Galloping Galán Gazette

We are just about settled in our new home

2009-11-29T07:54:00.014+04:00

Most people already know that on January 15, 2010, we moved from Dubai to Puerto Rico. It has been quite an adjustment for both of us, at work, at church, and in our daily lives.

We were released from our respective callings in November, Waldo as president of the Manama Bahrain Stake (administrative and ecclesiastical authority over an area of the church-this stake is the largest in the world), and me as stake primary president (working with the primary children's organizations throughout the stake). It felt very strange to go from 100% involvement to nothing! We actually had time to go to the beach!

Waldo went from the greater volumes, longer travel times, and more stressful schedule of the GCC to the Caribbean & Central America office here in San Juan. While he has even more countries (23) to visit on this side of the world, he has also been enjoying being over here, re-acquainting himself with old friends, and is finding the different pace of life very rewarding.

Four days after we got here we were at our stake conference (a regional meeting of many wards or individual churches) and we met the mission president, who is head of all the missionaries in our area. A few days after that Waldo gets a phone call from him, apologizing for having to do it over the phone, but he was calling Waldo to be the first counselor in the Mission Presidency. Imagine that! A calling Waldo has never had before!

I was enjoying teaching English at the Berlitz Language Center in Dubai, and working in the Primary organizations in the different wards in the stake. Now I am busy unpacking (still), making new friends here, and finding grocery stores, dry cleaners, and doctors without getting totally lost.
The most recent new thing is learning to play Mah Jong! There is a group in the Newcomers club that meets every Thursday so when I'm tired of boxes it is a welcome change.

In church I am teaching the Sunbeams (3-4 years old) and getting to practice some of the principles I spent so much time teaching as a stake leader. It's great to see it works!

We are looking forward to traveling this summer to see new grandbabies that will be arriving, a girl for Rick and April, and a boy for Waldo and Jen.

I'm sad to say, the first trip will be made by me next weekend, as my aunt passed away, and there will be a "going away party" for her on Sunday. I am looking forward to re-connecting with members of my family that I haven't seen in longer than I care to remember. It's sad that somebody has to die before we make the time, isn't it?

Aunt Marge, her dog Maggy and me in 2007

On a happier note, the first non-business trip that Waldo will make will be to Madrid, Spain, for the UEFA finals. He is determined to make this region of Ford as successful as the last. He won this trip, which is a good start!

I found some pictures from our house-hunting trip in November 2009. As you can see, it's very different from Dubai!

We feel really lucky to have found a lovely house in this subdivision, Dorado Beach East, which as you can see is green, green, GREEN!

There are footpaths going all through the subdivision, and the houses all have golf carts to get around, to the pool and gym, as well as the golf courses! While we were happy with our villa in Dubai, it is so nice to have a real yard (Heidi and Shotzie our Mini Schnausers love it!) and it is very quiet quiet at night. We love that.

While things are still very different from our lives in Dubai; here we use dollars not dirhams, 110 voltage not 240, pounds not kilos, church on Sunday not Friday, it's alot like coming home. Although you don't really need to speak Spanish to be able to understand conversations in the stores and on TV, people are even friendlier when you try. Some things remain the same as everywhere else I have lived: the love and caring of the neighbors and church members, the trials that we all share. The goals for ourselves and our families. Everything that is important is the same. I love that.

Saudi Arabia, Lasik, and Vacation!

2009-06-02T11:27:00.006+04:00

A few weeks ago I went to Saudi Arabia for the first time.... We flew to Bahrain (1 hour) rented a car and drove to Dhahran. This was about a three hour trip, and we went through immigration on the causeway between the countries. We got there about 1pm, and had to go out, be fingetprinted, walk across the border, and then go back to the car. Temperatures there were at about 110F, and of course I wore my new abaya (black dress that covers everything) they aren't as strict for foreigners, so I didn't have to wear the scarf too,

We stayed with some friends in the Aramco compound in Dhahran, where I had this dejavu feeling of being in California in the 60's. The houses are like they were when I was growing up, wall-to-wall carpeting, 110 voltage, popcorn ceilings, and women can drive inside the compound. Women don't drive in Saudi Arabia and are not allowed to be unaccompanied in public. The picture is of a street in the compound, and of me roasting. I hope the women who have to wear these all the time get some that are more comfortable!

Yesterday I joined the family and got Lasik done to my eyes, following in the footsteps of the kids and Waldo.It was much less scary than having the retina repair surgery that I had in 2006 before we came to Dubai.

Things are still a little fuzzy--the doctor says it will continue to change. by my next check-up next week, he says that there will be a big difference! This doctor has a clinic in Atlanta Georgia, and comes out to Dubai for a week each month, to do the surgeries.. It was interesting seeing all the diplomas from US universities--reassuring, really.

We have one more month to wait before going on vacation!! We are really looking forward to seeing the kids and grandkids! We'll be driving the motorhome like usual (Waldo says it's relaxing!!) and stopping in Salt Lake to see Marci and Mike, Rick and April, then stopping at a lake in Arizona for a few days to play. Then on to Simi Valley to see Waldo's family, back to Utah to meet some leaders for Waldo's calling (his other full-time job), then back to Seattle.

It'll be relaxing for me, I'm not driving!

We hope your summer is wonderful!

Can we come up for air??

2009-04-13T18:26:00.008+04:00

Almost everybody has heard by now, that Waldo was called to be the president of the Manama Bahrain Stake, which encompasses the entire gulf region (9 countries & 16 units). It is almost the same geographical area as what he covers for Ford. (his other full time job!) Oh! I forgot--there are 56 servicemen's groups that are also the stake's responsability.

This picture was taken the week before the Stake conference that has changed our lives so much. We took advantage of the opportunity to visit our son Waldo when Elders Holland and Clausse were in Kuwait and got this picture. Nobody know what was coming. We were just happy to see our son!

For our friends and family who don't "speak Mormon", a stake is an ecclesiastical area which supervises individual units, or churches, made up of wards- like parishes- and branches. They tend to be smaller here in the middle east, because we don't have regular church buildings, we rent large houses. Actually, in Saudi Arabia the wards meet in schools.This stake has 16 units, which is a few more than what most stakes in the rest of the world have.

