The Adseros: August 2016

Well, we made it to Abu Dhabi. Here are a few pics of what has been happening the last little while.

Don't I look so tired?? I AM so tired!

Eldon insisted on wearing his Elsa gloves that his friend, Rissy gave him as a departing gift. They play "Let It Go" over and over, again and again.

First Class, baby!!

Hanging out by the potties... Matt thought this was a great photo op.

Lap of Luxury

Playing Street Fighter 2 which was among the many games to choose from on the flight. He played almost all his waking hours on the flight and I let him.

Peace.

The seats lay all the way flat so you can get a really good snooze, that is if you're baby is snoozing. Oliver actually slept quite a bit, which I was grateful for.

Our hotel... Grand Mercure Majlis Residence Hotel. Pretty much became home after roughly 7 weeks.

Prayer rug found in the drawer at the hotel. Abu Dhabi Gideon Bible.

Came up with lots of interesting games.

This pretty wells sums up our stay there.

Baby spent lots of time in our bed...

I have lots of photographers these days that get ahold of my phone! All laundry and cooking happened here.

One of Matt's better pictures.

Oliver needed a nap.

Oliver's favorite play thing.

Another favorite play thing.

Church is way out in the industrial district right across the street from man camp type places where all the single men from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, etc live as workers here.

View of the man camp through the very dusty church window. There is a constant layer of dust on EVERYTHING here.

A view form the top of the church. Note the dust Oliver is standing in. This is in the fire escape/attic of the church.

Some first impressions: I kind of envisioned Abu Dhabi with blue skies and red dunes. When we flew in, I didn't see any dunes. It looked like we were landing on the moon. The sky was extremely hazy. Lots of sand, and smog blowing around. My lungs have kind of hurt since we've been here. I thought I was getting sick, but it seems to be semi-permanent. When we got driving to the hotel in the cab, the freeway was tree lined, but all the trees seemed dead or dying. Turns out the date trees are naturally kind of a brown green when they are healthy. After being here for a bit, I have come to appreciate any bit of green that there is. There are actually quite a few very nice parks.

There is a LOT of construction here. So many cranes everywhere. I am also stunned by the variety of cultures and people you can find here. A lot of people are here alone to earn money, leaving wives, husbands and children in their home countries. Filipinos usually get better jobs because of their English skills and charm. There are some pretty awful jobs here, but people are so grateful to have them. We got in the elevator in our hotel and there were several Indian guys in the elevator already. After taking note of our 4 crazy boys, one of them said, simply, "Good life". It really is a good life. Seeing so many people here on their own without their families makes you appreciate simple things like living with your family a whole lot more.

People here love kids, and are stunned that we have 4. Typically, only locals seem to have more than 3. People are also shocked that we don't have a full-time nanny or maid. When we go out to eat, all the servers come swoop Oliver up and hold him, feed him fries and entertain him while we finish our food. It is glorious.

All-in-all, Abu Dhabi is a great place to live. The expat community is amazing. I think we're gonna really like living here.

Amazing Grand Mosque... drive-by.

Oliver's fluffy curls.

No Hooka at the pool. Dang!

There are SO many malls here. Most of them have grocery stores and many have indoor roller coasters. It's ridiculous. We've found ourselves spending too much time at the mall, cause that seems to be the only climate friendly option.