Christine posed outside our villa as we got ourselves in the mood to host a group of Naval Academy Midshipmen and their advisors. Scott thinks this could also be titled "Dress For Success".
In our living room 5 Midshipmen, Martin Simpson (HMRN Ret. Commander, on couch) and Christine
On the patio just off our living room are three Midshipmen and Major Aron Axe, on right (USNA '99 and also an instructor). Mid in the front is prior enlisted Marine, as is Major Axe.
It took 2 borrowed tables put end-to-end with ours to accommodate our group. At this end are Emma Quinn, Dr. Deborah Wheeler, Kiley Provenzano & Chelsey Boggs. The mid in the red shirt is a Firstie and his service selection is Marines (He recognized Alex from his graduation picture). The mid across the table is Devereaux Smith (I remember his name cause he was BIG guy and I kept pushing food on him and the others).Please note the USNA Class of 2010 blanket we used to "decorate" and the yellow and blue tableware. Love to festoon for our gatherings, but Scott drew the limit at the table. He said that the Mids were probably happy not to think "Blue & Gold" on holiday to U.A.E.
When the question was posed what they could do to help clean up, we gave a resounding "nothing, but we do require a group photo!"
This is Midshipmen 3/c Emma Quinn with us. She is the daughter of one of Christine's school friend John William Quinn from Quaker Valley High School. John and Christine grew up 2 blocks apart and he was also in the same Boy Scout troop with Scott sponsored by the Methodist Church in Sewickley (church in which we were married).
When the question was posed what they could do to help clean up, we gave a resounding "nothing, but we do require a group photo!"
This is Midshipmen 3/c Emma Quinn with us. She is the daughter of one of Christine's school friend John William Quinn from Quaker Valley High School. John and Christine grew up 2 blocks apart and he was also in the same Boy Scout troop with Scott sponsored by the Methodist Church in Sewickley (church in which we were married).Okay, you may be wondering (and justifiably so) how a group of Midshipmen visiting UAE would hook up with a couple of ex-pats... Christine and John were talking on FB last autumn (if you've read the entire blog, you know that they hooked up at Alex's graduation last May) And John mentions that Emma will be coming to Abu Dhabi over Christmas break. Lots of back and forth conversations, via e-mail, of course followed. The group had a tight schedule, but we were plugged into the schedule for New Year's Day.
The group arrived and Scott promptly escorted them down to our swimming pool to relax in the sun. Christine stayed at the villa and talked with Maj Axe (yes, Louisville friends, I've got his life story and it is very interesting). Alex, having spent part of a Christmas holiday in Jordan, advised us on the menu. We served an American Picnic of hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw and sauerkraut meatballs (sauerkraut is tradional "good luck" food in Northern part of USA). We did not want to compete with the traditional foods of the Mid East or the fabulous meals their parents would have just slaved over.
HMRN ret. Commander & former USNA faculty 1998-2001 (taught navigation and handled the YP's) Martin Simpson spoke with our group. Martin captained the HMS Northumberland and served in the waters off the coast of Somalia. He spoke at length about his experience and observations during the interdiction of the Somali pirates. Martin is after all a sailor and certainly can turn a colorful phrase. A reliable source tells us Martin was quoted throughout the remainder of the trip, something about Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys ie: the French.
Chris Peters (yes, the guy across the street) works for E-Ships, so he came over for lunch and joined in the discussion from the commercial shipping point of view.
One of my personal goals is to act upon my better impulses and Scott feels strongly about "paying it forward". When the possibility of hosting a group of Midshipmen arose, we felt it might be good for them to see how Americans live and work in a Mid Eastern country. We are hoping that we might have the opportunity to host other Midshipmen in the future. Although we only had a few hours with this group, they were able to relax and enjoy a little bit of "home".
In closing this post, we leave you with the words of Edwin Arlington Robinson,
Two kinds of gratitude: the sudden kind we feel for what we take; the larger kind we feel for what we give.
Love to All, Scott and Christine
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