End of School and Beginning of Summer

So here are a few pictures of what has been going on in our lives the last few months.

First you will see pictures from a wedding that we had the privalege to attend. It was so beautiful. Here the tradition is that the actual wedding ceremony is a small private ceremony done in their home usually not on the same day as the reception. As for this happy new couple, they actually married I think two weeks before what we would call the reception. So the "wedding" that we were invited to was actually the public's recognition of their marriage and celebration. Typically in muslim wedding as I am told the men and women are in seperate areas celebrating. This couple has a wedding reception that we are more accustom to. The night began with traditional dances processing into this grand ball room were all of the guest were waiting. Then followed the bride and groom. The walked into the hall and proceeded to a stage were they sat for the remainder of the night while their guests would come up one by one to congratulate them. They would leave the stage on occasion to the dance floor to dance and then back on to the stage. We had a great time and really thank the couple and their families for having us there.

The other pictures are from Evelyn's last day of school, our trip to Muscat Oman, and our trip to the Atlantis. We had a great beginning of the Summer together as a family. We did lots of things and had a great time. On that note it was really difficult to leave Lance for the summer. We are going to miss him greatly over the next 7 weeks.

Don't forget to click on the picture to see them all and read the captions, they explain everything.

Rome 2011

OK OK...So I have been a little behind on blogging...well...a lot behind on blogging. I am so sorry. I take so many picture to share with everyone, but it is just difficult to find the time to download them and then upload them onto my computer. Well, better late than never. Here is the final leg of our wonderful trip to Italy...ROME. My one work for Rome...history.

Florence

AHHHHH Florence. What can I say. It is so beautiful. When we go back to Italy one day this will definately be the area that we will go. (Don't forget to click the picture to see them all)

We took a 2 hour ride on the train to Florence and arrived in the evening just before sunset. We each stuffed into a small taxi cab and winded the small an narrow roads of Florence until we got to our apartment. We had the largest set back at this apartment because it was not ready. After speaking with the man the week before and the day before to confirm our arrival time, it was not ready. So we all sat downstairs at a cafe and ate lunch. We were however really happy with the apartment and the large amount of space it had. It could have been a little cleaner, but it worked. Evelyn got really sick by the time we got into our apartment and started running fever again. Everyone took a walk up the hill to see the city during sunset and Lance and I stayed with Evelyn and Camille in the apartment. I found a number to a 24 hour doctor service in Florence and called. A German doctor came to our apartment that night to see Evelyn and we had her check almost all of us out (since we were all getting a little sick by this time). She prescribed some antibiotics for Evelyn and Paul and I set out at around 10pm for a walk in the city to find the pharmacy. We had a lovely time seeing the city at night and enjoyed some gelato on the way. Evelyn got some medicine and was much better by the morning.

The next morning (Day 5) we all walked into the city and met our tour guide for the day. It was an excellent way to see Florence, a guided walking tour through the city ending with the Uffize Museum. She showed us what made everything so special and educated us on the effects of the Renisance. We went to the Duome first which is a church with a large dome hints the name Duomo. It was an amazing accomplishment in its time. The outside of the church is covered with white, pink, and green marble. We walked through Florence and went into the uffize Museum. Wow the paintings in the Uffize were spectacular and even Evelyn was intrigued. We learned a lot from our wonderful tour guide. Camille got tired by the time we got to the museum, but the girls held on and we made it through our tour. That evening we went to the St. Croche church were our tour guide was an American Student studying in Florence. Michelangelo was buried there. The inside was really beautiful. We did get to do a little bit of shopping in Florence since it is the place that lots of leather goods are made as well as beautiful pottery. I definately could have spent more time shopping. Lance did buy himself a really nice computer bag for work and I got myself some pottery.

The next day we went to the Pitti Palace. It was really cool because there was a section that you could see how they lived back in the day. Evelyn and my favorite part of the palace was the dress museum. Beautiful gowns from the past. We ended our tour in the gardens and then headed to the train station for Rome.

One word to describe Florence.....breathtaking.....the views are just breathtaking...

Venice 2011

So here are pictures from our first 3 days on our "Felixwalds Italy Trip" I thought it would be easier if I broke up the trip by city. Our family, my Mom and Dad, and my Brother, his wife and almost 2 year old son all went on this wonderful 10 day trip across Italy. We had a great time.

