Parties and Carnivals

Friday Robert and I joined my friend Tanja and her two boys at their school carnival. Robert and the boys played some games...beanbag toss, arm wrestling, wet sponge toss, and stuff like that. I wanted Robert to get to know her boys and plus I got to spend time with Tanja(from Serbia). We have fun together. By the way, at the carnival they even had a camel race. Not your everyday school carnival. :)

We had Sallie's birthday party yesterday. Some of her friends will be gone next weekend so we wanted to be sure all of them could make it. We did manicures at Violet Flower Salon and then went to the mall for Papa Johns Pizza and Baskin Robbins ice cream. Mike and Robert and Ryan stayed away...imagine that. :) Mike was tired anyway because he woke up Sat. morning at 3:30 to watch basketball with his friend Brad who went to Davidson. Brad was happy and so was I when I heard the Horns are still in it. :)

This week we are wrapping up some school before Spring Break . We are excited because on Sunday we will be heading to Istanbul to see our friends the Palmquists for a few days. I have wanted to go there for a long time. I can't wait!

Middle East Easter

Feeding the camels on the way to the desert picnic. Sallie and Robert playing on the dunes.

Below..Church Easter picnic. Bottom right...Me, Nadia and her daughter Rachel at Friday breakfast after church.

It's Sunday morning and our Easter is over. Mike is ready for work and I have started my day. We had a very nice weekend though...albeit it is strange not going to Easter services today. Actually, we could have gone early this morning to a sunrise service but we just couldn't get out of bed. (pretty lame, i know...) Yesterday we were went to a desert picnic with some friends of ours and we were beat this morning.

So the weekend began with Good Friday church. When the guests stood up to say their names and country of origin, we had people from Malaysia, Phillipines, Myanmar(Burma), South Africa, Korea, and Nigeria. I love that. You could hear the different accents as we sang "Christ the Lord is risen today..." Pangs of homesickness did wash over me. I can't deny that, especially when the special music was Via Dolorosa...lots of memories from Tres Dias. But it was beautiful and kind of cool to be here and sing of the Resurrection...Loud and clear. I love that.

After church we joined our friends the Philips for lunch. We originally wanted to have brunch but the hotels closed their brunch lines at 10:30 and we got there at 10:40..so they don't serve again until 12:00...I confess we were all a bit frustrated but we headed to a little place that was serving breakfast still..The only place in the city. :) We all had a nice time together. Tom and Nadia have been so kind to us. (Good grief...everyone here has been great...) She had Mike and the kids over when I was in the States at Thanksgiving with my mom and sister. According to Mike she is a great cook. :)

Friday evening we had an all-church Easter egg hunt at a park in the city. A new couple was there. She arrived 3 weeks ago. She is from Chiapas, Mexico...he is Palestinian from Lebanon...but both have lived in the US forever. Two young boys and they homeschool. The best part is they live around the corner from us. Lots of the homeschool moms were at the picnic so she got to meet them and connect. This is her first foray into the realm of homeschooling so she was relieved to see she wasn't alone. :) He works at a bank here...in the Islamic finances department or something like that. I think that will be a very cool place to work. Considering his background and all...enough said.

Saturday was off to the desert. We joined Brad and Sharon Kerr and some friends of theirs from Kuwait. The gang went to Dune Bashing(SUVs driving up and down the dunes...sort of like fourwheeling but in big cars...:)) Sallie and Robert wanted to just play on the dunes so they stayed with Sharon and me at the picnic sight. Apparently, not long after the cars left, they got stuck....both of them. Ok, so middle of the desert...hmmm...BUT out of nowhere comes a local guy..Ali who knew exactly what to do and bam! they were free. He invited everyone back to his place where they had tea and met his wife and 8 kids. Got to watch them milk the camels, drink some camel milk and make new friends. Ali is from Abu Dhabi but that tent is their county retreat...you know, just like some folks have in Dallas, a place to get away from the city:). I don't have pictures yet, but I will soon. When they got back we started the grill, had our picnic and sat by the fire while we watched the moon rise over the sand dunes. It really was amazing. On the way back home we had sort of a detour...We're following Brad who was whipping thru this Camel farm community(the camel race track stables is our best guess) and he zips thru this one gate and WHOA we have just turned into the camel corral. I mean, there were a bunch of camels just staring at us...not to mention the camel guys who saw us go in their...I'm sure they were thingking..Where are those crazies going??? Backing up to get out Brad beeped at us...and Mike said why is he honking at me..Sallie looked back and said.."Oh, cuz you are about to back over a camel...":) The guy was just sitting their looking at us with VERY WIDE eyes. :) The fine is only about 80,000 dollars...actually we don't know but we are really glad we didn't need to find out.... Eventually we found our way thru the maze and arrived back home sandy but safe.

