She wants a swing chair to put in the corner(thanks Luella) and we are dreading it cuz the roof is cement block....That will be fun to hang. After we find a rug for Robert's room he will be done. He has a great raised bunk bed with a desk underneath and his own half bath. His room is small but just right for him.

Slowly but surely...new friends, new place...we are getting there. We love you all. Mattie

Our new friends, Jeff and Mary invited us over today after church to catch up on our emails and stuff... Sallie and Robert are playing with their kids. So, I thought I would take a minute to update the Blog. Jeff and Mary are the couple that saved Mike's sanity when they offered their house to stay in while they were in the US. They have a dog and this makes Sallie very happy. :)

The sermon today...our first service here in Abu Dhabi was called Lord, I've Got Another Problem...it was from Isaiah and he preached on Hezekiah. It made me laugh though cuz just last nite Mike said, "Mattie, everytime I think we have a problem solved something else goes wrong." :) He's right, you know.

We had our washer installed finally last nite. It took 4 hours and 5 guys to put it in....and then they all left and I went to finally do some laundry and we noticed that it took forever for the tub to fill. OOPS the water was draining as we were filling the tub...so no laundry yet. We will call the guy again. And then the phone Mike got Ryan isn't working. Just got that yesterday. Ok, so we are still trying to get internet and the company says there are no ports. So just what does that mean exactly...well, we will let you know when we figure it out.

But, on the plus side...Sallie's new phone works and she is a happy preteen...a pink Razor phone. The sink is no longer draining onto my feet...another plus. And the guy who is going to fix my stovetop also came by and will soon install my new burner so that I don't throw a breaker whenever I use that burner. See, things are also going well....just sort of a two steps forward and one step backwards. :) Ryan likes school and has good teachers. Our apt. is bright and sunny. We have beds and furniture. And we are really making friends with our building maintenance guy. :) Oh, and Robert got to have Dunkin Donuts today before church. Just like Texas.

Speaking of church....our first Friday service. I love the international feel...filipinos, chinese, indians, americans, south africans, british, germans, and so on....It was cool. (Well, not cool in the temp. sense but very fun to be worshipping with so many different believers) We were a bit late so came down to the front of the room...about the size of E122 at Bent Tree and the music started. We were all standing...Mike, Robert, and Ryan up front and Sallie and I just behind....I saw Ryan lean over to Mike and quickly they both sat down. Not a soul behind them could see the overhead...It was like standing behind a wall. I smiled as I remembered April Burk always telling Mike to move over cuz she couldn't see the screens. :) So the boys sat thru all the music...:) My friend Mary said that 17 different congregations meet in that building. As we were leaving the filipino congregation was coming in...and after them the indian church and then there is the Ethiopian group and the Chinese...and so on. I keep thinking of that song...He Reigns...

So, that was our first service. When you guys are at church on Sunday, Ryan will be at school and Mike will be at work...well, not really, as we will be done with our day by the time you go to church but still it is strange to not go to church on Sundays. By the way, we went to Fuddruckers for burgers after church. Kind of fun, huh?

Community

I don't have much time but before we move over to the apt. and are out of touch I wanted to share something I was reading this morning. If I don't do it now I may forget it....surely not. :) Life is lived in the community of family and friends, and friends of friends, and they all help each other in the business of everyday life. Beautiful, huh? This is from the book...Miniskirts, Mothers and Muslims by Christine Mallouhi on describing Arab family culture. But I know it is our culture too.... because I just lived it for 16 years in Carrollton, TX. We are so blessed. Ok, on with our day....Hope we have internest soon. :) Mattie

Black Ice

I'm wondering how many folks are reading these...but I am having fun writing them.

