Christmas Letter 2009

Steve writes our Christmas letter every year, but I thought I would include it in my blog this year so that everyone can see it. Happy Holidays everyone!!


Season’s Greetings friends and family,
So, we’re pretty sure most of you know by now that our family embarked on a new adventure this year. For those that don’t, in June we moved to the city of Abu Dhabi in the country of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). To say it’s been an interesting year would be a monumental understatement.
So quickly about us - Angie, after spending the first 6 months of the year as a single mom while I was over here working, has gone back to school and is working toward her master’s degree in Nursing Education. Ashli started kindergarten and, as expected, has become an international class clown. And Caitlin is a big first grader who is very proud of the fact that she’s already reading at a 2nd grade level. I’m still chugging along in my job playing with lots of big, expensive, computer gear. It’s hard to capture everything that has happened but let me tell you about a few of our experiences and observations.
The first thing lots of folks ask about when we mention we moved out here is the weather. Just so we can get this little discussion out of the way – it’s freakin’ hot. Summer time is pretty ridiculous. The days are pretty much in the 110-125 degree range every day. Night time doesn’t drop in temp very much either. Did I mention we’re right next to the Arabian Gulf (they frown on you if you use the term “Persian Gulf” here)? That means that despite what you may think you know about deserts, it’s humid as well which kinda makes it like walking through a sandy swamp for a good part of the year. Luckily there are many pools and places with great AC. Unfortunately, given that it’s a Muslim country, it is relatively unacceptable to strip naked in public pools or in most places with the aforementioned AC. Therefore, you (meaning I) often go from being soaking wet with perspiration to shivering as I kick the icicles off the bottom of my jeans. Ang claims to love it. “It’s not so bad” she says. She, in my opinion, is a liar – at least in this regard. Anyway it’s bearable, if only just. With the pool in our back yard and the AC turned on high most days you can get by without feeling like a fried egg.
So having established that it’s hot here (I did mention that, right?), it’s also been a great learning opportunity not only for the girls, but Ang and I as well. We have learned that there is yet another country where people drive crazier than Americans. I’ve been to more than 18 countries in my travels so far and UAE ranks in the top 5 for insane drivers. We’ve learned that calling a New Zealand-er a Kiwi is not an insult. We had long deliberations on this before actually asking a Kiwi if it was offensive – I let Angie ask. We’ve learned that the surprising financial news out of Dubai lately shouldn’t have been. I’ve seen my share of over the top places, but Dubai takes the cake on that. However, looking up at the Burj Dubai (tallest building in the world) is still stunning. And we’ve learned that pretty much anywhere in the world, it costs virtually nothing to sit down on a hillside, or a sand dune, and watch a beautiful sunset.
However, one of the coolest things about our adventures over here so far is the diversity of people that we meet and see. I won’t claim that they are all nice or happy or welcoming, but that shouldn’t be expected. Nobody lives in a fairy tale. However, this is one of the main reasons we wanted to come here with the girls. We wanted them to see and meet and interact with other peoples. We’ve certainly seen our money’s worth on that front. Angie went to a group meeting consisting of expatriate women that all live here in Abu Dhabi. In that meeting alone she socialized with women representing 73 different nationalities. Ang and the girls had a play-date over the summer and people from 5 of the 7 continents attended. And, not to be outdone in the interacting with people from foreign countries department, I have personally flipped off at least 15 different nationalities for cutting me off, swerving into my lane, riding my bumper at 70 mph, and just driving like a jerk… hey, I’m all about diplomacy, but sometimes you just have to let folks know you’re displeased with them.
While one of the primary reasons we came here was to meet new people another was to see new places. Since we arrived here in June we have visited four countries. The first was UAE of course, then Oman – which you can read about on Angie’s blog – then a quick stop-over in Qatar, and finally we spent a week in Greece. When I took this gig, I knew it was going to entail a good bit of work. However, I didn’t count on not having time to take vacation for nearly a year. So with well over 200 hours of vacation on the books and wanting to take advantage of our proximity to so many cool places, we decided to take a trip to Athens, Greece. Greece was a lot of things. It was amazing when you look at the ruins and try envisioning the history and the culture that have come from this country. It was beautiful when we took an island cruise and saw the tiny hamlets on Hydra, Poros, and Aegina. It was a little annoying trying to find our way around the city on the public transport system that didn’t cater to English speakers. But what was priceless – and I’m sure my dad will appreciate this (think Rock City) – was asking the girls what their favorite part of the trip had been and being told that it was the hot chocolate I bought for them on the day cruise, or the bouncers we found at a local kids area or the metric butt-ton of stray cats inhabiting the little town on Hydra (ok, the hot chocolate thing made me kinda happy). Regardless, it was kind of a “bucket list” trip that we will always remember.
