Turning 28

I honestly don't know where the time goes...

I feel like I was JUST turning 13 and my mom was surprising me with my first glimpse into true "adult" girlie-ness.... make-up!!  She had given me a little cosmetics bag filled with the prettiest shade of rose pink blush, a light pink lipstick, which was actually just an elegant shimmer on my teenage lips than a womanly red, and a black mascara for my long thick youthful lashes.  I can remember feeling so special and grown up that day.  

Who would have thought, 15 years later, I'm still feeling the same magic in my heart.

I'm so blessed to have so many wonderful friends, such a loving family, good health and a strong mind.  It's only by the grace of god am I living such a life.  And it is truly an honor for my spirit to be here in the mind and body...and I look forward to each new moment with so much love and kindness in my heart.

So happy 28th birthday indeed.

(by the way...that's 10,232 days, 20 hours, 15 mins and 40 seconds here on earth!  Well, with a little give depending on my exact birth time, haha!!)

Arabs are fun!

It's always heartbreaking to me when I read something negative towards Arabs or Muslims (or anyone for that matter).   But for the last decade it's been hugely anti-middle eastern in the western world.  Since 9/11 people have gone on an all out anti arab campaign:  we shouldn't be learning arabic in american schools, building mosques, celebrating anything arab related...they are all terrorists apparently.  What kind of forward thinking is that?

How can you punish an entire class for a couple idiots?  The "race" wasn't behind them...they didn't even support them...in fact they were even more upset with the events and being pulled into it than we can imagine.  It's a shame that this pattern follows every culture at some point in time or another.

People may be shocked to learn Arabs are A LOT like Americans...

"Much like America today, the Arab world of the seventh to the thirteenth centuries was a great cosmopolitan civilization. It was an enormous unifying enterprise, one which joined the peoples of Spain and North Africa in the west with the peoples of the ancient lands of Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia in the east.

It was the rapid expansion of Islam that initially brought this empire together. Alliances were made, trade routes were opened, lands and peoples were welded into a new force. Islam provided the dynamism, but it was the Arabic language, which provided the bond that held it together.

Islam spread to lands more distant than North Africa and the Fertile Crescent, but it was in this area that a common Arab culture emerged.

To be Arab, then as now, was not to come from a particular race or lineage. To be Arab, like American, was (and is) a civilization and a cultural trait rather than a racial mark. To be Arab meant to be from the Arabic-speaking world — a world of common traditions, customs and value — shaped by a single and unifying language.

The Arab civilization brought together Muslims, Christians and Jews. It unified Arabians, Africans, Berbers, Egyptians, and the descendants of the Phoenicians, Canaanites, and many other people. "

I appreciate the fact that underneath it all, we are all so similar.  We have hearts that love, smiles that can brighten anyones day and we are all connected.  

Maybe today we can share a little extra kindness :)

OH!  Here are a couple fun pictures from our weekend in Dubai and the actual point of my post being that Arabs are super FUN!!  (I fall into tangents from time to time)

Okku- Omar's birthday celebration #1

Manoushe breakfast at the Rifai's!

Sunset on the Persian Gulf

Such sweet boys! haha

Week of Sept 18th...

Here's just a few random happenings from this week:

Had lunch with our realtor Terri at an asian spot in the Marina Mall...we were starved after a morning of viewing apartments!

Skyped with my family in TN (6pm my time, 9 am theirs)...that's my niece Mieka with her basket crown, haha!

Washed a load of clothes in the washer/dryer duo in our hotel room and melted Joey's shoes down a size :(

Got a mani/pedi for 100 dirhams ($36.50...not too bad!)

Setting up a Network

Once you get to a new place, it's super important to start setting up your network.  Network of people who know about the city, network of friends of friends, network of women (special interest groups), network of work opportunities...etc, etc, etc.  This takes LOTS of energy, mental strength and stamina!  Seriously, it's like a full time job just settling into a place and meeting people.  You really have to truly love it...or LEARN to love it.

I was the later.

Usually you have a job when you move to a new place so you're already arriving with a built in network. You're work environment somehow builds into a full fledged life network without you having to really even think about it.  If only it were always so easy!

DC was my first challenge with this.  It was like the warm up before the sprint.  I had to work extra hard to meet people.  Go outside my comfort zone and actually talk to the person next to me enjoying there coffee at Dolcezza...or spend a little extra time talking to the girls signing me in for yoga class.  People interactions are really something to cherish and so many times we take those little moments for granted.

But if that's the only "friend"-ly interactions you have in a new city, they are seriously very precious.  I found myself gravitating to those moments.  Anything to feel less lonely and overwhelmed.

So, yeah...here I am again.

This time around, though, something feels a little different.  Like I'm not totally alone.  Well, thanks to already being here visiting a year and a half ago and making a couple of friends, it feels like coming back to something familiar.  Plus, Sara and Omar are just an hour away, so the network of friends is quite large in comparison!  We're truly grateful for that.

I think once you have the friend network squared away, the work and others will follow.  You just have to keep getting out there, meeting people and drinking lots of coffee!