So we've been busily visiting different wards in the UAE and Qatar. It's quite an opportunity to visit the different countries and meet with different people.

Waldo has been on a business trip to Detroit for the last week, and took last weekend to make a surprise visit to his mother, which is great timing since next Sunday is Mother's Day. (at least in the US--I found out that the UK celebrates it in March! So there are no more chocolates or flowers on sale for this weekend!) It's probably just as well...less pressure, which I appreciate, and so does Waldo. this weekend we will be speaking in the Doha First and Second Wards. so we get to talk about mothers, anyway!

A LEARNING EXPERIENCE.....

The other day I had a fender-bender, a small accident that scratched my beautiful car and has given me a minor stiff neck, which the chiropractor can help with. It was my fault, I simply looked down at the wrong time, and when I looked up, it was too late to stop. I just bumped into the gentleman in front of me. Fortunately we weren't going very fast, so no one was hurt. What I learned was this:

When things work in Dubai, they work very well.

It's true here like the rest of the world, you can never find a cop when you need one! During the week the road we were on is crawling with them, but not Saturday!

I had my drivers' lisence confiscated, so I had to go to a downtown police station to pay the fine and pick it up, so I took a taxi, not knowing exactly where the office was.Turned out it was very easy to find, just down the street from Waldo's office.

Taxi drivers still know best; apparently there is one office for paying fines, and another for paperwork--he took me to the right one.

I went in, found out what to do, went back and forth between different desks a few times to ascertain that my lisence was indeed there and that the fine was paid,

The polite officer helped me with the computer screen to look for my record, and when it occurred to him to change it to English, I went ahead and paid the fees with a credit card.

Then I went to the man with the box full of confiscated lisences, got mine, watched him say with a grin, "halaas" (finished) and rip up the ticket!

Once I got into the office, the entire exercise took half an hour!

Then of course I had to go outside and find a taxi, at noon, in the sun, and it was about 100F. Not one of my favorite things. However, it was a Ford taxi, so I felt a little better.

So now I'm driving Waldo's car til he gets home...(Veeerry carefully!) and my car is in being repaired.

Everything needs repaired these days. The microwave stopped heating, so Shirley and I had to find the Black and Decker repair shop and take it over there, and I had to call the LG repair people because the dishwasher motor is burning out.

How do I know this, you ask? Because it is making the same sound that it was making last year when they replaced the motor! Of course these things happen about 3 months after the warranty expires!

On a positive note, the English classes are going well. Right now I have a young Emirati man who is planning to take the TOEFL so he can go to an American college, and a German lady who is recently arrived, and wants to start to work. You need English to survive here (and after my experience with the police, I know that Arabic wouldn't be a bad idea either!)

So tomorrow, all the repair people will get paid, and we will have appliances again. Also, the weather is supposed to clear up--sandstorm over- so it should be a lovely day, and best of all, only one more day til Waldo gets home! Everything's great!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

2009-02-12T16:11:00.008+04:00

We hope you're having a wonderful, warm cuddly winter so far, and that you can hug someone who loves you on Valentine's Day!

For those that are enjoying summer now, we hope it isn't too hot for a hug!

We are busy, busy, busy with work....Ford here in the Middle East is doing very well thanks to a very effective team (and Waldo, of course!). Things are picking up at Bertitz as well, so Cay is now trying to coordinate the worlds of teacher and homemaker. Hat's off to all the ladies that do this on a daily basis!

Life has changed at church as well. Cay was released from her calling as the Young Women's President, and is now teaching four nine-year-old boys in the Primary! Waldo has moved to the Young Men's organization as the first counselor. He is preparing for youth conference this weekend.

We had a wonderful, peaceful Christmas and New Year (sorry we couldn't write back then, we were just too busy!)

We are also really looking forward to visiting our son Waldo who is stationed in Kuwait. and this visit coinsides with the visit of Elder Holland for Stake Conference!

Love, Waldo and Cay

Things We're Thankful for

2008-12-03T20:01:00.014+04:00

We had a peaceful Thanksgiving, a delicious dinner with about 70 of our friends, at a Marriott hotel!

That Thursday was a regular workday here, but Waldo took a personal day because he's been travelling so much--so we got to spend the entire day together!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCHATZIE AND HEIDI!!!

Here they are, Schatzie in the foreground snoozing, and Heidi on duty! As usual when Waldo's not there, she sits in his chair. They were 6 years old on Dec. 1.

Dec. 2 was the UAE's 37th birthday!

There were parades and other activities, but we didn't know about them, so we went driving around, which was nice because there was no traffic! We went to Hatta, by the Omani border, and visited a heritage village there. It was interesting to see the construction of the houses, and realize just how important the cultivation of dates is to the survival of the culture. the date palm could be compared to the buffalo in the native American cultures. Every part was used, for clothing, construction, and food.

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I thought the construction was very interesting....they didn't usually have to worry about rain, so if things weren't waterproof, no problem! (Although this week we've had a lot of rain--its very refreshing!)

The UAE is to be commended for the vision the seven rulers of the emirates had when they agreed to unite for the betterment of the region, and give up their tribal heritage. It opened the door for the progress they are now enjoying. Granted, not every emirate is as advanced as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, but they are making progress. We are both so grateful to be here at this time. We are very aware of how lucky we are.

So now we're back at work, and getting ready for Christmas!

Waldo got to visit with W. (Cachi)

2008-11-19T18:42:00.004+04:00

The end of our vacation was still great! Even though Waldo Had to get back and go back to work, I was able to spend a few days in El Paso with Jennifer and Gigi. It was so much fun to see them both, and do one of Gigi's favorite things--the El Paso Zoo!

The minute I got back it was to begin my job at Dubai American Academy, as a teacher's aide for a 3rd grade class. It was fun!They were very energetic, and reminded me of Jordan and Alaina! I worked there for a month, and then Berlitz Language Center hired me as an English teacher. That's where I'm working now. I'm grateful I have the opportunity to use some of the skills I studied so hard to learn!

