So, when you are looking for an adult to drive your kids across the Oman border and then come back, who do you ask? Well, the Eastern Indian guy who had your documents translated into Arabic and then approved by the government, of course. It makes sense that a perfect stranger would do such a thing for us. But seriously, this guy is the nicest guy and does this for a number of families who come over. He was recommended by our friend Gina and she is as cautious as they come, so we knew he would know what to do.
He met us at the hotel (well, after he was made aware he was in the Hilton parking lot and we were not staying at the Hilton) around 10 am and we followed him to the Oman border. We had agreed that once we got close to the border we would stop and have our kids get in his car so that they could all go over together. That seemed as if it would work, but the part that could have been tricky was the part where he spoke with the man at the customs window, got us past that point, and then had to really do some sweet talking to get us out of that spot. We went into the 'office' with Sunil (random man taking our kids into another country) and waited for him to get the kids' passports stamped. Then he left with the kids and drove about 2 miles away from us to the Oman office, got the kids passports stamped again which permitted them to stay in the country another 30 days, and then returned about an hour later. Here was where the tricky part came in. Technically we were in Oman with our rental car and no passports. Oops! Sunil had to go and talk to the men in the office that had stamped the kids' passports in the first place. About 45 minutes later, he came out with a paper that apparently permitted us to cross back over.
When we pulled up to the bay to exit, as Sunil had already exited, the man in the booth looked at our rental car agreement, the kids passports and then wanted to see ours. We tried to tell him that Sunil had already sorted it out, but he would have nothing of it. Sunil tried to come back and tell the guy, but the guy waved him off. The man in the booth called over the other security guard. This was when I got nervous and wanted to throw up. We tried to tell Sunil earlier that we were not supposed to go into that area with him, but he seemed to think it was okay. In fact, he was going to try to ask if Stuart could go all the way across the border with him and the kids, obviously worrying about Millie and needing to be attended to and not knowing how she would react. I insisted that she would be fine and that Kayleigh and Claire would be able to handle her. In the end we were able to pass through with no problems. Thank goodness.
In the midst of this stress, Jack reported from the back seat, as we were entering the border area, that his tooth was coming out. I asked him to let me wiggle it. It was super loose, but Stuart thought it didn't look loose enough to pull. Besides, we didn't want to send him over the border with a bloody mouth. I gave Kayleigh and Claire a baggie and a packet of tissues just in case he did something silly like pulling it. When they returned, again he claimed it was super wiggly. So I stuck my fingers in there and pulled it out. He squealed with delight, so impressed with his lost tooth. He kept saying, 'I lost my tooth'. When I told him he would need to put it under his pillow when he went to sleep, he responded by saying, 'Maybe we should put it on the table so the tooth fairy can find it and it doesn't get lost.' Love the logic of that. He also wanted to stay up and see the tooth fairy. We explained that if he did that the tooth fairy would not come. So this morning, as you would guess, the tooth fairy had left some money. Conveniently enough there was enough money to buy the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle he wants at Toys R Us. Guess where we are heading this morning?
So things are moving right along in our journey to settle in. When speaking on Skype to my mom and dad the other night, my mom asked if we had done anything fun since we had been here. That kind of struck me as strange, but then I realized that we really have only been concentrating on the logistics of being here and haven't stopped yet to do many fun things. We have been to the pool and the mall, but not really much of anything else. So last night we went to the Rugby Club (in the same place as the Golf Club). We watched a rugby match and ate pizza. The club had two bouncies for kids and there were a ton of kids there. Jack was out of our sight most of the night (not really, but he didn't come back to our table very often). Millie enjoyed the bouncies as well, but was overwhelmed by the bigger kids at times. After the match there was a band that played, and of course Millie danced her little heart out. The ex-pat community has a real sense of family with one another. Everyone looks out for each other. I saw a few teachers from my school and met a few people I hadn't met before. It is difficult to feel too far away from familiarity when the ex-pats have created some right here in Al Ain. We had a wonderful time and have committed to get out of the hotel to a social event at least once a week. Part of this experience has to be connecting with other people.
