Three Years In

Can it really be 3 years since we moved here?  That's what goes thru my head on some days. Then, on other days, it's more like Have we ever lived anywhere else?  :)  It was in August 2007, when Mike picked up his bedraggled family, some time after midnite, and drove us to the villa he where he was staying. People I never met opened their home to us until the following week when we moved into our 1400 square foot apt. in downtown Abu Dhabi.  And so it began...

Driving in a land filled with drivers from everywhere.(with lots of different opinions on how to get from one place to another...)
Eating new foods
Making new friends, then saying goodbye one or two years later
Attending church with believers from all over the world. One Friday when the visitors were introduced 12 different countries were represented..Nepal, China, South Africa, Philippines, Myanmar, Nigeria and more
Learning how to communicate in English with people who speak English but don''t understand it, because there are so many different people who speak different languages and work here that English is the working language.(If this sentence confuses you..welcome to our world.)
Having Burger King, Chilis, Texas Chicken(Church's Chicken but name is changed..:).. and others deliver to the door
Dry cleaninig delivers too. Good thing cuz Mike wears a suit every single day to work.
Parking at home in Texas was easy with at least 12 choices on any given day. For the last three years we have parked on barricades, by dumpsters, in major intersections, on crosswalks, up on sidewalks, and down the middle of street . Sometimes we just throw the hazard lights on and leave a phone number in the window to call. (Update on parking.Now it is all paid parking. Can't do any of the above mentioned parking solutions where the paid parking meters have been introduced.  Problem is there aren't enough spaces for all the cars. Hard to explain. Very frustrating. All would be solved if the apt. buildings had parking garages. We have one but it only has 10 spaces....)
Adjusting to a landscape that looked pretty much like Mars.  When Mike arrived by himself in July of 07 he really felt like he had landed on another planet.  Maybe Tatooine or something. Lots of desert and sand and then pockets of trees and lights.  Then you come over the bridge and see one of the biggest mosques in the world sometimes lit up in purple. Takes some adjusting.

Obviously I could go on and on..but you get the picture. Or at least some of it. Our lives changed a lot.  Perhaps one of the biggest changes is in Mike's world, though.  The professional, "try and get a job done", world.  It is definitely not limited to the construction world, though.  The challenges facing any professional are   immense.  It is way too complicated to explain here, and really, you wouldn't believe me.  I'll just give you one  example of  how it is.  Our friend mentioned that on his job sight they were having a rodent problem. Those large box traps were places all around the wall perimeter of the building.  The men came to lay the pavers for the sidewalk.  They cut each paver to fit around the mouse traps.  All around the building. Hmmm...It is not easy to do things here.  From the top executives to the paver guys, you could say there is something lost in translation.  :)

As I close, I want to tell you about the most recent great thing about living here.  It's being closer to Russell. He just spent 10 days here with us.  His office had some training in Dubai so he came early. He attended the training and then came back to our place for a couple more days. We all got to hug on him and hear his story.   We were able to meet his coworkers and have dinner with them.  What a blessing.  Now, were we still living in Dallas with our 12 parking places, and green grass and trees, we would have missed that. Somethings are just irreplaceable!        

I wonder how the next three years will look?  :)

Back Home

3500 year old cedar tree.

Robert looks out over the valley.

The day Russell was leaving.

While we were in Lebanon I had  many fun ideas for my blog.  Now I am finding it hard to write.  We visited amazing places and were stunned by the beauty of the countryside, as well as the friendliness and hospitality of the Lebanese people.  I even daydreamed about actually owning a vacation home near our friends so we could return there regularly.  Having all 6 of us together in such a wonderful place was a dream come true for this mom.

Russell and Mike left after the first week.  Ryan stayed until July 31st then returned to Abu Dhabi.  Sallie, Robert and I flew home on August 6th.  Naturally touring the ancient ruins and the cedar forests was beautiful. Walking the streets of Beirut, seeing bullet holes from the civil war was thought provoking and sobering. The new buildings and restored areas, however, gave cause for hope.   Many days we just hung out in Dhour Choueir( our host Anwar's boyhood town) and played games, took walks,  laughed and talked.  With 30 people there(6 families) there was lots to talk about and lots of meals to prepare. :) The town itself is several hundred years old.  One night Anwar and his sweet mom showed me an old part of the village...from the 1500s, or so.   If the walls could talk.....

So you see, I have so many great ideas for my blog. But then, when I got home, I got a call from Russell.   It was Saturday and he told me how his good friend had been killed in the countryside of Afghanistan, working in a clinic.  What does a mom say to her boy when he shares news like that?  I am afraid I failed miserably. No great theological truths...just tears and wishes that I could hold him again like I used to when he was a boy and needed a hug.  And what about this young man's parents? And all the other people who lost loved ones that day?  I guess we just keep leaning in...leaning into His arms.  Trusting. Knowing that in the end there is victory.  There is joy.