Bella's Football Try-outs

Today Isabella had football tryouts.  I drove to where I thought they were (5 minutes from my house) and ended up missing the turn and having to drive over a bridge and 3 miles away before I could make a u-turn and get back to it and then go to three different buildings and talk to 6 different people before coming to the realization that I was in the wrong place and then I couldn't find my phone and then we came home for it and I saw a message about the try-outs being somewhere else and then Bella had taken off her soccer stuff and then I had to make her put it back on and rush to get to it and I was almost out of gas and we were 20 minutes late and it was 6:20 and the kids hadn't eaten dinner.

Yes - it's a GIANT run-on sentence.  But, that's how that hour felt.  Go, go, go, go - rest.

We got to the Zayed Sports City where there were try-outs going on EVERYWHERE.   So many kids from tots on up to teenagers.  I found U-8 because that's what I thought she was.  She is 8 by September 1st - isn't that how it goes?  It was about 25 boys and 1 girl plus Isabella.  I asked if there were different teams for boys and girls and they said there isn't enough interest for the girls.  Bella didn't care.  She was hungry and cranky and just wanted to play soccer.

They explained at the end that they automatically take the kids from the year before and it only leaves 8 open spots after that.

She was awesome.  She totally held her own and the coach's were impressed.  I talked to them afterwards and it turns out - SHE WAS IN THE WRONG AGE GROUP.  Argh!!!

The coach was disappointed because he said he could've used her.  He said she should've tried out for U-10, but he knew that was filled up so recommended she try out with U-13.  I reminded him that she is EIGHT.  He said, no problem.  She'll do great.

Now then, I know Bella is a good soccer player.  She has a real knack for it.  But - good enough to be playing two levels up, no.  Really.  I think she'll be trampled.

But - he said to bring her for the next try-outs (there are two to three try-outs for the team) and he'll introduce us to the U-13 coach.

Wish us luck!

Meanwhile, Cameron and Alexander played soccer on their own and Cameron made a crown of soccer markers:

First Week of School

One week of school down.

Everything went well.

By the end of the week, the kids didn't even want me walking them to the bus or being there to pick them up.  Heck, by Day 2 they were wondering why I was walking with them.  Glad to see their flame of independence is shining brightly.

They made new friends each day and Bella was excited to tell me about them.  Not only would they share names, but also the nationalities.  It's kinda funny considering they never did that before.  Bella never said, "I made friends with Maria and she's Mexican."  Alexander never said, "I made friends with Jacob and he's American.".  But, here in Abu Dhabi, there is something different/new/exciting to come home and tell me about their new friends from other parts of the world.

I'm also finding that I'm having a heck of time getting names straight so I just don't say them.   Sigh....

I've met a few people in the compound with unique (to me) names.  I couldn't even try to remember them here or come close to the proper spelling of them.   I've had them say their names more than once and it doesn't seem to stick either.  I think I'll ask for them to write down their names and the names of their children and then I can write down the number of their villa and hope to get it all straight.   I'm sure if someone from the States said, "Hi, my name is Jennifer." and you responded with "Hi, Lisa it's nice to meet you.".  They would look at you like you were crazy and wonder if you had a hearing problem.  I swear that's how off the names are probably sounding when I repeat them.  It's just that they are so different and sometimes they have sounds that aren't part of my English language.   I apologize but I don't want to say a name way wrong.  Sigh.   I'll get it, eventually.

The kids are learning new Arabic words every day.  Bella and her friend Ella (yes, Bella & Ella and they are 3 days apart in age) practice Arabic on the bus ride home.  She used to practice Spanish and would tell me that when she says Hello, how are you (in Spanish) that I would respond with I am fine, how are you (in English).  Way harder in Arabic.  In fact, I can't even say some of the words.  They use a sound from the back of their throat that we don't do and it's hard to master (let alone attempt properly).  Sigh....I'll get it, eventually.

Alexander had a swim party at school with the other 5th grade classes and had a blast.

