When Caleb heard we were moving to UAE he cried because he wanted “to go somewhere with grass.” The kid really does need vegetation of some kind. All he wants to do is climb trees and run and try to make fire using only two sticks. There are a few compounds here with gorgeous grass lawns and space to run, but they are all out of our price range. Ironically, active duty military get less housing allowance than civilian contractors, Department of Defense teachers, and other government employees. And we don’t get an increased amount per kid like they do either. We get the same as a couple with no kids looking for a place to live — my posts from July of 2012 cover all of my house hunting woes.
Anyway, we have been greatly blessed by our Bahrain house, and it’s a miracle that we found something so great with what we had to work with, but my kids are all missing base housing life with lots of neighbor kids and a built in community of friends. The best time here was when we had neighbor friends across the street and the kids could run back and forth between our houses like one big happy family. I know they are hoping for something like that when we move to UAE. The best part about moving to Abu Dhabi is that we will be assigned a place to live. That might seem like a drawback to some, but for us it means being assigned embassy housing, whose standards are way above military housing. And not having to look for a house and decide which area of town to live in takes all the stress off of me. I can make anything work — just tell me where to show up.
We turned in a housing survey where they asked us to rank our preferences (near the beach, near work, accommodations for live-in house help, pets allowed, etc) and we said our top priority would be for a yard/green space for the kids/pets in a compound with other families. We’ve always put location above amenities, but I think we’re all starving for some outdoor living. If we’re assigned a high rise in the middle of downtown, we’ll make the best of it. I know that God will provide for all of our needs and I’m completely at peace about where we’ll end up, but I’m also hoping for that patch of grass so my kids can have the desires of their heart. (until they figure out they have to mow it!)
Edited to add: Blogging from a pool lounger. With this beautiful view.
