San Fransisco in September

Big ships at Fisherman's Wharf.

Chatting and laughing on the way to Alcatraz.

Last spring Mike and I pretty much invited ourselves to an anniversary trip with our dear friends Pat and Darren and Mark and Marganne.  Little did we know that between the time we hatched that idea and the scheduled San Fransisco celebration, we would change jobs and move countries.  For weeks it was touch and go. I even think that there was a bet on whether we would be there or not.  By the time September 20th rolled around we were more than ready to get on that plane and take a breather. After jumping thru hoops and meeting friends who would be here for Sallie(she stayed here in Doha) , and travelling for about 25 hours we landed at DFW.  Early Saturday morning we were on another plane to beautiful San Fransisco ready for 6 days of laughter, good friends, and great memory making. And that is exactly what we had.

All my life my mom talked about her favorite city in the world..San Fransisco.  I can remember her breaking into song "I Left My Heart in San Fransisco..."  I would roll my eyes and smile. She loved that city. They moved there in High School and that is where she met my dad. He was visiting his parents who lived across the street from Grandma and Grandpa Brown.  They were engaged before he left town, and married 3 months later.  As Mike and I and our friends trooped up and down those amazing streets my mind constantly wondered if mom and dad had been there. Did Dad have a drink at the Top of the Mark with  his war buddies?  A tradition apparently going back to World War II before soldiers shipped out that still happens today.  Did he and mom walk along Fisherman's Wharf?  Celebrate the New Year down there? Where the prisoners of Alcatraz could hear their laughter?  I remember how mom would laughingly say how Dad was the only man in the world who would eat steak on Fisherman's Wharf.  I had a hamburger. :) When we got back from our trip I wrote to my Aunt Sally...Maybe she can answer my questions. I hope so. She and Mom had fun there. She will know.

After touring SF we headed to Napa and Sonoma Valleys.  It was so peaceful. We stayed in a 3 bedroom house on a creek.  Tasted wines, ate great food, laughed and talked for three days. I could feel the tension melt away.  I think we need to vacation every time we head back to the US...the decompression is amazing.As for California. We loved it. Not sure I would want to live there but it is a great place to visit!

The Three Amigos behind bars on Alcatraz. 

Possibly the best meal we had, a roadside diner that Mike spotted.  Served Pork. :) 

We could not get enough of the beautiful scenery. Soaked it in. 

     

September Christmas

The shipment from Abu Dhabi arrived last Wednesday.  Felt like Christmas.  We spent the next few days unpacking boxes and setting things up.  All of us enjoyed coming across stuff that brought back fun memories. Gifts from friends, our coffee table books, different pictures and wall hangings, the knick knacks from around the world, and more, made us smile. Slowly, our new place is shaping up.

And just in time. Late Thursday night Robert, Mike and I will be on a plane to Dallas. We are making a very quick trip to the US to celebrate Pat and Darren's 25th anniversary with them and to see our Kansas family..especially our new little grand niece. Included in that trip will be a High School Reunion for Mike.  We are confident he will win  the "traveled the farthest to get here" award.  We also will try and make a trip to Lubbock to see Ryan and experience the world of Texas Tech and Raiderland. The hard part will be..other than crazy jet lag, not getting to see everyone else that we love and miss. These two weeks will be crazy full but hopefully refreshing and fun, too. :)

What about Sallie?  She is staying here in Doha. Our friend Pattie is coming to stay the first week with her and she will stay with some new friends for the second week. It was just too much school to miss. Especially being her senior year. Not easy leaving her here, though. Ugh. Although it has been crazy organizing everything while unpacking and doing all the red tape required to live here, it will be worth it to have a break for a bit in the US.

Well, must keep working thru my list.
The clock is ticking.
   
  

Today I Will Try and Secure a Garden Hose.

Sallie's First Day 

Early Friday Morning...

Left the house to find coffee at Starbucks. Sallie and Robert were still asleep.  We had our coffee and then picked up Krispy Kreme donuts for the kids.  Later we will head to church.  Last week we introduced ourselves as the new people from the US via Abu Dhabi. Glad that is over. Last Friday Mike also spent the afternoon on a hunt for a garden hose. What he discovered is you go to a shop and buy the pieces to a hose and then you assemble it, but the store did not have all the pieces. So then, he decided. Ok, too much for today. I will try again next weekend.  No Loews, No Home Depot or Walmart. Nope, got to hunt down all the parts and splice it together.  Perhaps today we will be victorious.

