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!