School and Activities

After two full months in Abu Dhabi, the excitement of exploring a new culture has started to give way to the routine of life again. Our days are starting to resemble a normal schedule and some of the new activities are filling in our free time nicely. We still have plenty of family time and most of it is quality time. There are five of us in the flat and we can all test each other's patience once in a while. Well, maybe a little more frequently than that.

Weekdays start by driving Katrina and Megan to school by 0730. They like to get there early so they can spend a little time with friends. Their school day starts at 0745 with "the anthem." I was only there for it once, but it surely was not the American anthem, so it must be the Emirati version. You can see the video with lyrics on YouTube:

We occasionally get to hear Musical Megan singing it as she tries to memorize the words. Katrina gets to do some singing herself as she has a choir class. They are singing the anthem from the 2010 World Cup. It is called "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" and we hear her singing around the house, too. I didn't know World Cups had their own songs, either.

We are not terribly impressed with the school the girls are attending. It is a for-profit, private American school and for the amount of money we pay I would expect a level of education close to what I would assume McDonough or Gerstell would provide. Based on our small insight to the happenings at the school, it seems more like the average American public school. Overall, the girls are happy there and Diana is adjusting to the swap of having Ally at home and the others away during the day.

While Ally enjoyed being in high school, she has embraced her homeschool work here. She gets up early and does her work and then is free for the day when she and Diana get to spend some time together. As part of her homeschool "curriculum", she is taking tennis lessons once a week and she and Diana signed up for a once a week cooking class at the culinary institute in Dubai.

Katrina gets horse lessons once a week and has joined the Thistle Football Club U14 girls team for the remainder of the spring season which lasts another month or so. We have been looking for a convenient gymnastics program for Megan but have not signed her up yet.

The girls have been making almost daily visits to the pool and Diana and Ally have been using the community gym to get some exercise and I have been looking to purchase a kayak. Ally would also like to get a stand up paddleboard (aka. SUP) since she enjoyed it the first time she tried it a few summers ago. We live on an island so water sports are pretty convenient.

The less fun part of the routine involves sharing one car to get to school and work and an almost daily trip to the market. Appliances here are on the small side so we need to replenish the refrigerator frequently.

We are in the process of scheduling our home leave. Diana and the girls will be home for almost all of July and August and I will be visiting for a week at the end of July. We are working on the travel plans now and are trying to work in a few days somewhere in Europe on the way home at the end of June.

Grand Mosque

It's like a dream, walking up to it-more enormous than you can imagine.  The domes give it almost an unearthly look, as if it is from some futuristic movie.  I've been meaning to tour it, but we always seem to think of it too late or at a bad time, so this evening I just decided to grab my camera and walk around a bit, scope it out without the whole family.  I'm so glad I did-evening is a wonderful time to see it, all lit up.  It's perched on a hill and I didn't even go in, it was just enjoyable to circle it, admiring the archways.  I've always liked arches-I'm adding keyholes to my favorites list.  Definitely want to see it in the daytime, too. It is a very peaceful, amazing place.  

Playing on the beach(again!)

So lovely on the beach in the late afternoon

Shoe shopping here is awesome!

Just some silly pics

Being silly in a Belgian cafe

Falcon Hospital

Here we are at the falcon hospital...

About a month ago, we visited the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital.  What an interesting place! Emiratis often own falcons-it is traditional here to own them and take them out hunting.  The birds are beautifully trained and well behaved. They are even allowed to travel as passengers on airplanes with their own seat and passport. They come in frequently to the hospital for talon clippings, etc. as well as health concerns.  Our guide, Hassan, was friendly and knowledgeable, and made everyone feel comfortable by speaking at least a little of each person's native language.  We got to observe the waiting room-so dear to see them sitting patiently with their little hoods on!  Then we watched a procedure on a bird under anesthesia.   Everyone of course got the opportunity to hold a falcon-they seem a lot bigger sitting on your wrist, staring you in the eye!  A very lovely, memorable experience for everyone.

