... Signed, sealed, delivered!

Well! Jason is approaching the end is his schooling and has officially signed a 3 year contract to teach at a university in....

 DUBAI

 Yes, I know! It's wild! And we are oh so excited to finally have the offer and contract worked out! It's been a dream to take a job living overseas and it seemed far away, but now it's much closer! Hooray! 




But questions, everyone has questions! Feel free to drop me more, while I try to answer some of the common queries.

1. Where is Dubai? Will you have to learn another language? 

Dubai is in the United Arab Emirates, on the Arabian peninsula. They speak arabic, and while I have my heart set on learning some, speaking english is just fine. Jason will be teaching in english. The country actually has more foreigners that natives, so it's a big mixing pot of lots of different cultures, which is one of the reasons we find it so exciting.

2. Isn't that an arab country? Do you have to wear a head covering?

Yes, it's an arab country and Islam is the order of the day, but no, it is not required for women to wear head scarves. As you can see by this sign in the mall, they do have more conservative dress standards, but so do we mormons so this really isn't at all a stretch. Don't wear tank tops or short shorts? Easy peasy.

3. What about church?

Well, depending on which part of dubai the university houses us, there are THREE different wards (church units) we could belong to. And just a hop skip and a jump away in Abu Dhabi, they are about to finish what is to be the first new LDS church building in the area. Pretty Exciting! The temple district is a little broader, and the nearest temple is Frankfurt, Germany. Won't that be a fun temple trip!

4. What about your medical care? 

Don't worry, of course this was one of our first questions! Yes we will all be covered with good medical insurance, and they have plenty of quality medical care. And guess what? My medicine will actually be cheaper there than it is here in the States. Lucky!  

Misc. 

Here's another interesting tidbit! Because of the more conservative culture, kissing or even holding hands in public is off limits! That might be the hardest thing to remember, since I sure love stealing kisses from my one and only. 

Also, I will have to get the "Keep your hands to yourself" song from Yo Gabba imbedded in my psyche! 
Well, that was easy. It will be stuck there for at least a month now. 

... hands to yourself, keep your hands to yourself!  Hands to yourself, keep your hands to yourself...