Learning About Ramadan

Moving to an Islamic country when I've had almost no contact with the Islamic culture before arriving here has been interesting. There are so many new things to learn! Alphabet, numbers, clothing, foods and holidays to name a few. One of the most important Islamic holidays is Ramadan, which is approaching very quickly. Since I don't know much about it, I've been  trying to learn more. Wikipedia says:

"Ramadan is also a time when Muslims are to slow down from worldly affairs and focus on self-reformation, spiritual cleansing and enlightenment; this is to establish a link between themselves and God through prayer, supplication, charity, good deeds, kindness and helping others."

It goes on to explain how during Ramadan Muslims fast from sun up to sun down for the duration of the lunar month. Fasting includes drinking water or chewing gum. However, once the sun goes down, the fast is broken many times with the ceremonial 3 dates and a banquet. The city is decorated with lights and the whole town comes alive after dark, many times with people out in the streets and shops until the early morning hours. Many shops adjust their hours to accommodate, I'm told, by friends who have lived and worked here for several years.

What do you know about Ramadan?

A Sea of Wax

Talia really likes playing with colors and making things, as I'm sure every kid does, so when we saw an idea to use old crayons and melt them through a glue gun to create a unique work of art, she was very interested. Every time we went to the store she would remind us that we needed to get a glue gun! Ben finally went to a cheap store by the apartment and bought us one so that we could get to work.

A friend of ours came over to make a piece for her daughter's room as well. We explained how to be careful with a glue gun and showed Talia how to hold it properly and she got started. The old crayons we were using took a little while to melt, but when they did, they poured out rather quickly... which created some interesting textures.

I thought the "A" used for our little friend's room turned out nicely. It's almost like wax splatter/drip art!

Earlier this month, we went to the beach and had gotten some shells that Talia was anticipating using. She used browns to make the beach (but it seriously looks like chocolate) and lots of blues and a green to make the water and then glued the shells in the middle.

She was very excited with the finished result. Now the only problem is figuring out which way to stand it up since every way seems to work.

(Disclaimer: Yes, I know I use the word "art" rather loosely!)

Kids Unscripted: Chapter 4

Talia: (after bumping her leg) "It will feel better in 4 hours and 2 minutes."
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Talia: (singing) "Warm cross buns, warm cross buns, one a penny, two a penny..."
Me: "You don't sing 'Hot cross buns?'"
Talia: "No, I just want them to be warm."
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Talia: "Mommy, we need to make some bows for my sister."
Me: "When do you think you're going to get a sister?"
Talia: "I think God is going to put her in your tummy at 7:30"
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Talia: "That's a big plate for a Talia!"
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Talia: "Elias gave me a hug. Can I keep it?"
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Talia: "I'm exercising by doing a curl-around-feet dance!"
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Talia: (trying on my dress) "This makes me look like a little angel!"
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Talia: (looking at Elias) "I was that size when I was little..."
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Talia: "Me and Elias are holding hands. I guess I'm his friend!"
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Talia: "I'm a radio!"
Me: "So why aren't you making music?"
Talia: "My batteries are almost dead."
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Talia: "I'm making baby sounds so Elias can understand me."
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Talia: "When you eat, your food goes down your throat and into a ropellar-holder..."
Me: "a what?"
Talia: "A ropellar-holder and then it goes down and goes 'pbbbbbbbbt!'"
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Talia: (after talking about what a PROpeller was on a helicopter or a boat) "Sometimes people use a really long spoon to scoop the water."
Me: "I think you mean an oar."
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Talia: "All of the bananas are acting silly!"
Me: "They look pretty serious to me."
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(Talia was sitting on an ice chest)
Mr. Martin: (thirsty) "Can I get in that box?"
Talia: "I don't think you'll fit..."
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Talia: "When people stop growing, they don't grow anymore they just change numbers."
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Talia: "I think it's 30 o' clock."

Modesty in the Middle East

Abu Dhabi is a very international city. Living here, one is very likely to learn about cultures from the entire world, because just about every culture lives here. Sometimes this huge cultural melting pot in the middle of an Islamic country can have its clashes. This is seen in the cover-up campaign going throughout the U.A.E. as a response to the scantily clad people, especially in the malls close to the beaches. The campaign is not forcing every woman to wear a head covering and the traditional abaya, but is simply requesting that people cover from the shoulders to the knees.

Whether you consider modesty an important part of your daily life or not, when in another culture one should consider what is appropriate for that culture. When people do not educate themselves on how to appropriately dress in another culture (or just don't care,) that culture has the right to respond with a way to enforce the desired dress code. 

