Insha'Allah

Insha'Allah means God willing. Am I going to get Internet today? Insha'Allah. Are you going to fix my water? Insha'Allah. Will you please come kill these bugs. Insha'Allah. Is Josh going to get to come when we would like? Insha'Allah.

It has been three weeks of Insha'Allah! But God has provided! And with the help of great new friends, I am starting to find my way. It hasn't been easy... but it is getting easier! Thank you all for  your encouragement. Josh gets here tomorrow!! I will try my best to catch you up on the last three weeks...

At first, it was very much which comes first, the chicken or the egg. I needed a car to get places. But I needed GPS to know where I was going. I needed to get my iPhone unlocked so I could get a local sim card put in so I could have GPS to know where I was going. But I couldn't get my iPhone with GPS until I had Internet access. But I needed a phone to call the Internet company so that I could get Internet. AHHH! So... I decided the phone had to come first, even if it wasn't a smart phone with GPS. Getting a phone number here was top priority! So...I bought an old school Nokia (the kind where you have to hit a button three times to get the letter c! - Thought of you often Lauren Person!) It did the trick until I was able to get Internet access, unlock my phone, and put my new sim card in it.


Next was a car. I (we in a little more than 24 hours!) live about 15 minutes from school, and about 25 minutes from downtown Abu Dhabi. Having a car is pretty much a must here. Although, cabs are pretty cheap. My school has done a great job of making things easier on us. They brought someone from Hertz rental company to school to arrange for us to get cars. They also brought the local Internet company and bank representatives to school. You are looking at my new wheels! Don't get jealous! These little cars are very popular here. Thank goodness mine isn't white, or I'd never find it in our school parking lot. Remember the chicken or the egg? Well, GPS might have needed to come before the car. I was able to get home from work that first day with no problem. Getting to work the next morning was another story. I tried my best to remember the way. I knew I needed to go toward Abu Dhabi. ALL SIGNS POINT TO ABU DHABI!!! So an hour and a half later, I found my way back to my house and called a cab. :/ New top priority... GPS! I was able to get Internet rather quickly. Some people who got here before I did still don't have Internet. Once I had that, I was able to take the time I needed to unlock my phone, have my new sim card put in, and finally have access to my smart phone. I feel whole again!

Next was purchasing the necessities for our house. I spent all day at Ikea and Ace Hardware (pictured). Ace is more like Home Depot here. It is huge! You really can find everything you need and more here. There are malls EVERYWHERE! I have been to four in three weeks. There are little grocery markets everywhere. But malls have Super-Walmart type stores called Carrefour. They are a little more Western and have products that are a little more familiar. I was on sensory overload the first time I visited one. But like everything else, it is becoming the new normal.

Not so normal food

Normal Food

 I haven't done any cooking yet. I need to buy a lot of things for the kitchen, but I want to wait on Josh for most of the purchases (is that a good enough excuse??) So I have ordered out a lot for dinner. Everyone delivers. Local places. Pizza Hut, Subway, Chili's, etc. It is so cool to see these things driving around everywhere.

 Janis, my mother-in-law, introduced me to bougainvilleas at her house in Austin years ago. I fell in love with the plant. We have them everywhere! It is so nice to see them and think of her.

 Skype has been wonderful for talking to family and friends. But it is known to freeze from time to time. You have to learn to just go with it when stuff like this happens. You can get really frustrated and upset, or you can invent a new game called "who can get the best bad frozen face." He is sooo winning this game, but he doesn't have the password to the blog!

This is my new friend. He makes my heart skip a beat every morning when I go out to water the yard. Suggestions for a name??

 Speaking of critters... I came home the other day and found 200 ants with wings crawling up my wall. I called maintenance and explained the problem. They transferred me to an outsourced pest company. The guy was amazing. Very patient as I was borderline freaking out. As we were talking, there were more and more of them and they reached my ceiling. He told me since it was after hours on a Thursday (think Friday), the security people would not let them in until Saturday (think Saturday). Ummm.... what am I supposed to do until then?! He took me step by step through what I needed to do. Go buy ant spray, a candle, and a lighter. Go home and kill the ants, then light a candle and let the wax drip in the hole in the floor to plug it. It worked! He even gave me his cell phone number to call him and give him updates. The people here have been very helpful and kind.

Ok, the chocolate bar wasn't part of his supply list. But I am in a foreign country by myself with flying ants!

 Can you believe I have a friend here? He moved here a week after I did to begin a two year assignment at the US Embassy! We explored one of the many malls and ate at TGI Friday's. (Although they should call it TGI Thursday's here since Thursday is the new Friday!). Kyle and I went to OSU together and while we don't exactly remember each other, we have tons of mutual friends like Ben Davis, Asher Griffin, and John Hudson. Thanks for the connection guys!

 Speaking of malls, because it is so hot (and because there is a LOT of money here), shopping is truly a hobby. Malls have ice skating rinks, bowling alleys, roller coasters, aquariums, you name it! They also have REALLY nice stores. I wonder if this is where Joey (Friends) got his Porsche clothes?

 I got to go to Dubai! But I spent all day in a hotel conference room :( I cannot wait to go back and explore. It was pretty hazy that day, but you can see a really tall, skinny building in the background. That is the world's tallest building!

I had a birthday last week. I already have some great friends who helped me celebrate with a tart! I also have amazing 7th grade English Language Learner students. One of them gave me a coin purse from her home country, Korea. I always said I would NEVER teach middle school. Never say never! They brighten my day every time I get to see them.

We live in an area called Al Reef. It is made up of four communities: Arabian, Mediterranean, Contemporary, and Desert. We live in Desert. It is a very new area that is still being built up. There will be tons of shops going in our downtown soon. There is a lot of grass, trees, and plants. There are pathways that weave in and out of the villas in each community. I can't wait for it to get a little cooler! One more month!

With the last minute change to Abu Dhabi, my paperwork is not complete. I am here on a tourist visa until I can get on a work visa. I will then do some more paperwork and get on a resident visa. In the meantime, we have to make "border runs" to our neighboring country, Oman. We did our first one Friday. We basically get in a bus, ride for 3 hours to the border, cross the border and get an exit stamp, enter Oman and get an entry and exit visa, turn around and go back into the UAE and get a new tourist visa (good for 30 days), and make the 3 hour trip home. Not the most fun day, but we saw camels!! Literally crossing the road. We also saw a lot in pens too. There is camel racing here in the winter months!

 

 

Mom and dad - there is Mane 'n Tail here! I wonder if they use it on the camels like we used it on our show steers?

 

I just went back to the top to see if I missed any Insha'Allah moments. Just one. My second night here, I was exhausted and completely jet lagged. Nothing sounded better than a long shower. It started out like any other normal shower. You know... with water. And then it slowed to a drip. And then there was nothing. No water. No phone. No phone numbers to call if I had a phone. So I had to make do with bottled water. I got to school the next morning and called maintenance. Thankfully, no water is considered an emergency, not an "Insha'Allah" moment, so I had water that evening!

 

I'm sorry if this post has been a little all over the place. But that is how my life has been the last three weeks. There have been some wonderful, magical moments. And there have been some curled up in a ball crying moments. But I have survived all of them, and Joshua Cash Gatlin gets here in exactly 23 hours!

 

I promise it won't take me this long to post next time. Insha'Allah!