It's Been A Long Time

Well, I lied. I said I would keep up with this blog and obviously it's been almost an entire year since I have posted anything. Not like I get much traffic, but I know of at least one person who had been reading it before (talking about you Scratch).

It's been a short and long year so far. A lot of things have happened and life has drastically changed. I am back in school and finishing up my degree. Betina got a promotion and will be the head of faculty once all the new teachers arrive. Aurelia is getting so big and making me feel old. There's so much to catch everyone up and I'll try to do my best. Let's start from where I left off before.

In November Aurelia turned one year old. We had a little get together in the courtyard behind our apartment. Everyone had a great time and Aurelia loved her cake. Unfortunately, Betina also happened to break her ankle at work a week or two before this happened so we had to rely on the generous help of our neighbors, who were awesome.

In December, my step kids came over for Christmas vacation and they had a great time. We took them out on a desert safari and they go to see some amazing things, like the Grand Mosque and Burj Khalifa. I think the best experience for them was seeing that Arabic people are just like everyone else. While they may not dress or interact in the same way as Americans, they still do the same things. They go shopping, eat out at restaurants, go to the park, etc. It was a really great learning experience for them and I hope we get to have them back soon.

In January, I started school. I currently a Penn State undergrad student and only have two semesters left. It was a long time coming and definitely took some getting used to, but it's been worth it. Betina really pushed me to get it done and I love her for it.

Not much else happened for the rest of the school year really. Ramadan started and it made things interesting, like eating or drinking in public. While we are not Muslim, we are still expected to be respectful and not do anything that would be deemed offensive during the holy month. I had no problem with it and places like Dubai Mall were extremely accommodating, setting up walls so that non-Muslims could eat during the day at the food court area.

Once the school year finished we packed up and headed out for a long vacation that we just got back from a couple weeks ago. That will be left for another post as there is too much to go over. I know I kind of glazed over a lot of what happened, but really once we settled in it was just being home and being in our routine. Same old boring life even seven thousand miles away. I guess it goes that way when you get comfortable somewhere. It's been a great year so far, the first of many here in the UAE, I'm sure. I'll do my best to keep this relatively up to date. Expect the vacation post really soon.

New Place, New Perspective

Unfortunately, I won't be delivering on those Al Ain pics quite yet. I've been doing all the driving since we got here so it doesn't quite lend to taking pictures. But, as Betina and I keep telling each other, we still have plenty of time to see everything.

Things have remained relatively the same, as we've started to get into our daily routine: 

6:30 - Wake up and get showered
7:15 - Take Betina to school
7:45 - Come back home and get Aurelia down for a nap and clean
9:15 - Feed baby after she wakes up and play with her
12:00 - Give Aurelia a bottle and get her down for another nap; eat lunch
2:10 - Out the door to pick up Betina
2:30 - Pick up Betina and head home or to Carrefour for some groceries
3:00 - Hang out and watch BBC News and play with Aurelia
5:00 - Start getting dinner ready
6:00 - Eat dinner
7:00 - Give Aurelia a bath and get her down for a nap

From that point things can go any which way depending on how Aurelia sleeps. Betina and Aurelia are usually in bed by 11 at the latest and I tend to watch TV for a while longer and get some alone time in. Obviously this isn't exactly how every night goes, but I'm not complaining about having the routine in place. Hopefully, we will be adding some new intervals in that list as we are hoping to bring our dogs over very soon. We've caught a lot of criticism over our decision to bring out pets over, as it is pretty expensive, but to us it is more than worth it. I've never been one to see a dog as a child, but Betina and I had those dogs together before we had Aurelia so in a certain way they do feel like our first kids. I'll be happy to throw tennis balls for them all day just like before.

Things are coming together little by little, and I'm sure before too long this will feel like the normal for us. In some aspects we have a new normal already. I read an article earlier today about a Muslim woman being removed from a play in France due to the fact that she was wearing a burqa, due to the fact that France has enacted in anti-burqa law and the performers refused to continue until she was removed. What I found most disturbing about the story were the comments that I read on the story. Its seemed that 99% of the comments were inflammatory towards Islam and said that America needed to enact the same law as "anybody who hides their face is obviously up to no good and is probably a terrorist." It truly saddens me that I read that statement, verbatim. Another common sentiment was that a burqa was demeaning and about subjugating the woman. I am personally not a Muslim, but I find it offensive that someone would say such things about something they obviously know little to none about. Perhaps my short time here in the UAE has given me a perspective that those back in America could never have without being around it, or perhaps I'm just not a hateful person. Maybe both. What I do know is that I have personally met a woman who wears a burqa on a daily basis and she made it very clear that it was her choice to wear it. What adds more credence to her statement is the fact that she was not born a Muslim; she is Welsh and married an Emirati man, and converted. Perhaps my lone anecdotal evidence is the exception rather than the rule, but I like to believe that it's not.

Being here for the last month has only reinforced my feelings that people here in the Middle East are misunderstood and, unfortunately, will most likely continue to be. I can only hope that someday we can begin to get along and realize that what we are presented on TV is not always representative of what the truth is. In the same way that the Westboro Baptist Church does not reflect the views of Christianity as a whole, the people we see on Fox News threatening the world in the name of Allah do not truly represent what Islam truly is. Perhaps being away from the constant droning of hate allows me to see past it. Or perhaps I choose to form my own opinions rather than having them given to me. 

Settling In

A lot of things have happened since my last post. We left the city and made our way out to Al Ain, which is on the border with Oman. We stayed in another hotel for a week or so, but we are finally in our apartment. So far we only have the basics (bed, couch, TV, fridge, etc.), but its beginning to feel like home. Betina has started working and is trying to catch up her students who are a bit behind as she wasn't there at the start of the year. The funny part about it is that she is teaching math, even though shes an English teacher. Like we had heard so many times before, we have to roll with the punches as there's no rhyme or reason here sometimes. Overall, things have been going rather well, with a few hiccups here and there. It's a bit early to say how things will continue, but so far so good. A short one this time, but I'll be posting up some pics in the near future of Al Ain.

The Grand Mosque

Betina and I and group of other teachers decided to head out to the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque the other day, as it is one of the places that one must see when visiting Abu Dhabi. We had a great time and had the opportunity to see an amazing building, whose beauty and grandness cannot even begin to be captured in the pictures that I took.

Life in the Sandbox

I've had a few days to settle in here in Abu Dhabi and so far so good. The weather is actually very close to that in Florida, with a bit less humidity. We have started to explore the city a little bit and have gone to a few of the malls in the area. We plan to visit the Grand Mosque later today so I will be sure to post some pics from that trip. For now you'll have to make due with some pics from the past few days.