The Delcambres in Abu Dhabi

Yesterday was a very productive day. Got all of my paperwork in to start the process for mine and the girl's residency visas. I went to the house and had the maintenance man come, we fixed the cabinet so the dishwasher would fit and he lifted the cabinet that holds the gas tank to make it up to code. I also continued to clean the house....wiping down cabinets. Yesterday I realized exactly how things get done around here. The maintenance man gave me his personal cell number and mentioned that I could call him for any handy work around the house. He also measured the back yard to get me an estimate to install sprinklers and grass. Now I realized that the service company doesn't get anything done because the maintenance guys will work harder for those who will pay. Money is the name of the game. Well this particular guy speaks terrible English and his handy work is nothing to brag about. One thing he's got going for him is he is dependable. That can go a long way.
Back to my day. After tending to business around the house, I picked up Evelyn from school and headed to Carrefour. We got a TV from there last week, but the screws were missing that you use to attach the TV to the stand. I brought the entire TV back for them to replace it. You see I called several days ago about the the problem, but I did not get any return call. Go figure. Demanding money or an exchange got them going. The supervisor quickly found me some screws and the problem is now fixed. The girls and I got groceries after that fiasco. It was a long day and the girls were getting tired and hungry. It was a very difficult shopping trip to say the least. There was a screaming boy in the store throwing a fit about getting ice cream that distracted the girls from blowing up themselves.

Lance's car is supposed to come in tomorrow. He is getting a loan from a local bank which is unheard of in these parts. No one gets loans here, either you pay cash or no car. Lance gets a monthly allowance from the company for a car and he'd rather use that money towards a car instead of using our money to pay cash. Our money can grow more interest invested in other things than a car. Since Lance works for a reputable company that has ties to the bank it only took one phone call to get the OK. Saturday we have to go to get everything set up at the bank and probably one day next week he will get his car. Oh, the car is a BMW, that's all I know. Don't ask me if it is a 350i or E250....whatever. I have no clue. It is white, I could tell you that.

Speaking of cars my van is in route and should arrive at port in about 2 weeks I think.

I have a friend from Austin that I keep bumping into everywhere. She is not driving yet and I feel so sorry for her. She has to get a taxi for everything...bringing her kids to and from school, shopping, etc. They are staying in a hotel room, that means no kitchen or laundry. She has to send her laundry out. That must be ruff. I have offered her to bring her anywhere and she is welcome to come here to wash clothes. She is so kind and we are planning to explore the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque sometime next week. She can not get over me being able to drive and get around by myself.

Most of the people that we have met that are just moving here like us, came a couple of weeks after we did. Lance and I are so glad we came at the beginning of August. I feel sorry for them, because they are still trying to get their barrings straight and school has already started. That makes it harder on the kids if the parents don't have things organized and somewhat of a routine going. Not to mention that most of them came right when Ramadan started which makes things even worse.

We feel like our daily routine is just like at home in Katy. We are doing all of the same things here. We just like somewhere different. We are really happy here and feel even better about our choice to make this move. I think the leading up to the move was the worse part. The anticipation of not knowing how we were all going to handle it was worse than the actual move. We are so grateful for this opportunity to see life in a totally different way. I wished everyone could experience this. The most important thing is that we are all together. No matter were we are or what we are doing, if we are together we are happy. The only thing we need is each other....