Sunday Evening

We tried to get our internet in the works last night. Stu headed down to Etisalat to get it going and he was told they wouldn’t do it without a Residence Visa (which takes about 4 months to get). So he called the "work" guy here handles such things and he told him to go back on a different day and he’d inevitably get a new person and perhaps they would do it for us. Sigh. That is how this country works. So, no internet for now… I mean, no internet that I don’t have to lean out of the window to connect to…

For dinner I made a salad with sliced apples and a really great homemade blue cheese vinaigrette, and baked potatoes. It was nice. We miss having our “raw foods night” back home. After Karate we would cut up veggies and fruits for dinner two nights a week. It kept us feeling great. We’re already both becoming so unhealthy here. The clubs are expensive and hard to get to with no vehicle, and I lack the motivation to venture out into the ungodly heat just to work up a sweat on PURPOSE. So I am trying to help us eat as healthy as possible… for now that’s the only solution I’ve come up with.

After dinner we went down to the Corniche to one of the many parks there and just walked around and took in the sights. The buildings are so beautiful at night. Unfortunately, shortly after we arrive, the camera decided to stop working… I think it is broken for good now. So we got a couple of pictures, but we are definitely going to have to go back and take more pictures when we have another camera. For now, we have my camera but it isn’t very good. I really want a Canon with a telephoto lens… Stu says soon, we will see though. It’s about a thousand bucks, soooo…
Water fountain on the Corniche.

I’ve been fairly depressed recently here. I try to keep it mum to others, but Stu knows how bad it’s been. It is so hard to adjust to living here. I find myself getting sad and missing things that I took for granted in the States. I could write a whole blog on the things I miss and the things that are inherently different here, but I will spare everyone! Rest assured the list is long. But, with the help of family and encouraging friends from back home, I am reminded of what an opportunity we have stumbled upon. I just have to look out my window to remember that 95% of the people I will ever know will NEVER have the opportunity we have been given. It is both humbling and encouraging.

On that note, I have found another thing I am grateful for here. When in traffic or elsewhere in public (I mention traffic because that is the most tense time of day!) words can be exchanged and people can become irritated with one another, but you would never have to worry about being shot here. Heh, it sounds so trivial, but we’ve all heard the stories of road rage in America that ends fatally. Because restrictions on guns are so intense, and punishments for violating them so severe, people don’t really have guns. In Idaho, every third person is probably, legally or otherwise, carrying a concealed weapon in their person. Who knows what triggers the average Joe to lose their cool and shoot someone. Here, it wouldn’t happen. (Again, they may blow up your whole apartment building here, but they won’t shoot you…)

Kaden has been getting so animated recently. He laughs at everything and he is “talking” in this really high-pitched voice and it is just too cute. He cracks me up. We are truly blessed though. He is such a good baby. Even like last night, we left right at what should have been nap time and he was such a good boy while we walked around. He loves riding in his stroller and looking at what there is to see. Haha. Cute kid.

Anyway, that is about the extent of what is going on here. I will keep you posted! And as always, whenever I get new pictures I will post them just as soon as possible!

Look! Every plant here has its own water supply!