Sallie's first week of school went well. We got the call Sunday afternoon that they had a spot for her. Oh Happy Day. That was such good news. We celebrated with dinner at Chilis and Sallie had a steak and a non alcohol strawberry Mojito. :)  She likes her classes and is making friends.  Robert and I still camping out at home waiting for the container to be released from the port. No news there. Hoping and praying it will be cleared soon.  We also are all waiting for Mike to get his Res.Permit. Apparently it is somewhere waiting to be mailed to his office. Hard to know exactly. Kind of like finding the parts to a hose....  

And so begins Day 13.

Sallie and Robert using internet by the pool. 

Doha-Day 5

We arrived at our new home around 2 am last Sunday morning.  Sallie and Robert and I were sort of laughing..that the quick trip between AD and Doha is not quite so quick when the plane is delayed 2 hours. But, we arrived and Mike was waiting for us. He had taken an earlier flight and was able to get some air mattresses, sheets and towels for our time of camping until our container arrives and clears customs.  As of today we learned it is here. We still need Mike's Residence Permit for it to clear customs and we are unsure of that little detail. No matter how many times he goes to the office and faces the people in the know...well, he still doesn't know.

We did receive my car.  Mike tried something a little less orthodox. He shipped by cargo truck across the desert, thru Saudi Arabia.  It was all kind of mysterious but we do have my car. For some reason there are shoe prints all over the trunk and hood.  Wish it could talk. Mike got a call late Tuesday night to drive to a certain location and retrieve. Immediately. All righty then..off he went. He only found his way home because he took our new GPS with him. Glad we bought that in Abu Dhabi, by the way. Already we have used it A LOT. Doha is not built on a grid like we were used to in Abu Dhabi. Everything looks the same..And roundabouts are everywhere.  I find the driving and directions really challenging. Hope I get used to it. :)

Tomorrow we visit the church. Hoping to meet some fun people. We all miss our friends in Abu Dhabi but we know there will be great people here, too.  Still waiting on school news for Sallie. We hope to hear by Sunday on that. As that is the first day of school..hmmm.  Mostly right now we are very thankful to be done with the red tape from the UAE and slowly we are working thru the red tape in Qatar.

 Same, same but different. :)

Camping in our Compound

Looking out our front door.  

A bit battered but safe and sound.

 

Final Farewells

I thought it only fitting that I write one more blog before our friend, Barry, picks the kids and me up for the final ride to the Abu Dhabi airport.  Mike left earlier today and will pick us up this evening. Perhaps it is my need to tie things up, bring closure, whatever.  Mostly it is because one day I want to put these entries all in a book for my kids. And so, I must have an ending.  At least for our time in the UAE.

Mike arrived on Aug. 12 to begin his attempts in finalizing our departure paperwork.  The pressure was on. It was the last week of Ramadan. All eyes were focused on the 3 day holiday which often turns into 7 days or 10 days...  Go there, sign here, wait.  Wait, sign, go. No. Later. Come back. BUT at the end of the week we had everything..Cars de-registered.  Visas cancelled. And more. Except for Mike's.  His previous workplace, who needed to cancel the Residence visa and the Labor visa decided to start their Eid holiday early.  Ah yes. More waiting and praying.  Finally, this last Thurs. Mike received his passport..after he rode with the public relations officer to make sure the Labor stuff was completed. Didn't want him to leave his sight.  Whew. Done.

With all our driving around we spent lots of time reminiscing. The park where Ryan had his senior pictures taken by our friend Brad.  Shakespeares and the Souk, what we fondly called our back porch.  Our last Friday at ECC, our church home for 5 years. Church out to lunch at the mall. Wendys. Marina  Mall where we bought furniture and saw our first movie over here. Sallie, Robert and I came out so homesick after that movie..I think it was that Nancy Drew one with Emma Roberts. A birthday dinner at the Pages. The first family we met from here. Hugging on my kids's friends. So grown up now. Saying goodbye to our security guard who always brought us gifts from Egypt. And the little store across the street that was our lifesaver nearly everyday with milk, or bread, or m and m's. The barber who cut Robert's, Mike's, Russell's and Ryan's hair for 5 years. One last dinner at our favorite Vietnamese Restaurant. Lunch at Cafe Arabia.  Yes, it was hard to get thru the red tape but it did give us time to say goodbye to our home.

And we will be back. An hour flight. Lots of close friends who have become family to us. Yep. We will be back. It won't be the same.  New people will be here. Other friends will be gone. But ahh, the memories we take with us.  It is all good.