The other exciting thing that happened in September is the business trip Waldo made to Kuwait. He was able to meet with our son Waldo (Cachi). He is a captain in the army, stationed at the base in Kuwait. They were able to spend a wonderful few hours together.
(you can sure tell they're related!)

Our goal this Christmas is to spend it with him, if its at all possible. Think positive for us!

The weather is getting really beautiful (I'm actually wearing jeans and tennis shoes right now!)
We're getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, and we know we have so much to be thankful for, and then to decorate for Christmas!
Check back for more updates!

New Adventures and Opportunities

2008-11-03T20:25:00.003+04:00

Hello again, after many months and new experiences! so much has happened since the last time I wrote I may have to split this up into a couple of entries!

We had a wonderful vacation, saw just about everyone we had planned to see, did just about everything we had planned to do and came back home just about as exhausted as we thought we would!

We travelled from Dubai to Seattle and the next day flew down to Simi Valley to see Waldo's family, and after enjoying their company for 4 days, flew back to Seattle so we could drive the RV to Salt Lake. There we met our newest grandson, Sammy.

After staying with Rick and April for a few days, we headed south to Zion National Park, where we met Marci and Mike and their kids, and enjoyed our time with them. The park was wonderful, and even though we couldn't have a campfire, the pool was awesome!

This is our step-granddaughter Sibhana and granddaughter Jordan enjoying one of the pools at the campsite, and us with the Emmett kids as we drove through Zion National Park. This was a great trip, just too short!

We had many more adventures, some of which I'll tell you about in our next posting!

Happy Father's Day, Birthday, and Independence Day!!

2008-07-05T09:10:00.009+04:00

We hope you have had some wonderful holidays!

Life is getting lazy here the more the temperature and humidity go up. Although the human body is amazing! We are actually becoming accustomed to it. Waldo typically walks 1-2 blocks at noon for lunch, and doesn't usually work up a sweat! and Cay walks with the dogs in the morning and evening, and doesn't have to come back in and take a shower like last year!

Father's Day was very low-key this year. the actual Sunday was a work day, and Waldo was on a trip, so we waited until Wednesday and went out to dinner. It was pleasant.

My birthday, on the other hand was more of a challenge. I wanted it to be a non-event, but there are two friends here who also had birthdays the last half of June, so we decided to give eachother a party. The problem is, many of the people we would invite have already left for vacations by then, so we didn't have a lot of people to celebrate with! We made up for it though!

Left to right, friends Becky Isip, Shirley Reyes, and me! We had some yummy food that everybody brought, and 2 cakes!

I got a job!! Not what I had hoped and trained for, but its a start. I originally went into one of the nearby schools to apply for substitute teaching, but they started asking about being a full time teacher's assistant. So in August I start as a TA for a 3rd grade class. I'm hoping that being on campus every day will help the administration decide to allow me to student-teach in future.
I am also curious as to how the regular teacher will react to having an assistant that is (probably) the same age as his or her mother!

Our July 4 evening was even quieter, with even fewer people here--although we still had enough for a houseful at a friend's house. He was kind enough to volunteer, even though his wife and family were already gone. We had a lovely feast, and for those that wanted to there were even fireworks at a nearby club.

We are getting ready for our vacation, in which we are planning to visit our newest grandson, his big brother Tyce and his family, camp with our daughter Marci and her family, visit Waldo's mom, brother and sister for a few days, stay with Nena and Ryan and take them camping with us, and all of this in 3 weeks! We just got a new challenge--where can we fit a visit with Cay's brother and family, and our daughter-in law Jen and granddaughter Gigi in? Cay has another week we might be able to use, but its going to be tight. Keep checking back to find out what happens!
We may need to take a vacation after we get back!

Our trip to Israel

2008-04-27T14:52:00.020+04:00

Last week Waldo had a business trip to the Israel Auto Show, so I tagged along. It was fun to see sights I haven't seen for 15 years, and some new ones! I went there when Ford was still awarding spouses free trips when the employee travels over 50 days in a year--alas, no longer!

Jordan is the only Arab country that has flights into Israel, so we went there first. It is very sad that there is no communication, not even cell phones, with Israel.

Since we had a lay-over of 5 hours, we decided to rent a car and sight-see. The four of us, Kurt Peterson, Huw Hughes, Waldo and I, squeezed into a Peugeot and visited the Roman amphitheater in downtown Amman. We visited the nearby museums, had lunch in a nice restaurant, and went back to the airport!

Visiting Jerusalem was fun. We visited the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center, which is an extension of BYU, with dorms, concert halls and a museum-art gallery

A view of the Valley of Kidron from the BYU Jerusalem Center.

Then we visited the Garden Tomb, which is the most likely site of Jesus' burial.

This is Golgotha, traditionally the place where Jesus was crucified, although there is some question about that, because the Romans usually crucified on the roads outside cities.

Brandon and Cay outside the walls of Jerusalem

Our stay was made better because we were able to stay with the Edens family. Brandon is "The Ford Guy" in Israel, and it was a pleasure sight-seeing with them.

Inside the Old City

The next day, on our way to Qasaria, also spelled Caesaria, we stopped to explore the ruins of a Roman aqueduct. The people of the city actually had running water!

This is Heidi with their adopted son Christian. He is a special kid. They all have a lot of courage, both in adopting him and in moving to a foreign country. Our hats are off to the whole family.

Qasaria is the Hebrew spelling of this ancient city. It was very interesting to see the remains of a sports field, a bathtub, and to know that it is still a resort town!.

This is a "built-in" swimming pool, built by one of the rulers

Later on we treated everyone to a Moses Burger, known as the best hamburger around, named after the owner's cat, not the prophet!

We so enjoyed getting to know the Edens, and renewing our friendship with John and Nydia Harris, old friends from our Santiago days! Friends make the "joys" of traveling and moving worth it!

