What to do on these sleepless nights (days)

First of all, might I apologize for the two posts prior to this one. Try as we may, we can't figure out how to reverse their order on the blog. If you read them it is obvious that Elvis has left the building should come before Um.....just kidding. You would think that would be an easy fix. Nope. 

Secondly, if you can't sleep at 2 am, maybe writing in this blog will keep you occupied. So here goes. 

This is our third night to sleep in this hotel and every night has brought a new experience for me. As you have read, the first night we were all wide awake at 3:45 am. We had no food in the room so the kids just ate some of my weight watchers snack bars I brought from home. They were hungry so what were we to do?

We remedied that by being able to go to the market the following day. As many of you know, we have a friend (Gina) who has been in AD since last November, working as a principal with the ADEC. She came to pick us up and took us to get our mobile phones, which you have to have (among other documents) to open a bank account. No one has an address here. In order to receive mail we will have to get a PO Box. So the way you get bank statements is through your phone. Although we will not be setting up our bank accounts until Sunday, getting the  phone in advance saves us time on Sunday. Gina also took us to LuLu's, which was definitely be a place I could have spent hours in shopping for most anything. However, we did have a list of essentials; bread, jelly, peanut butter, Oreos, etc. We came back to the hotel around 1 pm and ate some lunch then had a nap, all of us. We set the alarm for 4 pm thinking if we could shorten the naps this would assist with jet lag for the kids. 

Gina picked us up at 4:30 and we headed to Lebanese Flower, a local favorite for Lebanese food. It was yummy. The kids wouldn't know because they slept through the entire meal. When we woke them up, we really didn't. We just carried their sleeping bodies from the room to Gina's car, into the restaurant and back out to the car for the ride back to the hotel. Jack woke up on the ride back to the hotel and Millie was awake when we got back to the room. Around 7 pm we went swimming and were sure this would tire them out. When we got back to the room from the pool they were hungry. Cold French fries from the restaurant would have to do. They both happily ate and then dropped off to sleep around 10:30. Jack slept straight through until 6:30 am. Millie was awake from about 3:30 until about 4:30, but she was really just rolling around and restless. 

Each morning we have breakfast at an all you can eat breakfast buffet. Vegas has nothing on this place. It's wonderful. We try to eat a hearty amount so that only one other meal (and possibly snacks) are needed for the day. After breakfast, Gina picked us up and we headed to Ikea to look at what we would want to buy to furnish our new home, once we are in it. We get a furniture allowance and Ikea seems to be the place where we can get   the most for the least. Right about this time I got a little stressed. Primarily because we had visited Gina's adorable place the day before, which is model home like. It's beautifully and tastefully decorated. I'm not a decorator. My brother got that talent in our family. Fortunately, Stuart and I went online and put together our wish list way back in May. We printed it out so that I can stay focused. Gina's advice was to complete one room at a time. I'm taking that advice. Really? If decorating a place with someone else's money is my biggest stress right now I think I'm going to be fine. 

On the way back from Ikea, around 3 pm, the kids fell asleep. We woke them around 6 pm and were going to go to the pool. A pool party for 21 year olds and older started at 7, but we thought we could get in a quick dip prior to the party. Funny! It seems that everything is 'Insha

Allah', Allah willing. But in the situation with the pool party seems it started early so we were not allowed to go in. Stuart remembered there being some board games in the lobby. There was a mean game of Snakes and Ladders and Jack was schooled on the basic moves of chess. Once back in the room, showers for the kids, PBJs all the way around for dinner, and bed by 10. 

So, why am I awake? Remember that pool party? Apparently it was a party with very loud Techno music that was scheduled to go until 3 am. Although we are not in a room by the pool, the beat is still heard and a felt on our side of the hotel. I can't even imagine what the rooms are like who can really hear it. 

It's 3:15 am right now and I can still hear the party carrying on strong. So when will it end? Insha Allah!

Um....just kidding!

Well, it looks as if there was a little glitch in our travels today. Seems that there was some confusion on Dana's work visa and it was not issued after all. Because of this and the challenges it brings if we would go into the country with her on a visitor visa, they opted not to confirm the plane tickets booked for us, therefore not allowing us to travel. Seems until they find Dana's work visa we will be staying right where we are. 

Now, this presents some mixed emotions for sure. Not only are we quickly running out of funds to afford this life we've become accustomed to, but the goodbyes that have already occurred were tough and we would rather not replay them. So, we will most likely go into hiding until we do actually leave. If you must see us again please let us know. Of course we would love it, but know that any tears we might have had the first time might not occur again primarily because at this rate it seems we will never go :)

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we try to figure out what to do with our free time for the next two weeks (that is when we have been told the next group will go out). 

Love to you all,

Stuart

Elvis (or the Telfords) has left the building(aka the states)

If you can believe it, we have actually arrived in Abu Dhabi City in the United Arab Emirates. 

After a confusing time with our itinerary, lack of communication from the travel agent, and both of us in total frustration (handling it very differently, might I add), we FINALLY left Arizona on Tuesday, August 27. Whew!

We flew to Chicago with another teacher who is going to be working with the ADEC as well. The kids were angels on the flight, thank goodness. When we landed in Chicago we had to go to a different terminal in order to get on our international flight. By this time there were a few other people we recognized to be going to Abu Dhabi as well. 