All is still well in Al Ain. And we got paid this week, so how can things be that rough. Maybe they can be for Stuart. He will need to do a post, but just a teaser.....his 5th grade students (all boys school) rushed him at the end of the day on Wednesday and knocked him to the ground. Hello!
He met us at the hotel (well, after he was made aware he was in the Hilton parking lot and we were not staying at the Hilton) around 10 am and we followed him to the Oman border. We had agreed that once we got close to the border we would stop and have our kids get in his car so that they could all go over together. That seemed as if it would work, but the part that could have been tricky was the part where he spoke with the man at the customs window, got us past that point, and then had to really do some sweet talking to get us out of that spot. We went into the 'office' with Sunil (random man taking our kids into another country) and waited for him to get the kids' passports stamped. Then he left with the kids and drove about 2 miles away from us to the Oman office, got the kids passports stamped again which permitted them to stay in the country another 30 days, and then returned about an hour later. Here was where the tricky part came in. Technically we were in Oman with our rental car and no passports. Oops! Sunil had to go and talk to the men in the office that had stamped the kids' passports in the first place. About 45 minutes later, he came out with a paper that apparently permitted us to cross back over.
When we pulled up to the bay to exit, as Sunil had already exited, the man in the booth looked at our rental car agreement, the kids passports and then wanted to see ours. We tried to tell him that Sunil had already sorted it out, but he would have nothing of it. Sunil tried to come back and tell the guy, but the guy waved him off. The man in the booth called over the other security guard. This was when I got nervous and wanted to throw up. We tried to tell Sunil earlier that we were not supposed to go into that area with him, but he seemed to think it was okay. In fact, he was going to try to ask if Stuart could go all the way across the border with him and the kids, obviously worrying about Millie and needing to be attended to and not knowing how she would react. I insisted that she would be fine and that Kayleigh and Claire would be able to handle her. In the end we were able to pass through with no problems. Thank goodness.
In the midst of this stress, Jack reported from the back seat, as we were entering the border area, that his tooth was coming out. I asked him to let me wiggle it. It was super loose, but Stuart thought it didn't look loose enough to pull. Besides, we didn't want to send him over the border with a bloody mouth. I gave Kayleigh and Claire a baggie and a packet of tissues just in case he did something silly like pulling it. When they returned, again he claimed it was super wiggly. So I stuck my fingers in there and pulled it out. He squealed with delight, so impressed with his lost tooth. He kept saying, 'I lost my tooth'. When I told him he would need to put it under his pillow when he went to sleep, he responded by saying, 'Maybe we should put it on the table so the tooth fairy can find it and it doesn't get lost.' Love the logic of that. He also wanted to stay up and see the tooth fairy. We explained that if he did that the tooth fairy would not come. So this morning, as you would guess, the tooth fairy had left some money. Conveniently enough there was enough money to buy the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle he wants at Toys R Us. Guess where we are heading this morning?
So things are moving right along in our journey to settle in. When speaking on Skype to my mom and dad the other night, my mom asked if we had done anything fun since we had been here. That kind of struck me as strange, but then I realized that we really have only been concentrating on the logistics of being here and haven't stopped yet to do many fun things. We have been to the pool and the mall, but not really much of anything else. So last night we went to the Rugby Club (in the same place as the Golf Club). We watched a rugby match and ate pizza. The club had two bouncies for kids and there were a ton of kids there. Jack was out of our sight most of the night (not really, but he didn't come back to our table very often). Millie enjoyed the bouncies as well, but was overwhelmed by the bigger kids at times. After the match there was a band that played, and of course Millie danced her little heart out. The ex-pat community has a real sense of family with one another. Everyone looks out for each other. I saw a few teachers from my school and met a few people I hadn't met before. It is difficult to feel too far away from familiarity when the ex-pats have created some right here in Al Ain. We had a wonderful time and have committed to get out of the hotel to a social event at least once a week. Part of this experience has to be connecting with other people.
All is still well in Al Ain. And we got paid this week, so how can things be that rough. Maybe they can be for Stuart. He will need to do a post, but just a teaser.....his 5th grade students (all boys school) rushed him at the end of the day on Wednesday and knocked him to the ground. Hello!
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