"I don't want to work, I just want to bang on a drum all day"

At the hospital I am on the Social Activities Committee, essentially we try to make sure that there is something fun for the staff to do at least once a month. This month all the staff went bowling. We rented out the entirety of Bowling City and it was open to all hospital staff for free!

I am not much of a bowler, despite our family's tradition of going bowling the day after Thanksgiving or New Year's Day every year. I went anyway because I do a lot of things that don't seem that fun to me for the sheer sake of being social.

It ended up being a really fun night especially since it was 115 degrees out today. Indoor activities are well received when the weather gets like this!

To Lebanon and Back

Last week Hannah and I headed to Lebanon for a 5 day power tour. We saw 5 cities in 5 days and tons of amazing sites!

We flew into Beirut on Wednesday morning from Sharjah airport which is about 2 hours from Al Ain. We had a great time that day in Beirut just poking around the University, shops and had lunch on the water. I was able to go outside and run along the water all alone, it was gorgeous and I felt amazing!

We went to Beeka Valley to the most famous winery in Lebanon called Ksara, then off to the Roman ruins in Baalbek.

Next up was more Beirut, a night out on the town in Gemayze, with the smallest restaurant I think I have ever ate in. The next few days we crammed in Byblos, Tripoli, and the Cedars of Lebanon up in Bcharre.

Byblos

Beirut

The Cedars of Lebanon

We had a chance to stop in the village where Hannah's family is from, just a few generations back!

A guest is on her way!

My dear college friend Hannah-Jane Simon Girard (she has lots of names) is coming for a visit! She arrives tomorrow night and will be here in Al Ain for one week before her and I head to Lebanon for 5 days. I can't wait to see her and I can't wait for my big trip!

She is always a good time and we do a great job of wasting many hours talking about everything and nothing!

Workin' it out in Dubai

Jessie and I went to Dubai for a work trip! I felt like a big city girl again- we commuted in one morning and slept over and then headed back to Al Ain the next night. We were exhibiting for our parent organization CURE International. CURE won the Hamdan Award this past December and we were hoping it would get some exposure at DIHAD: Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference and Exhibition. Here is a quick snippet from a press release I put out about it last week:

"The award recognizes four individuals or organizations which significantly contribute to alleviating the suffering of a large number of human beings subjected to exceptional circumstances such as catastrophes, epidemics, famine, wars, and natural calamities.

Oasis Hospital, located in Al Ain, UAE, is the hub of CURE International’s work in the Middle East region. Oasis Hospital provides substantial financial, training, and staff support to the CURE hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, and a medical clinic in Bangladesh. The hospital carries out the humanitarian work of CURE by bringing children from neighboring countries to the UAE to receive life changing surgeries and procedures. All of this work, along with CURE’s work in Africa and South America, were on display last week at the conference to bring awareness of the positive impact that medical staff from CURE hospitals are having around the world."

And here are Jessie and I in our booth the last day of the conference!

World Championship Wheelchair Race

Yesterday I headed out to take some pictures at the World Championship Wheelchair Races at the Al Ain Club for the Disabled. Oasis Hospital is the official medical sponsor of the events. We provide the ambulance and nurses for anyone injured in the races.

Athletes who compete here can qualify for the Paralympics so these can be quite exciting and important races for some of the competitors.

I put the pictures on my work computer and forgot to send them home so I'll try to get more up later but for now:

As part of the "medical team staff" I had to wear this orange vest to enter the competition grounds. Don't I look official?

Meet my Office

Last night we had an office outing. Being my American self I had made up my mind that I was not going, mixing work and life is a bad idea in my mind. At the last minute a friend called and said she was going and was bored and asked if I wanted a ride- she said her husband couldn't make it. I decided it's better to go out and be social- I really had nothing to do and I don't have an overwhelming number of friends here.

The outing was to Ponderosa- that's right PONDEROSA. Now, I have never actually been to a Ponderosa in America, probably because most people I know aren't actually huge fans of buffets. It was really not the best experience I have ever had. My friend and I were quite disappointed and I think that I have made a new rule for myself in this country. If it's available in America and I avoid it, then if it's available here I should also avoid it.

Now, meet my office-mates, we are an interesting mix. Not everyone was there but, this is a quick snapshot of most of us!

This is Fazilla and she works in the Special Projects Office with Jessie.

Roshna, she plans a ton of lunch parties in our office and works in the Quality Department. This is not her baby! It's Joseph's and here he is:

Here I am getting vanilla fro-yo with rainbow sprinkles- definitely the only reason to eat there.

Lissama, she is a nurse at the hospital, Gillian and Surrama are Home Visitation Nurses.

Jarrett works in Marketing with me. Jarrett and his wife Elizabeth were living on the North Shore before they moved here, it's a fun connection to have!

Dr. Koshi and his wife.

Old News but Good News

By now most of you already know that I will be Auntie Min by the end of this summer.

My sister Jessica and her husband Jeziel are expecting a baby at the end of July. Jess is a great big sister and taught me plenty of important lessons growing up (ie how to use a curling iron and how to put on lipstick) kidding aside, she will be a wonderful mom to her new baby! I will be home in June and will get to see her pregnant then and I will be home in the fall to see the new baby.

She might kill me for this but here is a cute picture of her at about 18 weeks. We are all so excited for them and can't wait to start wearing the new Auntie and Uncle hats!