Leaving on a jet plane...we'll be back in two weeks

This is my attempt to journal our two-week vacation with our daughter, Andrea who teaches in the United Arab Emirates.  She has been in the UAE since August.  We very impressed with how easy it was for her to communicate with the local people in the shops and around town.  Most people speak some English, even if it is broken – it’s usually enough to accomplish whatever you are trying to do.  Andrea is most anxious to learn the Arabic language as much as she can even though it is not required for her to teach.  She teaches completely in English – no Arabic at all.

Andrea teaches Reading, Math and Science in English; Arabic teacher teaches Arabic, Islamic studies, Music, Art and PE.  She has 46 Arabic girls – 23 in the morning and 23 in the afternoon.

Children start to school at age 3.  Boys and girls are in school together through kindergarten and then the schools are separate – all girl schools and all boy schools.  Andrea teaches in an all-girls school.  School is Sunday through Thursday. Friday is the Holy Day.

Day 1 - Thursday, December 20^th  and Friday, December 21^st

Our neighbors dropped us off at the new Atlanta International Terminal – our first time at the new terminal.  Our first impression – very beautiful and modern.  We check our luggage (1 bag for me; 1 bag for Randy; 2 bags for Andrea and she's not even with us but she had given me a long list of things she wanted or needed for me to bring) and get our boarding passes.  We go through security easily and head to the food court – our last meal in the US for two weeks.  We leave ATL at 9:45pm (a little delay waiting for connecting flights).  The first four hours of our flight are pretty rough – high winds and storms along the east coast.  Our flight is 14 hours – broken down that means 2 movies, 2 episodes of Big Bang Theory, 75% of a book read, a long nap, 2 meals and lots of wiggling and we are in Dubai. 

We arrive in Dubai at 8:00pm. After a stop in the restroom to brush my teeth and put on some lipstick (can’t go anywhere without my lipstick), we follow the empty corridor to immigration and wait in a long line for what seems like forever – “Don’t these people know it’s been 4 months since I've seen my Baby Girl!”  We get our pictures taken and passports stamped.  Then we head to baggage claim to pick up our luggage and then out the door to find Andrea – Randy sees her first.  After lots of hugs and kisses, we head to her little car, Kia Rio and stuff the luggage in.  

Our first stop for food – Burger King Drive-in.  We eat in the car as we drive to Al Ain, about an hour and half from Dubai.  It’s non-stop talking all the way.  It’s dark so we really can’t see much of the countryside but were most impressed with the road (just like our interstates here in the US) and street lights all the way from Dubai to Al Ain.

Andrea leases her car.  When it is time for service, she calls the service center.  They pick it up from her apartment, take it for service and then bring it back. How nice is that??? The speed limit on the road from Dubai to Al Ain is 120 kilometers.  If she drives over 115 kilometers, there is a “ding-ding-ding” sound on the car, warning her that she is close to the speed limit.  How annoying is that?  We just ignored it or turned the radio up. LOL

We arrived at her apartment and unloaded the car.  She gave us her bedroom and the queen-size bed.  She took the guest bedroom with a less-than-full bed.  Randy took a shower and headed to bed around 10:00pm. Andrea and I talked until after midnight – mom and daughter catching up after being apart for four months.  Then I took a shower and headed to bed.

She has a very cute apartment – Here are a few details:

• Park underneath; take elevator to first floor; walk across the hall to her apartment – that    was nice
• Beautiful mahogany door – open with key; door knob just for looks – not functional
•  All tile floors; beautiful mahogany doors on every room – even kitchen and each door had a key to lock it
• Den/Dining combination; 2 bedroom; 2 bath; tiny kitchen – laughingly known as a “one-butt kitchen”; Seriously it is the tiniest little thing but as she reminded me most of the time there is only one butt in there LOL
• Kitchen – cook top only; uses propane gas to cook with; Propane truck comes through neighborhood and rings bell (much like the ice cream truck) and you go out and stop him to exchange your tank and pay him – cost $60 dirhams; no more than she cooks, this will probably last her all year
• No oven - She uses toaster oven, microwave, crock pot
• Small refrigerator – about half the size of my side-by-side refrigerator
• No pantry in the kitchen
• No dishwasher – YUCK!!!!
• Water Heater in each room where water is provided – that was nice; we always had hot water and it was HOT!!!!
• Washer/Dryer combo – washes and semi-dries them; hang on drying rack
• Electricity – 110-120 volts; US – 220 volts; We had to use adaptors for all of our appliances and chargers
• No built-in closets – you must buy wardrobe or closet for bedrooms
• No electrical outlets in the bathroom – we used an extension cord from bedroom and pulled into bathroom
• Air Conditioner unit in each room with individual controls