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