Uprooting & Planting

A sweet friend of mine encouraged me a few weeks ago when i shared with her my raw emotions of packing up boxes, saying goodbye to friends & family and leaving a home we thought we would be in for many years.

"Don't you think the uprooting is the most difficult part?  The planting that occurs once you get there will be much easier."

It's true, the uprooting and pulling has been by far the most difficult part of this process.  We ache as roots snap and feel the sadness in the tearing, yet there is a very present peace that we are exactly where we should be.

 Already missing my Runner Girls!

We retreated to SF since our house was packed up and empty.  It was therapeutic to take a little reprieve from the uprooting.  Just the 4 of us with nothing but time to take walks, snuggle, watch airplanes take off and process together before the start of our journey.

And now after surviving a 15 and a half hour plane ride with kids...

the PLANTING begins.

Things started off great as we were welcomed to Dubai with fireworks.  (No,we are not that fabulous we just had impeccable timing.)  Our arrival happened to fall on the same day as the kick off for the month long Shopping Festival. Yeah, who knew?!!  Needless to say as a result the kids think Dubai is fabulous. 

For now we are in a temporary apartment until all of our furniture arrives by boat.


For purely selfish motives we are hoping the Strait of Hormuz stays open (that is once it gets past Occupy Oakland).

So here we are with our 6 suitcases of clothes attempting to adjust and plant ourselves into a new normal, which for the moment looks like this. 

Weather & pools warm enough to swim in.

Malls that are over the top because it includes valet parking, 520 shops, 80 restaurants, male & female mosques, babysitting, is open till midnight and has guidelines like "no kissing."

Visit it here

We find ourselves running errands to the mall for things like phone set up, eye exams for driver's licenses and the odds & ends that didn't make it into the suitcase.

Normally a trip to the mall would elicit groans from our peanut gallery.

Not in Dubai.  Lots to see to keep these Littles entertained.

Watching kids ski down slops in the mall isn't something we are used to seeing everyday.

Even ordering ice cream is different here.  After they add your "mix in" they don't just put it in a cup.  Your scoop gets flung into the air and is caught in a cup 10 feet away.  Yep, pretty much vacation mode for the kids. 

For some i can't get over the whole "mall shopping carts".  It's brilliant really.  You stop at the Carrefour, which carries everything from toilet paper to electronics to all your groceries, pick up a cart for 1 dirham and it's yours to navigate throughout the mall.  You literally can fill up your cart with groceries, H&M, Gymboree or Louis Vuitton.  When you are done shopping simply take your cart out the front door of the mall.  Attendants will jump to your aid to load your car and before you can buckle yourself in the car the shopping cart is whisked away. 

Our cart wasn't filled with flash, just necessities.

  

(For fear of misleading you into thinking we have learned Arabic, the back of each item is in English.)

i have NO idea what those Digestive things are but Chris put them in the cart because he said they are "really good."  (Honestly, not sure how any cookie called Digestive can be very tasty.)

Planting for me right now involves learning the basics; how much is the 14 dirham ice cream really costing me, how do i turn on the dryer to dry our clothes, and does it truly have to be that difficult to connect to WiFi? 

Planting in baby steps.