Friday, August 17, 2012

Did you know.....

Thomas' family always does a "Did you know"section at the family reunions....and these are the best times to learn about what it going on in the family.....so....I am apart of the FABULOUS, wise, and wonderful Jones family (Shout out to you guys...LOVE YA)....so...

Did you know....

1. Pizza Hut here has salad.....breadsticks......and potato wedges.....their mediums are like a personal pan....and not so saucy.....was tasty the other night and delivered to the hotel....the delivery guy was surprised when I tipped him. He asked...."What's this?"  Thomas' medium thin crust


 Breadsticks (Garlic Bread) and Potato Wedges


 Pan Pizza 

 Need ketchup?

 Our salad....Thomas tried it



2. Thomas washed the clothes in the bathtub because here in the hotel it is really expensive, and we just thought it would be easier.....how are we drying them???? In the bathroom and the closet...check it out.


 Nice plastic bag on the floor to catch the water.. :-) 

3. Every once in a while you need a chill day and that is exactly what we did today....ate breakfast...came back and chilled in the bed watching old movies on regular t.v. (Dead Poets Society, The Greatest, MTV's Friend Zone, etc...) Gotta love a chill day....
Thomas played basketball with some of the guys.......on the outside basketball court....in the heat. He said none of the wives were out there....I wonder why???

Until next time family........ 

"The Word on the Street..."

So.....I guess we are really playing the waiting game. Since we came here, last week was the only week that we had an official agenda. One day we had orientation, the next we looked at our apartments, and the final day-we went to get our medical check-ups. So now.....what do we do? Who knows. Right now there is only he say/she say or what I call "The word on the street..."

Since we are moving to Al Ain, which is far from the city, the "word on the street" is that we will be moving out of this hotel to one that is closer to Al Ain so we can really get on our way getting all of our furniture. Who has confirmed this? No one. So.......what next??? We don't know. Someone else said that we would be moving out this week coming up, someone else said not until the 27th......Who has confirmed this? You know the answer...No one..... :-)

Interestingly enough, this is really not bothering me, because even though it was many years ago, I feel like I am back in China again......nothing is for sure.

Yesterday Thomas and I ran some errands...things that we were told we had to do (unofficially.) We took a taxi to the bank because we had to pick up our bank cards. This is how we will be getting paid, automatic deposit into the bank that has already been set up. This is also the way that we will be receiving our housing allowance. They are supposed to deposit it into our accounts. But, "the word on the street is" (and there are several versions of this), that we have the bank card but we cannot use it until we get our residence visa, which we will get back in no more than 2 months. Until then "the word on the street" is that once we get the housing allowance, we will have to go to the bank and withdraw the money, around $5,000 (American), in order to use the money, because our cards will not work. This was said even though, one of the other teachers said that she talked to the bank manager and reminded him, that there were at this point around almost 400 teachers who would all need to withdraw this money. If that is the case, the bank needs to make sure they have a lot of money on hand.
In addition to this, we were given our bank debit cards and had to activate it via the ATM but, the card still does not work, even in that and we have to go back to the bank to make sure that all holds are off of it??????Hunh????? (Yeah my thoughts too.....)

So we move on to the next thing.....

Our next trip was to get our licenses translated into Arabic....This is in order for us to receive a UAE driver's license. Yes, we did receive an international driver's license, but you cannot use this if you are a resident, you have to have one of their licenses. So......Thomas can drive, or I should say he can rent a car because he is a visitor until I get my resident's visa, but after seeing how they drive in the city, he says he doesn't want to. This may change, when we go to Al Ain. The busses that we see here in Abu Dhabi, didn't see so much in Al Ain. The taxi's that we have taken here in Abu Dhabi...yeah, far and few in Al Ain. (I think he is going to change his mind.)