So our year in a nutshell - So far Abu Dhabi has been:
- Educational – We learned all about dolphins when we did a dolphin interaction at one of the resorts in Dubai. We learned they have numerous sharp teeth used for grabbing and holding and that they are good kissers. We also learned just how much fun it can be to get your leased vehicle buried to the axle in sand at the bottom of a dune and subsequently how much fun it is yanking it out (we’re not telling the lease company about that little adventure).
- Hilarious – Watching a 6’3” Pakistani run from a French Bulldog standing just over 1’ tall because they aren’t used to domestic dogs and are apparently terrified of them. I realize this may seem mean but knowing the dog and how non-vicious he is and combining that with the disparity in size… still makes me giggle.
- Spectacular – Going to my first F1 race here in Abu Dhabi and following that up with my first Aerosmith concert. F1 was way cooler than I expected and with intra-band drama aside and a combined age of well over 200 years old Aerosmith still knows how to rock! Ask me some time about Steven Tyler’s jacket he wore out on stage.
- Sad – Seeing another country building itself on the virtual indentured servitude/slavery of the Indian and Pakistani people and the contempt with which those people are treated will be one of the many things I hope the girls can remember and pull from later in life. Hopefully it will stand in their minds as a way not to treat people.
We’ve got another year at least here and we look forward to more adventures in and lessons about the world around us. Tune in next year to see what trouble we can get ourselves into and out of. Also, one thing we quickly discovered is that keeping up with friends and family makes this whole deal a lot easier and more enjoyable. So please feel free to catch up with us on Facebook and give Angie’s blog a look every once in a while to see what’s happening with us.
Have a happy holiday and a great new year!
Steve, Angie, Caitlin and Ashli

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Steve may think that I’m a liar, but I really have enjoyed the weather here. That is until we had our first real rain. For those of you who have never lived in one, rain and the desert do not go well together. We had lived here for 6 months without rain and I hadn’t missed it at all, but Steve and the girls talked about it all the time and were delighted when we got caught in a downpour in Greece (I wasn’t so thrilled).
A week after we got back to Abu Dhabi, we signed up for a kayaking expedition. We took off from the large island of Abu Dhabi and headed toward some of the smaller uninhabited islands under some very dark looking clouds. We felt the first few drops when we were stopped at a small beach. The whole group was excited about the rain (it was a very gentle rain at this point). It continued to rain lightly off and on the rest of the day.
The next day, it was a little bit more aggressive. It wasn’t a steady rain, but now I was seeing large puddles everywhere. People started to panic. Drivers who can probably count on one hand how many times they have driven in rain were out in force (kind of like Floridians driving in the snow). It was total chaos. I was so happy that I had picked this day to drive to Dubai (45 minute drive normally) to finish my Christmas shopping…..NOT. It took me double the time to get home (1 ½ hours).
Because it only rains 1 to 2 times each year, the roads are not built with any drainage. This means that all the rain collects in large puddles on the streets. The more it rains, the bigger the puddles until some of the roads are completely under water. This is what started to happen on day 2 of the rain (when I was trying to get home). At this point, I think most of the inhabitants of the UAE were done with the rain, but alas….it was not done with us.
The next morning, I woke up early to go for a run. It drizzled on me the entire time, but other than dodging large puddles, it wasn’t too bad. I came back to the house and was checking my email while I was cooling off and started to hear a noise that I couldn’t identify. It took me a full 5 minutes to realize that it was rain hitting the roof. It was coming down in sheets. I was thrilled that I had come back from my run in time, but then as it continued, I realized I was going to have to take the kids to school in it.
I pick up 2 extra kids every day on our way to school. I was able to get my girls in the car and buckled under cover of the garage, but not the other two. I was looking like a drowned rat before we even got to school. It seemed to start to rain even harder when we pulled into the parking lot of school. Trying to get 4 kids under 7 out of a car with their backpacks and lunch boxes in a timely manner is not possible. Now I wasn’t the only drowned rat around. We ran for the door and in the process found a puddle that went half way up my calves….NICE. I was very done with the rain at that point.
