Reconnections!

So, here we are. In our new home away from home away from home. Things are new and moving fast and furiously and both professional life and family life seems "just out of reach" with regards to normalcy.  Roads and big. Speeds and fast. Friends are a good drive away (with one exception).  But alas, there is a sense of normalcy too. What's better than good friends at least being within driving distance. Somehow, having Ralph, Anne and Maria just down the road (about an hour and a half away) makes things seem a little more familiar. The worries about the "newness" can be balanced with the old, familiar warmth of good friendship. 

On one particular weekend we headed down to Abu Dhabi to see the show Maria was in. She was one of the stars (and what a star!) in the play. We were fortunate enough to have great front row seats for it all. The girls where fixed to the show and declared it "the best" they've ever seen. At the end of the show (it was closing night) Maria came down from the stage and, rather than heading to her own mother and father, ran right up to our little ones and shared a wonderfully warm hug. They were all delighted, as were the parents. 

But it's not just that. They've been up to visit us to watch volleyball games, to go shopping, meet up for lunch, share some down time, etc. Perhaps it was some chat time over the phone. Whatever it is the small and frequent contacts make it seem like our lives are filled with the sharing that makes it worth while. 

How uniquely wonderful to have them in our lives again, on a more regular basis than the summers. And just a short (enough) drive away. We look forward to many such encounters that make life that much more meaningful and the journey that much more wonderful!  

First Tooth Out!

 

With Irini the teeth came out much earlier than with Amalia. Now six and a half Amalia has been waiting all along for her perfect little teeth to start moving around. So it was with great joy that she welcomed her wobbly tooth a could months ago. We had expected it to fall out quite a while ago and, as the adult tooth started to make its presence known the baby tooth held its ground for a long while. For a few weeks she had both, one just behind the other. But this week, finally, the baby tooth finally moved enough for Amalia to announce that she was ready for it to come out. "Will it hurt?" she asked her mommy. The answer was a negative and she decided last night that it was worth the risk to take it out and have a visit by Ratoncito Perez at night. 

For a while the two of them stood face to face in the bathroom, moving the tooth and getting ready for extraction. Mommy took her time and they chatted for a while. Finally, after around 10 minutes or so, Amalia rushed out to the living room to show daddy.... her tooth was gone and though there was some residual blood her smile was broad and her eyes glittered with joy!

Later, she wrote a little note to Ratoncito Perez explaining the situation and sealed it in a blue envelope. As night arrived and she and daddy read a book and then, with her new smiles, she bode goodnight to daddy and Irini.  It was in the depth of night that the tooth was miraculously exchanged for a small amount of cash, a gift from the Ratoncito himself. Our girl is growing up.  With a small gap between her front bottom teeth she continues to fill us with love, smiles and lots of laughter.  

New Lifestyle... Same Smiles!

We're in a new place, to be sure. Trying to figure our way around a new city, deal with new cultural elements, navigate new housing and dealing with our new surroundings has been filled with it's little bumps and wonderful opportunities.  From big roads to big malls, to the August heat (which has now, thankfully, subsided) this place is quite different from what we've been used to in the past. 

But it's also been a great chance to start new things, or continue old ones in new environments. Our new town and school has given us the opportunity to try new things... like horse back riding!  Our girls are really enjoying it and though it's much more formal than anything they've dealt with before, they are doing very well. They're starting to look like naturals on horseback!  

And then, of course, there is Halloween, which is the one event we had heard all about before we even got here. We dressed up in our new outfits and partook in five different trick or treat events, from a huge 2,600 person event at the school to several neighborhood ones (both in our own neighborhood and those of friends). The girls collected several kilos of candies and happily shared it with others. It was a wonderful series of events which, quite possibly, was the favorite of our girls in our new town. :-)

As the weeks go by and our lifestyle begins to normalize we are slowly getting our bearings as well as learning a bit more and more about this place. Uncovering the city has been rewarding and we're finding just how much this place has to offer. :-)

Little Beautiful Moments

This is the kind of post that might otherwise get lost somewhere.

Before we came to Dubai we had discussed the fact that things would be more expensive for us here, so that we'd all have to do our fair share to help with the cleaning and maintenance of the house. So, over the past month or so, we've all done our "this and that" to clean the place up, fix the beds, put things away, iron clothing and vacuum and mop.

Recognizing that we really need some support, however, we had someone come over to help us today, just for a couple hours. At the arrival of the young woman Amalia burst out arguing that she didn't want anyone to help around the house. She was in near tears when daddy turned to her and asked her why. Her response: "Because then I can't do the vacuuming and mopping!"

It was a precious moment, and one that perhaps might never repeat itself. Daddy leaned over and calmed little Amalia down. "Don't worry, we'll ask her to help with other things so that you and I can continue to do the vacuuming and mopping". She smiled and walked away, happy that equilibrium has not been thrown out of whack too much. She's a keeper!

Tinos!

Sometimes you're just minding your own business and a trip jumps out at you. That seemed to be the case with this one... our fist family visit to Tinos!  Aleko had indicated a possible trip but things had come and gone and we hadn't really put things together. But, with one swift move, Natalia and Aleko worked their magic and we were off!  

Four days in windy, mountainous, beautiful Tinos!  It was that wild Cycladean feel with a whole lotta dry wind flying through our hair.  And it was good that it was windy because it meant that we had to keep moving, from one beach to the next village and from one place to another, in our attempt to enjoy the place without much wind. Depending on the day the wind came from different places and so we were delighted to see pretty much the entire island! With it's beautiful small hamlets and fantastic beaches we were impressed with every turn of the meandering roads around the island. Each village was well kept, well maintained, white washed and friendly. 

One such little side trip took us to Borax, a small town nestled in the mountainsides where large boulders are scattered throughout the area. We were told that it was unique (shared only with another place in Mexico) and so it was. To make things even better the town has an array of local craftsmen working away as we walked through the village. Where the houses were unused they were still helpful.... with the verses of greek songs and poems written throughout the village. One such doorway hosted the words of Cavity's "Ithaca" after which this blog is named. Of course we HAD to stand in front of the doorway, eight years after the original blog post, to commemorate a full life whose journey has been spectacular and wonderful!