Even though I should soon be getting my visa through my work, another month has passed which means another border run for us! A border run is simply that: running for the closest border (The Sultan of Oman), leave the U.A.E. and getting stamped back in for another 30 days. People who are out of work and not being sponsored by another person’s passport have to do these border runs every month in order to keep their visa valid. So, on this run we took some pictures to show you all back home what it’s like. It starts with a full tank of gas, some snacks, and a decent CD to listen to on the 1 ½ -2 hour drive to Oman. From our house, we take the 44 towards Hatta/Oman:
It’s pretty cool to drive through the desert and see the sand change colors and go from trees and bushes to straight sand dunes as far as the eye can see:
When you see the mountains, you know you’re getting close, but if you are not paying attention to that, your phone will let you know with the mass amount of text messages you will receive with offers to switch from Etisalat (Dubai’s main cell service) to Nawras, which is Oman’s main cell service:
The first stop you make is to be stamped out of Dubai:
Once stamped out, you get back in the car and continue driving towards Oman for another half an hour or so. Oman welcomes you with a window tint warning:
I guess they take that pretty seriously… anyways from there you park and walk in and get what is called an “entry/exit”. It basically stamps you into Oman and then right back out again. You pay your 200 dirhams collect your passport and are on your way! Sorry, I wasn’t allowed to take pictures inside:
The road down to Oman reminds me of Mexico. There are all kinds of random shops that specialize in few things: rugs, pottery, tires & hub caps, and gigantic vases that are twice the size of me. You will usually see camel on your way there along with goats and their shepherd:
But you know you are back in the good ol’ U.A.E. when you are greeted by a picture/billboard of Sheikh Hamdan the crown prince of Dubai AKA His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum:
I love that there are huge pictures of the leaders here all over the place and that the leaders are highly respected and loved.
In other news, we have been playing lots of monopoly with the kids, a game I can’t stand but for some strange reason they all seem to love it:
And we have been going to the beach every weekend. 2 weekends ago there was the slightest bit of surf, which we totally loved! But as you can see from last weekend’s picture that was short lived and the ocean returned to be completely flat:
We have met more friends at church and met a family who surfs. Every one of them from the dad to the 4 year old daughter surf (when the waves show up) which is really cool.
We also had our first dinner guest over, Amy (from church) where we got to cook for her and since she’s from Texas and a total country girl we downloaded the CMA’s and watched them together. But it was kind of lame to not recognize as much as there is no country station out here. It’s ok though, we were happy with what we had J
Also, our friend Joe is in town! He is who we visited in Vietnam. We have been enjoying showing him around Dubai and selling him on the city (which it wasn’t too hard to sell)… more on him later.
We are really excited for thanksgiving, even though it’s only the Americans that celebrate it, and we will have to celebrate on Friday since Thursday is a work day. We hope you all enjoy your thanksgiving day feasts & naps & black Friday shopping!
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