Call to Pray

When I first got here every once in a while I would hear this Arabic singing and I had no idea what it was. Finally I asked Ben what it was and he said it was the call to pray. It happens about 5 times a day at various times. I think there is a rhyme to the reason oh when but I still haven't figured it out. I think it has something to do with when the sun rises and sets so it changes as the days get longer. For a while it would start at about 5:30 am and I would never hear it. But since the days are getting longer it is now going off at 4:30am! Now we don't live to close to a mosque so its not that loud but some people we know live right next a mosque and it is very very loud. I would not be to happy to be woken up every morning at 4:30 to that.

One of our friends said that you can get alarm clocks that have the same singing. Watch out you might be getting one for your birthday or Christmas! You to can feel like you are living in an Arabic country. :)

I am just as bad as Ben

Hi everyone

I know there has been a lag in the blogs, I don't want to have to say it but we have been busy. I know thats not much of an excuse but it's the best I can come up with.

I have been subbing a lot this month which has been really good for my wallet. Swimming finished up and badminton started right away for me. I am coaching the girls and boys JV badminton at ACS. We had our first game last Monday and won! It has nothing to do with my coaching and everything to do with the talent the kids brought. One of the kids is ranked in the world for his age group in tennis! To say the least he is very good. I will be going to Kuwait for a tournament at the end of April, which I have heard isn't that excited but I am eager to get another stamp in my passport.

Ben is also staying busy with the JV boys softball team. They have been playing some high school kids and also the faculty the last couple weeks. Yesterday we went to Dubai and played a high school there. Last year the boys lost one of the games 30 to nothing! This year they lost the first game 14-0 and the next game 4-2. The second game was much better and it looked like a different team on the field. They did really well. Ben will be going to Doha in April for a big tournament that he is really excited for.

We are really enjoying the new car. We went camping in the mountains and we also went camping in the desert! We went with a large group of people from school. The one couple has done a lot of desert camping and also dune driving. We did not take the trooper out on the dunes but we did drive along with the guy who was good at it. We had a great time, our friends got stuck several times, which was a good laugh. We enjoyed the company and especially the vastness that we were in. It was cloudy that night but we could see the stars a little bit. It was a nice change from all the cars, traffic, people, and call to pray noise we hear in Abu Dhabi.

We have spring break next weekend which everyone is excited for. We are going to Oman with our friends Paul and Lisa for a couple days. We don't really have any plans yet, but I am sure it will be fun and I am sure there will be videos and pictures to follow. So stay tuned!