Trip to Ras al Khaimah

Before Christmas we spent a few days in Ras al Khaimah (aka RAK), which is another emirate in the UAE known for its beautiful beaches.  It only took a little over 2 hours to get there and we spent 3 glorious days in the 80 degree sunshine.

Mark got me a new (and better) camera and surprised me before the trip so prepare yourself for lots of pictures in the near future!

The beautiful Hilton Resort and Spa

With the Hajjar Mountains in the background


Another part of this huge resort



We met new friends at the pool who shared their awesome floats with us!












Enjoying the huge water slide at the hotel.





Fun playing in the sand.  What is it about boys and digging holes?

(I guess the sun was bright...)

The ocean was georgious!


They really love each other!

You just can't beat the beach at Christmas!  How incredibly blessed we are!

Love my babies!

Reading his sister a story on the drive home to Al Ain.

Happenings...

We've been busy the last few weeks!  Here are some of the things we've been up to...

Celebrating National Day (like US Independence Day) at Hili Fun City, which is an amusement park.  They offered free admission and we just had to pay for the kids to ride the rides...

They had an impressive fireworks show!

We also rooted on the American football team Mark is helping coach, the Al Ain Desert Foxes!  This is the first year of the league, and since football here is usually known as soccer, this is a really big deal for us Americans!

It was a really close game, but they lost in the end, unfortunately.

After the game, we went up the mountain, Jabel Hafeet, to an after-party to support the team!

One of the servers entertained us with his fire breathing/juggling talent!

Griffen lost his 2nd tooth so far in the UAE (6th tooth total.)

We went to Applebees in Al Ain Mall for their grand opening on 12-12-12.  Since they are one of the football team's sponsors, they paid for all players, coaches, and their family's meals!  Nice perk!  They had face painting and crafts for kids, so Olivia gladly had an apple and a bee painted (with sparkles!)

Of course the kids had a great time with their friends!

Our Christmas tree is up.  This is the first year we haven't had a real tree but we love it anyway.

Today started our 3 week break from school.  I am so thankful for this time- it is very much needed!  We have a couple of mini trips planned.  One to Dubai to do Christmas things, as well as a few days in another emirate, Ras al Khaimah, where we will be swimming and enjoying the beach.  We can't wait!  

Thanksgiving, UAE Style

It was a different kind of Thanksgiving for us, being so far away from our families, but an enjoyable one nonetheless.  We have so much to be thankful for, this year especially.  This opportunity that we've been given to live with our children in another country is just priceless.  We are so blessed to have made our own 'family' here with new friends and still have our family and friends in the U.S.  We really do have the best of both worlds!

Now for the food: poor Mark had to go all over town to 4 different grocery stores to find the ingredients we needed  for our Thanksgiving dinner: turkey, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie.  But he found it all and cooked us a delicious Thanksgiving meal that we ate when we got home from school (no Thanksgiving holiday here.)

Good job, Mark!

Ready to dig in!

The next day we had another huge feast with our friends and neighbors in our building.  We put tables and chairs in the hallway and had a great time eating and chatting!  The kids loved it because there were 20 or so kids for them to play with when we finished eating!

Look at all that food!

The kids had a great time!

And so did we!

Now we just have one more week of school and we are off for three weeks!  We can't wait to do some travelling in the area and see the sights.  It will be interesting to see what Christmas holds for us this year...hope Santa can find us all the way in the UAE!

We hope you and your family are enjoying this holiday season as much as we are!

Culture Shock is REAL

We're approaching the 3 month mark of living in a new country and I feel like I've recently turned a corner...a good one.

Culture shock is defined as "the disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration."  There are usually 4 stages: honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment, and mastery.  Obviously the honeymoon phase is when everything is new, overwhelming, and exciting.  That lasted about a month and a half for me.  During the negotiation phase the individual experiences anxiety as a result of the differences between the old culture and new culture.  Eventually, during the adjustment phase, all of the 'new' begins to feel 'normal,' and in the mastery phase the individual is totally comfortable and considered bicultural.   

The adjustment phase is where I've been for quite a while, which I think is a result of being thrown into my new school, classroom, and professional life.  It's been hard.  I've been very emotional.  We've been in school almost 2 months and things that really bothered me (i.e. my students behavior, the general chaos, non-compliance to school rules in general- I have a whole blog planned on this btw) don't affect me like they did.

I've learned to take advantage of my time away from school, to spend as much time as I can resting and enjoying my family and friends.  I've learned that I deserve every bit of fun I have- I've earned it.  So many things are totally out of my control in this new culture.  I have several VERY supportive friends over here (you know who you are), who are the only people who somewhat understand what it's been like because they are in the trenches teaching too.  I don't think I would have made it without them.  

So, I'm glad to be moving on to the next phase (hopefully) where I'm less stressed, anxiety-ridden, and basically grumpy (lol.)  Inshallah!

Now...picture time...

     1st tooth lost in the UAE!  The tooth fairy found him all the way over here and left him 10 dirhams since it was a top tooth (that's a whopping $2.70!)

Realized I hadn't posted a pic of our lovely rental car.  It's a 2012 Mitsubishi Lancer...and Mark even fits in it!  We plan on buying a car in the next couple of months but it will do for now.

First sandstorm.  Luckily we were at home...I've heard visibility can be an issue if you're out driving.

The Ninja and Rapunzel enjoyed trick or treating in our building!

They were lucky enough to meet up with "Miss Dubai" and "Miss Al Ain!"

And went to a trunk or treat that even had a bouncy house!

We miss you!

Eid Mubarak!

We are currently enjoying a four day weekend of rest, relaxation, and much needed FUN!  Eid Al-Adha, also called Feast of Sacrifice, is a celebration of the Islamic New Year, where Muslims honor Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ishmael.  If you remember the story, God intervened and allowed him to sacrifice a ram instead.  So, each family sacrifices an animal (goat, sheep, etc.) and eats one part themselves, gives another part to friends, and donates another part to charity.  All week we've seen animals riding in the back of pick-up trucks on their way to be some family's feast.

I visited a good friend from home who is now teaching in Abu Dhabi and we had fun catching up and even had proper brunch at the Crown Plaza on Friday.  It was delicious!

The rest of the break we have spent in Al Ain avoiding the crowds.  The whole country is off work and out celebrating.  I wish we could do this every weekend!

I'm very behind updating you with pictures.  Here are some more from when Sarah Jen visited a few weeks ago.

We went with another family to the Al Ain Zoo (one of the biggest and most exotic in the Middle East.)

Flamingos!

The had many, many different species of lions.

And tigers

I've heard from what seems like hundreds of people on FB that there's a new baby giraffe at the Greenville Zoo.  Here's a little one that we got to feed (Olivia was scared to feed it, lol.)

Giraffes really are tall!

And what zoo experience would be complete without offering camel rides?  

(The kids were scared to ride too of course.)

We also took a drive up Jabel Hafeet, one of the largest mountains in the UAE, which is also here in Al Ain.  There's a playground, restaurant, several houses, and hotel at the top.

The view from the top was very hazy because of the weather that day but it was still pretty amazing!

We had a great time and can't wait to go back!  There's so much to see and do here!  

Hope you are enjoying your weekend as much as we are!