Bet this title caught your attention...So, this morning I'm rushing out the door to meet Mike at the American School for our early appointment. I have all the paperwork for all 3 kids in one hand and the car keys in the other. The housekeeper and her husband were cleaning the patio. Now, before you jump ahead...take note here...I DID see the water on the brown tile at the bottom of the patio steps...at the bottom of the white marble patio steps...Yep! Feet went out and I landed smack on my bottom. Oh my goodness..my rear still hurts but thankfully I didn't crack my head open or break a bone. Paperwork got slightly wet but still legible. Looks like they also have room for Ryan but don't know yet for sure. I think that school would be a good fit. And now I know to be careful around water and marble. I never once slipped on black ice in Texas. :)

Ryan and I tried Mexican food at a different Mall yesterday. We had Quesadillas. Not bad actually, and the Guacamole was pretty good. Sallie and Robert did not join us at the mall because they are so malled out that they couldn't be forced into coming. Can't say that I blame them.

Watched television last nite. The History Channel. Jesus' Jerusalem. Kept thinking that maybe we will get to go there. It is still quite surreal being in this part of the world. Sometimes I look out the window of this home and see the palm trees and it hits me..wow, after 4 years we are here. It is western in so many ways and then it isn't.

Today Ryan and I ventured to another curtain store. I just want simple but ornate seems to be more popular. Maybe blinds is the way to go. Sigh.

Tomorrow we move to our apt. We don't know when we will have internet so keep checking back for my next entry. Hopefully it won't take too long.

I'll write when I can.
Mattie

A Week Ago Today...

Can it only be a week ago that we headed to the airport with most of our luggage and a zillion wonderful friends? Well, technically, since you are 9 hours earlier, it hasn't been a week..but here it is Wed. so I'm counting it. :)

In this week I said good-bye to my oldest son, flew halfway around the world, reunited with the best guy in the world, shopped until I could puke, slept tons, cooked a couple of meals..nothing fancy but at least edible, drove in a foreign country without crashing, beat my second son at pool and Scrabble, played the longest game of UNO on record with Sallie and Robert, blogged for the first time, talked to numerous salesmen without understanding a word...and they are supposedly speaking English, had a guest over for dinner,....slept some more, and checked into schools.

Our first week in a nutshell. Today Ryan wants to explore...and not at a mall. Oh boy. Friday we move into our apt. Don't know when we will have internet. Ryan tests for school on Sunday. Please keep him in your prayers!

Lots of love,
Mattie

I'm Driving....

Yep...I am. Drove to the grocery store with the kids. Didn't have money to buy groceries so we toured and then I took them home. Mike called and said I could use my visa card. Drove back to the store and shopped. Got into check out line...forgot that I didn't have my Card with me. Drove back home...got the card....bought the groceries...drove home. Is it any wonder that I forgot two suitcases in Texas? On the positive side...didn't back into anything or lock my keys in the car. So I paid 70 dollars for about 40 dollars worth of food...oh well. At this stage in the game I am just glad we are eating! (and we recognize the food....) (have yet to try camel's milk...can't say it is high on the list)(have also not even seen a camel yet....)

Ok, so we are still furniture shopping. Thought we found our couch and stuff tonite but Mike thought we should bargain cuz they respect that kind of stuff...ummm..nope the guy didn't even bother to respond. Oops. We will probably go back and buy it anyway but it is kind of humbling. :)

Mike and I also went to one of the schools today. They have room for Ryan but not for Sallie and Robert. So we will try the other school on Wednesday. We will see.

Well, it is getting my bedtime. Thanks everyone for your support and love. By the way, looks like we may get our missing luggage sooner than we thought. Some friends of ours who we met thru the Hones are coming back at the end of August and have offered to help us. What a wonderful blessing. The Hones are getting the stuff to them. You know, this has sure been a group effort...in more ways than one. :)

Love, Mattie

Day 2...Shopping

Although we didn't get to finish everything....we did have fun shopping. Ok, FUN may be a strong word here...but we were together and did get a lot of our stuff. We went to the UAE Walmart which is Carrefour and to IKEA. Both of these stores are in the Marina Mall. Huge, beautiful...and very North Dallas. :)
I'm not sure my kids will get the whole third world thing from living here...In many ways it's just like home....Jaguars, Porshes, Mercedes, expensive stores, beautiful buildings and so on....but then you hear the groaning cry of the Imam calling the faithful to prayer or you walk by another set of women dressed from head to toe in black...with only their eyes showing above their scarves.... And then I am reminded that God called us here.