I had to run some errands that day so I went to the grocery store and to pay some bills. Luckily all these things were in a mall with a garage so that I didn’t have to go out in the weather. I did however have to negotiate many large lakes (no longer merely puddles) in the road. At one point I went through a puddle and I could feel the water on the door of my SUV (not good). I quickly got off that road!
I went back home and changed ALL my clothes (everything was wet at that point) and decided to check FB while I did some laundry. Many of my friends here in Abu Dhabi were posting about all the leaks in their house due to the rain. Just like the roads here, the houses are not made very water-proof. I very happily posted back that I was one of the lucky ones without a leak. Not 5 minutes later while I was watching our pool overflow, I heard a noise coming from the front door. Water was literally pouring in from under the door into our foyer….so much for no leaks. I grabbed some towels and stuffed them under the door and hoped that the rain would stop soon. Steve had called me and asked me to check the balcony off our bedroom (one of his co-workers has the same house and water was flooding into the house from the balcony). While our balcony was fine, our roof was not. As I walked down the hall towards our room I discovered water freely flowing from the ceiling in the hallway. I grabbed a bucket and some more towels and cleaned up the best I could. I then spent about 30 minutes trying to call the maintenance company about the leak, but discovered that everyone else was doing the same thing (I got a busy signal every time I called). I finally got through and they promised to send someone soon. I’m still waiting 4 days later. Thank goodness it stopped raining.
Even though I make light of the rain here, it was pretty serious. I just read an article in the newspaper that claims 4 people died and over 75 were injured due to the rain. Whole roads and bridges were shut down for days and we are still trying to dry out. The picture above is of a construction site behind our neighborhood 3 sunny and hot days after the rain stopped. I wish I had thought to take a picture earlier to show you how crazy it really was. Let’s just hope that it doesn’t rain here again any time soon!

It's All Greek to Us

One of the pros on us moving overseas was that we could travel to different places that were out of reach living in the states. We had traveled locally within the UAE and Oman, but hadn’t had the time due to the move and Steve’s work, but on Thanksgiving Day we left the Middle East and traveled to Athens, Greece for a week.
In junior high I did a report on the Parthenon for a geography class and I was fascinated by its history and lore. I promised myself that one day I would go to visit it myself and that was one of the deciding factors in us going to Greece.
We left in the wee hours of Thanksgiving Day and traded our turkey dinner in for almost decent airplane food. We had a brief stop-over in Doha, Qatar and made it to our destination around lunch time (although to us it was mid afternoon and we had all been up since 3am). We rented a condo for the week and the owner picked us up in her tiny little car. Imagine fitting 5 people, 3 suitcases and 4 carry-ons in the equivalent of a Ford Escort. We managed to fit everyone and everything in and rode to the port of Athens, Piraeus which is about 1 hour from the airport.
My first impressions of Athens were not very favorable. It was very dirty with trash and graffiti every where. It made me sad that a birth place of so many things and ideas was not well taken care of. It seemed like the residents took no pride in their surroundings. The locals’ attitudes made up for it. They were all very friendly and helpful. And thankfully they all spoke at least a smattering of English which was very useful since the further away from the tourist areas you went, the less English you saw on signs.
We found out to our delight that we had a view of the Acropolis from the balcony of our condo when we got there and I think I took no less than 25 pictures of it wishing I had a larger zoom lens. It was spectacular at night when it was lit up. It’s something that I will keep in my mind forever. We did find out that the free internet that we were promised in the ad for the condo was not to be. This put a little wrench in some of our plans (like figuring out the metro system and me doing my homework), but we were able to figure it out eventually.
We spent that afternoon and evening wandering around the port town where we were staying. We went to a local grocery store and got some supplies for the week. I think I actually saw a tear or two in Steve’s eyes when he saw the beer down the aisle from the bacon (we picked up both). We explored the port and found out about day cruises and ate McDonalds much to the girls delight, in yet another country (it is everywhere!).