So, we went to another mall to get the license translated, and we sweated just standing in the heat looking for the place because, "the word on the street" was that the translation place was across the street from the mall. When we got there, we saw four other teachers also waiting for their licenses, and it was there that we found out that the cost was 60 dirhams even though, you guessed it, "the word on the street" was that it was 50 dirhams. Either way we paid it and my license is translated, but while talking to the other teachers there, we found out that Thomas and I's marriage license had to be attested,   before I could get it translated, before I could apply for his visa. Now this attestation is in addition to me having to:
1. Get it notarized
2. Get a foreign approval stamp from Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia
3. Have it stamped by the Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton)
4. Have it stamped by the Embassy of the UAE in Washington D.C.
5. Finally sent back to me.

Mind you all of these things cost money, but hey, just one more thing to add on on top of everything else.

So...you know what we did next, went to get our marriage license attested. Now mind you, it is hot outside, and we are at the end of the Muslim Ramadan, which means that they are fasting from 6 a.m. to sunset. As a rule there is no eating or drinking in public....so it was around this time, maybe earlier that I was thirsty. Thomas and I decided to take the bus back to the other mall instead of taking a cab, which at this time was really beginning to add up. We asked the translator which bus to take and he told us #11, so we waited for the bus. Because of the heat, the bus stops are air conditioned with tinted windows....niceeeee......

When we got on the bus, Thomas had to sit in the back and I was able to sit in the front. I was cool and comfortable with plenty of space while Thomas took to the back with the MEN!!! Huuuuuh!

I took some pictures along the way....enjoy. 
 Ladies only
  One of the gas stations: 1.75 dirham/gal (around .30 cents)



We got our marriage license attested, AKA stamped (I could have done that), but could not get it translated because the guy there told us "I get off at 3." You get off at 3!!!! What a life........Sure enough when we walked up into this place that looks like a tinted DMV office, no one was there and this guy was listening to his IPOD....."Jump, jump, the mac daddy make ya, jump jump, Kris Kross will make ya, jump jump." (Well I don't know if this is what he was listening to for sure, but let's just really say that homie was Chillin'. Anyway, we'll get it translated another day.

So....we decided to head to another store to look at other furniture. We have not found a king sized bed here and IKEA did not seem to have one that we liked so we decided to take the escalator up.....Well as we got on the escalator, I needed another water break which can only be done in the privacy of my own bathroom stall, so while just getting on the escalator, I spotted a bathroom and told Thomas we needed to get off. Of course, the hubby AKA Superman, turns around and runs and jumps off the escalator with no problem....so me on the other hand....had a little issue. So I began my decent, only problem.....the stairs kept coming and it was at the point that I knew, I would have to jump........as I steadily descended I yell at Thomas "This is hard..." and I finally see myself jump, and realize....this next step is coming up fast....and all I could think about was ..."this is going to hurt..." but praise G-sus....I made it. I felt like I had won the prize and I should have heard applause as I say with pride "Success", only to look at my husband and see the laugh on his face as he tries to hide it with his sweat towel......Thanks a lot baby. I quickly go into my bathroom stall....and guzzle my water...not wanting to exert any more energy without properly hydrating myself.....Praise Him that the bathrooms are clean!!!

After many other stops and finally getting Cell Phones....that everyone says we need...we made it home....had some dinner, blinds closed of course, and was down for the night. Thomas at 6....I at 6:30......we woke up the next morning, yeahhhhh....our bodies are finally getting the hang of this....now the next thing to do is....wait and see what is happening next...and you know where this news is coming from...you got it...."The word on the street." - Our groups facebook page! Gotta love technology!
 e-mail us for our number 


Until next time family! 

