It's the Holiday Season

In the UAE this means that our work schedule will change, because of the fast no one is allowed to work more than 6 hour shifts according to UAE law. Although I am not Muslim I will observe Ramadan hours. This is exciting news for me- I will work 8am to 2pm everyday and then I think I will enjoy the pool for the afternoon! All people are asked to respect the fast of others by not eating or drinking in public areas so, although the temperatures may reach 118 degrees pool side I will not be drinking from my water bottle!

Ramadan is a Muslim holiday; the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is a month of fasting, in which Muslims refrain from eating and drinking. The fast is intended to teach Muslims about patience and humility. They are fasting for the sake of Allah (God) and offer more prayer than on an average day. The dates of Ramadan vary, moving backwards by about eleven days each year depending on the moon, this ensures that a person will have fasted every day of the calendar year over 34 years' time. Muslims believe Ramadan is a special month for the revelations of Allah to humankind. It is believed to be the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the prophet, Muhammad.

Many of my Muslim friends will not work during this month. Instead they will shift their hours of being awake. Most people will sleep during the day and be awake during the night time, while the sun is down, when they are allowed to eat. The meal that breaks the fast at night after their Maghrib prayer (4th prayer of the 5 daily prayers) is called an Iftar. It is a huge meal where the friends and families will sit together to break their fast. As you can imagine, these meals are quite a celebration each night.

I will certainly have the opportunity to share in a few of these meals with friends and neighbors. This brings me to the exciting part of the celebration- the season of Ramadan feels a bit like Christmas to me. I know this is a dangerous comparison but, when you walk into the grocery store “Ramadan Kareem” is written everywhere, there are all sorts of sales on dates, chocolates and food is being sold in unusually large bulk. Everyone, everywhere, is preparing for the excitement of the season when life slows down and families gather every night.

"Inside the White House"

So, in the summer weather here (118 degrees on an average day) we tend to stay indoors a little bit more. That also means we watch more TV. Sometimes that can be a bad thing, like when you realize that you have watched the entire season of American Dreams for the 6th time or when you are literally quoting Gilmore Girls to one another.

But, today I found this interesting National Geographic special on the White House. Desiree, you would appreciate this! You can watch it here: Inside the White House

" Hattitude... there's a little more strut in your carriage when you wear a hat" ~Deirdre Guion

This past weekend Jessie and I hosted a tea at her house. We invited 4 women to join us for tea on Saturday afternoon at 4pm. I was most excited to get dressed up and wear fun hats but, the party ended up being such a blast. We spent Friday evening and Saturday baking zucchni bread, lemon scones, making chicken salad, homemade clotted cream, iced peach tea (to welcome our guests in from the scorching desert temperatures), arranging flowers in a tea pot for our centerpiece and wrapping tea cups to give as party favors.

We borrowed the hats from our friend Beth who brought along a book about hat etiquette! The first obstacle was how to greet each guest when we all had on these great big hats. We read at the party that you should never try to "put your hands all up around a woman's neck when she has on a hat" you should leave some space between the two of you, I wish I had read it before because when I hugged Fatimah, I knocked her hat right off her head!

Jessie has all these really great antique dishes from her mom and her aunt, we put jordan almonds out in this silver tiered serving dish.

The table was beautiful! It made the day feel so special, Jessie found these really great tea quotes and we all read them in between courses.

Here we are all dressed up and ready to host!

"Sometimes, even a blind hog finds an acorn"

This is an old saying I use to hear from my Dad. To put it in a nice way it essentially means you got lucky!

As we get ready for the new hospital to be built we are constantly announcing each new step we take to the press. We like to remind the city of Al Ain how exciting this project is for the community. In my role at the hospital, I write press releases and do my best to keep in touch with any press contacts. This past week I got an exciting phone call that Khaleej Times was going to do a feature piece on Oasis Hospital in their Weekend Edition.

