Anne Frank No More

Have you ever spent a month in hiding? Have you ever received a notice from the government that you could be imprisoned and fined for eating, smoking or drinking during daylight hours? In the ninth month begins Ramadan where Muslims are required to fast during daylight hours, refrain from worldly activities and participate in a spiritual/physical cleansing. When living in a Muslim country one is obliged to participate in the customs whether you are Muslim or otherwise.


Prior to Ramadan, Matt received an e-mail which was forwarded to him by his boss concerning the rules of Ramadan. Much to his dismay, Matt has fondly been referring to himself as Anne Frank. He has been living very low key during the day going stir crazy. He had to stay inside during the day then he and Dan, his friend that was hired at the same time, would go out at night and do their shopping and go out on the town.

Now that he has finally been relocated to the base where he will be permanently living for the next 6-7 months he is able to be out during the day. He moved on base a couple of days ago and is very happy to be there. He moved on Friday which is their holy day. He went to church in the morning then moved that afternoon.


He got a ride to church with the Elders' Quorum president and his wife. Matt said it was so interesting to see the dynamics at church. He said the congregation at Sacrament mtg was divided into 3 groups: Westerners (German, Swiss, British, American-- White people), Asians/Thais/Filipino, and Indian/Pakistani/Afghan people. I hope I'm saying all this right. Anyway, he said that the people divided themselves into those groups. He said the Asian people were very kind and welcoming. They shook his hand and talked with him but he said the Anglos were the least friendly and most of them left after Sacrament.


The ward is mostly comprised of contract workers so it is probably very transient. Matt hooked up with a guy who is originally from Utah and is doing contract work as a helicopter pilot. That guy does 6 weeks on and 6 weeks off. Jared was saying that a helicopter pilot from his branch is going over there as well and will have the same schedule. Interesting how small the world is when you're a member of the church. So anyway, it's not so bad except that Matt is going to have to find a ride into Abu Dhabi now that he is an hour away. He showed me a picture of a line of F-J cruisers that they are supposed to be able to drive that are sitting unused on base. As of now they don't have approval to use the vehicles at all, even though they were told that they would be using them.


We Skype a couple of times a day. He is 10 hours ahead so it's not too terrible. The technology is great. It makes the separation more bearable. We will often sign into Skype and have Matt on while we say our family prayers. We'll just set the computer on the floor so he can "kneel" with us during prayer. It's even worked out that he could do family home evening with us one week. We really are blessed. If he went over there with the military I'm sure our talking time would be very limited and that we wouldn't be able to Skype like we do.


I feel bad for him though because at least I get to be here with family and the normal routine. He has had a harder time simply because he didn't actually start working until Sunday. It really does make a difference to stay busy. I try not to let myself think about the reality of our situation but last night got the best of me. I was watching the movie "The Last Song" with the kids and as many of you know part of the movie focuses on the father/daughter dynamic and separations that can happen. Two times Olivia snuggled up with me and said very sad-like "I miss my daddy." She just chatters away with him when they Skype and almost every time they've talked she asks him to bring her a butterfly. It's very sweet. I think everyone is doing ok with the transition. With school starting up again our time has been taken up and the thoughts are usually occupied as well. Thank goodness.


Well, school starts on the 25th. I will miss having the kids home but they are ready to be back at it and seeing their friends again. School is good, even if it costs me about 400.00 to pay all the fees. Don't get me started.


So hopefully all is well with everyone. Have a good Sunday!