Tortilla Chips

By Cindy

We are fortunate that we can get Tostitos Tortilla chips here. I'm always amazed that they are whole, too.  They come over air freight and Jeff and I both think they are less broken here than when we get them in America.  Go figure but we'll take it.

Nice, whole chips.  Not a single one broken.

Friday Prayers

by Cindy

Whether you go to prayers or not during the week, you always go to Friday noon prayer.  I would say it's loosely equivalent to everyone going to church on Sunday mornings, even if you do participate in weekly church activities. If you happen to drive by any mosque in town during Friday noontime prayers, you are likely to be trapped or not be able to get through on the road.  They park anywhere and everywhere.  We were returning from church on Friday right after prayer started.

They have already parked along the curb and are now parking two deep.

This is in the round about, only one narrow lane left to get through.

Notice the heads of the men.  They were late so they didn't get a place inside and they are having to pray outside.  That's unfortunate since it was 46 C / 115 F yesterday.

Three deep in the round about.

The Umrah

by Cindy


Wikipedia says the following about the Umrah - "The Umrah or (Arabic: عمرة‎) is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year. In Arabic, Umrah means "to visit a populated place". As a technical term used in the Sharia, Umrah means to perform Tawaf round the Kaabaand Sa'i between Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, after assuming Ihram (a sacred state), either from a Miqat like Zu 'l-Hulafa, Juhfa, Qarnu 'l-Manāzil,Yalamlam, Zāt-i-'Irq, Ibrahīm Mursīa, or a place in Hill. It is sometimes called the 'minor pilgrimage' or 'lesser pilgrimage', the Hajj being the 'major' pilgrimage and which is compulsory for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it. The Umrah is not compulsory but highly recommended."


Jeff and I noticed at the bank the other day, you can finance your Umrah trip with a 0% interest loan.

Russian Tortillas

by Cindy

Jeff and I enjoyed some chips and queso and quesadillas for dinner this weekend.  We can get everything we need over here but it does take some planning ahead since I have to go to three different stores to get all of the ingredients.  The funny part about the dinner was the tortillas - while they are appropriately called El Sabor, they have Russian on the bottom of the label and were manufactured in Russia!  They were really good so we're not complaining. We are thankful to be able to satisfy our Tex-Mex craving, even if it is with Russian tortillas.

Snoop Dogg

by Cindy

Snoop Dogg came to Abu Dhabi last night.  After seeing this picture with Snoop dressed up like the locals here, it made me wish we had attended the concert! I have to confess, when I would flip through TV channels and find Snoop Dogg's Father Hood, I would always watch.  He's really quite funny.

Our News Headline

I thought I would share the headline from our newspaper.  If you would like to read the whole article, it can be found here. To the left and right of the picture, there are quotes from people all over our region. These are not included in the article so I thought I would pass them on as it might be different than what you see at home.

"Justice has been done." Barack Obama, US President

"We will not allow our soil to be used against any other country for terrorism and therefore I think it's a great victory" Yousuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan Prime Minister

"This establishes that Pakistan has been sheltering terrorists and now the country must take steps against them." AK Antony, Indian Defense Minister

"Saudi Arabia hopes that the elimination of the leader of the terrorist al Qa'eda organization will be a step towards supporting international efforts aimed at combating terrorism and dismantling its cells." Official Saudi statement

"The killing of bin Laden is a positive step that will boost the international fight against terror" Official UAE statement

"Let me make it very clear that we will avenge the martyrdom of Osama bin Laden, and we will do it by carrying out attacks in Pakistan and America" Ahsanullah Ahsan, Taliban spokesman

"We condemn any killing of a holy warrior or of a Muslim and Arab person and we ask God to bestow his mercy upon him" Ismail Haniya, Hamas

"It is certainly our hope that this would mark the beginning of the end of a very dark era" Salam Fayyad, Palestinian prime minister

Engaged!

by Cindy

Engagements are big celebrations around here.  Not only do your friends and family  know that you are engaged to be married, but anyone and everyone driving by your house knows.  Yep, this is what happens when someone in your house becomes engaged. They drape the whole house with "Christmas" lights.  It is amazing.