It was a wonderful Easter. Different for sure...but very special.

Robert just woke up...Time to go.

Blessings,

Mattie and the Gang

Arabic in the Park

I've been walking in the park every morning for the last week and a half or so. I decided that I better do this before the weather turns really hot. It's been beautiful lately. I could get used to this but everyone reminds me...DON'T! :)
It was such a pretty day yesterday that we had an Arabic lesson in the park. Our teacher, Boushra, had a joint class with all the homeschooling families in the park down the street. The children, all 12 of them, worked with Boushra and the moms worked with our friend Mary Jacobson who speaks Arabic very well. Jean Page and I didn't say a whole lot :) but it was fun to practice with everyone. Anytime we can be outside is a plus. We actually had to change parks from our original choice. Apparently it was closed for the day...It's next to one of the palaces and there must have been important things going on in there. We drove up and up the street came a military truck with a machine gun mounted on the top...right at us. I must say my heart started beating faster..They just told us to leave as it was closed for the day. :) Still, it was a bit scary for a second.
The kids wore green for St. Patrick's Day but it was pretty uneventful. The church will have a family picnic for Easter but it will be on Friday. Sunday is a work day. We are going to miss our Easter dinner with the Pearces...sigh...or our trip to Kansas with everyone...but we have made plans with some of our friends here. Maybe we'll all go to the desert for a picnic on Sat.
Happy Resurrection Sunday,
The Hildebrands

Flights

Some weeks I have so many things to write about while others are pretty routine. Well, routine...hmmm..maybe we are adjusting. :)
A big deal this week was getting our flights confirmed for our trip to the US. It is a relief. Jennifer and John Paine generously gave us their AA advantage miles..so Sallie and Robert and I will be flying back on those. This is an answer to prayer. Originally moving over here we thought to stay two years and then make a trip back...but after my dad and mom died I have felt this overwhelming yearning to return and be with family and friends there...especially my sister. And our family in Kansas. It's like I need to feel connected..I can't explain it even to myself so I won't try and write it out here. Getting the tickets was pretty funny...I called Jenn, who then called AA and we had this three way conversation..via our internet phone, her cell phone and the Groezingers land line (she was over there when I called...). I had one of those moments while we were talking...Jenn kept chatting with the gal...and asking questions..and I kept thinking Jenn, don't confuse her. Don't distract her. She won't get it right. Shhh...I almost laughed out loud when I realized that the gal she was talking to REALLY understood English. She could actually talk and work at the same time... Over here if you veer off the expected converstional path then you are totally lost...blank stares, deer in the headlights looks..and when I say veer off the path I mean like..change an order in a restaurant and say..no mayonnaise and only pickles on that burger...:) I was so relieved when I realized that this gal was able to talk about the weather and find flights at the same time. :)
So, we'll be in the States from June 17 to Aug. 5. Mike and Ryan will come later. Haven't got those figured out yet.
By the way, Ryan had a great time in Kuwait. They won first place in the basketball tournament. He is now planning his mission trip to Ethiopia in June. Oh boy.
Can't wait to see you.
Love, Mattie for the Gang

What a Week!

Wild Wadi..Tallest slide on the left...4 cold but happy kiddos.

Below and right..Global Village...

This is the second time I've tried to post this one. Something happened yesterday...so here I go again. :)

So much happened last week. On Saturday we joined a family for a trip to Global Village in Dubai. Global Village is kind of like a state fair with dishdashes(men's white robes) and abayas (women's black coverings)everywhere. There are rides for the kids and exhibit halls with goods from all over the world. We bought things from Nepal, Senegal, and Iran. The fun part was they were ready to bargain because it was the last day until Oct. when the Village will open again.

On Wed. I took the kids to Wild Wadi in Dubai. (There's a lot to do in Dubai...but oh the traffic..) My friend Rebecca had tickets and they were about to expire so we piled in the car and had a day of it. Wild Wadi is a water park with the tallest water slide in the world. No, I did not go down it...so don't ask..but I sure was proud of Sallie and Robert cuz they did!

Yesterday was fun, too. I had a last minute opportunity to join women from the city in a symposium with 5 local Emirati women sharing about their lives here. Later we toured the Women's Club that was donated by Sheikha Fatima. Many women were there demonstrating some of the hand crafts from the area...embroidery, weaving, henna, and others. The time flew by and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to talk one on one with a local gal thruout the morning. It was great.

And then today..went to church..and then the all church picnic in the park. We're beat but it's been such fun. We have begun to feel a part of the community here. So many people from all over the world.

Ryan returns on Sunday from basketball in Kuwait...Sure hope they are winning.:)

Hope you all have a nice weekend! We're going to relax!