Friday, August 19, 2011
It's 3 am and I can't sleep
I am having an OMG I can't believe I'm here moment and feel the need to let it all out. I'm sure it will pass. I'm sure I'll feel better.
I'm feeling whiny and ranty..........
It's hot and sticky and I feel like I always have too much clothes on.
Our house is different temperatures in each room.
Air conditioning is loud. Like the washer is constantly on and in your ear.
I tried to use the phone today and didn't know how. Yea, me no phone. I've only called Brian from the states and I knew I had to dial different numbers, I didn't know until later that you drop some numbers and add a 0. But if you call a home phone it's different. It's stupid and different and I didn't like the feeling of not knowing and not being able to figure it out on my own.
Sigh.
I felt claustrophobic today. I realized that the only place I could get to on my own is Carrefour. This is like only knowing how to go to Wal-mart where there are a million people that don't look like you and don't speak English as a first language.
I miss Haggen where I can find what I want and the people know me.
I was told that if you find what you want that you should grab it because who knows when they will have it again. Great. I live somewhere that is encouraging shopping, hoarding and anxiety. Awesome.
Did I mention that our home has a maids quarters? It's tiny, like 7x11. Some people have 2 or 3 living in that tiny space and it's normal. Things are different here.
Our plates are too big for the dishwasher. They aren't too big the dw is small and I was told that they don't think about these things because someone is usually there to wash them anyway. Whatever.
I was told the work is shoddy here. Things are slapped up and people don't have to be licensed and some just "figure it out". Awesome. Now I have to worry about getting electrocuted or something falling on my head.
We don't have an outlet in the bathroom. Yep, no plugs.
Did I mention the stairs! So. Many. Stairs. I suppose my butt will look good when I return. Granted I feel like I will slip down them or fall over the third floor balcony every time I look down.
Sigh.
I miss home. I miss my friends. I miss driving to Woods for an afternoon iced mocha frappe. It's the holy month of Ramadan and even if I could find a drive thru coffee place it would be closed in the daytime anyway since there is no eating or drinking during the daytime.
Did I mention that things happen on a different schedule here and it isn't mine? Our neighbors are still waiting for Internet and it's been five weeks. This is normal. It looks like Brian got lucky, thank God (or maybe Thank Allah here?)
My tummy hurts. Too many dates? Anxiety?
I have been here three days and I know it will get better. My feelings are normal but I want to feel settled, now.
It will be okay because it has to be. I'm here for the long haul.....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Abu Dhabi - Day 2
We got a slower start today. I was still in pj's when the doorbell intercom rang. It was someone from the compound who was coming by to introduce themselves (and their 8 year old daughter - yeah!) to us. I got Bella up and she stumbled downstairs long enough to say a quick hi. We vowed to come by later after we got moving.
Brian stepped out to finish my driver license, process, UAE ID process and acquire my cell phone. I now have 250 international minutes as part of my plan - yeah!
Meanwhile, we got ready and headed out to make a new friend. The girls hit it off well and the mom seemed great too.
When Brian returned, we headed out for a drive....
The signs are in Arabic and English, which is a good thing.
There are lots of palm looking trees around and most of them are Date Trees. There are net bags to collect the dates.
There are plenty for luxury cars around, but you also see lots of Toyota's and Kia's too.
We drove by the American Community School, where the kids will most likely go. It is a K-12 school and it's huge and looks like a fortress.
Then, we headed to a grocery store called Spinney's. It has several Western items and a handy Pork Section that all the pork items are located in (Muslims can't eat Pork).
Then we headed to Marina Mall, which was HUGE. It had an ice skating rink it:
It had lots of stores and even a replica of the mall.....
You could get lost there!
I even saw a gold bar vending machine....
After we left the mall, we drove down "The Corniche". This is a beautiful area along the water that is under heavy construction (like a lot of the downtown).
I also saw the Emirates Palace, from afar. This is a 7-star hotel.
We eventually headed home for a swim in the pool and play time after dinner. Now it's movie time.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Brian stepped out to finish my driver license, process, UAE ID process and acquire my cell phone. I now have 250 international minutes as part of my plan - yeah!
Meanwhile, we got ready and headed out to make a new friend. The girls hit it off well and the mom seemed great too.
When Brian returned, we headed out for a drive....
The signs are in Arabic and English, which is a good thing.
There are lots of palm looking trees around and most of them are Date Trees. There are net bags to collect the dates.