Happy Spring! (almost)

2008-03-02T13:35:00.012+04:00

March 11, 2008

I know for most of you, its still cold and wet...but things are changing! Yesterday we had a wonderful picnic at the beach, and the wind wasn't too cold, so it was really great! We're trying to enjoy as much of the outdoors as we can now, because we know that in a month to 6 weeks, the lovely breeze will begin to change to hot and sticky and it will then be too much for me to be out too long. (although that won't phase Waldo, he is a die-hard sun-bather!)
The nice thing about winter here is that the climate is conducive to the cultivation of lovely flowers, which we are enjoying. The other day the gardener motioned to me to come out and look at the holes in the planter where 4 petunia plants had been removed.......which is strange because they are very inexpensive this time of year, and plentiful. I hope whoever needed them is happy with them.

I'd like to go back in time to November/December, when we had some outstanding adventures: We drove 13 hours to Salalah, Oman, spending an enjoyable weekend with friends, exploring the only tropical paradise in the entire Arabian Peninsula.

Fireside on the sabbath when we arrived

Stuck in the sand

Imagine schwarmas (like burritos) for 35 people with no notice! this guy was great!

Waiting for dinner

One thing about this area was that we had to be very careful about who we shared the road with

This is an aerial shot of Wadi Sayk, one of the possible sites of Bountiful, from 1st Nephi in the Book of Mormon.

The other possible site is Khor Rori, where Waldo is doing his best Samuel the Lamanite impression. This site has mines, where anciently iron and other minerals were mined. An interesting fact about this area is that, since there is documentation that the climate has been tropical for at least 2000 years, this region fills all of the requirements for being the land Bountiful in the scriptures: It had honey bees, plentiful fruits and wooded areas, and the necessary resources for Nephi to make tools and build a ship.

The week after we got back, we had the first Girls' Camp in the Dubai Ward!

While I was busy with girl's Camp, Waldo was swamped with the Dubai International Auto Show. He was interviewed several times, for magazines and on the TV, and radio. Everything was complicated by illness. He had a terrible cold, and is giving all these interviews and sneezing, with a terrible headache! During our trip to Salalah, I ate something and was sick during Girl's Camp--it was salmonella!

I wish I could include the magazine articles, but that is beyond my abilities! (Just one thing...they call him "Wild Waldo" because he had a Mustang when he was younger!)
He is currently at the Geneva Auto Show, and will meet me on the 13th in Amsterdam (ha ha--"rendezvous in Amsterdam"-sounds like a novel!) and then we will travel together to Seattle and Simi Valley for a wonderful visit with our family!

January Edition

2008-02-01T16:53:00.000+04:00

It's a cold (relatively), windy, stormy day in Dubai. There are wind gusts of 50 mph, and instead of sleet, we have sand. Trees are blowing down, and the wind gusts are making small dunes of the corners and curbs. The sky looks like a sand dune! the visibility is down to a few blocks due to all the sand in the air. And the whistling of the wind going around the corners of the house--Sounds like a haunted house!

So much time has passed and so much has happened since our last posting that it's hard to know where to begin. Maybe I'll go backwards:

January 2008 was busy, busy--that's why there was no January edition. Cay was scrambling to finish her coursework so she could be ready to student teach beginning in February with the spring semester. Unfortunately, none of the schools were able to help out this semester. so now she' looking for someone who will volunteer the time in the fall. It was very disappointing to say the least.

Waldo has also been busy with work issues, like doing the rankings for his employees (very important as it determines the amount of the bonus), making short trips to Saudi Arabia , and entertaining visitors at the Burg Al Arab with dinner.

He also had his 53rd birthday in January! what we haven't had too much time for, and the weather hasn't cooperated, is picnicing at the beach.

The weather has been very interesting lately. A few weeks ago we had as much rain in three days as we normally get in a year and of course the sewers backed up in a few subdivions, and school was cancelled for three days. It started to rain the day after President Bush visited Dubai, and they cancelled school for that too, so school was out for almost an entire week!

Our son Waldo has come over to this side of the world on a 15 month deployment with the army. We are very distressed that he had to leave his wife Jen and daughter Gigi, so far away. However, we are looking forward to being able to visit with him and not have jet lag! He's in Kuwait. We can hardly wait for him to get leave so he can come visit us!

Did you know that you can leave comments right on the blog? at the end of my entry there is a little phrase that says"___comments" click on it and it will take you to a comment form. We'd love to hear from you!

Our Blessings

2007-11-12T18:48:00.000+04:00

Things we're grateful for....

the weather! its finally changing into the cooler temperatures that everyone has talked about-they really were telling the truth!

our progress, personally, spiritually, and business-wise.

we have been busy working on getting physically fit. Waldo has found a basketball team to play on, Cay takes classes at the gym we go to, we both weight-lift when we can, and Cay walks in the morning and evening with our dogs.

we are investing more time in prayer, scripture study, and lesson preparation. It is helping us feel closer, to eachother and God.

Ford has been breaking all sorts of records in the Middle East region

Ford has been making steady improvements year by year, and especially in this area of the world. They are in a much better position at the end of this quarter than in the end of 2006, and this is in large part due to Waldo's efforts. He just finished a radio program interview with a very popular radio program here. If they could only pronounce the name right!

our health.

We have both been sick, and recovery is slow, because of course we can't stop just to get well! Especially Waldo, who has press conferences and interviews this week because of the Dubai Auto Show, and travelled non-stop from October 13-November 3, came home sick and got ready for the interviews. He is even now getting ready for another cocktail reception! Cay at least can delegate some, by sending other people to buy things. She's been working on putting together a girls'camp experience for the young women she works with at church, as well as preparing the last university class before student teaching next semester. So we are really grateful that this is almost the first time we have been sick, and we will really appreciate it when we're well!

Trivial things we're grateful for!

A Borders bookstore has opened in the nearest mall (to add to the many great bookstores to be found here)
Coldstone Creamery, a great ice cream store,is here too
IKEA now sells the frozen Swedish meatballs here

Of all the things we're grateful for, the greatest is our friends and family. We thank the Lord on a daily basis for you, and pray for your continued peace, safety and well being. We miss you all--We love you!

September/October Edition

2007-09-13T16:06:00.000+04:00

RAMADAN KAREEM!!