I think the byline for the U.A.E. cover-up campaign says it all: "Freedom and Respect are given as long as you are not abusing them."

A 4-year-old's Artwork: The Phase of the Parrot

Much of my daughter's inspiration for her artwork comes from what we have studied in science or seen in the natural world around us. Octopus, for example, came from a science investigation on these creatures. She then drew octopi frequently in following artwork, including the one below, which came from the end of what I'll call the octopus phase. (You can't see all of his tentacles, she said, because some of them are behind him. The baby octopi supposedly haven't developed all of theirs... yes, this is the imaginative part of "science" but isn't all art to some extent?)

She then asked me to draw the parrot on top, and thus began a whole new phase of artwork: the phase of the parrot.

Since then she has drawn many parrots. This rainbow-colored parrot has what's supposed to be a wing on the front.

This is a family of parrots, with a mommy parrot, Papi parrot and baby parrot.

Annnnd... this is what happens when Elias gets Talia's artwork. Apparently, parrots are tasty, too.

I wonder what she's going to draw next...

Chocolate Tarts

While Chel was visiting us in Abu Dhabi she decided to make chocolate tarts. She never follows a recipe exactly... And that's usually a good thing. This time it was complicated by having limited measuring utensils, only whole wheat and raw sugar, but it was still delicious.

Here is the recipe we sort of went by:

Preparing the filling.

Preparing the dough.

Portioning the dough.

Adding the filling.

Ready to bake.

Iced...

This is a Talia-approved recipe!

Honey, there's a lot of honey!

 

Every time we pass the honey aisle I am amazed at how many varieties of honey there are. There are brands from many different countries and from many different flowers. Milk and honey is also seen as a popular fragrance in things like shampoo and lotions. Honey is advertised in many sweets as well, and is generally much more popular than I ever saw in the States. You don't, however, hear much of the Southern endearment: "honey" like you would where I'm from... unless it's just said in Arabic and I'm not understanding.

Produce in Abu Dhabi

Every country introduces me to more new fruits and vegetables. There are several new things here in Abu Dhabi, but sometimes I can't find their names... so I took some pictures:

 (not the best with the phone, but that's the easiest way to get it.)

The only thing I recognize here, are the squashes on the top left... and I'm not super familiar with those.

I've never heard of a Pomelo before, or seen this type of fruit.

These look like particularly strange cucumbers to me.

These remind me of a large acorn or squattier-shaped eggplant.

Something else that is new to me here is the way you have to ring up the produce in its own special section. (Pictured above.) You get all of the produce you want and bag it up, then you take it to a special counter where it is weighed and labeled and ready for check out. This makes for a speedier checkout process as everything is ready to just be swiped through and paid for... but I didn't know this the first time I went and someone had to take my produce back and get it labeled for me. Oops!

Do you know what any of these things are or how to use them?

"Arabic" Numerals and Arabic Numerals

Yes, numbers are written differently here, which is ironic since we call what we use "Arabic numerals." Here is an example, from right to left of course, of numbers in Arabic compared to Arabic numerals: http://www.languageguide.org/im/num/ar/

I'm in the process of learning these as it comes in very handy in this sort of situation:

Kids Unscripted: Chapter 3

Talia: "The baby thinks I'm his armrest!"
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Talia: "If a baby cow was in an egg, that'd be a big ole egg!" (Learning about mammals.)
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Talia: "Why'd they cut the piano in half?!"
Me: "Thats just a small keyboard."
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Talia: "Mommy, you're too fast! I want you to run like Papi!"
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Talia: "To make a couch, first you need a rocker-bouncer and some cushions and you screw them together with screws."
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Talia: "Mommy, I speak English, Spanish, and Silly-Girl!"
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Talia: "I have a pretend bird. It's called an 'Even' and it says 'Papa-bee! Papa-bee!'"
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Talia: "A big sister is a thing that teaches a baby how to do stuff."
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Talia: "Mami, you put the 't' upside down!"
Me: "That's an 'f'!"
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Talia: (eating a plum) "I can really taste the vitamins in this!"
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Talia: (about the dry cleaner delivery guy) "That guy treated people the way he wanted to be treated; he gave Papi some clothes and Papi gave some back!"
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Talia: "All of the yesterdays are gone... but not today! And not tomorrow!"
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The Many Pronunciations of Elias

When we were looking for baby names, we specifically looked for something that could work in an international context. Elias does just that! It's very interesting to us to learn how each language pronounces the name. Here are a few examples we've come in contact with:

English: "ee-LYE-us"
Spanish: (the way we pronounce it) "eh-LEE-us"
Filipino: "EHL-ee-us"
Arabic: "ILL-yas"

And who knows how many more we'll run into!