Now for the strength and energy to get settled in Doha. More memories to be made. More friends to meet. Oh yes..and more red tape. :)          

Let us Leave Please

Robert and I looked at each other last night at dinner and said..Hey today is our 5 year anniversary for arriving in Abu Dhabi. We were having dinner with the Pages and some good friends of Russell's from Kabul who were staying with us before heading back to their teaching jobs.  It was fun to think back on how the Pages were the first people we met from AD. They tried to prepare us for what was ahead of us, while we sat in the Hone's dining room that hot June day.   None of us really knew....

And now, in two days, Mike will be here from Doha. He will finish the exiting process. As hard as it was to enter the country, it is harder to exit. The mountain of red tape is exhausting, but finally we are close. Mike will deregister the cars for exporting them to Qatar. Then he will cancel the visas.  I have spent some of my time this summer completing the various other steps to leave.  As Mike is my sponsor I had to have all these permission letters from him to do anything.  I had a no objection letter to receive permission for the movers to enter our apt. and pack up our furniture.  I had a no objection letter to request the utilities to be cut off from the apt. as we cannot exit the country without a clearance letter from the power/water company. I had a no objection letter to cancel our internet service.  Allowing for more than one day on each of these processes..well, let's just say I played a lot of Angry Birds while waiting for my turn to get the right paperwork, fill it out, return it, check this off, check that off, talk to this person, go to the next person, and basically... eventually.... got it done. (Funny but playing Angry Birds helped release the tension..all those things blowing up!)  But, not to be all negative here. During this process I met several nice people who worked hard to help me get what I needed. One man at the utility company, in particular, would not give up. NO, madam has been here 4 hours, you must disconnect her.  And the next day..no madam has been here 2 more hours. What is the problem?? We became friends and when he finally handed me the clearance letter that we had been disconnected we were both smiling. And he kept saying how sorry he was. The security guard at the desk was also happy for me. Over the two+ days we had smiled and waved several times on my way back and forth to the parking meter.
 Next stop was the property company, our landlord.  This did not go as well initially as I was told we owed another 4000 dirhams because we were late checking out. Really?? I waited 5 days for this clearance letter in order to come over here. 5 days!!! And you are going to charge us???  Call this man. He will tell you how I sat there trying to get it. I am alone. My husband is in Doha. Do you know how hard it is to leave this country??  and you are going to take MORE money from us?? Shame on you! I have been without an oven for 3 months. No one came to fix it. You are stealiing from us. Ok, and then after a bit more of that I nearly started to cry. Yes, the thief card, the shame card, the wife alone card.. They all came out. But believe me, the tears were real.  In the end, after an hour or so, he did not charge us more. And we got our deposit back..which is not easily accomplished. I am thankful for the many friends I have had praying for me over the last month for all of these details. I know that is what got me through..      So in these areas we are cleared to leave. I think I left mostly a good impression.well, mostly. Maybe the landlord.....

With Sallie in Chicago and Ryan back in Lubbock and Mike in Doha, it has been pretty quiet. We were glad to have Brad and Kayla and her sister Bree with us for a couple of nights. We shared Russell stories and it made all of us miss him. They told me how they will really miss him back in Kabul.  They even named their cat Russell the Cat as they found it right after he had to leave last January.  Brad is also from Carrollton so we had several ties. It was a short visit but fun. I told them to come see us in Doha.

But Mike will be here on Sunday. Then we will hit it again.I pray the end is in sight.
Oh boy.
Do I.
And then we do the reverse on the other end. But that is for another day. 

Serving Up Ramadam

Tea anyone? Abu Dhabi Health and Fitness Center

Lulu Grocery Store. Flickering, yes..flickering fire above the door.

Mushrif Mall

Khalidyah Mall

One week of Ramadan is over. Not that many of us count down the days over here. Actually, some things about Ramadan are nice.  Very, very quiet afternoons.  Very slow mornings.  Traffic is practically non existent between 4pm and Iftar which is at sunset, about 7pm. This is the time to break the fasting that began at sunrise.  Many Muslims who celebrate Ramadan sleep extra hours during the day and then visit family and friends until very late at night.  Including the kids.  This makes it difficult when Ramadan falls during the school year, but during the summer it is not so bad.   Naturally, a challenge at Ramadan is no eating during the day in public so restaurants are closed and remembering not to pull out that water bottle in public, even if it is 110 degrees. :)  Along with the quiet days, fasting, and Iftar meals,  come the great decorations. Here are a few from Ramadan 2012, Abu Dhabi.

Ramadam Kareem, Everybody.

Making Memories

Spent an afternoon at Summer In Abu Dhabi before  friends left for the summer. 

Atlantis Water Park is a good way to spend a hot summer day.