We started our journey in Venice......

Well first I have to talk about the plane ride. It will go down in the hall of fame of worst flights we have ever taken. Not because of the airlines...no...because of Camille. You see Evelyn got sick as we were leaving for our trip. She was coming down with a cold and running fever. I gave her some medicine and she slept the entire way. Camille on the other hand cried the entire first flight. It was miserable. We felt so sorry for the passengers around us. Lance and I took turns handing her back and forth. She just could not get comfortable. Now, I think maybe she was coming down with the same cold and just didn't feel good. Evelyn was sick pretty much the entire trip with fever, runny nose, and a terrible cough. And by the end of the 10 days we all had it.

Well once we arrived in Venice I could have jumped out of my skin I was so excitted. We took a shuttle to the island and the plan was to take the water taxi to our stop to our apartment. Well the water taxi drivers were on stike that day, which seems to happen often, so we took a water taxi that was outragiously expensive. The first views of Venice brought tears to my eyes. I just could not believe we were there and looking at all of it's beauty. We made it to our apartment and were dissipointed with our place. Location was good, but the place was small and not as clean as we would have hoped. Oh well. The remainder of the first day we spent resting and getting groceries. The next morning we headed out to see the sites. We stopped at a great market then walked over the Rialto Bridge straight to St. Mark's Basicila.

You will not see any picture of the inside of the basilica because they do not allow. It was really pretty, and we saw were the remains of St. Mark lies. Do you know the story? Well apparently St. Mark died in Egypt and the Christins went to retrieve his body. The way they got it out of Egypt is by wrapping pork around the casket, knowing the muslims would not touch it. And they brought him to Venice and built a church around his remains.

We hung out around St. Mark's square. Which it was nice but not all that I thought it was going to be. Then we ate on sandwich row and had the best sandwiches of the entire trip. I would do anything to have one again. Then we went into Doge's Palace. By this time the kids are exhausted, so we had to go through the palace at warp speed. At the end of the palace you go through the prisions and cross the Bridge of Sighs. It is called this because once people were sentenced to prison they had to cross this bridge and it is said they would sigh as they crossed. We stopped at a great little pizza place on the way home and picked up supper. Then we headed to bed.

The next day we went to Morano Island to see some glass blowing. That was really really cool. These people are so talented. The industry sadly is decreasing because there isn't a large demand for morano glass since the chinese can make it much cheaper. Once we got back each family We ate a delicious lunch on the island, but it was not so relaxing. The girls were tired and could not sit still. They played in the courtyard close. Lance and I took turns eating. That night everyone went their own way for supper. We walked the market and picked up some souveniers, then we stopped at a little sandwich shop got some food and sat at the foot of the Rialto Bridge and ate. As we were sitting there a gondola passed in front of us with a younge man and woman in it. As they approached the bridge he asked her to marry him...and she said yes. We witnessed the entire thing. It was so cool.

I sum up Venice in one word....picturesque. The views are unbelievable.

The next morning we packed our things and headed to the train station. We boarded our trian and within 2 hours we were in Florence......

Ciao.....

March 2011 Mom and Dad visit

Click and you will see all of the great thing we did in March with Mom and Dad. Unfortunately, my camera broke in March and I did not get all of the things we did, but I did seem to capture most.

We had a great time with Mom and Dad visiting us the month of March. We did so many wonderful things, plus we really enjoyed their company as well as showing them our new home. I never thought I would see my parent in the middle east. It means so much to us that they came to visit us. Now they know how life is for us here in the UAE and understand what we are trying to explain to them. We were sad to see them leave for sure, but we look forward to seeing everyone this summer and for them to come back next year.

Italy here we come...

