Pregnancy in Abu Dhabi

We have gotten moved to Ruwais and, in addition to unpacking and a figuring out where things are around here, I'm needing to learn about birthing options in Abu Dhabi. Birth with a medical professional or trained midwife at home is against the law here, so the only other legal option is to try to find a natural-birth friendly doctor (which sounds like a paradox, but I'm hoping it isn't) and hope for the best in a hospital. If one goes in with a doctor-signed birth plan stating some basic necessities of birth like: no IV, no epidural, freedom to move around, no episiotomy and no shots for the baby, I've heard that it is able to carry a lot of weight, but you definitely need someone to support you there so you don't have to fight for a natural birth at the same time you are in labor. 

Whatever your position on birth, the fact that an intervention-free, natural birth is greatly inhibited in a hospital surrounded by the medical mentality is something I find undeniable. The fact that it's not even a choice at home is a complicated issue: sex outside of marriage is illegal here, thus, birth without a proper marriage license can send both the mother and the baby to jail. Because hospitals are institutions where this sort of paperwork is checked out, and turned in to the police if necessary, a home birth would make the government assume that there were legal reasons for avoiding the hospital. If a baby is born before one could get to the hospital, the parents have to go through the court, or to the nearest hospital after the birth and prove that 1) the mother and father were married and 2) that the baby actually came out of the mother's body, sometimes meaning placenta testing.

A friend gave me this shirt which reads: "Pregnant is the new skinny" Ha.

There's a lot to think and pray about. If there was one thing I did not want to do in Abu Dhabi, it was to give birth surrounded by this mindset. I am hoping that my midwife can come anyways and, if not, that between Ben and a doula the hospital will leave me alone and just let me birth my baby they way a body was created to. Obviously, there's only a limited amount of this within my control, and the part that isn't I'm trying daily to leave in God's hands and to be excited about this new addition to our family in late April. I'd appreciate your prayers as well. :)

First trimester is closing this week! It's nice to have some energy back!

Seen in Abu Dhabi: 18

Don't forget to get your:

I think these are toasted green wheat berries. Aside from stuffing inside of poultry that one would bake, I'm not sure what other things they can be used for... but the name makes me chuckle.

Seen in Abu Dhabi: 17

Hallway at the Ghayathi Hotel.

Kids Unscripted: Chapter 20

Talia: "Mommy, I can reach the milk without even a chair! I'm getting taller! Yay!"

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Talia: "Three hours?! That's even longer than two hours!!!"

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Talia: "I don't ever want any sort of confection!"

Me: "I think you're meaning 'infection'."

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Talia: (playing fire truck) "Here comes the person else seeing if there's a fire..."

(She meant 'another person'.)

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Talia: (drawing a sea monster) "So if you ever find yourself in pretend water with these pretend creatures, be careful!"

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Talia: (Running away from Elias who has a play syringe from a play Dr.'s kit)

"He's trying to 'shot' me!"

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Talia: (presenting a plate of pretend truffles) "Be careful! That's a Caramel Wiggle truffle and it'll run away if you're not watching!"

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Talia: "I'm building a church for birds (with blocks.) I'm leaving these holes so the bugs can get in because you need lunch at church!"

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Me: "Your shirt says 'Park Ranger.'"

Elias: "Woof!"

Me: "Park, not 'bark.'"

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Talia: "Mommy, all of my icktertaliens (ick-ter-tay-lee-uns) are sitting on the floor outside."

Me: "What's an icktertalien?"

Talia: [holds up a creation made from clothespins] "They fight bad! So if you ever want to fight an animal you should fight a monkey or something, not an icktertalien."

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Hot Water or Hotter Water

In Abu Dhabi cold water is stored in tanks, usually on the roof. In the summer months this can make for some almost boiling "cold" water. So, there are a few ways people combat this problem. If they have their "hot" water stored in a tank underground or in the building, they then just switch off the hot water tank and it becomes the cold water and the sun-heated "cold" water is plenty warm!

In some places, like in the hotel in Ghayathi, they have a water cooling machine to re-cool the water before it enters the building. (Except it was broken, so between sunrise and sunset any shower you took might leave you boiled. Ben found this out the hard way.)

The benefit of this is that if you normally use gas to heat your water, you can now just use "cold" water for anything that requires hot and not use the gas for water during those months and save some money.

Or, you could just leave them both on and have a choice between hot or hotter water. (Particularly gross for brushing your teeth.)

Kids Unscripted: Chapter 19

Talia: "All of our tigers are sweet ones that hug."

