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.