No Borders

This is a difficult blog post for us. How do we post about our adventures and all the incredible experiences we are having, when we know of the tragic killing of an American teacher just a few days ago?

First, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the victim. With such a loss, there must be so many questions and so much pain and anger. All we can do is pray for God to bring peace and comfort to this family.

As for us, of course we were a bit shaken. The news of this event is shocking not only to us, but the entire expat community living in Abu Dhabi. However, in any situation perspective is key.

Our perspective is as follows...

The world can be a dangerous place. While we do not seek to place ourselves in dangerous situations, we will not allow fear to control our lives. We live in a wonderful city that is among the safest in the world. Not only is terrorism virtually nonexistent , but the UAE is very active in the fight against Muslim extremism and the global war on terrorism.

It would be crazy to not be alarmed by this attack. Having said that, Tracy and I feel as safe here as we have ever felt anywhere. We are vigilant and we are aware of our surroundings. But no more so than if we were walking the streets of Nashville, London, Chicago, Rome, or Kalamazoo. God's protection knows no borders. Thanks, Sue Long!

We have heard from many of you, and we feel the prayers, love, and support everyday. Thank you all for that.

Now for the good stuff and the reasons we love living here...

The biggest celebration of the year in the UAE in National Day. It's like the 4th of July in the U.S., except they celebrate it for an entire week. So we joined them.

Of course we had to have the proper attire...

There are so many styles and designs and colors from which to choose. The gentleman that owned the store was so nice. He must have pulled out 25 abayas for Tracy to try on.

And we have have a winner! It's a simple, but elegant design. Not too overstated but yet says, I've got sophistication and style. Arab chic if you will...

HOTTIE!

We might need to stop at this point and make a bit of a disclaimer. We have heard from some of our friends and family regarding the sight of Tracy in an abaya. We certainly recognize and understand what the sight of an abaya means to some in America. We have found it to mean something entirely different here. No, we have not converted to Islam. We are simply engaging in a culture that we have found to be warm and welcoming and utterly fascinating.

Tracy - I was very unsure what it would feel like to wear an abaya (cloak worn over clothing) and shaylah (head scarf). When I heard that we were encouraged to wear local attire for a national day celebration at school, I was eager to give it a try! It was an amazing experience! I felt confident, yet conservative. Beautiful, yet conformed. It was enlightening and eye opening. I have learned so much in the short time I have been abroad. One of the most important things is to not be afraid of the unknown. Try new food. Visit strange places. Walk a mile in someone else's shoes... or clothes.

Tracy with a few of her colleagues, Carmen and Sev, celebrating UAE National Day at Gems American Academy.

And now it's my turn find a new wardrobe. We found a great little shop owned and operated by an Iranian gentleman. He is an absolute sweetheart of a man. I needed a little help with the keffiyeh (head scarf) at first, but now it's like tying a tie...

Here I am with my new taylor and more importantly, my new friend. Looking pretty good I'd say. Wearing a Kandura is oddly liberating. I'll just leave it at that...

While in the store, another gentleman walked in to do some shopping, and we struck up a conversation. Turns out he is from Basra, Iraq. Before leaving, he agreed to pose for a photo. An Iranian, an American, and an Iraqi. And Johnny Cash of course! As Tracy took the photo, my new taylor says, "Komeini, Bush, and Saddam. Together at last." I don't care who you are. That's funny!

Now that we both have a new wardrobe, it's time to go to the National day celebrations on the corniche.

There was a fantastic air show put on by Al Fursan, the UAE's Air Force acrobatic team. They were quite good.

But as we soon found out, National Day is largely about dressing your car up...














And spraying silly string.

As the day came to an end, we went to the corniche beach met up with some great new friends. Since "silly" seems to be the theme on National Day, we joined the fun.

The remainder of the evening was spent on a very peaceful beach, taking in the sights and sounds of an Abu Dhabi Arabian Night.

Of course a National Day celebration wouldn't be complete without a day at the camel races. Trust me when I tell you, there is just no way to adequately describe the camel races. The best description I can come up with is NASCAR meets demolition derby meets horse racing. Except with camels and robot jockeys. You just have to see it to believe it, but I hope these photos provide some insight...


At the starting gate. You can cut the tension with a knife.

And they're off...

Down the front straightaway...

They're neck and neck going into the first turn...