I have never been on a flight where they weigh your carry on, but now I have. We had to get in line to have them weighed. They could not weigh over 7 kilos. None of ours did, thank goodness, but only because we took Millie's baby doll out of one of the bags. I told her to hold it and act as if we forced her to give it up she would scream her head off. Pretty sure she didn't really understand all that but she did hang onto the baby until after the bags were weighed. 

The flight to Abu Dhabi, I am not going to lie, was brutal. It was 14 hours long! Jack played games, watched movies, and slept. Millie just slept, probably 11 of the 14 hours. They were, again, near perfect on the plane. So imagine how horrible I would have thought it was had they not been so perfect. 

For as discombobulated as this journey has been, and I'm speaking of the last several months, the exit from the plane, going through customs, getting on the bus, and getting to our hotel, the Aloft (yes, the same one you would find by Arizona State University), was flawless and all happened in about 40 minutes. 

When we arrived at the hotel we were greeted with glasses of juice served by several wait staff. There must have been about 40 of us checking in at Aloft this evening. We waited in line and surrendered our work visas along with our passports in order to get our official stamped work visa in our passports. 

We then came up to our room. With the many, many bags we had, Stuart said he would go and point out which ones were ours and I could take the kids to the room. Joy! Keep in mind Abu Dhabi is 11 hours ahea of Arizona. So we are in a place where it is time for a good night's sleep with two kids who are ready for a full day of fun.

Needless to say, even after showers and a little television, the kids were far from ready for sleep. Stuart and I were all too ready because neither of us had slept much on the plane. Getting older stinks!

Finally, we insisted that everyone lay down, we turned off the lights and I began to write this entry. Up until about 2 minutes ago Millie was still crawling all over on me as I continued to forge through this writing. 

I am happy to report that I can hear heavy breathing from the other three people in this room. And if you listen closely, you might hear it from four in about a minute. 

Miss everyone already, but ready to get this adventure going. (Written at 11:45 pm- published at 3:45 am, when we were all WIDE awake!)

Love,

Dana (Stuart, Jack, and Millie)

To leave or not to leave, that is definitely the question!

On August 10, Stuart received an email stating his visa had been processed and he had been booked on a flight leaving on August 20. Yahoo!

As the days have passed and we have become increasingly anxious to get this party started, things have kind of gone a bit wayward. 

During pre departure information given to us we were informed that once one of us received an email with our visa we were to confirm and send copies of the kids' passports as well as the other spouse's passport so that the travel agent could book all 4 tickets. Stuart did just that. 

Apparently, once again, I am the glitch in the system. Many of you may not know that we actually accepted this opportunity prior to me being offered a contract. It did eventually come but wasn't until a few weeks after we decided to take the leap. 

Because I don't have my work visa (probably the same reason for offer letter delay), they are waiting to issue e-tickets for us for this flight on Tuesday. It looks as if our seats are still booked, because of course Stuart did that immediately, but we don't really have the tickets in our hands. 

If we do end up leaving and I don't have a work visa by the time the plane takes off I will just have to do a 'border run' when my visa does arrive. This simply means I will have to leave the country (which may mean I walk across the street if we end up living in Al Ain) and re-enter with my work visa in my hand. Having the work visa before we leave Arizona would be ideal, but we are not opposed to the border run either. 

We have been told all along, by people already working for the Abu Dhabi Education Council, as well the company we went through to get these jobs, that being patient and polite will be our best approach to any and all adversity. I think we are getting a glimpse into what this statement actually means. 

Hopefully leaving sooner than later,

Dana

Crazy bout a Mercury!

It seems when excitement hits, it hits hard. I have one brother decorating the place and the other brother helping a planet, or maybe just a WNBA team. 

My oldest brother was most recently the head men's basketball coach at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. Circumstances took him out of that position and without a job. About a week ago he was approached by the Phoenix Mercury to be their interim coach for the remainder of the season (13 more games). After meeting with the people in charge and some of the players, he accepted. 

We were fortunate to be able to go to a game this past Wednesday, just prior to our departure. It was so fun!  They actually have the ability to win the championship in the next few weeks. What a career booster for my brother! 

There have been many situations that have reminded us that life will go on without us here. Also these connections we have made with people since our decision to go have taught us that life is too short to wait for it to 'happen'. Memories are made now so that later we can have no regrets. So far, no regrets from us!

Vegas, baby!

What does Vegas have to do with our leaving for Abu Dhabi? Most likely, nothing, but it was the last gathering of my entire family for a while. 

My brother, Mitch, has a home decor business and was at the Las Vegas market this week. So, because Vegas is a lovely 6 hour drive from Phoenix, why not go!

We arrived on Thursday and went to the market to visit Mitch's show floor. And then what else do you do in Vegas but eat? We ate at the buffet at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas. We stayed there to see the light show, but the 'scenery' was a but much for Jack and Millie so we decided to go back to the hotel. 

After 3 1/2 days of Vegas lights, gambling (which is tricky with kids), and eating we headed back to Phoenix. Our biggest worry about this trip was that we would not be able to go. We had been told from the Abu Dhabi Education Council to be ready to leave anytime after August 1. And since we also have been told our notice will be short, we speculated the trip might be canceled for us. But, alas, we did not get the anticipated email and are still on hold as far as our departure date is concerned. We did, however, receive an email that stated the ADEC does hope to have everyone in Abu Dhabi between August 19 and August 24. So the time is getting closer. Stay tuned for that date. I know we are waiting on pins and needles.