The next day we set off to figure out the public transport system and didn’t do so well initially. We were very proud of ourselves when we found the train station almost immediately. We bought our tickets and thought we were on our way. At the first stop, they made an announcement in Greek and absolutely everyone got off. I looked out the window and one of the transport workers motioned us to follow. We were all herded into buses and took a long (about 30 minutes) ride having no idea where we were going and hoping that we would be able to get back to the condo eventually. The bus finally stopped and we were again herded into a train station. I was able to determine from the map that we were now 3 stops down the line from where we were previously. Eventually a kind soul let us know that they were doing construction on the line and that’s why we had to get off and ride a bus for awhile. We did eventually find our destination Lycabettus Hill after only about 3 ½ hours of buses, trains and cabs. We rode the expensive and underwhelming tram up to the top where we were treated to stunning views of the city and surrounding areas including the Acropolis and the islands. We spent about an hour up there seeing the sights and I took several pictures (things never change). We then decided to walk down the hill and try to get back to the condo. It was mid-afternoon and we were expecting that it would take a long time to get back. But, we greatly improved our time and made it back in an hour and 15 minutes!
The next day we had booked a day cruise to 3 of the nearest islands. Since we were close to the port Steve decided that we should walk. We had walked to the pier the first day after all and it wasn’t too bad (about 1 mile). He didn’t take into consideration that it was 6am and the gate we needed to get to was the furthest one from us. Once we got to the port, a suggestion was made to get a cab to our gate since we were at gate 8 and needed to be at gate 1. That suggestion was denied and we continued to walk. 2 miles later with 3 cranky females, Steve made it to the correct gate. Needless to say, we took a cab home that night!
After the rough start, the rest of the day was amazing. We visited Hydra, Poros, and Aegina which are all beautiful. Hydra, our first stop is free of cars (except for the trash truck, and 2 other service vehicles). All other transport is done through donkeys much to the girls pleasure. The girls also enjoyed the hundreds of stray cats on the island. Between the donkeys and the cats they were happy campers. One of Steve’s favorite parts of the day was lunch (pork and beer again) which we had on board the boat in between islands. We made a very quick stop to the island of Poros which had a very nice little port with shops and cafes. Our final stop was the island of Aegina where we actually took a tour bus to the top of the island to the Temple of Aphaia (read up on this temple if you can….it has a great story) which is one of the best preserved temples in Greece. We were at one of the highest points of the island and the sun was setting (another picture that will stay in my head forever). We went back on the boat and were treated to some entertainment, some of which was entertaining (the traditional Greek dancers) and some not so much (the comedian). All in all a pretty fabulous day!
Because we had such a long day the day before, we decided to take it easy the next day (it was also Sunday and not much going on). We went to a nearby mall with intentions of finding an internet café (so I could do my homework) and to take the girls to a movie. We found the first thing pretty easily, but were not able to find an appropriate (they didn’t want to go to New Moon with me!) movie in English. But, we did find a huge park behind the mall with about 10 gigantic moon bounces in it. The girls were in heaven and spent about 2 hours jumping to their heart’s content.
The next day was the highlight of our trip in my opinion. I finally saw the Acropolis and all its amazing temples and theatres. Just walking up the hill and seeing the ruins of buildings that are thousands of years old was astonishing. I can’t say that the girls had the same reactions as us on the whole experience however. They were more interested in climbing the ancient stones than looking at them. Caitlin did appreciate that they were old buildings and liked hearing the legends, but I think she was expecting to actually see Zeus and Athena there. The only downer on the day was the lack of time we had to spend on the archaic hill. We got there late in the day and were unaware on the early closing times for that day in particular (another instance where internet would have been nice).
The rest of the trip we spent enjoying ourselves by wandering through Greece to see what we could find. On the last day there, we found something that Steve in particular has been looking for. We were in the National Gardens (large park in the center of Athens) and started to hear thunder. We started towards an exit, but were not quick enough to get under cover before we were in a full-on deluge. It took us 30 minutes of walking through the pouring rain before we found any cover and by then we were drenched. It was the first time we had seen rain in 6 months, but I think Steve was the only one that was happy about it (it was freakin cold!!!)
On the airplane ride home I asked everyone what their 3 favorite parts (in order) of the trip were and I got these answers:
Ashli:
1 The cats
2 The bouncers
3 The hot chocolate that Daddy bought us on the boat
Caitlin:
1 The temples
2 The bouncers
3 The hot chocolate that Daddy bought us on the boat
Steve:
1 The Acropolis
2 The day cruise to the islands
3 Pizza Hut (pork laden pizza with beer!)
Me
1 The Acropolis
2 The day cruise to the islands
3 Going on our first family trip together in a very long time