There are plenty for luxury cars around, but you also see lots of Toyota's and Kia's too.
We drove by the American Community School, where the kids will most likely go. It is a K-12 school and it's huge and looks like a fortress.
Then, we headed to a grocery store called Spinney's. It has several Western items and a handy Pork Section that all the pork items are located in (Muslims can't eat Pork).
Then we headed to Marina Mall, which was HUGE. It had an ice skating rink it:
It had lots of stores and even a replica of the mall.....
You could get lost there!
I even saw a gold bar vending machine....
After we left the mall, we drove down "The Corniche". This is a beautiful area along the water that is under heavy construction (like a lot of the downtown).
I also saw the Emirates Palace, from afar. This is a 7-star hotel.
We eventually headed home for a swim in the pool and play time after dinner. Now it's movie time.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Abu Dhabi - Day 1
I was up around 9 and enjoyed a typical breakfast of Fage yogurt before checking emails, making a to do list and planning the day.
Brian pointed out some of the security measures of the house and by the time the kids were up I was ready to go.
Brian made pancakes for them and we were out the door by 10:30.
We walked down the street a few steps to the compound's clubhouse. It has a pool, hot tub, gym area (like a hotel) and a fun play area with a couple indoor little tykes climb-on toys for Cameron. After a brief tour, it was time to head out.
First stop.....The US Embassy. It is about 10 minutes from the house and there are signs posted that it is against the law to take pictures anywhere in the embassy rd area.
The embassy is nice and there are several levels of security. We met a few people, found where I can pick up various bits of information, borrow movies or books and saw the gift shop (handmade AD magnets and jewelry, US candy and snacks and alcohol). I picked up some Cab-Sauvignon and a bottle of vodka.
I started the process for my AD license and ID and met Brian's boss' wife (who will get me the name of her housecleaner, will introduce me to a few SAHM with young kids and have our family out to dinner).
Brian drove us around a little to show us a few things And we headed to Mushrif Mall where a wonderful grocery store is located (LuLu's Hypermarket). It was a little overwhelming and I look forward to going on my own to take more time there. It was sorta like a Super Target. There are toys, clothes, household goods and TONS of food. Everything had Arabic and English writing on it. Lots and lots of new foods and some things I recognized with different names. I bought a few new things to try (date-flavored milk, quail, couple other things). It was overwhelming to think about the prices so I honestly just grabbed a few different items. Brian was there to help out, of course.
Here is what I bought for 446 dirhams or $121.50.....
We walked around the mall a bit too. It is really new and not aa lot is open, but it looks promising. I saw this in one area, but didn't look too close to see what it was. The signs around talk about the moon phases.
There is also a large Sparky's on the top floor, which looks like chuck e cheese.
Since it is Ramadan, we can't eat or drink or even chew gum in public before dusk. We headed home around 2:30 for lunch. After lunch, the kids decided to go for a swim. I took Alexander to the house of a kid he has been communicating with via email (his parents work at the embassy and his mom is going to be Brian's admin person in his office).
Brian, the kids and I all headed down to the pool and they are all swimming away while I finish up here.
Later we will head to another (Walmart-like) store and a place to get my cell phone plan set up.
I am hoping to stay up until 8-ish. I hear the best way to get used to the time difference is to wake up and go to sleep at the right times, not nap and spend time in the daylight. So far, so good.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Brian pointed out some of the security measures of the house and by the time the kids were up I was ready to go.
Brian made pancakes for them and we were out the door by 10:30.
We walked down the street a few steps to the compound's clubhouse. It has a pool, hot tub, gym area (like a hotel) and a fun play area with a couple indoor little tykes climb-on toys for Cameron. After a brief tour, it was time to head out.
First stop.....The US Embassy. It is about 10 minutes from the house and there are signs posted that it is against the law to take pictures anywhere in the embassy rd area.
The embassy is nice and there are several levels of security. We met a few people, found where I can pick up various bits of information, borrow movies or books and saw the gift shop (handmade AD magnets and jewelry, US candy and snacks and alcohol). I picked up some Cab-Sauvignon and a bottle of vodka.
I started the process for my AD license and ID and met Brian's boss' wife (who will get me the name of her housecleaner, will introduce me to a few SAHM with young kids and have our family out to dinner).