Or in other words, Happy Ramadan! September 12th is the beginning of Ramadan, when people try to be considerate of eachother, give to charity, fast from sun-up to sun-down, and then spend a large portion of the night eating and drinking and partying generally. The businesses and schools cut back on their hours, but stores, movies and the health club stay open extra late, because people are out and about til late. The restaurants also close during the day, and open up after sundown. This is difficult if you're a business person that is not fasting, because there are no places to go to eat, other than the hotels, which as a general rule don't close and will also serve pork and alcohol. As it's also known as the most holy month in the Muslim calendar, it is a time of introspection, noticing the state of others, and moving to alleviate suffering. The atmosphere is different, I will say that. Everyone knows not to get in the way at sundown, because people drive recklessly when they're hurrying home for "iftar" or the breaking of the fast with their families.

Things are back to normal after our Wonderful vacation, where we saw almost all our children and grandchildren, plus Waldo's family and Cay's Aunt Marge. The biggest disappointment was that we were not able to see Cachi, Jen and Gigi, as Cachi wasn't able to get off work at the last moment.

We camped at a little park in Simi Valley, where Waldo's mom got to experience the motorhome. She was impressed! We also ate cuban sandwiches at Waldo's brother Armando's favorite Cuban restaurant. Here are our son-in-law Ryan, nieces Vanessa and Rebecca, and Nilda, Waldo's mother, really enjoying themselves.

Our granddaughter Jordan, with her "Papo"

After our stay in San Diego we spent a really pleasant time with Aunt Marge, in Joshua Tree, California. The grandkids said it was one of their favorite parts of the whole trip . They really liked Aunt Marge's dog Maggie!

After saying farewell to our family in California, we headed back north to Washington, crossing the San Francisco Bay Bridge and camping at Lake Shasta. It was funnnn!!

We had several days free when we got back to Puyallup, and took advantage of the chance to go with the Emmetts to Wild Waves, a water park near them. Everyone enjoyed themselves despite the fact that there were blue lips everywhere due to the cold!

Colton, recovering from a great time in the wave pool, and Alaina and Caycay on the carousel.

Saying good-bye was hard, but we console ourselves in the knowledge that we're coming back for Alaina's baptism in March!

We have posted all the pictures on http://picasaweb.google.com/caygalan/OurSummerVacation2007

Happy Fathers' Day

2007-07-05T15:31:00.000+04:00

We hope that all the dads had a great Fathers' Day! Waldo certainly had an enjoyable experience trying out a few cars loaned by collegues in the car business! He even put off talking to our daughter Nena because he had to go pick up the Masarati, so she quipped, "Dad is having a Maserati Emergency"! He may not live that down for a while! He is here with our friend Ray.

Parents wouldn't be what we are if we couldn't talk about the achievements of our children! Marci was recently asked to manage the salon where she works in Park City, Utah. She has progressed to the point in her career where fully 80% of the appointments she has are from return clients. She was also put on retainer with the Salt Lake Tribune as a resource when they have scheduled interviews, fashion shows, and events, to make sure the people being photographed are well-represented.

The 28th of June was a big day for our eldest son Waldo, nickname Cachi, as he was promoted to Captain! He has been responsible for Patriot missles stationed in El Paso, and for the staff that maintains them. We have mixed feelings about his next assignment: he will be stationed in Qatar for 15 months beginning Dec. 26. We're thrilled because he'll be in our neck of the woods, and saddened that he will have to be away from Jen and Gigi for so long. We love this picture---big tough Cachi carrying this little pink ball of a Gigi!

And speaking of Gigi, she is getting very big! she is learning to use the bathroom, although she does take time out to play with the toilet seat!

Tyce is also growing up, is running all over, talking, and singing, doing all the things a One-year-old is good at! He's turning into quite a little gentleman also.

Ricky, his dad, is doing so well at Overstock.com that the boss wants to give him other work...he hasn't decided if he will change yet, however. I don't have updates on Nena and the Emmetts right now, will have to get the latest from them when we see them.

We are now getting ready for the big trip on July 19th (finally--it seemed like it would never get here!) and are planning to start in Seattle with Nena, Jordan, Alaina, Colton, and Olivia, and drive down the west coast to Simi Valley, and see Waldo's family. We will then go with his sister and her family, Rick, April and Tyce, and meet up with Marci, Mike and his kids, and go to the San Diego Zoo for a few days. After that we'll head back north where we'll see Cachi, Jen and Gigi for a few days once we get back to Seattle.

Then we will head back to Dubai where we're going to need a vacation to rest!

Have a wonderful summer!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day

2007-05-13T13:00:00.000+04:00

Congratulations are in order for everyone who is, has been or will be someone's mother! A special honor goes to those who, while not bearing children biologically, nurture and love children!
Life in Dubai is continuing on normally, every day a little warmer than the day before--sunny skies are wonderful, and getting out of the sun is also pretty good! Today the weather report predicts 43C (109.4!!!), and we continue to be grateful for the blessings of modern technology, specifically air conditioning!

The most recent adventures we'd like to tell you about are Cay's finishing her online course with good grades, and Waldo's travels and adventures in Saudi Arabia. We felt like putting the report card on the refrigerator like we used to with the kids, but decided the web site was good enough!

Not only are these dealerships large in terms of space, they also do a large amount of business.

there are photos in Medina, Dammam, and Jeddah, and as you can see, a lot of pontificating (Waldo's phrase!!) going on!

while the Saudis do a large amount of business the aftermarket people are also busy, and buy F350s to turn into armored vehicles

The showrooms even in little teeny towns, are very large and spacious.

They got the opportunity to go to the village of Nahjran, and these are some typical houses in that region.

