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.