After working closely with Olivia, a staff writer at Khaleej Times, this article (scroll down to the Expressions section) was published in today's paper. The President of our hospital jokingly told me that I could keep my job for 2 more days, I thought I could get at least a week out of this!

Volunteers Needed Over Here in the Desert!

Do you have a long Christmas vacation, extra days in February or a Spring Break you need to fill?
As we move into our new hospital we need lots of help! If any of you think you might be interested in helping all you have to do is give us a time frame of when you could come, fill out this application and buy a ticket!
We will put you up in a house and feed you while you are here.
Check out the application here!

The Excitement Builds

We are building a new facility at Oasis Hospital. Our current building will be torn down and over the period of about 4 months we will all shift to the new place! When I moved here in September there was a giant hole where this massive structure now stands.

Recently we celebrated the "Topping Off" of the new building! The construction team is working hard to finish this huge project quickly.

In the new building there are:

2,530 tons of steel
1,670 truck loads fo concrete
7 miles of ducting
9.5 miles of pipework
372 miles of cable
7,400 lights
Here I am with Trey (he made me wear that hat backwards!) And below is our President and the Irish Ambassador to the UAE literally topping off the building with a final concrete pour!

A change of heart?

These past few days I have been dog sitting. Yes, Me. Most of you know that I am not the first person to be excited about a new puppy or any sort of pet for that matter. This past week I took on the task of dog sitting. I was dog sitting for corgi dogs; Marley To Die For and Rosie ( I can't remember the rest of her name). They act more like humans than most teenagers do. They have a strict schedule:

8:00 AM Breakfast, Vitamins and Outdoor Time
1:00 PM Bathroom Break
5:00 PM Dinner and Exercise
9:00 PM Bathroom Break
10:30 PM Bedtime Snack (1/3 of a slice of cheese they share) and Lights Out
I actually enjoyed watching them for a few days and I think they won me over.

Here I am with Rosie. Marley refused to take a photo.

JJ Gonzalez is born!

We have been waiting for my sister to have her baby and he decided to come a month early! He was born July 11th just 3 days after Jess's birthday.

Jeziel Miguel Gonzalez, Jr. Born July 11th at 12:40 am 5.3 lbs

Here is Jess. Not just my sister anymore. Now she is JJ's mom!

His dad, Jeziel Miguel Gonzalez (he was named after his dad- that's why he is a junior)

Here is Jared holding him- the coolest Uncle around!

Look at this fabulous grandma! My dad promises to get a picture with him soon!

Baseball: The Great American Pastime

The next day after the baby shower we all went to a Red Sox game. And whatta ya know those sox won it for us! Thank God! When you travel half way across the world to see them play they should win.

It was a sunny day in Boston and we all a good time. We met up with Jessie's sister for the game and then met some of my friend's down on Newbury Street for lunch.

Here we are- like I said it was sunny day so we have some eyes closed! My dad took the picture so he got left out!

Home Sweet Home was so sweet...

So, this will come slowly but here it goes.... this was home!

On the first Saturday that I was home we had a baby shower for my sister! It turned out to be such a great day- perfect weather! I was able to host the shower with my mom, Jessie, Marisol (my sister's mother-in-law) and Aunt Louyse!

Everyone showed up and most people followed the instructions to "go green" and not wrap their gift!

The cake, Noah's Ark themed, thanks to Sarilia our really good friend!

Desiree and Jessica, this is one of my favorite pictures of the shower! Desiree and I have been friends for about 13 years and I just love that she and my sister go to church together now and have become friends outside of me. She is a great friend to have and is always a good time and up for a long chat!

Marisol (Jessica's mother-in-law) and my Mom

The party favors were sugar cookies with a "G" on them for Baby Gonzalez. Jessica and Jeziel are still working on a name so leave any good ones here for them to check out. Jessie made all these cookies with her mom and then we decorated them the day before shower. They didn't come out exactly how we planned, but they looked just fine and tasted so good!

The Hulsey girls (sort of) Jessie, my Mom, Jessica and me! We are missing Aunt Weesie here!