The Buddy System

 The American School of Dubai has been working very hard at being more "welcoming".  I am so proud to say that my great friend Carol Chew has helped to start the first ever "Welcoming Committee" at ASD.  This committee is doing AMAZING things for the over 300 new families that just arrived at our school!  What does a "Welcoming Committee" do?  IT WELCOMES!  Being new to a foreign country is NOT EASY!!!  You need a buddy when you move so far away!  You need a person you can call when you need to ask those very important expat questions!  The "Welcoming Committee" takes all the new families coming in to Dubai and matches them with a "buddy family".  My buddy family is from Maryland and I have been having a great time showing them the ropes.  I still find it kind of funny that I am showing someone the ropes of Dubai.  It was not that long ago that this dear person below was showing me the ropes!!!!

When I came to Dubai almost 2 years ago there was no "Welcoming Committee" to welcome me.  My sweet Friendswood neighbor Rebecca Hude told me about her college friend Leslie Todd that lived in Dubai and she hooked us up.   The very first time Deric and I ever came to Dubai Leslie, not knowing us from adam, picked us up from our hotel and spent the entire day with us.   She showed us all the neighborhoods in Dubai, took us to a grocery store, and even brought us to ASD to let us see her pick up her kids from school.  You have know idea how much this day helped give me the confidence to pick up my family and move them across the world.  Leslie is a dear friend to me still today and she is still the "buddy" I call when I have one of those important expat questions.  And BTW, Leslie is NOT from Texas but she is from the south...Mississippi!  She has lived in Dubai for 11 years!...I scored with my "buddy family!"

So the "Welcoming Committee" does not only welcome but it moves!  Each month we will invite our buddy families to head out and explore a new part of Dubai.  How fun is that!!!!!  This month we had our FIRST "Moms on the Move" outing at ASD!  We met in the school parking lot and headed out to the Sheikh Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding.  You might find this shocking but I was one of the chauffeurs!

THE SHEIKH MOHAMMED CENTER FOR CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING

"The Sheikh Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding is a non-profit organization established to increase awareness and understanding between the various cultures that live in Dubai.   This center strives to remove barriers between people of different nationalities and raise awareness of the local culture, customs and religion of the United Arab Emirates."

In other words...this place answers a lot of your questions about these ladies we see every day in their long black robes.....or abayas.  I truly feel this outing should be a first stop to all new expats in Dubai.  I learned SO MUCH about the arab culture. We heard these ladies tell us about their faith and beliefs.  It was fascinating! 

TO MY LEFT MY NEW "BUDDY" FROM MARYLAND, CAROLINE.
BTW, NOTE TO SELF: DON'T WEAR A DRESS WHEN DINIING ON THE FLOOR

WHILE THE LADIES CHATTED WITH US WE WERE
SERVED A TRADITIONAL ARABIC BREAKFAST

THE LADY IN THE MIDDLE WAS HILARIOUS!
SHE TOLD US THAT FOR ALL WE KNEW
SHE COULD HAVE A TUBE TOP AND SHORT
 SHORTS ON UNDER HER ABAYA! HA!

I will not try to retell what I heard and learned this day.  I will say it was one of the most interesting days I have had in Dubai.  A circle of ladies drinking coffee and chatting about topics such as divorce, weddings, modesty, expats living in their country, husbands, children ...I have to use this word again...FASCINATING!!!!!!!!!!!!  We Americans, myself included, make many judgements and assumptions about these Muslim ladies.  This center is an amazing place to open our minds and learn about the ladies behind the veil....you would be surprised how we are really not all that different.  Just born into different faiths and different worlds.

 It was truly a cultural week. I got to do some really unique shopping at a gallery opened by an ASD mom.  She uses fabrics from Afghanistan to design really unique pieces. Many of the fabrics are from the women's abayas.  Much of the proceeds go back to Afghanistan to help the women.  I bought this beautiful top.  The brooch is a piece of Afghani jewelry.  It was a fun night with my Southern pals!

So I leave this post feeling thankful for buddies.  We all need them don't we.  I am happy to be paying it forward to my new "buddies" here in Dubai.  I am thankful for my friends here and there that are already hooking me up with "buddies" in Singapore.  Can you believe that I already have a "buddy" there that went and looked at a few houses for us, took lots of photos and emailed them to us!

I am extra thankful for my Irish buddy next door.....our 8 kids are wearing a path between our two houses.  After a night out on the town with them last night I woke up feeling very blue about leaving Villa 9.    Friendships sure do blossom when you least expect it....Cheers from Dubai!