First 30 Days - Leslie Shivamber

Can you believe we have been here for 4 weeks already?!! It has gone by so quickly!

Ramadan is at the half way mark and we are managing pretty well I think. We have learned to work around the afternoon closing of the stores, and the no eating or drinking in public. I will admit that we are enjoying the late night shopping at the Malls! Stores close around 2pm and then reopen at 8pm and stay open until at least midnight – every night! It’s crazy!! The girls have made it through the first 2 weeks of school. Elise had a little rough spot where she wanted to go home or be home schooled – but we worked through that and she has come around. We take one day at a time now! She has made some friends and they have “hung out” at the Mall! In October, her entire class will attend an overnight retreat to Dibba, a small fishing village located about 4 hours from Abu Dhabi. During this retreat the kids will participate in individual and team building activities! It will be a great way for her to bond with her new friends. Sara is enjoying her new routine. She has a few new “acquaintances” as she calls them – “They’re not friends yet Mommy”!! Her most exciting news is the Middle School Week Without Walls program. This program “offers students the opportunity to visit another culture and apply several curricular learning objectives in a new environment”. Well this year the 7th grade will be visiting Cappadocia in Central Turkey!!!!! They will leave at the end of October!!! She’s still deciding whether or not I can go along as a chaperone! “Only cool parents can go” she told me yesterday! I’m so excited for her!

The first 30 days also marks the end of our visitor’s visa! When we entered the country on Aug 1st, we received a visitor’s visa which allowed us to be in the country for 30 days. Leon recently received his work visa so now he sponsors us so we can receive a residency visa. In order for us to stay in the country we needed to get another 30 day visitor’s visa while we apply for our residency visa. To receive this, one has to exit and re-enter the country. There are a number of ways to do this, but the most common is known here as the “visa run”!! This is where you drive the 2 hours into Oman, exiting the UAE, and then turn around and re-enter the UAE! This is obviously not encouraged but it is a very common trip! Even the border patrolmen in Mazyad, Oman, when we asked if the visa could be made valid for 60 days, replied, “Sorry just 30 days, but then you can come back here again and I’ll stamp again for another 30”! We all laughed! We made this trip with another family and it became our first road trip! Once out of the perimeter of Abu Dhabi we really saw the true desert (photos below). It really wasn’t quite what I expected to be honest. There were fig & date farms all along the road, and we even saw camel farms! As we approached Oman, the sand dunes became a beautiful shade of red! And then, as you can see in the pictures, we were surrounded by large rough rock/sand formations. I didn’t expect the roughness. After re-entering the UAE, we had lunch at a resort hotel at the top of Jebel Hafeet, the highest point in the area – rising almost 1200 meters. It was a bit hazy but the view was amazing. It was a long day but a great adventure!

I am very proud of how well we are adapting to our new life. Last night we discussed what had been our biggest surprise. Mine was how calm and serene the Emirate culture has appeared to me. Elise was surprised at how “worldly” the kids at school are – all are very concerned and involved in global issues and discuss attending universities around the world. Sara commented on how welcoming everyone has been at school. But I did admit that my biggest frustration so far has been the lack of a building identification system. There aren’t formal street addresses with numbers – only directions to locations! So we live in the new Sheikha Salama building which is in Khalidiyah area, across the street from the BMW dealership and The One furniture store. This is how we tell people where we live and give directions to all delivery people! And since the building is brand new most people are not familiar with it! No buildings have numbers or an official address! Mail is limited and only delivered to PO Boxes. Rumor has it that a system is being worked on but who knows if that will go into affect while we’re still here! But all in all we are in a routine and everyone seems happy! The girls have a four day weekend coming up in September marking the end of Ramadan so we are hoping to take a short trip somewhere!

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