Well we have had a very eventful month with mom and dad here. We have really enjoyed having them and we will miss them. I have so many pictures and videos that I will post adventually, but right now I just don't have the time. We are only two days away from leaving for our trip to Italy and I just want to pinch myself. I can not believe it is real...we are actually going to ITALY!!! Our suitacases are packed mostly and I am really proud of myself...only two suitcases for all four of us. That must be a record or something. Well, Lance hasn't packed all of his things so there is a chance that his stuff may mess up my "two suitcase parade". Other than getting ready for our trip and reading about Italy and brushing up on a few italian phrases we have been doing all of the normal daily stuff we do here. Evelyn had her recital a few weeks ago and was so precious. At one point during the show the smaller girls were dancing and a few were having a hard time getting the courage to get out there and dance...Evelyn came up to me and I thought OH no, Evelyn is getting nervous about performing. But she said "I got this Mom!" and walked back to her place. I videod and am going to try to post the video. She has started swimming lessons here in the compound as well and LOVES it. Camille wants to get into the pool so bad, I think she asks me atleast once a day "swimming pool?". So cute. The weather is nice and warming up here, but just not warm enough for Camille to get in. PLus this week she came down with a little cold and I didn't want to chance her getting worse. Camille seems to be talking more and more these days. She definately knows what she is saying but the rest of us don't have a clue. Evelyn is doing really good in school and has started to show signs of reading. This month her class is talking about insects especially ants. She captured an ant at school and brought it home as a pet. She named it Lilly. Suprising Lilly lasted almost a week in her jar with a small piece of plum. Evelyn discovered Lilly dead and we had to have a funeral service. So, Evelyn, Camille, Papa, and myself buried Lilly in the backyard. We each said a few words about Lilly and Evelyn even wrote her a letter. Rest in Peace Lilly. Well I just wanted to drop a note to everyone to let you guys know we are doing great and very excitted about our trip. Ciao!

Star Struck

I am so happy to see my husband home and now my parents can see were we have been living for the past 7 months.

We had an excitting day this past Friday. We went the the Skeik Zayed Grand Mosque to show mom and dad and we ran into Jermain Jackson. It was unbelievable. We were on a tour and I kept looking at him thinking...I know that guy. And then it hit me...I think he is Micheal Jackson's brother. I thought he was Jermain and I wondered..was he just a guy that looks like him and does he get that all of the time. So I told Lance and he asked him "Are you part of the Jackson family" He extended his hand to Lance and introduced his self "I'm Jermain" WOW. We spoke with him breifly, but he told us that he was recording in Dubai and thinking about moving here to Abu Dhabi. His wife is from Afganistan and they are in this region all of the time. It was suprising that we were in this mosque full of people and he went unidentified. He then offered to take a picture with us and asked Lance for his contact information. WOW what a day. Who knows Jermain Jackson could be my neighbor.

The mosque was beautifula and mom and dad really enjoyed it. We have also brought them to see the Emirates Palace and Heritage Village. You will see some pictures at the end of the slide show of when we went to Heritage Village.

At the beginning of the pictures you will see pictures of Evelyn at school. Those are from International Day. All of the kids dressed up like thier native country. Since we are from Texas, Evelyn dressed in her "DOn't mess with Texas" tshirt, cowgirl hat, bandana, and boots. Camille wore her outfit as well. It was so amazing to see all of the different countries and costumes. The entire Elementry School had an assembly that morning and Evelyn's class got up and sang "Rainbow World" It could have made me cry. SO Beautiful. The past two weeks in class Evelyn and her classmates have been discovering each other's countries. They made passports and each day they "travel" to a different country. On USA day, I brought a slide show of Texas images for everyone to see. International day and week were a lot of fun. Now Evelyn really amazes me, she knows all of the different countries. Even last weekend she was pretending that her and her daughter (Camille) were from Syria and they were flying to Egypt. I was to ticket lady who they bought their tickets from. Never would she had know about those countries if she did not have this opportunity. Too Cool.