He also learned that the 6th graders do an Archeological trip to Turkey.  He's a little excited (although hesitant to show too much excitement about anything here).  I'm a little excited and would love to chaperone.  Brian said that a lot of parents want to go and there is some kind of lottery.   As a typical sibling, Bella started counting what grades she would be here for (3rd - 4th - 5th) and looked dejected when she realized that she would miss the Turkey trip.

They do a trip to Malaysia in 8th grade.  I wonder if we'll be here then??

It's still very hot out and hard to walk around much.   Alexander tried kicking the soccer ball in the front yard yesterday (it's a tiny strip of area between the carports and not idea).  I warned him that he would hit a car and he countered with (not if I kick it up straight in the air - accompanied with a look of "duh").   The balls OBVIOUSLY comes down from the air (hello - gravity, duh) and almost hits a car every time.   I sent him to the tiny patch of dried grass that is our backyard and Brian told him not to kick it over the walls.  Two seconds later....he kicked it over the side wall.

I told him that he would now have to go to the neighbor's house and ask for his ball back.   He refused.  I reminded him that he did it all the time at our old house and he explained that he knew our neighbors back there so it was different.  I tried to explain that this was a GREAT way to finally meet our neighbors (even though we've been here a month I haven't even SEEN the people on either side).  This weather really keeps people indoors!

So, I went next door with two (suddenly very shy) kids in tow.   The woman was very nice and they have 4 kids (13, 11, 8 and 5) and her husband is a doctor (I feel a little safer now) and they used to be in Michigan and before that NY.  I didn't meet the husband, only the wife.  She had a thick accent, maybe East Indian???  I'm not good with the nationality differences.   The kids were nice and Bella ended up heading in to play with the 5 year old girl.  I stayed and chatted with the mom for a bit.

Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rings and it's Bella and a crew of kids.   Turns out there is another 8 year old girl who lives across the street (and her 11 year old sister).   They have lived in Abu Dhabi for at least 15 years (the parents).  Met the mom - very nice.  Bella ended up staying over for a movie night with the kids fora  couple hours.  Then, they came by and got Alexander and headed to the compound hang-out (kid play area that is indoors above the pool area).   They were there until 10:30 having fun.  When they got back, I asked Alexander if he had fun and if it felt like back home - hanging out with all the kids in the neighborhood.  He said, it's not the same - he knows them all better back home.  At least it was a good start.


Alexander also got signed up for Little League.  Yes, baseball in the Middle East - outside.  They play in Dubai once a week.  Practices start tomorrow morning at their school.

The kids are trying out for a soccer team next week and Bella is trying out for a swim team at school.

So - all in all.  A good first week.

Hit the Gym

I toured a fabulous gym earlier in the week and finally decided to call up Brian's boss' wife to go to a class.

We went to Body Pump and it was fabulous. The instructor was a guy, which is different than my old gym where all the fitness instructors were women. He was Australian sounding and had a great accent but it took a little to understand him.

Body Pump is a class where you use weights and all the weights are in kilograms instead of pounds. I had to recalculate things in my head to figure out how much to use. You would think that lifting it to see if it was a good amount would work, but no - I wanted to know how much in numbers it was. They don't compute simply. 2.5kg, 5kg and 10kg weights become 5.5 lb, 11 lb and 22 lb. It's not even in my head, but I'll get used to it.

I left the class feeling a good burn and a wonderful mood enhancement, I forgot how great of a mood that exercise gets you in.

I spent an hour visiting with Yvonne after class and we got along great. Now I'll have a gym buddy! She also promised to introduce me to three or four gals who are SAHM's with similar age little ones. We talked about doing dinner & drinks with the four of us next week and she has a teenage daughter who babysits. Score!

She also filled me in on who to contact at the embassy about furniture issues, carpet cleaning, lightbulb replacement and etc... (The GSO - clearly this GSO person is someone I should've met by now......maybe Brian is keeping them from me so I don't pester them with concerns?????)

We also talked about past job stuff and she said that working in the PA dept sounds right up my alley. Considering the amount of turnover here (everyone does 2 or 3 year commitments), there is bound to be an opening when I'm ready for one (which is not now).