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

I'm Ok

Today we had to go get our medical examinations and get our residence visas. We were bussed to a building much like DMV where we waited to hear our number called on the screen to know which window to go to. From there we were examined much like that you would receive in the U.S., blood pressure, weight, height, you know the normal. We were then taken into a room labeled "consultation" though really she did not ask me an real questions except was I allergic to anything. I told her no, but then she explained to me that she was coughing because of her allergies, I was about to respond "If you say so," but I thought against it. She doesn't know me that well. :-)

She then told me to lift up my dress so that she could see my skin from my waist up and then asked to see my back. Interestingly enough, I was comfortable with her so I lifted my dress happily and had no reservations with showing my back. :-) When I asked her what they were looking for she said "leprosy" and I could definitely understand why they were looking for that because of the region of the world that we were in. Never the less the exam was going well and making sense to me until she asked to see the back of my legs?!? Yeah, my thoughts as well but she said she was looking for varicose veins, which someone explained later is a sign of weak legs.All in all the exam was not so bad. I did an x-ray, this is how they test for TB and finished my paperwork for my visa. 

We took one of the shuttles there so when I finished I waited on the shuttle to take us back to a hotel, another group of ladies took a taxi and asked if I wanted to ride, but I opted to take the shuttle. 
About 20 minutes into the van ride there was a hard shove of the bus on my side and it felt like a tire went out, of which I was sitting one seat behind. When I looked out the window, there was KIA that had hit us and slid across the opposite side of the street. Immediately everyone looked around and I asked if everyone was ok. (Yeah, that's the leader in me :-) 





The KIA was going too fast and I guess was changing lanes and slammed into the side of us. There was no real dammage to our shuttle, but the front of the KIA's right side was smushed in and surprisingly, he was able to drive it around the corner out of the way of traffic. This was only my second accident ever in life, and I am glad it wasn't worse off than it was. Everyone was ok, including the other driver and for this, I praise God! Usually Thomas and I pray together before we leave the house, and actually had not done that since we have been here, but guess who will be getting back on their confession schedule! Yeah, me! 

But just know, that all my tests are straight, and I am fine from the accident. All in all...."I'm Ok!" 

IKEA

Sooo....hubby told me last night that it was my turn to blog.....well....I always have something to say

Yesterday we took the shuttle to IKEA so we could look at things to furnish our apartment, and believe me when I say furnish. We have absolutely nothing but walls and a toilet, and for these I am grateful as I have heard of other stories of things huge water bugs, trash, and unclean toilets. The trip was very nice and actually it was far away. To get there we really saw the desert and the sea. IKEA was very reasonable as we have to buy all the appliances from refrigerators, stove, washer (which actually does both washing and drying), along with everything else that you need. I am happy about this as it prepares us for when we build our house we will know everything that is needed. We do get a furniture allowance of 20,000 AED so with our 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath we will have plenty of space when you all come to visit :-) (hint).



 View of the desert.

 Us on the IKEA bus.


View of the Arabian Gulf on the way back.



 I will post pictures when we are finished. Thomas is doing a really good job arranging and searching for everything, maybe that should be his next job, interior decorating!



Monday, August 13, 2012

Gilligan’s DESERT Island………..


Okay so this morning my wife and I woke up early to prepare ourselves for a trip that we both anticipated to be about three hours long, to visit or new apartment in Al Ain. After we completed our complementary hotel breakfast in the banquet hall, which was shielded by a screen because of Ramadan, we had the opportunity to meet various teachers that would be making the hour and a half move with us. As we walked up the van entrance all of the people making the trip with us began to converse about where they were from and their reason for making the journey, in most cases more then half way around the world. When we made it to Al Ain it was quickly noticed that the driver did not know where we were going; which was evident by him traveling around a round about SEVEN TIMES. After two of the ambassadors from the company my wife works for attempted to get us to the apartment complex, reality hit. We were not in Kansas any more. All of the large buildings, exotic cars, and bounty of Americans were gone.
