January and February 2010

Well this is a mix of various thing we have done over the past two months. Including: walking the Yas Marina Circuit where the Formula 1 Race takes place, girls at the park, Evelyn at school, and what we did this weekend. Friday morning, we joined a huge crowd to walk for cancer research, the Fox Trot. It was a 10K walk along the corniche (beach walkway). We had a great time. It felt so good to do that long walk and I wished I had time to do that more often. After the walk we enjoyed a lunch at a cafe on the beach and some ice cream. We then headed home because we were all totally exhausted and all took a nice nap with the windows wide open and the beautiful breeze flowing through our villa. Friday was a great day. I have to mention also on Thursday night some great friends came over and brought chinese food. We enjoyed their company and the kids played. We ended the night with a very typical American thing...watching American Idol. Our friend's cable service doesn't have that channel so they have been missing out. Someone else has been coming around, Lulu the cat (Evelyn named her and Camille can say it so cute) That cat that wondered into our house a week or so ago has come back. She is very friendly and really nice to the girls. I like her, but not in the house. We cleaned one of the dog crates and made a nice bed for her in the garage and gave her some food. She doesn't stay all day, but always comes around at night for food. My neighbor informed me that she thinks Lulu is pregnant. OH boy, that is all we need. Once Evelyn heard that Lulu was going to have babies...well she is so excitted. I already have a litter to take care of inside the house, how am I going to take care of a litter outside. My plan is if she keeps hanging around then I will contact Strays of Abu Dhabi and see what I should do. I have such a love for animals I just can't bear to see this sweet little cat go unfed. If she wants to claim our garage her home then that is Ok with me. It is so cute how Camille says Lulu and she asks at least 10 times a day to go outside and check on Lulu. She points at the door and says "lululululululul". So cute.

Christmas 2010

Ok Ok Ok...I know I am late with these photos, but I thought better late then never. So here are the photos of the Delcambre Family Christmas vacation to Texas.

Remeber to click on the photo and it will bring you to the slide show.

Henna

This week my local neighbor took myself and two other western women to a local Arab Woman's Salon. In this salon the local women get their hair done, nails, and mostly "make henna". They will put this temporay tatoo on their tops of their hands as well as the palms. It will also go up the forearm. They also make the soles of their feet solid black and then put the intricate decorations up the sides of their feet and ankles. It is real common for them to make the tips of their fingers and toes solid black. The henna lasts about 1-2 weeks until it fades. They pipe it on, so it is a black puff paint like that the women (who are not arab)make the design with. They you have to let it dry completely, until it begins to crack and fall off. Then you can scrape the "puff paint" off and it leaves this redish, brownish, orangish temporay tatto they call henna. So my neighbor who is introducing us to thier customs brought us this week to "make henna". It was very interesting. I sat next to this women who was getting her feet done and already had her hands done the day before in preparation for a wedding this weekend. She said she was going to come back the next day to have it done again on top of the original design to make it darker. My intentions was to get something "simple" done. But my new arab friend (who by the way invited me to go to the wedding) kept telling the lady to put more. One of the ladies that came with us had to step over a women who had her feet propped letting the henna dry and this lady acidentially touched her toes. Oh gosh, I felt so bad for her. Thank goodness the henna was salvagable and the arab women was OK. We had a great local heritage experience and were very welcomed their. I am so thankful to my neighbor who brought us there.

Coffee and Cats

It has been a tough week without Lance, but the girls and I were so glad he came home last night. Now I have to gear up for his 10 day trip later this month. It is so funny how smooth things run here without him I must say. I think because it is all me, I really stay on top of the schedule. You would be so shocked to know that I have been experiencing internet problems this week as well. What is new? Oh and I should mention that I have a light not working down stairs. But that is part of living here, continuous maintenance. I think I have the extreme circumstances though.

Today I was invited to coffee and brunch to my next door neighbors house. She is a local woman and is the person responsible for making my experience here in Abu Dhabi so wonderful. She is one of the kindest people I know. She has been so generous to us, sending food or arabic coffee over. So the last time I went to her house I was one of two American women there with I think 6 Emirati women. Today, she invited some of the women from our street that I associate with the most. One is a women from South Africa and the other Dutch who is married to an American. So it was like a local woman inviting a crowd of Westerners over for brunch. She also invited her close friend who is American as well and married to an Emirate man. This American woman has lived here for 25 years. We had a wonderful time and learned so much about her culture, from cooking to what to wear to a wedding. We had a great time. Next week she is bringing us to a salon to "make henna" this is a temporay tatooing that local women will do to their hands and sometimes feet esp for special occasions. Too cool. She may also host a cooking class to teach us how to make some traditional dishes. YEah!!!! The best part about our day was the realization that we are all different, but very much the same. We all do the same things and worry about the same things. I really can not put into words what it is like to really see the world for what it is. And to really see people for what they are on the inside regardless of nationality or religion. Truely, we are all the same!! This experience has been so amazing.

