Decorating For Christmas

I did all my Christmas decorating in about one hour this year, and that is truly a first!  Two Christmas's ago I had three trees and a house full of decorations in Charlotte.  Last year I had only one tree and modest decorations in the apartment.  This year I said I wasn't going to decorate at all!  I gave in quickly though with all the crazy and way out choices in holiday decor.  The first day that all saw all the color choices of Christmas trees in reminded me of the TV special, "Charlie Brown's Christmas".  Remember when they went shopping for a tree and they were all tin and metal and crazy colors?  Lulu's had trees of pink, silver, gold, blue, white, two-toned, iridescent, and oh yeah, there were a few green too!

The main reason I wasn't going to decorate is storage.  We have a small apartment under a thousand square feet with no closets!  We do have wardrobes and storage units but no room for any excess.  I figured I could live without the decorations this year but really loved the pink trees.  A friend who is also new to Abu Dhabi told me how she bought a five foot hot pink tree for the foyer of her apartment villa and had left over ornaments I could use and then get back to her.  I couldn't resist and with my tree only costing 19 dirhams ($5.50) and another 8 dirhams ($2.50) for the fabric, home we traveled!  This was my choice.  A two-toned pink and fuchsia only 2 foot tall!  It's sitting right outside our apartment door, it actually goes with more of the color scheme of the hallway then inside!  I think I can find room to store it for next year, it's just too cute not too!!

Here's wishing this Christmas season be a blessing to each of you and your families.  May the real reason of the season shine in your hearts!! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

As I write this, Thanksgiving weekend is coming to a close in the U.S. and I hope it was a wonderful one for all of you.  When you live in the U.S. you really don't think about how that particular holiday is strictly American.  When you are outside of the U.S. and the weather is a beautiful 83 degrees and you are surrounded by palm trees it doesn't feel like Thanksgiving.  And then there's the fact that it's not a holiday and no one else is celebrating spare the few other Americans we know.

So, this is how we celebrated.  Barry had a regular work day and I went to Lulu Island with the some of the ladies from my Boxes Class.  Lulu Island is short boat ride from the Marina Mall/Heritage Village area.  When you get on the island there is a bus that takes you around.  The beaches on the opposite side where you can't see the city are incredibly peaceful.

After my day at the beach and Barry's day at work (he did slip out a little early) we headed to a friends for Thanksgiving dinner!  I brought the stuffing, a crudite platter, and made the gravy.  We had two twelve pound turkeys, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, greenbean casserole, mashed potatoes.  There were yorkshire puddings (yummy) and then we had pecan, apple, and pumpkin pies.  It was all fabulous and I know everyone worked very hard in finding all their ingredients.  I couldn't buy poultry seasoning but did manage to find every spice I needed individually.  After we were stuffed we went for a nice walk and called it a night.

Thanksgiving it not just a meal, it's a state of the heart.  For me, it's about being thankful for all the Lord has blessed me with.

Heritage Village

Heritage Village is a look into the past of Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates largest emirate making up more than fifty percent of the land mass of the country.  This is where the Bedouins lived for generations and generations in poverty.  Before the oil, they lived as pearl divers and nomads.  The country began changing in the 1940's but the big changes didn't begin until the 1960's.  Just about forty years ago thirty percent of their women died in childbirth and infant mortality was fifty percent.  The income from the oil changed their lives in many ways.  With the changes, sadly they have lost much of their "heritage" as they have modernized.  This was a great peak at the way life was.  We had our picture taken here for our Christmas card, you'll have to wait to see that one!  Right as we were leaving quite a sandstorm kicked up!

Entrance to Heritage Village.

This is what the old souks looked like.

I thought I made a friend and then he almost drooled on my head!  Nasty!

He was a pretty sad camel, I think he's been here too long!

Barry was checking out this replicated archaeological site.

These are their homes only forty years ago, look how beautiful the doors are carved!

Barry made a friend in the spice souk!

Fish of the UAE

Medicinal herbs of the UAE

Ships of the UAE, remember they were once pearl divers before cultured pearls.

It's A Sandstorm!

Barry and I were out at the end of the Island on a Saturday checking out the Heritage Village (Blog to follow soon).  As we were leaving a Sandstorm kicked up from no where.  That's Marina Mall with a Marina in front of it that you can't see.  The haze is sand!  If you look carefully you can see the center tower of the mall.

Here you can see how choppy the water is, something we rarely see here.  Also, see the white mist over the stone breakwater?  It was sand just flying in the air.  This is the worst sandstorm we have seen since we've been here.  You could feel the sand in your face!  Usually the sky is just very hazy when there is a sandstorm.
Below is a even clearer picture of the sand blowing in front of this huge mall.
Oh well, I guess there has to be some downside of living near the beach!

Sundays at the Beach

Just about every Sunday you'll find me on the beach in Abu Dhabi.  Surprisingly there aren't many public beaches here.  Most are connected to the hotels and operate pricey resort type beach clubs.  The is one large public beach that is way too rocky and impossible to find parking. But, luckily there are few tiny quiet public beaches and I love this little one.  You can't go on the weekend because it's wall to wall locals, but on the weekdays this is where the expats go.  The palm trees are only a dozen steps from the water and the sand is silky smooth.

Sundays are the "New Mondays" here, otherwise it's the first day of the work week, with Friday and Saturday being our weekend.  When the extreme heat broke back in October a friend and I started heading to the beach.  We quickly found out that Sundays were the quietest day and started inviting friends.  Somedays there are two or three of us, one day we had twelve!  We bring our own lunches and enjoy each other's company ad the wonderful weather.

There are almost no waves because of the breakwaters around the island.  Depending on the tides sometimes you walk out what seems forever and it's still waist deep, and other times ten steps in and you're treading water!

A bunch of us bought cheap pool floats and we can stay out in the water for hours at a time!  I won't go out alone on my float because I'm afraid I'll fall asleep and wake up by an oil tanker!  Barry laughed at me because I was going to attach a line and anchor to my float.  So instead of looking silly, I always take a buddy!  

If you're ever in Abu Dhabi from October to May you know where to find me on any Sunday!

Rain, Rain, Come Again!

We actually had rain, real rain!  Almost forty-five minutes of rain!  Since my husband arrived on April 2nd it has not rained until yesterday.  And I actually missed it!  I was awake and laying in bed reading and since it wasn't a down pour I didn't hear it.  I did receive one text and three phone calls after the rain to ask me if I had seen it!  It also made the U.A.E. news.  Rain in Abu Dhabi this morning......  Isn't that hysterical?  You have to remember I live in a country that has an average of two inches of rainfall per year, after all it is the desert.

Along with the rain came the mud.  Oh yeah, everywhere for most of the day.  And the car accidents!  Twenty four had injuries and that doesn't count the fender benders.  Imagine over eight months of oil from cars on the road without a drop of rain to wash it away.  And speaking about washing away; my sixth floor apartments windows are no longer dust covered, now they have mud streaks going down them.  Lovely!  Maybe sometime in the next eight months it could be a down poor, that would be nice.  Oh well, you got to laugh!