Cheers!

Welcome back to our first edition of Mitch’s Monday Happy Hour of the new school year!  It’s a way for me to share news, stories, or just fun tidbits of what we have going on in our lives.  The kinds of things we would discuss if we were meeting with our friends and family back home for a happy hour to enjoy a cold beer or glass wine.  So let’s get started . . . . . . .

• It has definitely been hard getting re-acclimated to the weather these last couple of weeks.  It has been super humid since we’ve been back, which has made the weather almost unbearable somedays.  The highs have been around 112-118 degrees Fahrenheit.  However the other day, with the humidity, the heat index was 133 degrees Fahrenheit!  Needless to say, we spend a lot of time in the A/C when it gets that hot.  Earlier this week I stopped over at our mechanic’s house and had him top off the freon in our car after school.  Now it is pumping out some nice freezing cold air!

• Last weekend, a couple of friends and I went boating in the Persian Gulf.  We went out for a night cruise and had a ton of fun!  It was the first time it’s been out since last May, but it fired up right away.  Unfortunately, the lights stopped working during our voyage, so we had to rely on the moonlight for navigation. Also, the swells were a little bigger then we expected and the bilge pump wasn’t working, so we took on a bit of water.  The good news though, we had 2 life jackets for the five of us guys and we all survived!

• When it comes to finding “western products” at the grocery stores here, you never know what you’re going to find.  It’s kind of like Costco back in America,  they’ll have a certain product, but when they sell out, they won’t have it again for another 6 months.  I was pleasantly surprised this week when our favorite grocery store had a huge collection of Tabasco, Frank’s Red Hot, and Siracha.  I’m not a big fan of spicy food, but we definitely stocked up!

• I’m organizing a Fantasy Football League again this year for a bunch of the teachers we work with.  A few nights ago, we hosted the draft at our place.  Of course I feel like I drafted the best team in the league, but we’ll have to wait and see how things turn out as the season progresses.  I had to take a picture of one of my friend’s notes and share it with everyone.  She was so organized and kicked ass at making a game plan.  As always, it should be a fun season of smack talking with friends!

• One of the coolest things about living abroad are the sights you see on a daily basis.  After awhile you get used to them as you slowly become acclimated to the culture.  This year, I want to try my best to capture some of the interesting things we see on a daily basis and share them with you here on our blog.  Here are a few for this week:

1.  I saw this tiny little truck in a parking lot the other day with 3 huge round bales of hay.  I was shocked that such a little truck could handle that amount of weight, but also wondered where the heck they found such lush and green hay in the middle of the desert!  Don’t worry, the bales weren’t tied down either!

2)  I captured this picture while driving the other day, and it always amazes me that people can carry things on top of their heads!  The bags always look so heavy and I can’t figure out how they can keep them balanced.

3)  I still can’t get used to the idea that most people here don’t use car seats.  While at a red light yesterday, I was starring at 3 kids in the back of their Pajero without carseats or even seat belts!  The driving here is very aggressive, and all I could think of was the tragedy it would be if someone rear ended this car.  Scary!

Well that’s all for this week folks, we’ll see you guys next Monday for another edition of Mitch’s Monday Happy Hour!