Seems all updates are just short ones for now but its better than nothing I guess. Yesterday they called from the agency to tell us that our maid will be arriving with the flight at 1 pm so after 5 we can come for her. Exciting and a bit scary too. R was supposed to come back from a flight at 3 pm but they needed his flight for training so they  put him on standby instead.  Unfortunately this means that if he gets called we cant go for her, or I have to take the kids and go myself so we have to wait and see. With our luck I guess we wont be picking her up...

 

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I know website is in Swedish but should you wish to leave a comment click where it says "0 kommentarer" (or any number of course) Then fill in your details
"Namn" - Name  (tick the box if you want it to remember who you are)
E-post adress: Your email address (wont be published)
URL is pretty obvious but you dont need one to post
And finally you write whatever comment you want to post in the big box saying "Kommentar" and post it by clicking "Skicka kommentar".

A has been picked up by our friends and soon its time for me and J to head to nursery. This is what it looked like yesterday...

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I know website is in Swedish but should you wish to leave a comment click where it says "0 kommentarer" (or any number of course) Then fill in your details
"Namn" - Name  (tick the box if you want it to remember who you are)
E-post adress: Your email address (wont be published)
URL is pretty obvious but you dont need one to post
And finally you write whatever comment you want to post in the big box saying "Kommentar" and post it by clicking "Skicka kommentar".

Im wondering why we are totally ignored today. Apart from the bank I was supposed to get the flight details of the maid today but as much as the bank account echos with emptiness so does my inbox

I swear Im going insane....we have been promised the money for the bankloan for a week now and still no money in the account so we cant go for our car. Every day the call from the cardealer wanting us to collect the car and we would love to do just that but regrdless how many calls R makes to his bank contact nothing happens. There is always some excuse or another. Today he was promised that all was settled and that he would have the money within an hour. This was 2 hours ago and R has even called again to be promised the money in 10-15 minutes but guess what? 30 minutes passed since then and still no money! I feel so dissapointed and frustrated and at the same time annoyed with R cause I feel he is not putting his foot down with the bank. We wont be getting the car today but if only we get the money today so he can make the transfer we would be able to go pick it up tomorrow morning before R has to go to work but right now I think that would be hoping too much :(

R worked last night, he was supposed to come home after we woke up but at 5.30 am I woke up with the sound of the main door opening followed by tip toeing around the house. Pretty shook up I snuck out of bed to see what was going on only to find R haningin his uniform in the wardrobe. They had some techincal fault ont he plane and the quickest solution was to send the passengers with the next flight while changing it into a bigger aircraft so he got to go home and sleep. Perfect for us that wanted to spend time with him today. Spent the morning by the pool, A practiced swimming and diving into the pool and J dared to jump from the edge without anyone holding her. Time passed very quickly and befor we knew it it was time to go home for lunch. After lunch we went to the Swedish Church for Christmas fair where the kids got to meet Santa, make some Christmas decorations and play on a climbing frame, everything a great success. The kids are now sleeping since an hour ago while R and I are relxing on the sofa, R thinking that he will stay awake to watch some serie A football that starts 20.45 european time, i.e 23.45 our time.  No idea how he plans to manage that!

This year we had decided that it was time for a to try some sports and when I had asked him WHAT he wanted to do he said fotball and tennis. R found two ad´s for tennis lessons in our area and one of them had set up a group of beginners 5 year olds starting this week so yesterday A had his first tennis lesson. The coach was great, he managed to make A comfortable and forced him out of his shell. The group was supposed to be of four children but it was only A and a girl so they really got lots of attention and help. A got sweaty in the sun but happily concluded that he likes tennis!

It seems we will be heading to Malta for xmas. R requested leave from the 14th til the 20th but got some extra days off until the 26th. We also checked the possibility of going to Sweden but the flight back is full and we dont dare taking a chance on ryanair taking us to Malta in the winterweather so unfortunately, with a very heavy heart I have to accept that we wont be seeing any snow this winter. I was prepared for it, we werent supposed to go anywhere for xmas but when I got my hopes up when seeing the december roster now I feel really sad about it :(

Today we went to DESS for an "open swimming lesson". They basically invited the parents to come and see how they teach the kids to swim. They were split in 3 groups, I cant believe that some kids knew how to swim properly and were practising all four kinds of swimming styles! A was in the bottom group, not very surprising, he has been so afraid of water but he did so well. We were really impressed and his teacher actually told him that he might be ready to move one step up. He was so proud himself too and has asked us over and over again today how good he was at the swimming <3

R called his bank contact yesterday to check that everything was ok with the bankloan and guess what? When R signed the paperwork he was told the money would be in his account by sunday or monday and now apparently it wont be until tuesday evening! Gaaahhh, we were hoping to get the car today when R is off. This is the norm for Dubai but I still had to vent a bit, I want the car NOW!

When am I going to get well? One week later my throat is still sore and im still coughing too. Hoping some rest today will do the trick when kids have got school and R is working. Then he is off for 3 days but we will be busy preparing the maid´s room, collect a parcel from post office and arrange the last few things so we can get our car!

I find myself thinking a lot about our future maid and how life will be when she is here, its both exciting but also a bit scary to have someone staying with us to clean our home and at the same time I think about her and how she might be terrified.....Im assuming she has been informed that she has been "picked" by a family and that she will soon be travelling but she doesnt know anything about us. The local families seem not to be treating their maids very well and Im sure she would have heard about the bad examples. I really hope it will work out and that we will all be happy with the arrangement!