This morning when I got home from bring Evelyn to school a familiar black and white cat was in my garage. I have seen this cat around often and it is really friendly. Well the cat followed Camille and I right into the house. We pet it a while and made it go outside so we could let the dogs out of the kitchen. When I went back to see if the cat left, there it was sitting on my doorstep. So I openned the door and put the baby gate up so the dogs couldn't get it and maybe they could see and get used to one another. Well that wasn't enought for "Kitty" and he/she jumped the gate and helped herself in regardless of the dogs barking at her. She checked out every room in our house as if she was looking for a place to stay. I think she could have taken a nap if Fraizer would have left her alone, Ruffles was too scared to get close. After about an hour I began to wonder if the cat belonged to someone or if the cat needed to use the bathroom. So I guided it out the door and we haven't seen it since. Maybe Kitty will come back tomorrow.

This week I started something new, I put Camille in Evelyn's bed and read bedtime stories to them together. Camille thinks she is soo big. She just squeels with delight to be in the big bed with Evelyn. After we read, then the girls tell each other goodnight and Camille goes to her bed and I tuck Evelyn into her bed. So Sweet.

Tonight we went out to eat for supper. During supper we were discussing moving back to Katy. Anytime Lance begins this discussion, and is around Evelyn, I try to include her and ask her opinion. We don't really know what lies ahead for us. Heck, if you asked me 1 1/2 years ago if I would be living in Abu Dhabi, I would have said "were is that" But we do hypothesis about the future and make it a family discussion. I think Lance is trying to feel me out to see what I would be willing to do. I tell him, I just got here and just got "settled" in. Well, I am getting off of the story. So we are including Evelyn in this discussion and I say "Evelyn, what do you think, do you want to move back to Katy?" and she replies "No, I want to see the world" It completely supprised Lance and I and even took our breaths away. She said it in such a mature way. It even brought a tear to my eye. What bravery.. Just another one of those moments that I can not put into words.."No, I want to see the world"

My Birthday

Thank you everyone for all of the wonderful birthday wishes. It made my day to see how many people wished me a happy birthday. Unfortunately, Lance was out of town on my birthday for work, but he returned the next day. Just as well because if any of you know me I don't just celebrate my birthday on that day, but I like to drag it on for the entire week. LOL. I spent Thursday evening with some good friends at the "Tips and Toes" spa. We all got manicures, pedicures, and head and neck massages. It was just what I was needing. We had a great evening.

The weather here in Abu Dhabi has been wonderful. I have described it to be like tropical paradise. All weekend we turned off the A/C and openned the windows. Being from the south, we have never done that before, but it was really refreshing and relaxing. We headed to Dubai on Friday evening for a little shopping at our favorite stops and hopes to check out the Dubai Shopping Festival Fireworks, but we didn't make it. Saturday, we hung out around the house and did our weekly grocery shopping. It was a nice day. Lance is out of town this week for work. (which is pretty common for this time of year) I will miss him.

I recieved a letter from Honda a month back stating that I needed to get a software upgrade to my van for a "lock-up clutch" problem. Basically my van has some slight vibration when I get around 60 miles per hour. It feels like it is missing. So I made an appointment to bring it in tomorrow. This should be interesting. I have heard that simple repairs can take a long time, over days. That is why I planned it this week, so I can drive Lance's car while mine is in the shop. First obstical is to find the repair shop. It is in the Mussafah area which is like an idustrial area. Second is being able to communicate with the repair man what exactly needs to be done. Then I will have to leave my van there ofcourse and get a taxi back to the house to get Lance's car. It should be an interesting day tomorrow. Oh by the way, Camille will be my side kick through all of this. Sounds fun!!! LOL.

January

I am so sorry that I have not blogged this month. We have been busy as usual.

