I have returned...

Firstly, I want to apologize for my lack of writing these past months.  My only excuse is that I got married.  My husband and I wanted to wait to announce it as we are waiting to change my name until this summer.  You see, in order to live with a person of the opposite sex, you must be married.  If you are not married and you are “found out” then it could mean jail and/or deportation.  So to be able to move in together and also to make sure my husband could get proper medical care, we had a legal marriage in the UAE and are currently planning our big white celebration for this summer.  I have also waited until this summer to change my name.  Soon I will no longer be Kelby Hackler, I will be Kelby Hines, which is really quite nice because it means I really don’t need to change my signature much.

Now first things first, dating in the UAE is an interesting monster.  There are many ways you can go about it.  Clubbing, pubs, sports, etc.  I met my husband, oddly enough, through his parents.  David’s father was also a teacher and we shared mutual friends.  We spent many fun times at wine tastings and brunches before taking a trip to Bali together in the spring last year.  To all the men out there, I would definitely suggest spontaneity when it comes to a proposal.  It was our last night in Bali after a lovely dinner at Bumbu Bali, a restaurant that prides itself on serving traditional Balinese fare.  It began pouring down midway through our dinner.  Within minutes the roads began flooding. Since we typically don’t get much rain in Abu Dhabi, we were like children when it came time to leave, looking forward to getting soaked.  The restaurant was kind enough to give us a ride to our hotel, which was just a few blocks away.  Once we got to reception we decided we would make a run for it (we were staying in a small villa, so to get to it you had to walk outside).  I dashed out into the rain and promptly began splashing in the puddles and dancing around.  When I finally turned around to find where David had gone, he was getting down on one knee with a purple orchid in his hand.  We both have a love of orchids and had taken many pictures of them during the trip.  He looked up at me, the rain streaming down his face and asked me, with a little stumbling over words, to marry him.  So yes, definitely go for spontaneity.

That was in April.  As soon as we got back from break, we realized that a) we wanted to move to a different apartment, b) we couldn’t live together without a marriage, so c) we needed to get married ASAP.  So, we made an appointment with one of the Pastors at St. Andrew’s Church, where David’s parents attended mass.  We just had to pay a set fee, save a date and they took care of all the paperwork.  Then we had a couple hours of pre-marriage counseling in which they walked us through what would happen on the big day and things to talk about before marriage.  Then the big day happened with very little fanfare as we decided to treat the marriage as an extended engagement since none of my family could make it to the ceremony.  A month after the wedding and after much legwork from David with ADEC, he had a medical card and visa and we were moving into our new apartment in Rihan Heights.  It was a crazy few months. 

Since we got married, I have been enjoying the benefits of being married in a Muslim country.  I have a problem with maintenance, David calls and it gets taken care of right away.  Having problems with getting proper documents, David goes in and its done snappish.  However, being married also means that I get asked at least three times a week if I am pregnant yet, which I am not.  It is difficult for my local coworkers to fathom waiting to have children, as most of them hope to get pregnant right away.  One thing I do have to say is that the Maturnity benefits are excellent in this country and from what I understand there are midwives.  I have finally found a proper hospital, which is very quick with results and has a mostly western trained staff, in Harley Street Medical Center. 

As I am coming to the end of my third year in Abu Dhabi, I have found that very few things change here.  The students are a little better behaved then past years, the admin a little more difficult, but ultimately Abu Dhabi is Abu Dhabi.  The city is still growing, which means constant construction.  The number of brunches and wine tastings increases as more and more hotels are built. Our new favorite brunch is the Ritz Carleton Brunch and Stay package, which is more than worth the money spent.

While I have learned a lot these past three years and have had some wonderful times, the feeling that my time in this place is coming to an end gets ever stronger.  While we are planning on staying one more year so as to be able to comfortably pay for our big white wedding ceremony this summer and to have a nice cozy bonus when we do leave, my husband and I can’t help but scour the wanted ads around the world for our next adventure.  Until next time, pity me as the heat and humidity rises and my prayers for the end of term to speed up increase.