It's anybody's race at the half way point...

Can't really see anything at this point so... Go Camels!

And it's down the backstretch they come!

We have no idea who won, so we just took a picture of ourselves.

Click here to watch a short video from the camel races. Password: camel



At the conclusion of the camel races we went to the Sheikh Zayed Heritage Festival. Here are a few of the highlights...

It would be impossible to do this place justice just by posting to a blog with a few pictures and videos. But we'll keep trying... Until next time...

As-salamu alaykum y'all.

Starting To Feel Like Home

We've been meaning to post to our blog for several weeks now. But as you can see, we've been very busy...

We're really sorry for the delay. We've been working so hard, we just couldn't find the time to sit down and do it...

We've been wondering through the desert...

Trying not to hurt ourselves...

So rather than write one up, we decided to make a video...

To view, click Gatlin Blog Video and you will be redirected to our Vimeo page. Enjoy!!!

Happy trails to you! Until we meet again... As-salamu alaykum y'all.

"Souq" Warms the Soul

This is crazy!

Moving to a new land. No idea what to expect. Get off the plane. Check. Customs. Check. Immigration. Check. Gather my bags and myself, and walk out into the great unknown for the first time. Where is she? Everything is a blur. People with signs everywhere.Where is she? I know she's gotta be here….

THERE SHE IS!!!

Of course she's got a sign made from pink construction paper.

A sight for sore eyes that's for sure. I can't believe all that this good woman has done on her own for 3 weeks. Don't get me wrong. She's perfectly capable. But nothing comes easily in the "Sandbox." And she has handled it brilliantly. Visas. Cars. Phones. Bugs. Internet. Plumbing. Money. Banking. And countless other things we take for granted everyday. Did I mention bugs?

Well, now I'm here and she's done all the hard work. It's time to have some fun! 

This posting would never end if I tried to tell of all the adventures we've had in the last 2 weeks. So for this installment, we'll concentrate on the souks, often referred to as a bizarre. Think, flee market back home, but way cooler. Words don't fully describe our souk experiences, so I will let the photographs do the talking with brief explanations… 

Come for a walk with us thru the souks of Arabia…

The Old Souk in Dubai

Iranian Souk in Al Meena

You can find anything in the souks. 

Some of the storefronts are wall to wall with lamps, porcelain, and other trinkets. Hard to believe they ever sell anything, given that the guy next-door has the exact same inventory.

The plant souk is amazing. We must have walked for miles, completely in awe of the amazing colors of the Bougainvilliea. It is one of our favorites, and Abu Dhabi is covered with them. And soon, our backyard will be as well...

Plant Souk in Al Meena

And then of course, there is the Carpet Souk in Abu Dhabi… It is absolutely one of our favorite places to visit. They say getting tattoos is addictive. I don't know about that, but buying carpets sure is. We have made some wonderful friends from all over the Middle East and Asia. And haggling with them over these beautiful creations is so much fun. So far, we have only bought 4 carpets, but we've got our eyes on several others...

The "Three Stooges" from Afghanistan. Among some of our best friends in the Carpet Souk.

The "Three Stooges" with their Kalashnikov rifle carpet. 

We asked our new friends some questions about their homeland in Afghanistan. They said they don't like the Taliban. They don't really like anyone with guns, and that includes Americans. They just want to live in peace. Abdul (the one in black) added that he knew it was a bit ironic to not like guns, but sell carpets with guns on them. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Big seller."

This gentleman had a rather large selection of carpets, but he didn't have any handmade silks. Most of his carpets were machine made in Belgium. We chatted for a bit, but he wasn't all that interested in speaking with us. We left his shop and went back to our Afghan friends. He was kind enough to pose for a photo before we left though. Very photogenic I'd say.

This is for all our Republican friends out there. We just couldn't resist taking this photo…

Tracy is without question, the dealmaker in the family. I'm a pushover, and they know it when I walk in the door. But not my girl. She's got that smile… Oh that smile… They say Athena had a face that launched a thousand ships. While my girl has got a smile that costs these guys thousands of dollars.

Just look at the faces on these guys. They know they're in trouble.

