Getting here--It was only a 24 hour marathon that started at 4:00 in the morning on Saturday the 11th from San  Francisco International Airport, 10:00AM on the 10th if you want to count the drive from Atascadero.  After a 7 hour layover in Chicago we endured a wonderful 13 hour direct flight to Abu Dhabi.  I say the wonderful 13 hour trip because Trevor did sleep for 10 of those long 13 hours.  He traveled extremely well throughout the whole trip and we were very fortunate to have all of our luggage make it on and off the plane with us with no additional fees...  Yes we packed all of our most valuable possessions, a whole suitcase of TOYS, a couple pants and shirts, enough vitamins, soap, shampoo and baby wipes to open a small convenience store, but who knew they actually sold all of those things in the Middle East (for cheaper in most cases)!!!  Yes we packed 6 checked bags that were precisely 1/2 pound underweight for each and 6 carry on pieces that were not so close to the 7 kilos we were allowed for each.  What in the world is 7 kilos anyway???  Not very much when you packed text books and laptops and "essentials" that weighed too much to go into the checked luggage in your carry-ons!! But once again God guided our travels and the largest of our carry-ons was checked for free in SFO all the way to our final destination because that plane was overbooked.  A carry on that looked more like checked bag than a carry on!  (It was Erin's of course :)  What a relief to find out that they had arranged for local help to carry our bags for us to the buses.  I already looked like a Sherpa carrying all of the carry-ons and trying to wrangle a quick little 2 year old all through the the Chicago airport!  It was a bit un-nerving to climb onto an airplane to travel to the Middle East with all of your belongings and a family of three when they tell you somebody(no name) will meet you at the airport with a sign and transportation to get you to "a hotel" (again--no name)  somewhere in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, but not knowing where.  All of our concerns were quickly put to rest after our leap of faith....  The nice lady who held our sign at the airport did show up, the local help did not run off with our bags(of course this was a concern--we still didn't know they sold deodorant in the Middle East!)  and the bus did take us to a wonderful hotel where we have started to acclimate.  Again, they delivered all of our bags to the room so we did not have to look like Sherpa's on a treck to Mecca...(I know Sherpa's do not take a pilgrimage to Mecca but call it creative license.)  Trevor has probably had the most difficult time adjusting to the time change but other than that he has settled in very well.  He does still think that 2 o'clock in the morning is an excellent time to play but putting him down for naps or sleep has been a snap--he passes out at the dinner table or in the cab or on the 2 MILE hike to the mall!!!!  He is getting there but Erin and I will be extremely happy when his body gets adjusted to our new schedule.  Yes, the mall is within walking distance at this point in time and no the weather is not near as bad as we expected even though it is winter.  We have been quite comfortable and enjoying as much time outside right now at all times of day because we do know that there are MUCH higher temperatures to come.  The first full day we were here Trevor and I actually had to go in the rooftop hot tub instead of the pool because it was a bit chilly... 22 degrees Celsius.   It is really amazing to look out over the city from the roof and be able to get your bearings.  Trevor and I were quite excited to see a large green space just a couple of blocks over that we could hike to on Erin's first full day of work.  It seemed like a great idea at first...
      We set out early the next morning because while I say blocks they are closer to half mile each and it was a good distraction for Trevor on Erin's first day of work.  As we approached the little berm that we saw from the rooftop was actually an 8 foot wall surrounding our beautiful park.  No big deal, we can walk around to the gate.... which had a sign posted that the park (more like an amusement park for little kids) was open from 3PM to 10PM for women and children under the age of 10!  The fact that it was 9 o'clock in the morning and there was no way I could pull off the dr3ess thing Trevor and I proceeded to walk the rest of the perimeter in search of a grassy play area.  It was even harder to explain to Trevor that we could not go through the gate that was open after I had told him the park was closed...  He continued to say "No Daddy, park open."  Convince a two year old the park is closed when the gate is swung wide open.  Good luck!
     In the short time that we have been here we have made good use of the free breakfast buffet as our main meal and have not needed to do a whole lot of searching for food.  We did venture into a small (3 tables) restaurant that resembles something of a doughnut shop in the U.S. to try the local fare.  To say the least we were thrilled.  Next time we will order half of what we did...  3 large plates of rice and chicken with varying spices and a wonderful piece of greatness called a Chicken Shawarma.  Simple but delicious because the meat(either chicken or lamb) is roasted on a spit and then carved off into a very thin flat bread that resembles a tortilla with something of a light garlic mayonnaise type mixture and a pickle.  Delightful and only 5 Dirhams--about $1.25  We have been pleasantly surprised about how reasonable the cost of living can be if you choose to blend with the locals...Locals being people from all over the globe who resemble the most diverse cities in the U.S.  Now don't get me wrong, if you want to spend $50 or $100 dollars each on a dinner you surely can visit one of the many impressive hotels that line the water way.  And the Ferrari and Lexus dealers that we passed on the way home from church today(Friday) surely will suck up any extra spending cash from an average working Joe (or Erin as I like to say!)  These are the highlights of our first week here on the Arabian Peninsula but I am sure it will get much more exciting as we move into our semi-permanent residence over the next couple of weeks.  Erin did find out that we will be staying here in Abu Dhabi City as her school is just off the island toward the Airport.  A welcomed bit of information considering  we have known nothing more than she will be teaching somewhere in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi up until yesterday.  Hope you enjoy the journey as much as we have so far.  It has truly exceeded our greatest expectations!