Brian drove us around a little to show us a few things And we headed to Mushrif Mall where a wonderful grocery store is located (LuLu's Hypermarket). It was a little overwhelming and I look forward to going on my own to take more time there. It was sorta like a Super Target. There are toys, clothes, household goods and TONS of food. Everything had Arabic and English writing on it. Lots and lots of new foods and some things I recognized with different names. I bought a few new things to try (date-flavored milk, quail, couple other things). It was overwhelming to think about the prices so I honestly just grabbed a few different items. Brian was there to help out, of course.
Here is what I bought for 446 dirhams or $121.50.....
We walked around the mall a bit too. It is really new and not aa lot is open, but it looks promising. I saw this in one area, but didn't look too close to see what it was. The signs around talk about the moon phases.
There is also a large Sparky's on the top floor, which looks like chuck e cheese.
Since it is Ramadan, we can't eat or drink or even chew gum in public before dusk. We headed home around 2:30 for lunch. After lunch, the kids decided to go for a swim. I took Alexander to the house of a kid he has been communicating with via email (his parents work at the embassy and his mom is going to be Brian's admin person in his office).
Brian, the kids and I all headed down to the pool and they are all swimming away while I finish up here.
Later we will head to another (Walmart-like) store and a place to get my cell phone plan set up.
I am hoping to stay up until 8-ish. I hear the best way to get used to the time difference is to wake up and go to sleep at the right times, not nap and spend time in the daylight. So far, so good.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Flying Out.....Finally!
After spending two fantastic weeks on Long Island with family (sunshine, beaches, relaxing, pool time and hanging-out), it was time to FINALLY hop on the plane to AD.
Honestly, I have tried hard to put the experience of traveling "with three kids on my own for a 15 hr flight" out of my head. Go figure, it seemed to work out!
I headed to JFK with my mom, Aunt Gloria and Uncle Glenn. It was like arriving with an entourage. Everyone helped to carry or wheel in bags. Thanks to no traffic and leaving early, we arrived at the airport at 8:30. My flight was scheduled for 11:20. We got through everything at the counter and I said an "almost" tearful goodbye to my mom and stepped through security and away......
By the time we got to the Air France terminal we had almost an hour to spare before boarding. The kids watched the planes and tv and hung out.
We boarded around 10:30 and had to walk past the amazing super-first-class section, the first class and the almost-first-class section before seeing our tiny, cramped economy seats. Sigh......
We spent an hour on the runway with Cameron's non-stop two-year-old questions. Did we take off yet? Why aren't we in the air? Are we in air now? Who's plane is this? It is Aunt Gail's plane? Is it Aunt Gloria's plane? Why are we on the plane? When will it leave? Are we in the air now? etc.........
We FINALLY took off. The ride was uneventful. Cameron eventually conked out. The kids acted suprisingly well. They didn't touch their 100's of dollars worth of backpack activities, games, cards, books, pens, pencils, sticker books, toys, etc.... They enjoyed the snacks, Alexander's DS, watched the onboard tv, played on my iPad and took varying degrees of naps.
We arrived in Paris after a 6 hr+ plane ride.
I was a little unsure about what to expect there but all was smooth. I followed the people and the signs and ended up where I needed to be. I was just fine.
We had to walk a bit, take a shuttle for 10+ minutes walk a bit more and eventually make it to our gate while they had already boarded most of the people.
The plane was a little smaller, the food wasn't too great (except for the yummy sliver of Camembert cheese). All the announcements were done twice. Once in French and once in English. The kids did great and it was uneventful.
We arrived in Abu Dhabi after 6+ hrs and the kids had a second wind and were super-giddy. We had to circle for 10-15 minutes before landing because someone was setting off illegal fireworks but aside from that, no problem. I didn't even hyperventilate from the possible idea of a firework hitting the plane and blowing a hole in it or anything! Everything was "Just Fine". We landed on the ground and Cameron kept looking out the plane window and asking where Daddy was.
We gathered our things and followed the THRONGS of people to where I figured was the right area to be. There were tons of people, all dressed in different ethnic clothes and speaking different languages with lots of different smells...... I held Cameron's hand tight and waited my turn. The kids were antsy, but we finally made it through customs with our first passport stamp!
We got to baggage and our stuff was some of the last items in a pile. Someone helped us load up two full luggage carts (there were several men with carts ready to help for a fee.....). We headed out to the waiting area and there among 100's of waiting people with signs we found Brian and his boss.
We stepped outside and I nearly keeled over from the heat. I'm pretty sure we are now living on the equator of hell. The air was thick and moist and I was sweaty by the time I hit the car. It was 11:45 at night.
