As salam Alekum....

I think that is the right way to spell it. But that is how you say hello in Arabic.

A lot of people have asked me if we have met very many people here that speak English. And yes, we have.

Joel is the only US military here in Salalah. But there are quite a few other Americans here that are employed by Lockheed Martin and work at Thumrait Air Base. Most of them work in Thumrait for the week and drive down to the Plaza on the weekends. Only a few of them brought over their families. One of those families are the Dobbins' (Dan, Pam, Alec and Jacob), and they live here in the villas with us. They took care of Joel for me while I was gone, and we do a lot of things with them still. They also go to church with us, and all the kids love playing together (Alec and Jacob are 5 year old twins).

There are a lot of British families here that live off of the resort. Most of them work with the British Military. Russ and Yvonne are one of those Brits that are over here. Russ actually flies the F16 and has been stationed in the US over the past few years. Yvonne is a personal trainer/aerobic instructor. She has A LOT of get-up-and-go!!! They live in a very nice villa in town.

There is a Lebanese family that live here in the villas. Ali, Maja, and Youssef. Youssef is 1 1/2 years old and Claire LOVES playing with him. Maja is going to teach me how to make some authentic Arabic foods before she moves back up to Muscat in June. Ali is the project manager for the new construction at Thumrait for the new jets.

Mike, Monica, Silas and Noah are from Switzerland. They help pastor the Protestant church along side Pastor Margaret here in Salalah.