Burgers after the water park. Robert's friend Jack left the next day.

Tea with Mary and Huda before Mary left for the summer. 

Mike and his friends Mark and Peter at our last Church Out to Lunch.

Good-bye to 11th grade! Last day of school. 

In the last few days I have been composing a letter to my Mom.  Weird. She has been gone four years now, actually, a bit more.  With our move to Doha imminent, these questions keep popping in my head that I wish I could ask her.  What did you do first? How did you prepare?  What was the hardest thing for you?  Do you wish you had just stayed put?  How did you decide what to keep ? what to leave?  (and with no internet every place she moved was a big question mark...)  Sometimes I miss her more than others..  And Daddy, too.  What would he say about moving again?  I would love to sit with them and tell them our Adventures from Abu Dhabi and the challenges facing us with Doha. We'd probably go to Denny's and over a big steak and eggs breakfast we'd all talk it over.  So far, it is that feeling of loss that is the hardest.  As we run around getting things done, or popping into our favorite eating holes, I think..I will miss this. I will miss these friends.  But I know that Mom and Dad made amazing friends in their fifty something moves...and kept them.  And we will, too.

Last Friday School at church before the summer.

     

Friends and the Fourth

Sallie and Robert at the pool bar. 

I have decided that the thing I miss the most about not living in the US is celebrating US holidays. Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day and Thanksgiving! So, with Mike already in Doha, and a trip to the US far off, my friend Pattie and I took the kids to a hotel for the day and just relaxed!  Timing was good as Sallie was still recovering from her trip to Nepal(which was terrific) and I was missing our friends and family back in the US. I was afraid to write about the 4th of July as I didn't want to repeat any previous posts. ( Joke's on me. I haven't written about this holiday since we were in the US for it in 2008.)   We lounged by the pool, had dinner outside and then made our way back to the flat. Not very exciting but I think it was much needed and the day did go by quickly.

Robert and Sallie playing chess on the beach.

Mike is working hard to get to know Doha. Today marks one week over there. We talk by skype and text every day.  He has visited the church there, figured out that the taxis don't have any clue where anything is, and found the Doha Souk after much gnashing of teeth. BUT we think we have found a place to live and that is a big relief.

Abu Dhabi is quiet.  Our church attendance is down to about 1/3 of the regular level and the streets are rarely crowded. Makes for nice driving but also very quiet days. I will be glad when we are with Mike again.  We are trying to keep busy by cleaning closets, seeing movies and hanging out with the friends who are still in town.

  Ryan and his friend Austin. You can see Sallie in the back being held by our friend Mattie Pearce.

Happy belated 4th Everyone! Don't take those fireworks and pork rib barbecues for granted. :)

Dallas-Abu Dhabi-Doha

Today. July 1st. Five years ago, Mike got off a plane in Abu Dhabi and was pretty sure he had actually landed on Mars. There was sand blowing across the highway. Black clad women, eyes peering from behind veils.  White clad men, with long snowy scarves trailing down their backs. At least 10 times a day Mike asked himself if we were crazy. What were we doing? Sold our house hold goods, uprooted our three younger kids, left our oldest in Texas and landed in one really hot place, halfway around the world. He called us in Dallas...sure that we were making a huge mistake. But we pressed on, and one month later Robert, Ryan, Sallie and I said goodbye to our dear friends and family in the US. 24 hours later we landed in Abu Dhabi.  These 5 years have been amazing.  Laughter, tears, new friends, old friends, visitors, vacations, challenges, tests,  sadness and joy.  There were many days that it still felt like we had moved to another planet but slowly we adjusted and even learned to appreciate the amazing and sometimes difficult experiences.

AND NOW...

Today Mike began his new job in Doha, Qatar.  Next month, after our 6th Ramadan in Abu Dhabi, we will join him there.  Although we don't know what the future holds. We know Who holds it. And we are trusting in Him.

Details to come!  Hildebrands in Sandyland..Part II. :)    

It Wasn't a Mirage

Seth and Robert prepared for rafting.

Sallie relaxing in the family pool area. 

                                                                                                                                                     

The rafting river. 

The Ropes Course.

 So to get out of Abu Dhabi, and celebrate the end of school,  we went to Al Ain to the new waterpark. Wadi Adventure. It has white water rafting, kayakiing, a ropes course and even a big pool for surfing. Pretty extraordinary to go white water rafting in the desert, although perhaps not quite as surreal as snow skiing in a mall..still it felt pretty strange. Memories of Colorado summers were revisited.  Our friends the Eichorsts joined us.  Other than the extreme temperatures it was a great day!