Heidi and Schatzie went for their annual checkup, shots, etc, and a teeth cleaning, where we found that, if Heidi were human, she would need braces! As she is not, she had some teeth pulled (the doggy equivalent of wisdom teeth, and one in the front) and strong advice about doggy dental hygiene and preventative care! they mostly hold still for teeth-brushing, but as we don't want to go through that again, we're practicing quite often! Schatzie loves chewing on the bones around here, so she's taking care of herself, for which everyone is very glad! Heidi, on the other hand...is not a chewer, so needed more help.They are also overweight (join the club, except Waldo, who is looking very handsome and sveldt these days!), so we get up early during the week to walk, and about one third of Heidi's food is replaced by frozen vegetables. She and Schatzie don't know its not candy, and the frozen vegetables are very welcome right now in the heat!

It can safely be said that summer has arrived...yesterday we went to a church picnic, and it was like going in to a sauna with your clothes on! When we left at 9pm the temperature was 104F!(42C)

Don't we look pathetic?

Happy Easter!!

2007-04-10T16:20:00.000+04:00

Happy Easter to all our loved ones---Ours was very interesting, as Sunday is the beginning of the work week, but Waldo had it off (it was Easter Sunday, after all!) We took a tour of the Jumeirah Mosque, which is right down the road from our house. We got to go inside and have a presentation about Islam and the customs that we see around here. It was revealing, and an ironic thing to do on probably the most important Sunday in the Christian calendar. The irony is because Muslims have to pay for their own sins. There is no-one to step in and help out. Muslims may tip the scales of Justice by praying, going to the mosque, by giving to charities, by living right, by saying their prayers, and by obeying the commandments. However, whatever sins are still on the books they must pay for by spending time in **** until they can be accepted into Heaven. This is my understanding, from listening to the lecture and from a book we got. I have no wish to offend anyone, but I am SOOO grateful Jesus died to pay for our sins!!! Christianity gives us so much hope!!

It was truly beautiful inside. This of course is the room reserved for the men. There is a side room that is for women's use, but as it was explained to us, women can fulfill the requirement to pray by staying in their homes. Their sins can be paid for in this way, and men need to go to the mosque. The woman in the photo is British, and was explaining things to us, and the man demonstrated how Muslims pray, as well as answering questions.

OK--In the previous post, that I was unable to finish, I was talking about our recent adventures. The trip to the mosque was the most recent, but we did a few other things,too! so to continue with our visit to the Burg al Arab, we went window shopping, and this vest caught our eye.. Don't know what it would weigh, but I bet it was pretty heavy!(Notice the sign--24 karat gold!)Flat Stanley was pretty impressed!
Standing on the 20th floor inside the view of the Palm Jumeirah is pretty good. On the other side is "The World" (more man-made islands), but it was too difficult to see.

The evening at the races was sponsored by a dealer here, so Waldo got to give the jockey his prize, and the winner got to wear a Ford blanket!

The event was marked by the attendance of the Ruler of Dubai who owns a lot of the horses in the race and is the official sponsor of the Richest Race in the World the "Dubai World Cup"...for that race, you really have to dress up!! We decided not to go to that one.

This month marks the end of my schooling ... All I've got left before applying for a provisional Michigan teaching certificate is student teaching, which will happen next fall. It will be a huge relief when it's over, because on-line classes, while I'm grateful are available,provide the extra challenge of the computer!
Waldo is already planning what he's going to do when he retires!

Waldo keeps working hard and trying to keep up with a growing market and responsibilities. Since the begining of the year he has gone to Europe twice, traveled to Saudi Arabia twice, been to Jordan (got lost and took a mid-night tour of the Dead Sea). Now he is planning a trip to Saudi Arabia for two weeks to visit every city where Ford has representation. He promises great pictures from the Red Sea, all the way to the mountains bordering Jordan as well as Damman and Ryiadh...we'll see hiow good a photographer he really is :-) This trip will help Cay to finish the final two weeks of school without any interruptions from him... :-(
Sigh....the weather is changing, back to hot and humid (today is 95F)...the windows now have condensation on the outsides, hair is droopy, sides of buildings are beginning to turn green from algae growth...One good thing about summer is that in July we can go on vacation! We are really looking forward to seeing our family then.
Enjoy life, we'll talk to everyone next month!
Love, Waldo and Cay

Happy Spring!!

2007-03-28T12:08:00.000+04:00

I know everyone is looking forward to warmer weather, but here, summer
is right around the corner!! The temperature today is 35 C (95 F), but tomorrow should be cooler--only 92! Oh well.

We had some fun adventures in the last month, one of which was a lunch date with some friends visiting my friend Kathy. We got to go into the Burg Al Arab! My grand-daughter Alaina sent us one of her school projects, Flat Stanley, to take pictures of different places, so we took him to lunch with us!

This is looking up from the inside.

Flat Stanley went to the bathroom with us-even that was an experience!

The tilework on the floors is amazing!

The blogger website is being very uncooperative, I don't know why! I'm going to publish this part, and start all over again to see if I can finish this edition. bye!!

11 February, 2007

2007-02-11T19:12:00.000+04:00

Happy February to All!!

We're back in Dubai, after having had an incredible holiday season in Washington State with almost the entire family! Cachi, Jen and Gigi, and Rick, April and Tyce were able to come to Washington and be with us. We also got to attend the baptismal service of our eldest grand-daughter, Jordan. It added a special spiritual flavor to what was already an awesome time!We had a wonderful time getting reacquainted with the newest members of the family-- This picture was taken Christmas morning, and here you see Tyce, at 8 months, and Gigi, who is 16 months old. It was great We missed Marci and Mike and their kids. They had recently moved, and had used up all the vacation days, so were unable to come. Thanks to Ford and Waldo having to be in Detroit on January 15, we were able to go to Salt Lake City and see her! (seeing everyone was the best present of all) In the middle of the festivities, we went to California and saw Waldo's family, as well as some of mine. It was so awesome to connect with everybody.We wish there had been more time.

I started my last class, and my grand-daughter Alaina was usually the one who I had to ask to borrow the computer. I didn't really mind, because the kids have to learn how to use it, but having a deadline did make it inconvenient!

Going back to Dubai was not easy, as you might imagine. When we got here, it was cold!! We've actually had to use long pants and sweaters! Friends here say to enjoy it, because its not lasting too much longer. So we are!