I must mention something at this time, that Tracy and I found to be truly amazing. While in the shop in the above photo, Tracy and I could not make a choice. We had several carpets laid out, but just couldn't make a decision on sizes or colors. They kept saying to us, "Take home. No problem. Take home." We finally realized what they were trying to tell us. They trusted us to take them home without payment, to see if we liked them on our own floors. Before we could say no, they had them in the back of our car and we were on our way home. We actually returned all the carpets 3 days later. None of them fit where we needed them, but the gesture of trust shown by these men still floors us. Pardon the pun.

Of course we're all the best of friends now. We've promised to only shop with them in Abu Dhabi. We've told them of the countless friends and family that will be coming to visit us, and all the carpets they will be buying and taking home to the US. Hey! Wake up! If you're reading this, I'm talking about you. Come see us! And buy carpets from our friends!

Another great souk can be found in the downtown Abu Dhabi World Trade Center. The majority of the place is filled with modern stores and restaurants. We had a great cheese burger and milkshake while we were there. There is an El Chico's going in soon, so we know where we'll be eating at least one meal a week. Gotta get our Mexican food fix wherever we are in the world. Connected to the mall is a great little souk. It's indoors and air conditioned, so it makes shopping a little less painful. But the ambiance is still fantastic. And you can find just about anything...

We met this young Indian man making jewelry by hand. He just sits there all day making beautiful bracelets, necklaces, earrings, etc.

The hands of a true craftsman.

Of course Tracy made for a great customer. She bought a very nice bracelet.

The hands of a true bargain shopper.

And the place smells great. It only takes one spice shop to fill the entire souk with the wonderful aromas of the Middle East.

And the shoes… A bit flashy for me I think… My toes just don't curl up like that. Not on purpose at least.








Next, we were off to Dubai which is only about 100km from our house. That's 62 miles for those of you who are trying to do the conversion. There are 3 souks all in one area of the old part of Dubai. They are separated by a waterway, so you must take a boat to and from each of them. It was quite nice to be out on the water.

View of the Deira Old Souk in Dubai from our ferry.

The Deira Old Souk is a maze filled with little alleyways. I'm not sure if we ever saw the end. Eventually you just have to give up. But the sights and sounds are one of a kind.

Everywhere you look, there's something to see. You just can't get used to all the shapes and colors. It's truly a case of sensory overload.

And then there's the oldest trick in the book, or rather, the oldest trick in the souk… If they get that thing on your head, they've got you. You're now an attentive audience, as long as you stand there and let them do their thing… Once they get it on you, they say, "You look so good! Must buy! Make pretty lady happy."

I did not look good. I did not buy. But the pretty lady likes my Johnny Cash t-shirt.

We did find an absolute gem of a store. It is owned and operated by a man from Afghanistan. They primarily sell carpets, but they are much different than any we've seen. They take pieces of carpets and sew them together to make a patchwork carpet. Several of the carpets we looked at contained pieces that were several hundred years old. The owner can tell you exactly where each piece of the carpet came from within Afghanistan, just by looking at the colors and the markings. They are definitely a mix of the old and the new. They have a very modern look to them, but very traditional at the same time.

These are some of the most unique carpets we have seen.

And then it was prayer time. All of the sudden the shops were closed, and the alleyways were clear. The only sound we could hear was the call to prayer. Being that we were there on Friday, which is a Muslin holy day, the midday prayers can sometimes last for hours. Our time in the souk very quickly came to an end. Out of respect, I was careful not to take pictures that might be offensive. The following photo is the only one I took. I thought it was the best way to share the scene.

It is custom to take off your shoes before entering a mosque.

Our experiences in the souks cannot be summed up by what we saw or what we bought, but rather,  the people we met while we were there. The souks, and to a greater extent, the UAE is a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities. In almost every case, we have been greeted warmly by those with whom we have come into contact. To finish up this posting we thought we would share some of the faces of this melting pot that we now call home.

A shop vendor in the Deira Old Souk in Dubai.

An Afghan patchwork carpet salesman.

This Pakistani man was kind enough to stop for a photo.

A family walking the streets of Deira in Dubai.

We shared a boat ride with this gentleman.

Shoppers in the Deira Souk district in Dubai.

And of course a man on a bike. A blog post from us just wouldn't be complete without a bike.

They say, soup warms the soul. But we have found warmth in the everyday hustle and bustle of the people we have met in the narrow alleyways, storefronts, and nooks that make up the world within the souks. We have found in fact, that "souk" warms the soul.

As-salamu alaykum y'all.