Some of Benjamin's students call Ben "Abu Elias," or "Father of Elias," actually, so his name has been getting a workout.

Do you know how to pronounce Elias in a language I haven't mentioned?

My Experience With Cloth Diapers

I use cloth diapers, and I love them. However, I'm not crafty or talented enough to make my own yet, and since several people have asked for my recommendations, here is my experience with a few brands.

The very first time I tried cloth diapers with Talia, it was because a friend knew I would love them if I tried them and loaned me three of her BumGenius brand diapers. She was right. The only thing I didn't like about the diapers she loaned me was the Velcro-like closures that got stuck to things in the wash if I forgot to close them or that wore out quickly. There was a remedy: snaps.  I started with the FuzziBunz brand because it had snaps. I got the small size diapers, and they lasted size-wise for the first year. Elias seems to be growing much quicker, so I have a feeling he will be out of these by the 6 month mark. I also have a few adjustable one-size diapers that grow with the baby of both FuzziBunz and BumGenius, and those are the ones I would recommend starting with, instead of with sizes. After they grow out of those, what I have done with Talia is use the Bummis Whisper Wrap diaper covers (also the ones with snaps) with a regular pre-fold cloth diaper wrapped around a soaker from the FuzziBunz and it worked great, even overnight while potty training with Talia.

I've learned several things along the way: Snaps last longer, vinegar in the wash takes out the smell and line drying allows the sun to bleach the diapers naturally.

-I love that I spent the money with Talia and now I have diapers practically for free
-I love that for me they work better at holding in overnight pee than disposables.
-I love how they come in bright colors.
-I actually enjoy line drying clothes... so I like hanging them out to dry... (I might be weird though.)
-I love how if the economy collapses or something crazy happens, (wherever we are) I don't have to worry about getting disposable items. There will be enough to worry about if that happens.
-It's environmentally friendly.

I also got a TON of baby washcloths for Talia so I put them in an old wipe container and use baby-friendly lotion and hot water to make my own cloth wipes. They go in the same wash as the diapers and they work great.

I don't like.... hmmmm. Well, the only thing I don't like is when the baby starts eating solids, the result gets gross, but still, you just dump it in the pot- or get a sprayer to attach to the toilet (these already exist almost everywhere in Abu Dhabi to be used instead of toilet paper) or use liners (I used some dried out disposable baby wipes for this.) Even with this, I find it's worth the trade off.

Something I haven't tried, but am interested in, is using lanolin-treated wool soakers. Anyone out there have experience with this?

Mental Snapshots: Flight DFW to Germany

Do you ever experience something and later have a part of the memory stuck looping through your head? I have a few memories like this from our flight from Dallas, Texas to Frankfort, Germany. (13 hours stuck on a plane might have something to do with this. ;))

When we were waiting to board the flight in Dallas, there were several mothers with small children. I noticed a blond, curly-headed toddler with his mom- I'll call him Matt- and another darker headed toddler with his obviously expectant and tired mother. Matt was very curious about Elias, like most young children are, and kept inching closer and closer to look at the baby. Finally, he came over and investigated for real. He was very sweet and gave Talia a spontaneous hug. Suddenly, the other toddler had had enough of sitting in his stroller and started wailing in anguish. His mom looked embarrassed and tried to console him, but she was too pregnant and he too big to pick up comfortably and he really wanted to run around but couldn't because we were boarding soon. Matt heard his crying and his face wrinkled up like he was trying to figure out the problem. Then, he went over to the crying toddler and hugged him. The crying toddler stopped crying and his face brightened at his new friend. The whole area watching him chuckled.

When we boarded the plane we had a middle row of three seats sandwiched between aisles dividing a set on either side of us with two seats. I was across from a middle-aged couple who were oblivious to the world. I never stared at them, but being in an enclosed space makes it hard not to notice some things. The man gave the woman a foot massage and then rubbed her back before they went to sleep. Their conversation seemed to fluidly move between German, English, Spanish and French... who knows what other languages I didn't notice. They had a bag full of fruit and ordered a vegetarian meal. They appeared to be very close, like people who were good friends as well as a couple. The woman seemed very sad, and broke into deep sobs twice and maybe that's why she's still in my mind. I prayed for her there on the plane and now, when I remember her.