We headed to the villa and after going through the " circle of death" (lots of crazy drivers and accidents) roundabout, we arrived.
The villa is bigger than the pictures looked, the ceilings are high, there's lots of marble/tile everywhere and I am sooooo getting someone to clean it besides me!
I enjoyed some Coke Light, the kids and I tried some chocolate camel's milk (tasty and better than the thick chocolate cow's milk). I feasted on some yummy Date treats (yum to the coffee bean topped and chocolate-coffee bean filled one, not-yum to the rose petal topped and rose-flavor jam filled one). We eventually showered and headed to bed by 2 am. Abu Dhabi is 11 hrs later than WA and 8 hrs later than NY.
The Adventure Begins......
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Honestly, I have tried hard to put the experience of traveling "with three kids on my own for a 15 hr flight" out of my head. Go figure, it seemed to work out!
I headed to JFK with my mom, Aunt Gloria and Uncle Glenn. It was like arriving with an entourage. Everyone helped to carry or wheel in bags. Thanks to no traffic and leaving early, we arrived at the airport at 8:30. My flight was scheduled for 11:20. We got through everything at the counter and I said an "almost" tearful goodbye to my mom and stepped through security and away......
By the time we got to the Air France terminal we had almost an hour to spare before boarding. The kids watched the planes and tv and hung out.
We boarded around 10:30 and had to walk past the amazing super-first-class section, the first class and the almost-first-class section before seeing our tiny, cramped economy seats. Sigh......
We spent an hour on the runway with Cameron's non-stop two-year-old questions. Did we take off yet? Why aren't we in the air? Are we in air now? Who's plane is this? It is Aunt Gail's plane? Is it Aunt Gloria's plane? Why are we on the plane? When will it leave? Are we in the air now? etc.........
We FINALLY took off. The ride was uneventful. Cameron eventually conked out. The kids acted suprisingly well. They didn't touch their 100's of dollars worth of backpack activities, games, cards, books, pens, pencils, sticker books, toys, etc.... They enjoyed the snacks, Alexander's DS, watched the onboard tv, played on my iPad and took varying degrees of naps.
We arrived in Paris after a 6 hr+ plane ride.
I was a little unsure about what to expect there but all was smooth. I followed the people and the signs and ended up where I needed to be. I was just fine.
We had to walk a bit, take a shuttle for 10+ minutes walk a bit more and eventually make it to our gate while they had already boarded most of the people.
The plane was a little smaller, the food wasn't too great (except for the yummy sliver of Camembert cheese). All the announcements were done twice. Once in French and once in English. The kids did great and it was uneventful.
We arrived in Abu Dhabi after 6+ hrs and the kids had a second wind and were super-giddy. We had to circle for 10-15 minutes before landing because someone was setting off illegal fireworks but aside from that, no problem. I didn't even hyperventilate from the possible idea of a firework hitting the plane and blowing a hole in it or anything! Everything was "Just Fine". We landed on the ground and Cameron kept looking out the plane window and asking where Daddy was.
We gathered our things and followed the THRONGS of people to where I figured was the right area to be. There were tons of people, all dressed in different ethnic clothes and speaking different languages with lots of different smells...... I held Cameron's hand tight and waited my turn. The kids were antsy, but we finally made it through customs with our first passport stamp!
We got to baggage and our stuff was some of the last items in a pile. Someone helped us load up two full luggage carts (there were several men with carts ready to help for a fee.....). We headed out to the waiting area and there among 100's of waiting people with signs we found Brian and his boss.
We stepped outside and I nearly keeled over from the heat. I'm pretty sure we are now living on the equator of hell. The air was thick and moist and I was sweaty by the time I hit the car. It was 11:45 at night.
We headed to the villa and after going through the " circle of death" (lots of crazy drivers and accidents) roundabout, we arrived.
The villa is bigger than the pictures looked, the ceilings are high, there's lots of marble/tile everywhere and I am sooooo getting someone to clean it besides me!
I enjoyed some Coke Light, the kids and I tried some chocolate camel's milk (tasty and better than the thick chocolate cow's milk). I feasted on some yummy Date treats (yum to the coffee bean topped and chocolate-coffee bean filled one, not-yum to the rose petal topped and rose-flavor jam filled one). We eventually showered and headed to bed by 2 am. Abu Dhabi is 11 hrs later than WA and 8 hrs later than NY.
The Adventure Begins......
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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