So, wrapped up with that and then home to grab Brian and the kids for the last fun soccer/football night. Kids had a blast until midnight and I think I got a little video of the guy doing "freestyle football" that I will have to wait until my computer gets here to download.

Our stuff has been here for a week and we are waiting for it to clear and get delivered. Next week is EID (big holiday time celebrating the end of Ramadan and everything shuts down) so if it's not delivered by Sunday, it will be another week.

Tomorrow is Brian's weekend. Hoping to try church again before heading off for something fun!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A little culture in Abu Dhabi

Decided to get a little culture so I had this brilliant idea of taking the kids out in blistering/crazy-humid heat to an OUTDOOR Heritage Village to walk around.

It was pretty cool and we'll go back when the weather cools. I'm pretty sure we either lost Cameron's new water bottle or it got stolen off the stroller. There one moment and gone the next!

It is an example of how Abu Dhabi was with tents or buildings for crafts, pottery, museum, clothing, agriculture, etc...






































I think Alexander was enjoying the air conditioning in one of the buildings.


















Brochure about it.


















Abu Dhabi was a big fishing area.



















Broken pottery makes up the design of this fountain base.





































Our first Abu Dhabi camel! You had to walk across hot-as-burning-hell red sand to get to it and I had sandals so looked from afar as the big kids ventured up.



















Alexander was of course fascinated by the poop and took a picture.


















lonely horse there too.


















There was a mosque and a separate Ladies mosque.


















A museum with mannequins wearing different coverings. This one has on a
Burqa (the face covering). Some women wear them here and they can be different. Some like this or the black cloth where all you see are the eyes or completely covered. It is up to them on what to wear.



















I had no idea there were this many dates.


















Or this many fish in Abu Dhabi.





































Not sure the animal. A cow or some kind or bull? All he had was a thin rope separating him from us. We walked by quickly.


















Outside the village is the Abu Dhabi Theater. It is open inside, like a covered stage kind of thing.


















On our way out of the city, I snapped a pic of some of the great architecture.


















Beautiful fountains at some of the intersections.

We then headed to ACS to pay for PE uniforms and then grocery shopping and home to the pool and dinner.



















Brian then got to head out for a Luxury Dhow Dinner Cruise for work. No spouses :(.

So this amazing non-stop array of seafood was wasted on him. He said there were plentiful seafood appetizers, non-stop lobsters and more.

Sigh.....maybe I'll take my mom when she visits!!



























































He complained that flash prevents him from getting a good picture. You can see the skyline of "The Corniche" in the background.



















While he enjoyed great food and company....I ventured out on my own with three kids to the convention center for another night of "football". The kids had a blast and they both played for 2 hours straight...barefoot and with a variety of cultures.

Man, these people can play! At one point, there was a circle of older guys (in their 20's??) doing fancy moves. It reminded me of breakdancing circles from "back in the day". One person does a move and then the next person tries to outdo them. There were guys balancing the balls on their head, neck, back, doing handstands with balls on their toes and flipping around without letting the ball touch the ground. Wish I took video.

We didn't get home until 12:00!



















Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Abu Dhabi - Day 6

We started our day with a visit to the kids' school. It's called the American Community School or ACS.



The school is KG1-12 (Preschool to 12th grade). We applied over a month or so ago and both kids had to take an Assessment at their old school (essay and online test). Alexander passed no problem and we were told that Bella had to retest. I tried to not worry about it until today when it was time for her test.

The test was scheduled for 10 am so we had to leave the villa at 9:20 to allow for enough time to get downtown. We got there, parked and got through the security gate for our visitor badge. The campus is huge with separate buildings for Primary, Middle and High School. There are separate offices for each area too.

We got Bella check in with the counselor and I offered up a barrage of questions after she got settled in for her test.....

What can I do to assure she will get in? (nothing)
Does it matter that her brother will be here? (no)
Does it matter that I'll be an involved parent? (no)
What if she doesn't pass, is there something we can work with?
They will look at her grades, school reports and the whole test. If she struggles in one area, they can work with her and provide extra help. If she struggles in two or more, she won't be accepted. ARGH
We should know in 2-7 days.
If she doesn't pass.....we will have one week before school starts to find a school, register and hope she gets into that one.