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Talia: (after falling off of her bike) "one thing that doesn't need a friend is a scratch, those are better off lonely."

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PawPaw: "Maybe we can save the shoes that are too small for Elias for a baby brother or sister."

Talia: "If there's another brother or sister, it's going to be mine. Elias will have to wait for another one."

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Aunt Chel: "Turkeys don't say 'quack!'"

Talia: " They do in my pretendment."

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PawPaw: "Who's this?" (Pointing to Talia)

Elias: "Talia!"

PawPaw: "Who's this?" (Pointing to me)

Elias: "Mama!"

PawPaw: "Who's this?" (Pointing to himself)

Elias: "PawPaw!"

PawPaw: "Who's this?" (Pointing to TeMaw)

Elias: (blank stare and then pointing to a Pepsi can.) "Pepiiii!"

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Talia: "Mama, what do snails eat?"
Me: "Plants and things like bird poop."
Talia: "We should use them to clean cars!"
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Talia: (to Elias) "You are funny! You are Elias and you are a boy and you are funny!"
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Elias: (pointing at Talia's chocolate shake from PawPaw) "BIIIIIIIIIITE!"
Talia: "Elias, you can't always get what you want. Leave me alone, I am trying to ENJOY my shake."
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Talia: "What do lions say when they yawn? 'Rawr or RAAAAAWWWWRRRRRR!'"

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Me: "Look, Elias, there's a baby cow drinking its mama's milk."

Elias: "MMMMMMMMMM!"

Fig Preserves

I

My parent's neighbors received a fig tree start from my dad a few years ago. This summer it's a nice sized tree with more figs than they could handle, so I got an invitation to pick figs. I easily got over a gallon, but didn't know what to do with them. Google and YouTube gave me a fig preserves recipe and canning instructions. I only added lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and pectin. They turned out well, reminding me of an apple pie flavor.

And they made pretty good tarts too.

First 5k in the States

The first time I participated in a 5K was in Guatemala... and then a 10K and then another 5K, all in Guatemala. So it was a little weird to get to do one for the first time in the States!

It was fun to do with an aunt who doesn't act half as old as she is. (Not that I'm calling her old.) And the highlighter-yellow shirt was cool...

 

...but not as cool as receiving the medal for first place in my age. Which sounds really good...

 ...except we were walking. :) This was her first 5k and she couldn't run yet and didn't want to do it by herself, so we walked it. (So either everyone my age is a slow walker or was running.) Either way, it was interesting to compare how it was similar to races in Guatemala.

Next year we hope to run it together!

Stuck in Desert Sands

Me: "So why'd you decide to go off of the road?"

Ben: "It looked like the road went to the top of the dune, there were lots of tire tracks... Soooo, I just wanted to see if the grass was greener over there. ;)"

Me: "Well maybe those tracks were made by a Toyota 4Runner not a Dodge Durango. ;) How'd you manage to get help? Did you pay them?"

Ben: "It was Saturday morning so they were all kind of lounging around anyway, a couple of them were nearby. I went to ask them if they had a number for tow truck because the regular mechanic I use is in Egypt now. They started helping and eventually workers from nearby houses came out. All working together they lifted the truck and put rocks and boards under the tires. I gave them enough to buy all 12 of them a drink. I was going to go get the drinks but they preferred the money."

Kids Unscripted: Chapter 18

Talia: (throwing a blanket over Elias) "Look, Elias wants to be a poultry-geist!"
Elias: *laughing*
Ben: "I think you mean a poltergeist."
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Talia: (playing with some little plastic people) "...and he had a friend named Google..."

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J: "What kind of dinosaur is this?"

Talia: "A connoisseur-ous"

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Talia: "Kanga-rooooo, Kanga-rooooo,' 
Mommy, do you like my song? I think it needs a few more words..."

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Talia: "If you have met your friend, your friend has met you..."

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Talia: "I want to see the blue blobster!"

(She meant lobster.)

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Talia: "Kohlee and I just slipped into friendship!"
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Talia: "Can I make a flower-girl dance?"
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Talia: "I just made a calm-spin-around-dance. It's better than the hyper-spin-around-dance."
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Talia: "Mommy, do rice-krispie treats have vitamins?"
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Seen in Abu Dhabi: 16

Ancient camel statues on display in the Emirates Palace:

Seen in Abu Dhabi: 15

Falcons wearing eye-covers (so that they will not attack, I assume.)

Seen in Abu Dhabi: 14

Strawberry tart dessert:

...at a nice restaurant that serves everything imaginable. Berries are one thing that are difficult to find (and expensive when found) in Abu Dhabi.