Waldo is very busy as usual, and I am working with this online class. It's do-able, but it makes me not want to get on the computer unless I have to. I do promise, however, to keep posting editions of the Galan Gazette. It was great seeing as many of you as we did...not as many as we'd like! Ricky took some great pix at Christmas, and has posted them on his site, so check it out!

www.galanworld.com

He has also started a website with discount coupons from different stores, which could save some money for those in the US. That site is www.Dealosaurus.com.

Waldo and I hope you can share Valentine's Day with loved ones. Bye til next month!

December Edition

2006-12-18T19:26:00.000+04:00

Hello everyone, Happy Holidays! We're getting ready to go to Washington, we leave very early in the morning....of course I have left the writing of the gazette til the last minute, but at least I'm not worrying about what is left to do! I did make a pictoral tour of our house and neighborhood, hope you enjoy it!
We're starting from outer space...if you zoom into a map of the middle east, you'll see, on the tiny tip of the Saudi peninsula, the country of the United Arab Emirates, and there you will see,"Papo & CayCay's house" I'll try to enlarge it, but you might need a magnifying glass!

My house is all decked out for Christmas, which seems like a waste of time until you realize that decorating has helped me get a little Christmas Spirit in my heart, which helped with the youth activities we had at church. To the right of the entry is the living room, and the office is on the left.

This is the entrance,and to the right is the living room, to the left is the office. Of course, Heidi and Schatzie feel they own this sofa!

Going down the hall, we get to the kitchen, which is so big, we weren't sure what to put in it...then we discovered there was no pantry! IKEA is very popular here, and for good reason; we were able to get a nice cabinet for a reasonable price.

The other side of the windows is where the pool may be found...eight "villas", or condos, share a pool.

Unfortunately the entire front yard is smaller than the kitchen, and that is the big sacrifice we made to get the location, convenience and price we were able to negotiate for this villa.

Do I seem to have a fixation with this picture? Perhaps, but this shot shows the street and our neighbors as well. The bus shown here brings the construction workers working on the house down the street. One thing not seen here is the slums or beggars common to most countries. The reason is that the workers are given "bachelor rooms" out of town and are bussed in. It has been mentioned to me that conditions in these apartments is pretty bad. More on that in a future post!

This is around the corner from our house and shows how the custom here is to put up a wall to camoflage the construction site. Another cool custom is to offer water to strangers. This is pretty upscale, as its refrigerated, but most houses have a faucet outside that anyone can use if they need it. The picture below is the neighborhood mosque and the other picture demonstrates how they keep the grass and flowers alive. They have permanently installed irrigation. It will be turned on continuously when the weather begins to turn hotter.

Bet you've never seen a picture of the Mall of the Emirates from this particular angle before, right? That thing sticking up is the ski slope, and at night it lights up...very pretty. This is one of the landmarks that we use to navigate our way around. The other shots are of some people out side the market. I wanted to show some of the contrasts between the traditional and modern that we see.

We had a great activity at church...we made gingerbread houses for table decorations for the Christmas party at church, which was great, until we had to store them for a week in the humidity. The repairs were successful, and it was a great party!

We have really enjoyed telling our friends about our adventures here in Dubai, but it seems weird not to have to write about the year in review...we're sort of reviewing as we go along! Waldo has had some great projects going at Ford, which I will let him write about when he has the time, or when he has time to tell me enough about it that I can write about it!So we pause for a moment, to wish you a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year, and we'll write again as soon as we can!

Love, Cay

Rick has opened up a web site in which some great savings may be had. He works at Overstock.com, and this is his website: www.dealosaurus.com

It's pretty good!

Gazette November 9, 2006

2006-11-05T16:48:00.000+04:00

Galloping Galan Gazette, November 2006

Hi everybody!! I am finally back!! And I can even include pictures this month!
First off, let me tell all the friends and family I was able to be with during my trip to Michigan and
Washington the first part of October just how great it was to be with you...and how much I love you!

Waldo and I are lucky that we are surrounded by many interesting sights, so I included this postcard because it has many of them! Starting on the left, is the Jumeirah Mosque, which is huge. I am looking forward to the tours they offer...will make a full report! Next are two scenes of the Burg al Arab (disregard the camel). You may remember the first one as the view from my bedroom window. then we have an old shot of downtown Dubai, later on you'll see what it REALLY looks like. another view of the Burg, and in the middle is the Palm Jumeirah, which is a man-made series of islands. They have postponed giving possession again, but sooner or later people will live there! They don't allow just tourists to go over there, but I'll see what i can do! Waldo took some pictures of the desert, and this winter I am looking forward to meeting some of these camels...I imagine the ones they let you ride aren't nearly as charming as these!

Dubai, like many large cities in the world, has its own Hard Rock Cafe, but of course the distiction here is that it's surrounded by construction. Of course, everything is surrounded by construction! One of the things I liked about our "villa" (Dubai-ese for house) is that there is only one construction project going on down the block. so we are able to escape it for a while.

I hope you can see all the construction cranes in this photo...I've been told Dubai has more of them than anywhere else in the world, with the exception of China, perhaps. there is a lot of energy in this city, that's for sure!

Many people have been asking what the price of gas is here, and I found out---for 95 octane gasoline, the price is 6.25 dirhams per gallon. Are you ready? that converts to 1.70/gal. And people complain that it shouldn't be so high in an oil-producing country!

Waldo has been working very hard in Detroit, London and Cologne, Germany, setting up the business plan for next year. As a matter of fact he's still in London, negotiating with the Israelis. Business in this part of the world is very good.As a matter of fact, Ford's two biggest dealerships in the world are in Israel and Saudi Arabia. The design engineers are constantly working out bugs, however, even when they have to do it in the desert in 120 F weather!

Well, that's all for this edition! For December's edition I'm planning to do a tour of our house and the immediate neighborhood, along with scenes that I think you might find interesting--and we are going to Washington for Christmas, to witness our grand-daughter Jordan being baptised! There is certainly a lot to look forward to in the next month! You might even say theres a lot to be thankful for. We won't be formally celebrating Thanksgivinghere, but you can bet that it will be in our hearts!