UAE will be celebrating their 40th Anniversary of the union this year and today J´s nursery had a party to celebrate this. It was a nice gathering with typical food, face paitning, flag painting, henna tattooes and camelride. Of course we had to get there in a rush as we first had been to the Emirates Clinic for my first liver function tests here and it took longer than expected so no camera and therefore no photos :(

Yesterday afternoon we went to Dubai mall, the kids got to play a bit in the play area and after a stop at Virgin store we had dinner at Outback steakhouse. We realised we found the perfect spot for watching the fountain so now we know where to bring future guests :) Food was good, view perfect and we got 15% discount on the bill thanks to one of the pilots cards we have. What else could one want?

R had his route check i.e the check to release him for line flying with normal captains and not training captains anymore on monday and tuesday. A two day flight, what kind of luck is that? Still, he did well and he got another 5 for a grade! Well done!!! Now final release check on sunday and then he can fly like any other emirates pilot. Great job.

As I wrote before I know that many in my family, especially my mum thinks its crazy to have a maid and that I as a housewife should take care of all those things but seriously, things are different here. We have been looking for a maid for the last few weeks as we havent been too happy having someone coming in to clean 4 hours a week as it means we have to be here to let her in and out and the floors have to be cleaned at least once more, preferably twice more but I dont have the energy for that. We would like to have someone here all the time so that we dont have to think about cleaning at all. After changing our minds many times, trying to decide between getting someone who is already here and someone through an agency we have finally made up our minds. We have found an Ethiopian girl via an agency and although we havent met her since she is still in Ethiopia we hope it will turn out well. R went to Emirates HQ this morning to deal with the paperwork to get her entry visa for her to be allowed to come here. It should take about 7 working days and then we have to pass on the visa to the agency and they will then book her ticket. Exciting times!

Today when I dropped off J I even saw a smile on her face. What a relief! And this had to happen on the day when we have an appointment to see another nursery :) Still, we will go see the other nursery, its easier when you can compare with something and if it doesnt feel like a better match we can stop thinking about that and either decide to keep her where she is or for her to stay with me for these two terms until she starts school after summer. I think we need to talk to her teacher too though as J has told me that "school is fun when P is not there" and this P has not been there this week (when J has been happier about school) so Im wonding if there could be a problem between theese two girls that we can help them solve. Its not easy regardless, we want the best for our kids but sometimes I wonder if we dont worry too much.

Yesterday we had parent-teacher meeting at A´s school but before that we took the metro to a shopping centre for some treats, chocolate cake for J and doughnut for A. The kids have been eager to try the metro so we took the opportunity when we had some time to kill. The meeting with the teacher went well, my eyes watered up with pride as his teacher, Mrs. M, only had good things to say about him. She said he sets a good example to the other children by always listening to instructions, she never has to repeat anything to him, he listens carefully and is always one of the first to put up his hand wanting to answer a question and she also said he is good at finding solutions. He takes good care of himself and does well in conflicts i.e tries to solve things himself instead of running to teacher.  Wow! Way to go my little darling!

Had thought about a few posts that I was going to write today but I have gotten A´s virus. Started with sore throat and now Im also coughing. Today I woke up with a headache too. Good thing R is coming back tonight and has a couple of days off, hoping for a quick recovery :) If I re-gain some energy more posts will come.

This last week has passed soo quickly. A kept having fever on and off and for the third year in a row was he sick on his birthday! It seems to be his luck in life....Swedish friends from Malta are here on a visit and we have tried to work it out as best we could with A not feeling well. Today though my usual happy son seems to be back but we dont take any chances and are going to stay in today too (visitors are doing a desert safari) and focus on tomorrow when we will go see a dolphinshow as part of the birthday celebrations. Tomorrow is the last day for our friends before they head out to Thailand so Im hoping it will be a good day.

 

 

After a trip to the pool yesterday we realised that A had fever. He doesnt really show any symptoms so Im guessing its the usual, some throat infection that results in high fever. Hope it´ll pass quickly though, on tuesday he´s got a birthday party AND we are getting visitors from Malta. Today will be a relaxed day on the sofa with lots of cuddles while R has a full day flying to Nairobi and back.

Today has been a busy day. We unpacked a few more things this morning while R put the handles on the unit in the dining part. Then we went to IKEA where we got a wardrobe for the entrance. Any storage is needed! Lunch at home and then we went to neighbouring Sharjah to visit Desert Park and its Arabia´s Wildlife Centre. It was a nice trip, the kids enjoyed the animals but it was slightly distressing to see the arabic leopard that looked extremely bored in his little plot of land walking in eights, round and round and round. They had lots of arabic wildlife on display, everything from snakes, rodents, lizards, birds and wild cats. The coffee shop was amazingly cheap, we bought two juices, one bottle of water and some popcorn for the kids and it amounted to 9 dhs (about 1 euro 90 cents)! We also checked out the Childrens Farm and the Natural History Museum and Botanical Museum in the park before we headed back to Dubai for dinner at Nando´s. I have to say Childrens park was nothing special but the kids enjoyed feeding the animals from the hay that was provided for that purpose. At the natural history museum you could do some experimenting, like creating a sandstorm, and learing about weather in Sharjah etc. We all enjoyed the day but now its time for bed.

R got his driving licence yesterday, what a relief! It will still be another week until we get the car though. Part cause of paperwork but also because the muslims are celebrating Eid (click to read about it on Wikipedia) but as long as I see an end to the rented car Im happy :)

....R has his driving test (again) right now :S

...deeper and deeper every time I leave J at nursery. She looks so sad and today she cried and still neither of the teachers give her a hug :( Sure, I can see them (through the window) try to involve her but since she doesnt really cheer up anyway I think what she wants is to cuddle a bit, be re-assured that I will come back etc. As a nursery teacher shouldnt you be able to give a hug to a sad child? On the other hand she still says she has fun at school and she is very proud to point it out every time we pass etc. Is she not telling me the truth? Should I go with my gut feeling or believe her words?