After ten minutes of contemplating if walking in the heat was worth going to see our new home , we began to walk on the black top that could only be compared to a plastic soldier being placed on a hot cast iron stove. We walked through the maze of white buildings searching for our new home. As we opened the door and the smell of old curry piercing through the sweltering heat dispersed, we quickly realized that the one bedroom apartment that was promised to us ended up being two bedrooms. (THANK GOD)
 














As we walked back to the van we realized that no one had discussed with us how we would get our utilities turned on and how would we transfer our furniture to this area in the middle of nowhere. We quickly noticed that we had the least of worries on the trip. Two people walked into their apartments and found people still living in them, and another ladies new home was missing a five-foot window. As all of the riders addressed the representative, we came to the conclusion that he understood less then we did, so the conversation ended with him returning to his drop top Porsche and cruising back toward the city.


When the rest of us concluded we had excreted six hour of our day to riding in the desert only accomplishing being able to see three camels and the inside of funky air condition deprived apartments. We quickly noticed that an hour and a half ride in the desert was in front of us with no water, two babies, and we were riding in a van that no matter how cold the a/c was blowing the heat outside was still saturating through every possible crack it could find.















With all of this being said I would not trade the experience for the world. During this trip my wife and I developed a great foundation to our new over seas family. There’s something about being placed in a situation that you have no control and several surprise curve balls are thrown your way. You just have to be flexible, have fun, and realize that these moments make you a better person. Now it is time to go shopping!!!!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

A few mental notes......

Soooo....it has been about three days of really being here. We are surrounded by so many foreigners that it really does not feel like we are out of the country until the music begins to play, declaring that it is prayer time in this muslim country. The scenery is very pretty and I took pictures of our view from the hotel, though it won't be our view for long.

We found out yesterday that we will be in the city of Al Ain, about two hours from Abu Dhabi. We will take a trip tomorrow and look at our apartment and see what we need in order to furnish it. We will be surrounded by other teachers, so I am sure that we will be building a family.

Thomas and I are still adjusting to the times, so even though we should have been up and active for the day, we took a long nap at 12 noon, because we couldn't stay awake any longer. There are a lot of people who brought their families with them, and I am so glad that Thomas came with me because the way it sounds it will be about two months before people whose family did not come with them will be able to join them. We will have to do a border run, or rather Thomas will have to in, order to get another visitor's visa, but Al Ain is close to the border of Oman.

So far, we have only eaten at two places. One was in Marina Mall...and can you guess what we had? Pizza.....Figuaro's pizza! It was the safe bet as we really didn't want to venture out too much! It was a different kind of cheese and honestly, we ordered the salad bar, and was only able to eat the salad bar one time! Fancy that, but we know for next time. All in all, it was not so bad but for a whopping A.E.D.110 we were full.

The next restaurant we visited yesterday was the Lebanese Flower. It was really good food located in the travelers section of town, or so they call it. This food was really good. When we were seated we were given a basket of thin pita bread, olives, tomatoes, some leafy vegetable (Thomas said it was nasty) and pickles, and cucumbers. I guess this was the appetizer so we ate it with no objections. Next we ordered falafel, vegetable soup, french fries (gotta go with the safe bet), and Thomas had an Arabic Salad. The food was wonderful but the best part was asking the waiter how we were supposed to eat the food. It was at this point that he used his hands to make us a falafel sandwich, dipped it in the sauce and shoved it in my face! Hey, I had no problem eating it, I know that is why we say grace, and really mean it. :-)

Nothing too new and adventurous here, but living the life for now in Abu Dhabi. Until next time!!!!




Let's see what we eat tonight! --Chante

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Day 1 The Restless Awakening




Finally, the day has arrived! As my wife and I sit in O’Hare Airport in Chicago, all I could think about was the events that had led us to this audacious change in our lives. Since I’ve been alive, I wanted to leave Virginia, but I never thought that I would be moving to the Middle East. While looking at the royal blue and flashing red lights out of the terminal window all I could think about was the love I have for my wife, and how much I could not wait to break mundane monotonous day-to-day life that we had in Richmond. Every breath that I took was filled with nervousness and anticipation, which I attempted to hide by playing with my phone and I pod. As I stepped on to the humongous tin building that the stewardess referred to as a plane an epiphany hit, it was finally time for me to smell the coffee and begin the start of my new life. --Thomas