You can find out what's up with other members of the family at Rick and April's website: http://www.galanworld.com
also at Jennifer and Waldo's site: http://galanapalooza.hopto.org
We also have a Spanish version of this blog:http://www.gacetagalan.blogspot.com

Gazette September 19

2006-10-02T15:01:00.000+04:00

19 September, 2006

Hi Everybody!! We have finished unpacking!! Temperatures are falling, a little—108 down to 100---and now there’s a refreshing breeze in the evening--what an improvement!! We were able to get tickets for Christmas and our granddaughter’s baptism, Waldo (well, Ford) had the best month in the history of the region in August, Cay has successfully put the house together, enrolled for her last class (at Weber State University, no less), and is all set to take the MTTC (teacher’s certification test) in October. Things are progressing.
We experienced our first sandstorm the other day…we’re about 2 blocks from the “sail hotel” and it disappeared!
Cay was asked to lead the Young Women’s group at church, and is busy deciding who will be asked to help her. Waldo is still waiting for a calling, so we’re hoping that after Stake Conference Sept. 29 they’ll know what to do with him! The stake leaders go to the different countries and hold individual meetings, instead of the usual large gathering. For Youth Conference all the youth from the whole Arabian Peninsula Stake (Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, and the UAE) are flown to Bahrain. They have High Council meeting there too. Crazy, huh? We meet in a large house every Friday (the Sabbath here), with no sign outside identifying us as a church. It’s illegal to proselyte to Muslims, but we have investigators from all over at church frequently. The members are mostly from the US, Australia, the UK, and the Philippines, with others from Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand, South Africa and Peru. And services are in English!
Its very interesting, as I walk my dogs about 6:30 pm everyday, and at that hour all the mosques start broadcasting their call to prayer. There is a mosque on every block, and they all start singing at about the same time. It occurred to me that my own faith would be strengthened if I dropped everything and prayed 5 times a day! The atmosphere here encourages the people to live their religion, by making it easy to follow the tenets of the faith. Liquor is not sold in stores, but there are many choices available for juices, and pork is only available in certain areas. These are clearly marked, “not for Muslims”.
All the stores and businesses are getting ready for Ramadan, which starts next week. This looks like it will be festive, and outside the mosque by our house they have set up a tent, and some of the bigger houses are all decked out with lights (a la Christmas) and it looks like the mosque is going to be decorated too. At this time Muslims will fast from sunrise to sunset. Most restaurants close during the day, and stay open all night. At sunset we have been told things get a little crazy on the roads because everyone is trying to get home and eat, and people actually do gain weight because they spend all night eating. It is illegal to be seen eating or drinking water in the car or in public. Next month we’ll let you know more of what we see. We’ve included some pictures

(I still have to figure out how to put pictures in the post...sorry about that)

This is the scene from our bedroom window. It is really beautiful; it gets sparkly lights on it and changes color. The hotel to the right is supposed to resemble a wave, and all down the road in front there is metal fencing that continues the wave motif. One thing about Dubai…they don’t do things half-way. One thing that I can’t really explain is the fact that you can be sitting in a restaurant and watch people skiing!! This is a huge shopping mall, with a sort of amusement park inside, and ski runs! Waldo took this picture about a year ago

Well, more next month! We love and miss you all! - Cay & Waldo

Galloping Galan Gazette August 10,2006

2006-10-02T14:50:00.000+04:00

Galloping Galan Ga
August 10, 2006
Hello from Dubai, United Arab Emirates! We got here July 19, after spending a hectic and wonderful month with our children, grandchildren and family, driving, camping, driving, talking, flying, visiting, and more driving! We left Plymouth, Michigan, and drove our motorhome to Provo, Utah, to visit Marci and Mike, Sibhana and Daemien, and Rick, April and Tyce,, then drove on to Washington where we collected Nena, Ryan, Jordan, Alaina, Colton and Livvy, and went on our journey to British Columbia to camp. There we learned that passports are needed, at least over July 4th, so we went to “Plan B” and spent several days in Glacier National Park in Montana. It was great fun, and even though many family members were severely disappointed that the original plans had to be amended, we did learn one thing: We love our family more than Canada!

We got back to Washington, took showers and flew to California to say goodbye to Waldo’s family, and reassure his mother that we were not moving into a war zone.
Schatzie and Heidi went with us throughout our travels, and were cared for by Nena and family during the times we were in California, and when we moved to Dubai. They arrived Saturday morning, after 4 days of traveling—they couldn’t fly when the temperature was over 85 degrees, so they could only fly at night.
Cay’s first impressions of Dubai are HOT, HOT, HOT!! Extremely efficient air conditioning! People from all parts of the world, in many different styles of clothing, and Arab women in beautiful abayas (the overgarments) with sweats and tennis shoes on underneath, and young men in dishdashas (the white “shirtdress”)with baseball hats on instead of the traditional gutra (the head-scarf). Cracked me up!
Some of the sights we have seen around here are the hotel that looks like a sail, and the ski slope inside the mall. No kidding! There are no mail carriers—there are no addresses as we know them, so we have to make a map, or agree on a place to meet, to guide delivery people to the house. The custom here is that you get a post office box, so we’re using Ford’s. The weekend here is Thursday and Friday, so we go to church on Friday, which makes it very interesting when you’re trying to coordinate phone calls.
We have been impressed with the levels of efficiency and expertise we’ve encountered, as well as the friendliness of people we meet. One problem is that, since just about everyone speaks English, you would think we could understand each other…..but no! Indian English is very different from Australian or South African, which is very different from our California/Michigan twang, and so it requires lots of patience and humor (or, as they say here—humour).
We were informed today that the sea shipment of our furniture will be arriving in our home on August 15th, and it will be wonderful to sleep in our own bed again. If we have a complaint about the apartment we’re in now it’s that the bed is so hard we might as well be sleeping on the floor!
Well, that’s all for this first installment…More in a few weeks!
zette

October 2, 2006

2006-10-02T14:33:00.000+04:00

This is more complicated than I had been led to believe! I am trying to get previous issues of the Galan Gazettes on here, and not having much luck! stay tuned.....