First, I have to reflect on our trip to Texas for the holidays. I have to admit that I was a little worried about myself and Evelyn going back home and really getting depressed. The oposite happened for both of us. It was quite weird at first going home, because I realized that I now have almost two lives. One here in Abu Dhabi and one there. I thought I was going to see all of the things that I have missed and have to work through those emotional feelings again, but it didn't quite happen like that. I realized what I thought was so important to me before, was not so important to me now. Ofcourse, I am not talking about my family and friends, I am talking about the conveniences that we had. Our trip home salidified my moto that family and home can be any geographical location, as long as we are together. We were so happy to see and spend great time with so many of our loved ones, friends and family. Like I told them, we would never had spent as much time with them over the holidays if we lived there. I was also scared that I would have felt like so many things had changed since we left, and we would have felt left out, but not so true. We are so blessed that we stay in touch with everyone and keep up with what is going on at home. I feel like we never missed a step even though we live 8,000 miles away. The gift giving was over the top as usual, and we were forced to leave a box of toys behind (which isn't a bad thing since we will be there in the summers and the girls will have something to play with). The flight? Well, it went pretty good. It is hard to imagine traveling for 24+ hours doorway to doorway, but we seem to do it with no problem. Jet lag was pretty rough when we got home, but I am glad that we gave ourselves several days to recoop before school started back. Overall, we had a WONDERFUL time and can't wait to see everyone again.

So since we got back to Abu Dhabi, life is back on track as usual. We had the most thoughtful welcoming back home from our Emirati neighbors. It was so nice that they all recognized that we were home and sincerely wanted to know how our trip went. Our next door neighbor even cooked us lunch the first day back home knowing how tired we would be. It was delicious, wished I could tell you what it was, but I don't know the name. Some kind of rice with chicken with arab spices. YUM, it hit the spot.

I am so excitted to say that Evelyn has now started ballet classes. She really really enjoys her class. I didn't want to push too much onto her when we first moved here afraid that it would just exhaust her, but know she is ready to take on a few more things. In a couple of months we will look into swimming as well for both girls. Evely, speaking of, has made huge improvements with her adjusting to her new life in Abu Dhabi sice we got back. I think around the 3rd day we were back she said to me "I love Abu Dhabi...I don't want to go back to Katy, mom" BREAKTHROUGH!!! Up until we left for the holidays, all she could say is she wanted to go back to Katy. She didn't know what she missed about Katy, but just wanted to go back. I think after visiting, she realized how good her life is here in Abu Dhabi, not that it was bad in Katy. But I hope she can see that life can be great anywhere you live. She has many many friends and best of all they play every afternoon in the street infront of our house. Tons of kids. They come buzzing our bell if Evelyn is not outside. Too Cute.

As for me, I have been heavily planning our spring vacation to Italy. YES YES YES!!!! It is my absolute dream to go there, and I can not believe that we are going. Best of all we are going with great company: mom, dad, Paul (brother), Amy (sister-in-law), and Charles. So all of my spare time has been spent researching places to stay and things to do. Mom and Dad will be coming here to Abu Dhabi the first of March, then we will all go to Italy in April and Paul and Amy will meet us there. It is going to be a trip of a life time.

Lance and I have set a New Year's Resolution to "GET MOVING" We are trying to get regular exercise as part of our lives. I have joined a pilates class, that I absolutely love and we all have gone to the YAs Marina Circuit (were the formula one race took place) and walked to track for exercise. That has been really cool.

We are also finally tackling our gardens. We have been looking at sand pits in the front of our house for 6 months now and it is time to do something about it. The weather has been absolutely beautiful here. It is sun shiny and very pleasent. Now is the time to do it.

This past weekend, I went on a shopping trip to Dubai with 3 other ladies. We had a kid free girls only day of shopping. It was so great. We had such a great time and will be doing it again.

Camille is doing great. I call her my squeaker. When she talks it is just squeaks and squeels. It sounds like we have a bird in the house. (mental note, don't get a bird) She sure knows what she is saying, but we don't. I have been working with her encouraging her to articulate her sounds a little better...all in due time. I am still bringing her to playgroup and she loves to play in the neighborhood in the evenings with the kids. I have to admit that she was still drinking her milk out of a bottle, but we have successfully weaned her off of the bottle. Sniff sniff, not a baby anymore. sniff sniff.

Lance is always busy this time of year. He has a lot of traveling planned for February. I have to admit that it can get frustrating and difficult without him around. Work as been good for Lance and really enjoys what he is doing.

Well that is what has been going on with us. Stay tuned because I will post some pictures from the holidays and thing we have been doing.