On the other aisle across from Talia and my sister was another lady who seemed distant and tired. As the flight wore on, Talia was overstimulated and uncomfortable and having a hard time going to sleep. My sister, to give her something to do before trying to settle down again, got up to take her to the restroom. Talia tripped on something and hurt her toe. She tried to be big and hold the tears in, but couldn't help the tears that still came out, but she didn't vocalize it. We had told her to be as quiet as she could since many people were sleeping, and she did a really good job at it. The lady across from them saw the whole thing and when Talia came back she gave her a TootsieRoll Pop and Talia told her "Thank you." At that moment, it was exactly what Talia needed.

I know in my head that people are not always what their appearance portrays to me, but as a human, as a survival instinct, I still can't help but notice and perceive things about them through the filter of my experience. I think most of the reason why these snapshots are stuck in my head, is that they each were examples of humans acting out love in daily life. That's the kind of snapshot I don't mind remembering.

Abu Dhabi in Fahrenheit

We arrived in Abu Dhabi almost the same day as the 100*+ temperatures... and it only gets hotter from here!

Here's my plan: Get a glass dish with a glass lid and set it on a black or reflective surface on the balcony and see if something will cook... Surely 100+ degrees for 5-6 hours is enough to cook something! In Texas it took 4 hours to cook cookies at 101 degrees on a car dash.

Any suggestions or websites you know of for sun-cooking?

Laundry: International Solutions to the Dirty Clothes Problem

So far, every country we've lived in (a whopping 3 countries, that is ;)) has had a different approach to the problem: How do I get my dirty clothes clean?

In the U.S., most people use a washer and a dryer. Some line dry in good weather, but be it in the laundry mat or in the home, most have a dryer anyhow.

In Guatemala, the majority of the people couldn't afford a washer or dryer and washed by hand at a "pila," or concrete scrubbing board with a basin on one side and the scrubbing board on the other. Line drying was, of course, the way to go, though it presented its challenges during rainy season. Many times it would get so humid in rainy season that the clothes would mold in the closets if you didn't put "Desecant" to absorb the water in the air... and clothes would hang on the line for days.

Here, in Abu Dhabi, I see a unique blend of both of these places. The only kind of washer/dryer we could even find available, is the combined version (pictured) As the laundry room is a hook up between the fridge and the sink in the kitchen, I'm glad for the space it saves, and actually use the top to dry dishes on. It does present some challenges:
-It holds very, very little compared to any washing machine I've ever used before,
-If you want it to both wash and dry, be prepared to wait a good 3 hours between loads and not actually get the clothes all the way dry.
-If you'd like to shave some time off of a load and try to just wash, it takes a good 2 + hours
-As we're on the gulf, the 100+ degrees makes for some super humid weather. This makes line drying a bit like the Guatemalan experience.

However, I'm very grateful to have a washing machine (not to mention clothes to wash!) Have you ever tried washing clothes, especially blue jeans, by hand? You'll build up some arm muscles very quickly! Then again, I might just need to do a more thorough investigation of the instruction manual....

Kids Unscripted: Chapter 2

Talia: "Did we see a coyote dragon at the zoo?"
Me: "A Komodo dragon?"
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(After a long, tiring day when Talia was actually asking to go to bed)
Papi: "What's the funnest thing you've done today?"
Talia: "It will be fun when I go to bed..."
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Talia: "Can you take me to play with the camels in the desert?"
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(Eating pizza and picking off red parts)
Talia: "Peppers make my mouth hurt..."
Aunt Chel: "Those are tomatoes!"
(the red things disappear in less than one second. I'm glad Chel wasn't teasing!)
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Talia: "If you leave the door open all of the butterflies will come in and I will chase them!"
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Talia: "What is 'mosque?' Is it a type of poison bug?"
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Talia: "Everything is possible in a song!"
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Talia: "do you like all the kinds of cookies?"
Me: "noooo"
Talia: (sneaky grin) "Do you like green bean cookies?"
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Talia: "I have a teddy bear and Elias has a teddy dog!"
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Talia: (writing her name as small as she can) "I'm writing as small as crumbs."
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Me: "Talia, would you like a pear?"
Talia: "I would like a parrot!"
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Talia: "I have a really good Papi; he's the best Papi in the whole world."
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Talia: (handing me her cup) "I drinked all of it, like a camel."
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Talia: "I was sleeping and practicing how to be still and quiet at the SAME time!"
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Talia: "Is there one big playground with a cage?"
Ben: "That's a fence."
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Talia: "I love the baby: I be careful with him, and I snuggle with him and keep him warm."
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Talia: "The baby's hands are so little and my hands are so... medium!"

