109 days of my captivity

The United Arab Emirates has seven emirates (states) and each emirate has different color sand. Ras Al Khaimah has white sand, Sharjah has brown sand, Abu Dhabi has red sand, Dubai has green sand, (it didn’t look green to me) Ajman has grey sand, Umm Al Quwain has cream color sand, Fujairah has black sand.

Day 102 of my captivity

I’ve noticed that there is not a seatbelt law. I have not seen one single car seat. Kids are all over the car, jumping from the back seat to the front seat. The attitude is ‘God will’. It doesn’t seem to matter that there are a million people from every part of the world driving together on tiny little roads made for about a fourth of the traffic.
And that brings me to my next observation: I have met some really nice people, that in my regular circle I would think they are Christian; not so true. I know several muslim who are wonderful people and act Christian like, and one of the nicest ladies I met is reorganized morman. The teacher I work with is ‘not quite sure’ but her husband is atheist. It makes me wonder… I was just lucky enough to have been born in the United State of American and raised by parents who believed in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But what if I had not been born into a Christian family? I would be something different, raised differently, believing as strongly about my faith as I do about Christianity. It seems so messed up. It is very hard to talk to adult women, who are so ‘normal’, about how differently we believe. My teaching is, if they are not Christian, therefore not going to heaven, but to hell. They believe that I am not going to heaven. One of us is wrong!

Day 96 of my captivity

You know the excitement you feel when you are going on vacation and you arrive at your destination and all you want to do is unpack and make it feel more like home? The vacation spot might be a hotel or cabin, or whatever… The first thing you check is how soft or hard the bed it, how good the view is and where to get ice, right? Sometimes you get a place with a kitchen and you go to the store to pick up a few things. It may not have a garbage disposal, but that’s ok because you are only going to be there for a few days. And maybe not even a dishwasher, but so what you have time, because you are on vacation. The kitchen will have at least one pot to cook in, a few plates, and a few pieces of cheep silverware, but never a good knife. So you set off to the store to get some stuff to make this vacation place feel more like home. Well that is what it has been like for me. But the vacation is over and I miss my garbage disposal and a window in my kitchen.