Residency

We have been quite busy the past few weeks. We just moved into our flat and had to survive almost an entire week without Internet or TV! That is the excuse reason that I have neglected updating this blog.

Immigration

We are official residents of the UAE! Well, I am at least. Diana and the girls residency visa is in process right now. The process goes like this: my company sponsors me for a residency visa and once my process is completed, I sponsor the rest of my family for their visas. It may work the same way in the US, but I obviously have never immigrated to the US so who knows. I am sure there is a whole bunch of paperwork, phone calls and visits to government agencies to get through this but my company does all of the tedious work. I simply have to sign a document every now and then.

The immigration process is complete when you obtain your Emirates ID card. To get the card, the following steps need to happen once you have a sponsor and arrive in the country:

1. The visa stamped in your passport when you land at the airport is a 30 day visitor visa. It can be extended if necessary.
2. You get scheduled for a medical "exam". This occurs in a government building where you answer two questions about your health, have blood drawn and get a chest X-ray.
3. After a few days/weeks you get your Alico insurance card
4. A couple of weeks later you get the residency visa stamped into your passport. It is good for 2 years for me.
5. Provide proof that you are living here. A letter from the power company accomplishes that.
6. Only them do your get the Emirates ID card.

Now that I have my Emirates ID, we start the same process for the family, although the kids do not need the medical exam.

As an expat, there are many things that cannot happen until you get the Emirates ID, although many organizations are satisfied with a scanned copy of the residence visa. You need it for:

• enter into a lease for a flat or villa
• obtain a driving license
• apply for a bank account
• get a post-paid mobile telephone account (prepaid just needs a passport)
• get a liquor license
• lots of other things that I cannot remember now

The Emirates ID is your government identification. Most shops, agencies (called "ministries" here) and pretty much everybody knows you by your mobile phone number.

If you are still reading this you must be seriously bored because that just wasn't very exciting to read! I guess my background shows since that looks much like how I write technical documents. Let's get back on track with stuff you may actually care about...

Schooling

We have been adjusting to the normal routine of life here. Katrina and Megan are attending a private school (GEMS American Academy). We seemed to have arrived at an inconvenient time of year for getting Allison into a school since they are all full. She is going to be home schooled for the spring and attend GEMS in the fall when there is an opening. 

Housing

After 40 days in the hotel, we are in our permanent housing. We have settled in Al Raha Beach which is a bit outside of the city but close to school and my work. Specifically, we are on the manmade island of Al Muneera. There are 4 apartment buildings, about 70 townhouses and villas, several shops and restaurants in a central plaza and a private beach looking out on Yas Island. In the picture, our flat is in the round tower on the right. Our view roughly overlooks the right-most bridge to the mainland.

Al Muneera, Abu Dhabi

I haven't quite figured out the postal system here yet. I believe that the post office only delivers to P.O. Boxes that you need to rent. I'm sure there is a post office somewhere where we can go to mail a letter. We don't have a P.O. box so if you want to send us something, I can give you our company box number. Package deliveries to your door are another story. For most deliveries you basically need to describe where to make the delivery. Many shops list their physical locations as something like "behind the XXX shop on XXX street". To send anything to us, I believe the following should work:

Al Raha Beach

Al Muneera building, Al Rahba 2, block B, unit 306

Abu Dhabi, UAE

There are only a handful of delivery companies that will deliver to the door. We have successfully received a FedEx package from the US, but only after they called us to get clarification of the location.

After a 6 week voyage our goods from home have arrived. Aside from a few dings on a couple of toys, everything made it intact. We shipped 18 boxes which were mostly clothes, some games and some kitchen goods. After two large deliveries from the local IKEA, one trip to get some electronics and a few appliances and our goods from home we are pretty much set for furnishings for the next year.

Now we can settle into the routine of work, school and kids activities.