Yogurt in Abu Dhabi

 Yogurt is a big deal in middle eastern cuisine. This is only a portion of the yogurt section found at a local grocery store. As you can see, there are a range of sizes from a cup up to about a gallon.





Maybe we need to invest in some of this since we've all had some form of a stomach issue that seems to be the initial welcome of every country I've visited. ;)

Cupcakes in Abu Dhabi

Cupcakes are a big deal in Abu Dhabi.

Little cupcake shops are frequently spotted all around the city.

There's even one located in our apartment building with a frequent buyer program...

That shouldn't be a problem, should it?

Air to Abu Dhabi

Traveling is not my thing. Isn't that laughable, since I'm writing a blog about our family as it travels? Truthfully, I'm satisfied at home learning to make my own things and messing around in the garden, homeschooling and raising our kids. I'm pretty boring. Being married to Ben makes my life much more exciting, internationally speaking. I like being different places, it's just the traveling part that I don't look forward to.... So, when faced with a good 20 hours of traveling with an infant and a 4 year old, I wasn't exactly jumping up and down in excitement. I prayed. A lot. And packed. And was thankful that my sister decided to go with us!

Riding the camel in the Abu Dhabi airport

Our travels started at 10 AM when we started driving to DFW. A gentleman from the airport helped us with all of the luggage and we ended up not having to lift the 50 pound duffle bags, thankfully. We also didn't have to pay for any extra baggage, with my sister flying and graciously letting us use her luggage for our stuff, we ended up with 2 bags for each ticket and one for the baby. We ended up taking 7 carry on bags and checking 7 bags. 3 of the suitcases we checked were homeschooling stuff. We boarded our first plane, bound for Germany, at 3:30 and spent the next 13 (!) hours flying up over Canada, the Atlantic and then England surrounded by very nice, loud, German-speaking older ladies. About the 4th hour I was missing the short 3 hour flight it took to get to Guatemala. :) We chased the sun down the first time on this flight. Talia had issues falling asleep on the plane and then trying to wake up again, but both kids did very well. Elias slept almost the whole time. As we were landing we saw big yellow patches on the ground that turned out to be planted yellow flowers.

In Germany, we had a little time to let the baby kick on his play mat and Talia walk off some extra energy and then we were boarding another plane to Bahrain. This time Talia and my sister slept through the whole flight and Elias and I amused ourselves trying not to think about how long this 6 hour flight was. Several names on the flight screen to Bahrain were Damascus, Tel Aviv, Kuwait, but the screen kept showing different angles of the flight and I was too tired to figure out the order. (Care to join me for a Geography lesson of this part of the world in another blog post soon?) We landed in Bahrain and had a little wait before boarding the little plane to Abu Dhabi.

A view of Abu Dhabi from a balcony.

The plane to Abu Dhabi was little and went quicker than it anticipated, about an hour and a half instead of 2. I wasn't complaining about a shorter flight! When we landed, I had to go get our paperwork and a retina scan before we could enter the country. There were what looked to me like a million Indian people in line, but everyone was kind and we finally got through. Ben met us with a friend so that we would have two cars to transport all of the suitcases and people.

So we were in the air a good 20 hours, and traveling more than 24. It wasn't possible for me to sleep during the traveling, so I went to bed when we got home and slept a good 4 hours... and then my body thought it was time to get up again. So now we're figuring out the new schedules and getting adjusted, but so, so glad the trip went well and mainly, that it's over! Hopefully I'll get my land legs back soon!

Thank you very much to the people who prayed for us to have a smooth trip. We were very blessed!

Falafel Texas Style

Before going to Abu Dhabi where falafel is common, I wanted to learn how to make it from friends in Texas so I could compare versions. (Plus it's a great excuse to eat it!) They were kind enough to teach me how they do it, so here goes:

 It began the night before with soaking the chickpeas in water for the next days preparation.

 The next day, we blended them with about 2 onions a lot of garlic and cilantro. The cilantro is something some people omit, or switch for a different herb.

 Ground, it looked like this and was ready for the falafel maker. This cool little instrument has a spring in it that pushes the falafel mixture into the hot oil when you are done scooping it into the shaped end.

Then we fried them in hot oil. These cool little falafel balls flipped themselves over when needed and rose to the top  when they were ready. Pretty simple!

Finished, they looked like little hush puppies to me, but were healthier and definitely tasty.

There are literally a million combinations you could create for the toppings, but we sauteed eggplant, onion and red pepper, made tahini sauce, schoog (a homemade hotsauce that was delicious) and cut up tomato and cucumber to serve in our pita bread.