Pictures from yesterday.....the Abu Dhabi Port with an oil platform right in front of me. Must be here for maintenance...huge. The skyline of the city as we looked at it from the other side of the bay...the most amazing buildings I have ever seen..they are really into architecture....The Marina Mall....Lunch with just Mike and me at the Expat hangout in the very Western type grocery store and drining the best Choc. Shake I have ever had.....Shopping for beds and spending all day to come home with nothing....Ryan asking for local food for dinner...He and Mike ate Swarmas..a sort of lamb wrap.

And then the last picture...but one I will hopefully never forget....Smiling at a Muslim woman wrapped in black and her total shock and double take when she saw me smile. It is very difficult to smile at someone wrapped in black with only eyes showing but I decided I needed to start somewhere. Perhaps a smile can communicate Christ's love.

Here's to a new day in Sandyland....Please keep us in your prayers.
With love,
Mattie

First Impressions

It is HOT here! As Ryan and I stood by the baggage waiting for Mike, Sallie and Robert to bring the car around...his exact words were..."Mom, I have never been this hot and it's midnite!" I must agree. :)

Trip over went well. The Dallas Frankfurt leg was a beating but we managed. Poor Ryan had to eat his knees for the 10 hours but other than that we did well. Sallie and Robert crashed in the airport and I had to literally shake them awake....I was jealous, what can I say?

Spent our first day...sleeping in. Then Mike and I ran back to the airport to pick up a forgotten suitcase. When we got out of the car to walk to the terminal I once again commented on the heat. Mike mentioned "Oh yeah, we always walk in the shade...." I quickly moved under the awning...and then laughed....still really, really hot(not sure what I was hoping for there...my normal optimism kicking in????) After picking up the suitcase we went back to the house where we are so thankful to be staying and picked up the kids.

We went to see our apt. It is great! Cheerful and although small compared to our home n Dallas, it will be just right for us. Marble floors and bright white and cream walls. Lots of light and from one window in the living room we can see the Persian Gulf. I find that amazing... The kitchen has plenty fo cabinet space which surprised surprised me and a nice dish washer...Yee Hah.

We visited the Abu Dhabi Mall. Pretty much find anythng you need. Which for that trip was clothes for Ryan as we left his suitcase in Bonnie's living room. Ummm, where were my friends with brains when I really needed them??? Hmmm? Good thing Bonnie is coming in Sept. Good grief. I am just glad I got here with all three kids..and so is Mike, by the way. It was wonderful to see his tall self when we walked out of the baggage area. Smiling and waving.

We had Pizza Hut and Baskin Robbins for a late lunch or early dinner. Mike said today it will be Indian Curry to give Robert a taste of reality. :) He talks big but I figure it will be Mcdonalds.....I'll let you know.

Gee, it's 5:30 am. Just finished trying to get the kids to go back to sleep...Robert just came in to sit with me. Ryan and Sallie are trying to sleep again. Ahhh yes. Jet lag is a beautiful thing. We've all been up since about 4am. Ugh.

I don't want to get all mushy but let me just say how much all of you mean to us. To know you are praying. The memories of all of you at the airport. The incredible help we had this summer. Ok, I am getting mushy but it has to be said. We love you all. Please keep praying. Today we shop for furniture. And you know how I lovvvveeeee shopping. Sigh. :)

Missing all of you, but glad to be here. Hardest thing? Missing Russell.
Love, Mattie (for the Abu Dhabi Hildebrands)

The inaugural post

Well, this is Russell setting this up for his lovely mom, I hope ya'll enjoy it.