Eid, meet Blue Bell. Blue Bell, Eid

Since our last post we've had the privilege to join in on a few cultural celebrations.  The first, Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.  It is a two day celebration where people basically set out food and sweets and open their houses all day to neighbors and friends.  Men visit with the men of the house and women with the women.  Both Gabe and I had the opportunity to meet some very important people in the city, and eat some wonderful and interesting foods.  Everyone is generous and the host never thinks you have had too much to eat. I think we both gained some weight after our visits.   Most Arab homes have a greeting room called the majlis.  It is a large room with couches along the perimeter of the room and small tables in the middle.  Food, coffee, and tea are shared from the tables.  Some homes even have a permanent tent or structure built outside their home to greet people in.

The picture below is of our kids and some friends playing in a Majlis.  We along with a few other families were invited to have lunch at their house.  We had the best goat I have ever eaten.

I also was able celebrate my Arabic teacher getting married and was invited to her wedding.  Weddings here are a bit different.  It is more of a party, one for the bride and groom simultaneously yet gender segregated.  Most women wear fancy ball gowns and have their hair and make-up done. The bride usually appears at the end of the night after all the food has been served.  She walks down an aisle while the other women in the room are cheering or clapping making her way to a stage at front.  It was 10pm by the time this took place and I left shortly after.  Apparently these parties last long into the night.  In some weddings the groom will come into the room and join the bride, and it's at this time that the ladies will cover themselves with their Abayas.

We are finding our way around town and I now have my UAE drivers license.  Thankfully as Americans it was very easy to get a license and, as a woman, the process didn't take long since I was able to use the female-only line.  I am liking the perk of being able to use the shorter line.  : )  

Hopefully this week we will be able to check out the local farmer's market (souq) and get Evelyn ready for school.  She starts September 4th.

Gabe's part:  Hayaak! (Hey there!)  Since our last post I've been working most days.  I've been in the Womens Clinic and staying very busy.  There are lots of complicated Obstetric patients (Diabetes, HTN, etc) for me to see.  We currently use paper charts but will  be moving an EMR in the next 6-12 months and I will be part of the team that implements this.  I am excited about that.

On my off days we have been doing a lot of small home improvement jobs such as making tubs not leak, hanging stuff on the walls ( TV, pictures etc).  There remains much to make the apartment they way we want it.

One of the other staff named Trevor is running in the mornings and so it looks like I have a running partner.  But getting up at 5 to run ain't easy.  We will see how it goes.  The hospital has soccer team that plays on Sunday evenings and I've been enjoying that when I'm not on-call or injured.

We are glad to be making friends within the Oasis Hospital community and getting to know our neighbors here in our apartment complex.  We feel like things are going really well overall.

On a final note, we found grocer who carries Blue Bell Ice Cream.  Not gonna lie, that seems miraculous to us.  It's only $9 for a half gallon.

We love you all!

Stacy and Gabe