Blueberries were a big hit with Elias.

We had a great time with friends!

Abu Dhabi Emirates Palace; Outside

When you're touring the outside of a palace from a car because it's a good 110* F outside... you don't get very good pictures... just in case you didn't already know that.

There were buses behind us and swerving around us, but I tried anyways, because it's pretty impressive to see.

Just the fact that at that crazy temperature there was so much green foliage and flowers seemed to make a statement. I'd like to visit again in cooler weather and actually walk through some of the amazing park areas.

Arancini

YouTube is an introvert's multi-cultural training center... It's how I've learned to make things like from-scratch Mexican-style chicken tortilla soup, Italian pignolis, Indian samosas and a good fish curry while living within Abu Dhabi. One of our favorite new recipes is arancini, or, meat-and-vegetable-stuffed rice balls that are then battered and baked or fried. (I baked mine.) Laura Vitale's recipe here is my favorite so far.

Now, if I could just find someone local to teach me how to make camel-milk ice cream... or maybe not.

Do you have any favorite recipes you found online that were winners? I like to try new ones!

Moving from Abu Dhabi to Ruwais

Living in the bustling city of Abu Dhabi with around 200 nationalities surrounding us, the many different versions of English seem to be the default language. With less of an opportunity to learn Arabic and a thriving desire to do so, Ben looked around and spied a place away from the city... out in the western region... near camel farms and the desert version of country life, where most of the students and fellow teachers don't speak much English and found a place where he could probably learn Arabic with more immersion: Al Sila'a.

Nature colors Mix at the Port of Dalma Near Ruwais

We will be living about an hour from there in the community of Ruwais. (pronounced: "Roo-wayse") It is about two hours from Abu Dhabi. In the 1970-80's the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company built compounds in several areas with shopping areas, gyms, grocery stores, houses, parks, schools and hospitals within a 6km block. We are supposed to be placed in a villa inside one of these, which means all of the amenities like gym and beach passes, are free. Ruwais seems to have everything I liked about Abu Dhabi, and not the things I didn't, plus some extras like a free gym and more families with children. We will be able to visit Abu Dhabi once or twice a month, but, as with any move, I will still miss so many of our friends who live here.

Here are a few Facebook photo albums of Ruwais if you're interested in more pictures:
https://www.facebook.com/ruwais.pulse

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.583105298389709.1073741838.578389815527924&type=1

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.358156627611563.116106.358092837617942&type=1

http://ruwais.ae/

Ruwais Pulse 

I hope to learn about it first-hand soon and share my own pictures and experiences.

Kids Unscripted; Chapter 17

Talia: (playing with some stuffed animals and making them talk to each other)
Elephant to the Rabbit: "Are you sure there's not an alligator between your toes?"
Rabbit to the Elephant: "Noooo!"
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Talia: "Elias just took some cucumber and then he threw it back up! Um, by that I mean with his hands..."
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Talia: "I don't eat like a 'muncheroo'!"
Me: "What's a 'muncheroo'?"
Talia: "A kangaroo that eats really fast!"
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Talia: "Is 'clothing' just clothes?"
Me: "Yes..."
Talia: "So if you have a bunch of towels is it called 'towelthing?'"
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Me: "Elias, what's in your hand?"
Elias: *holds up a wipe* "poo-poo bye-bye?"
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Me: "Goodnight, Talia."
Talia: "I need to give you lots of hugs and kisses so you don't run out of lovin' in the middle of the night."
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Talia: "If everyone in the world had blueberries, they would probably be happier."
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Talia: "Why are they called 'chipmunks' when they eat nuts instead of chips? Shouldn't they be called 'nutmunks?'"
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 Talia: "When your tummy hurts, is it because there's a storm in your tummy?"
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Talia: "Mommy, I turn my brain on but it keeps flipping back off!"
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Talia: (In a story she was making with her stuffed animals) "They went right, then left, then the other right, then left... and then they were exhausted." 
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Talia: "If I call Elias 'little E,' would I be 'medium T'?"

Seen in Abu Dhabi 13

The little green cucumber-like things on top are called "tindora" sometimes but lately I've seen "tindly" in the stores. Some English translations call them "ivy gourds." I found a recipe on YouTube (where they were called "Dhondakai" by the way...) that I think looks interesting enough to try. Who knows what name my family might come up with for them!

Seen in Abu Dhabi: 12

Green dates covered the ground around the date palms.

Seen in Abu Dhabi: 11

I have heard these called "custard apples" or "cherimoya" both. Do you know how to use these?