Some of the rapids were pretty challenging. It was great.

The Eyes of Texas

.  

No matter how far from Texas we go it is always right here with us. My friend Pattie, who subbed for the art teacher at the American Community School these last several weeks, made sure I saw one of the projects the kids worked on.  Chess pieces.  

Summer is upon us and although we won't be in Texas this summer, and will miss it, we will still be busy! Sallie is in the middle of exams. Soon she will be off to Nepal with her friends for a week of serving with Youth for Christ.  Robert wrapped up school and has been hanging with his friends. Ryan just moved into another restaurant for his internship. Now he is working in Marco Pierre White. Mike and I will be visiting either this week or next. :)  We get a 50 percent discount but it will still be a stretch! 

And we are getting ready to move.  Mike has taken a job in Doha, Qatar.  We didn't see this coming but are trusting that good things are coming. :)  After Ryan finishes his internship we will fly to Doha and start life there. Mike goes ahead of us in July. So, stay tuned for interesting stories on how to leave one country with lots of red tape and move to another with more red tape! Oh boy!!

 I have heard though that there are lots of Texans from both camps living there... Like I said, no matter how far we go..   

Hook 'em.  

 

Celebrating with Sallie

Mike and Ryan hug Sallie after her 11th grade production.

Sallie and her friend Emilia after the play!

One of the bad auditions. 

             Bad Actors and Bad Auditions! Produced and directed by Sallie and Emilia. The cast and crew worked hard on this student production and it was well done! Mike and Ryan both got to come see it which made it special, too. It's been a busy week wrapping up school and celebrating the end of the year! So glad Sallie got to attend AISA this year. It's been great.

Another celebration was graduation at Emirates Palace. Sallie and her friend Nadia attended  It was at Emirates Palace and under high security as several of the royal family were attending.  We thought the girls looked beautiful. Both agreed it was a fun evening with lots of good food after the ceremony. :)

My favorite celebration was my birthday brunch at St. Regis Hotel on Saadyat Island. 

Weekend Getaway

 A couple of weeks ago we took a break and went to Oman.  This was the redo of the failed attempt earlier in the spring when Ryan's passport kept us from crossing the border.  Well, this time all was well and we stayed three days. Oman is a beautiful county with rugged coastlines and miles of beaches. On Friday we took a boat out, watched the dolphins, and snorkeled. Mexican food rounded out the evening, with a great Indian, Omani, Sudanese band playing lots of music from the 70s. Hard to iimagine but fun! It was a great weekend!  

29 for the First Time

Happy 29th Anniversary!  We celebrated by dining at Frankie's where Ryan is working for these next two weeks.  He had flowers for us at the table, free appetizers, champagne, wonderful entree recommendations and a delicious dessert!  It was fun to have him come by and make sure everything was just right. We even met the head chef who also stopped by to congratulate us and make sure that everything was perfect.  It was a terrific evening..  The only thing missing was Russell. I wish he could have joined us, too!!  

The Heat is On.

Ahhhhhh

In the past 3 weeks temperatures have been steadily climbing.  Several days have seen 108 degrees with more to come. Early mornings are still in the 80s though. Something I like to do, while I still can, is go to the coffee shop at the Souk by our apartment and have fresh squeezed orange juice and sparkling water. I sit and read, write, think and prepare myself for the the heat of the day. 

Another thing is getting away. Today we are heading to Oman for a few days to see the Kenneys. It is not much cooler there but the scenery is different and their beaches are better. Ryan has never been and Mike hasn't had a break for a while.  As it heats up, taking time to get away is important. Since we are here for the summer we brainstorming ideas to keep cool... 

You Can't Bake Your Cake and Eat It Too

Robert blows out his Happy Birthday candles. David, Sal, Jack and Sallie watch. 

Can he really be 14?

2  weeks without an oven means no birthday cake for Robert.  It does make for a great story though. If the guy ever shows up to fix it then Robert will get his favorite funfetti birthday cake.  He did get pizza and a new xbox so I don't feel too sorry for him. At 14 he is easy to please.  As for the oven, here is what happened. About 2 weeks ago I am out running around and Robert calls..."Mom, don't freak out." What do moms do when one of their kids says that? Anyway, "The oven just exploded. But I am ok. "  When I got home I found the inside thermal glass in tiny pieces all over the inside of the oven. Apparently the heating element popped or something and shattered the glass. The repairman did come a few days later but as of yet we have heard nothing else.  I wonder what the expiration date is on that cake mix? Oh who am I kidding.... I'll bake it regardless. :)