Finding a Reasonable Apartment

Nothing is really reasonable here...it's all crazy expensive, but the good thing is, it all seems to even out somehow.  Thank goodness!  But for finding a place, it can really be a fun journey because everything here revolves around the newest and most luxurious.  

However, this was the list of credentials Joey and I had for a place:

2 Bedroom
Nice View (maybe a balcony)
Gym/Pool
Parking
Appliances a perk

And I think they were in exactly this order!  Haha, we're easy enough!  Our realtor Terri, who we met after moving here through our friend Diane, was just phenomenal at finding our perfect place!  She brought us into the luxurious, but "reasonable for us" world of Abu Dhabi.  And what a beautiful and imaginative world it is!  After a day of hunting, here's where we'll HOPEFULLY be living come December:


"After several years of planning and design, 2006 was a special year for His Highness Sheikh Suroor Bin Mohammed Al Nahyan and his Projects Department, for this was when construction work got underway. His Highness can be proud of succeeding in creating a very inspirational, prestigious and desirable landmark in the UAE. The scope, magnitude and uniqueness is breathtaking.

The Australian architects DBI Design have created a sculptural feat that is a true landmark of the City. Changing the Abu Dhabi skyline forever the towers offer the most amazing vantage points - with sweeping panoramic views over the vibrant city and Arabian Sea."


Now, it doesn't look EXACTLY like the picture because the water doesn't come that close...and the towers are more of the same size and in a circular formation...but yeah, this is it.  Doesn't it remind you of a star trek space ship?? 


See, I bet now you'll want to come visit!!  

Abdulah joins the family!

Friends really do turn a place into a home.

On Saturday Omar and Sara drove in from Dubai and met us at the Shangri-La ( http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/abudhabi/shangrila/dining) for a nice long brunch.  With the amount of food available, it has to be a nice, LONG brunch!!  Omar's cousin Creamy and another friend Anwar joined us as well.  We gathered around a table in the corner and really enjoyed the WHOLE afternoon.  See, that's one of the good things about other countries, they're not rushing you in and out, you simply get to relax and take your time...no rushing :)  And let me tell you, it helps for the digestion!  I think we ate a little of everything...indian, sushi, veggies, hot pot soup, fruit, chinese, chocolate mousse, etc, etc, etc...whew!  And a word to the wise, proceed with caution and go in with a plan!

Oh, AND as a welcome to the middle east, Sara gifted me little Abdulah.  I'm fairly certain he'll make his way into most every location picture! haha  Keep a watch for him in future postings from the UAE!!

Ma'a as-salaama!              مع السلامة

Our First Weekend

Since the weekday starts on Sunday here, everyone is off on Friday (prayer day) and Saturday.  Ask anyone and they'll tell you the same thing...Thursday night's are the busiest night of the week!  EVERYONE is OUT!!  Restaurants are booked, club music is bumping and there's a electrifying energy in the air!

So to keep in tune with the locals, Joey and I met our friend Nadine (whom I met last time we were here...she went to school in Riyadh with Pam and Joey) and her husband Wassam (who also went to school in Riyadh, but was a few years older) for dinner.  Indian fare is always a good idea in Abu Dhabi, so we opted for Indigo, just one of the 5 amazing restaurants at the Beach Rotana.  So authentic and delicious!

An ubber tired Joey and I waited for our dinner guests in the main lobby of the Rotana.  This is honestly one of my favorite spots.  The room is HUGE and divided up into circular layers.  The inner core houses cushiony chairs and couches, little tables and even a piano, in which every night at 7pm two sisters come to elegantly entertain.  The outer core is filled with about 12 sets of chairs facing each other separated by a little table.  Then the mantle layer offers walkway space and then a crust of full size tables and four chairs. At any given moment there may be 16 or more countries represented in these layers!

As soon as we saw Nadine and Wassam we jumped up in excitement.  It had been a year and a half since we last saw her and we were always eager to meet Wassam.  (He was on a project in Saudi at the time.)  As we were greeting each other, Wassam realized he knew Joey!  And as it turned out, they had so many connections from their childhood and even from their adult life.  What a small world.

The next few hours were the most relaxing, uplifting and fun...there's nothing like good conversation and dinner with friends!

Friday (saturday in the states) was spent sleeping in, a yummy little breakfast of fruit and muesli in our lobby, me teaching myself and Joey a thorough hour and a half yoga lesson, reading by the pool, swimming, swinging by the co-operative market for a few things (detergent, labneh, milk, tomatoes, cucumbers, peanut butter and nutella), then freshening up before taking a nice long drive through and around town.  Oh, and we also stopped for shawarma...our dinner!  haha  It's honestly the best little pita wrapped sandwich.  And SO cheap!  You navigate your way through a parking lot to a little whole in the wall spot...you don't get out, no, no, there are guys that will come up to your car and take your order!  Then you circle around and when you come back, you're food is ready and being run over by another guy.  Talk about a drive through!  I'll take pictures next time!!!

Saturday.

Keep you posted!!  We're off to meet Sara and Omar now at the Shangri-La.