Trying hard to NOT think about something until I have to.
There is another option, GEMS Academy that I've heard great things about for Elementary, but the idea of two kids in different schools and in a foreign country - ack!

While Bella was at her test, Brian, Alexander, Cameron and I checked out the area and came across a great Home store called "The One".




In case I need a huge chandelier or silver horse head I'm covered.



Or a gigantic silver chandelier for the dining room.

There were a few things I liked there actually, just nothing I needed (except a hand towel holder).

After we picked up Bella, Brian headed to work and I took the kids to meet a couple gals and their kids at a little restaurant (one of the few open during Ramadan in the daytime). One gal is from our development and she has an 8 year old daughter (3 days older than Bella and going into 3rd grade at ACS) and a 2 yo son (almost a full year younger than a Cam), The other gal was a friend of hers with 2 girls going to ACS (2nd grade and 6th grade). I got along well with her and her oldest is really into soccer like my kids so we'll figure out the athletics thing together.

So, one of these gals is East Indian and the other is Filipino. They are both
American and only speak English. But they aren't "Caucasian". They talked about the perceptions of people in AD because of it. People who have maids/nannies (lots of people) usually hire Filipino's or other Asian Nationalities so people have assumed that's what they are. Their kids are mixed so it looks like they could be caring for someone else's kids. One said she is very conscious about it and tries to "dress-up" when she goes out and about so people don't think she's the help. I thought I had things to worry about........

After lunch, we headed to another mall to check it out. Big, pretty, lots of stores and coffee places. Nothing special.

Then I got gas for the first time. Everything is full-service and gas is about $1.80 a gallon. Granted it's in liters and you pay with dirhams. It cost me 90 dirhams to fill up and I was almost on empty. That's about $25 for a full tank!

Then, it was home to swim and have a little snack before dinner. Remember how I mentioned the Dragon Fruit the other day?

















It was yummy. Bella loved it and so did I. Can had a nibble and Alexander wouldn't touch it. It tastes like a mixture of Jikama and something juicy??

Then Brian came home and we had dinner.

I read about an activity going on that I wanted to check out. Here is the advertisement:

Ramadan and EID Festival
This popular show combines a consumer show with traditional celebration. The event showcases family-friendly consumer goods, unique gifts, Arabic food, toys & games, as well as traditional song and dance.

Sounds great right?

We got there at the time it stated online and it of course started an hour later than the Internet stated. So we played in the lobby of the HUGE convention center.















Then the Festival opened up and this is what I walked into:






Ummm...lets keep looking...






Look it's pictures of the founding Sheik and Spongebob????

Wait, theres more culture around the corner....





Celebrate your love of the Sheik or....Hannah Montana???

What other feasts for the eyes await??









There was Spongebog crap everywhere! It was so bizarre! There was also outstanding flea market grade toys and cheap purses and tacky clothes. Somehow people were walking around with BAGS of stuff. I bought one thing....







Kidding. I bought a box of frankincense chunks for our Oud burner (if thats what its called).





There were a few neat shops with pretty abayas or tea sets and TONS of jewelry (looks fancy but by the price, must be fake).

Alexander got a yummy corn snack while he waited for Bella and I to buy our frankincense chunks. It was corn kernels in lemon juice, butter and salt. So yummy!

We didn't spend much time there, but down the hall was this really fun activity for the kids that was sponsored by some AD Financial group in an effort to make people (especially kids) more active.









































The kids had a blast and didn't want to leave. We will probably go back for the football "soccer" thing again on Thursday night.

Then, we stopped for some snacks on the way out.





Can you see the people in traditional clothes in the background?






This is just a potato that has been sliced round and round and fried with seasoning on it. It seemed like American Fair Food.

When we got home, I found this:







The gecko is having babies in my house somewhere. This thing is the size of a quarter!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad