I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

I think it'll be more of a beach Christmas this year, unless I decide to head to Ski Dubai! I spent the long weekend in Doha, Qatar for a work conference on the environment and service learning, you know, basically while you were all eating Turkey and watching College Football, I was saving the world. A few of us went to a Thanksgiving Buffet dinner at one of the hotels, where we all ate copious amounts of food and drank a number of bottles of wine. They had all the traditional Thanksgiving items, but I was really stuck on the amazing sushi options.

When I returned from the conference I decided it was time to decorate my apartment for Christmas. Oh, by the way, having someone finish painting the top of my walls was 100 dirhams (less than $30) and worth every cent. So, last Sunday after work, I went home, rearranged my furniture, picked up the mess and started decorating. I also listened to Christmas music and made some sugar cookies, it was great! As I was sitting back and admiring the state of things, I got to see a quick little light show. It was actually pretty funny. I strung up some Christmas lights near the windows and it seemed to be fine, then I was looking over at them and one by one they started sparking and flashing and going out, it wasn't just a small spark, more like a little flame. I calmly walked over to the outlet, turned the switch off and sat back on the couch. I continued to watch all the sparks and thought to myself, well, I hope those curtains are fireproof, if they aren't, at least the walls are cement, that doesn't burn, does it? Then I just started laughing, because at home, if anything was sparking I would be worried and rushing to do something about it, instead I just sat and watched.

It's a little harder to get into the holiday spirit over here with the weather so warm, time just seems to be flying by and it seems impossible that it would already be Christmas! In order to better facilitate the spirit of the season, a friend of mine is hosting a Love Actually part tonight, the ladies of Al Adiyat, the teacher compound or projects as I like to refer to it, are all getting together to watch the movie and do a Yankee swap, which I've never done before, but I'm imagining it's just that pick a gift, steal a gift thing. We have also been requested to bring our favorite holiday snack. I, of course, wanted to bring Hello Dollies, my most favorite holiday treat ever, but.... none of the stores carry the necessary items to make them.

I heard that it was freezing at home these days. I've been cold too; the weather has dipped down into the upper 70's at night and in the morning! What I'm really wondering about... Is it snowing on the mountain?

Fog delay?

Welcome to my world... I wish I was being serious; there really was no fog delay today, but I risked my life coming to work. The fog was so thick, I was sure I was going to be smashed by oncoming traffic; they haven't quite figured out what to do with the headlights when there is fog. Probably similar to how Portlanders aren't quite sure what to do the first time it snows every year. Yesterday, I got to work to find a number of e-mails reporting that in HR, there was a 2 hour snow delay. Seeing that the only snow I see is in the indoor ski slope, I was excited to hear it still exists in the outdoor world.

The following e-mail was just sent out from the Principal's office:

Due to the fog/wet situations – please keep the children in the classes for the first recess until it clears.

Some of the KG1 classes came back with children all ‘damp’ and the class temperatures are cooler than normal – we do not want to take health risks.

Thank you for cooperating.

It's probably 75 degrees right now. Seriously? The children are "damp"??? I laugh, but the other day I was confused as to what water was falling on my head... uh, rain.

Work, it really isn't great, but there are parts of it that are hilarious, I guess I just have to remember that work wasn't the real reason I moved here. I have made friends at work before, but this is totally different; you realize that you live, work, socialize and travel with the same people. Sure there are some annoying parts to that, but there are some really great parts too. A friend of mine just came down, we made some lattes in the staff lounge and talked for a couple minutes about our upcoming trip to Jordan, it was nice. We were talking about what hotels to book and she said she really didn't care, nor do I. I told her it was on my list of things I can't be bothered to think about anymore. Even my language is changing, the things I hear myself say, crack me up... I can't be bothered to think about that... or I was meant to.... or marking papers... yeah, at the end of every sentence, question or thought? Really?? We have decided recently that there is an Australian/American language barrier. It's English, but way different... American English clearly makes more sense. If, by the way, anyone is wondering, according to most people that I have met, I don't have an American accent, I don't know what that means, or if it's good or bad, but people are always surprised that I am from the good ole USA.

I am one step closer to getting my Residence Visa, which I did not realize would make such a difference. I have no bank account here (seeing that due to the whole card used round the world thing, no access to the one at home), can't get a driver's license, or a car, it just is driving me CRAZY not to have this Visa yet. Also, we can't have an alcohol license, so I can't even buy a bottle of wine to drown my sorrows... the frustrations are endless. But, back to the original point about the Residence Visa, we had to go and get a blood test and an x-ray last night after work. Jess had warned me that the clinic was horrific, but I was definitely not prepared for what we were faced with. I argued with the guy for what seemed like forever to use gloves, he flat out refused. I did see him open the needle, so that was nice. We had to sit there for about 4 hours, it was just a nightmare, the waiting area was divided into Ladies and Men, I sat on the other side for a while, it was very, very frowned upon. There was a sign up that was hilarious along with other things, the sign said in huge letters Speeders are sinners.

One more note on the whole bank card experience, I am now officially the training call for all newly employed Washington Mutual telephone bankers. I am honestly embarrassed at what I was saying to them, that being said... their system is ridiculous. They flat out will not send a bank card to a PO Box, the problem is, Dubai only has PO Boxes. It only took 5 days and a couple hundred dollars of phone cards to figure that out.

It's really hard to imagine that it's Thanksgiving tomorrow. I'm heading to Doha, Qatar for a work conference on the environment and poverty, it should be a good conference. Some of my friends are going also; we are having a buffet Thanksgiving Dinner at one of the hotels. Good times.

Lastly, I decided it was an emergency and I NEEDED, not wanted, to paint my apartment. Of course the color is not what I envisioned and seeing that the ceilings are ridiculously high, it's not exactly working out as planned. As we were sitting in the war zone eating pizza last night, I was staring at the walls trying to figure out exactly how much it was worth to me to have somebody else finish it up... we'll see! The goal was to have my apartment looking great by the time my mom gets here in December. The problem is, I have Doha this weekend, Jordan, the following and then the half marathon followed by a swanky Moet brunch, so, maybe my mom and I will be painting instead of lounging at the beach clubs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just breathe...

So, right when things seem to be moving in the right direction... maybe it was just one of those days, but I'm starting to wonder if my luck has run out. I can hear friends from home telling me that things seem to always work out fine for me, or I'm lucky, or I always land on my feet. I used to disagree and think life was, well, pretty tough. Someone else used to tell me, think about what the worst thing that could happen and when you do that, you usually realize, the worst thing really isn't that bad. Well, here in Dubai, when I think things couldn't possibly get worse, somehow they do. The most random, would only happen to me, type things continue to happen. My car is not totalled and nobody is going to buy a wrecked Audi, there goes 5 or 10 thousand dollars, who knows..., I got an e-mail from home that momentarily freaked me out and my debit card has been cancelled because it is being used all over the world, Plaino, TX, Kuala Lumpur, Senegal and who knows where else. All the little things are frustrating, taking cabs everywhere, no bank account, no license, no car, etc., but add in any one of the other things and I would be pretty frustrated add in all three and I'm not sure how I'm not hysterical. The only thing I can think of, is that living and working here has lowered my expectations so low that things that would normally destroy me, now just seem like a common occurance that I can't be bothered to worry about too much... And, to top it all off, I think people from home really think life in Dubai is like being on vacation... By the way, we had no internet at work today, supposedly because a mouse chewed through the cable. Right.

It's officially outdoor weather...

The Dubai that tourists talk about, locals rave about and expats promise will come has arrived. The stores now have BBQ and patio furniture out, camping gear is front and center at every store and advertisements for different upcoming sporting events are featured in all the local newspapers and the Time Out magazine. I was doubtful I would ever say this out loud... but, I can see why people chose to live here.

Work is still not any better, at my most recent meeting I said something like, the actual situation has not improved at all, I have just adjusted my expectations both personally and professionally and am now more able to cope with the work environment. I'm sure that's just what every boss wants to hear.

I hit "the wall" for the first time ever while running this weekend. Our run was 32k and the whole thing was awful, I would like to blame that on the game of Ultimate Frisbee I played on Thursday afternoon, but I'm guessing the random mimosas with dinner did not help the situation either. Anyways, I was literally 400 meters from the end of the run and decided there was absolutely no way on the planet I was going to be able to finish and decided to get a taxi. I think the other runners thought I was crazy, but really, I could not move.

The rest of the weekend was basically what vacations are all about, only this is my real life. A friend and I sat and drank wine while we prepared food for a martini party that night, went out to this outdoor bar after the martini party and sat in the sand and talked, followed by a day at the beach, lunch at Lime Tree (which is this great cafe that I now go to at least once every weekend) and a BBQ at a friends house. The water has finally cooled to a reasonable temperature and we rented lounge chairs and umbrellas. We also sat around and planned our next week and weekend, which now includes a few trips to the gym, Mexican dinner, Thai massages and finally one of the Friday Brunches that are famous around here. So, yes, life is pretty rough around here!

I've all but given up on attaching pictures to this.... they keep saying it'll be all fixed in two weeks... like I said, an adjustment in expectations...

Good News? Bad News?

So, what should I do first here... always a dilemma. I guess I'll start with the good news, because that's what we do here at DAA (Dubai American Academy). This morning I got my very first phone call from friends or family! I was sitting at work and my phone rang (have I mentioned that I am required to have my phone on all day just in case they are looking for me) and it said unknown number. At home, I never answered those calls, I would just let it go to voicemail, but the Dubai Lisa has to answer all phone calls during work hours. It was Troy.

Now for the bad news, I pick up the phone and at the same time I am looking at my hotmail inbox and see a message from Progressive about my recent claim and a message from Troy with the subject line Please call me asap... I mean, I'm not a genius or anything, but between Troy calling and those messages, I'm imagining there was a problem with my car. While this is happening my boss is coming in and out of my office telling me there is going to be a fire drill, he is telling me which area I should go to and then I mention that I have to "sweep" the upstairs and he seems pretty confused, as he walked out he said something along the lines of, so we might need to rethink this if you are running towards the fire. Huh, good idea! So, back to the car, which I have been paying for each month as it sits at Troy's, was involved in a 3 car accident. Troy said he'd send some photos but it might make me cry.

Now, for more good news Dubai has been so stressful, that I cannot even be bothered to worry about this. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen, the only part I feel bad about is that I can't take care of it myself and instead Troy is left to deal with the whole car, insurance, etc. Fun. I'm sure he misses me more and more every day.

I do have even more good news, Jessica and I rented a car for a month! This may not seem like a big deal, but the option of feeling somewhat independent is life changing. Last night we drove to the mall, yes the same on that is a 5 minute walk, for dinner. And, even better news, I found a salad that is similar to the 6th St. Pear and Walnut Salad. Fruit, nuts, cheese, add chicken and dressing on the side. Good times. The bad news with that, the place isn't attached to a hotel, therefore, no wine.

Back to work.

Mars? Coke? Anyone?

Yesterday I started my day at 5:45 roaming the streets searching for a taxi to drive me to the starting point of the Dubai Creek Striders, a running club in Dubai, that I wanted to try out for the first time.

When I arrived I was instantly intimidated, these were runners, not people that enjoy running, or casual trainers, full on Dubai Creek Strider Jerseys, heart monitors, you name it. I showed up right as the people were about to start running, I did a quick stretch (just kidding...) and joined the first group that was taking off. I read about the weekly run and e-mailed Malcolm, the group leader, and asked about the distance and the pace, he said we would be running 22km-24km's and people varied from sub 3 hour marathoners to people that work towards 6 hour marathons, so people of all shapes and sizes. Uh, right. So we take off, I have on my Nike iPod thing that I'm addicted to and we're running maybe 8 minute miles or so. Which is way faster than I would run 22kms, but I wanted to keep up with the group. So every so often we would stop at these water stops and somehow there were people that I never saw pass me already there, but I just sort of ignored it and thought I was just going a little crazy. At about the third stop, an hour into our run, I'm starting to feel pretty tired, we are at this little market and everyone walks in and buys Mars bars and I look over to where the drinks are being poured, it's Coke! So, apparently, here in Dubai it's not Power aid and gels, it's Coke and Mars bars to energize you....

At this point, I finally ask someone how they are getting to the stops in front of me, it was driving me crazy! And this woman looks at me sort of funny and says in her Australian accent, "Are you meant to be in the farther, faster group mate?" Uh, no. But at that point I felt so dumb that I just decided to stay with the "farther, faster group." So apparently how it works is, there are two groups and they do different routes to meet at the water stops at the same time. Needless to say the 22 km - 24 km turned out to be closer to 32 km - 34 km. Let me just tell you, the difference between running at 6:30 here and 9:30 is unbelievable! The heat and humidity go up so fast and with the direct sun, it feel as if you might die. I did get a great tour of the city, I saw the creek for the first time and the Souk's I'd like to go back. When I got home, I was too exhausted to do much more than quickly eat a few bites of an apple, a spoonful of peanut butter and a glass of water, take two Motrin's, throw myself in the shower, put on my robe and collapse into my bed. Around 11:30 I woke up to a bunch of texts from friends wondering if I was alive... which I was, barely. We went to lunch at Lime Tree Cafe, the best place ever it feels like a cafe that might be at home, and then to this beach resort to play volleyball and hang out. It was a great day... we followed up a great day with an evening out for a bunch of October birthday celebrations. I thought it was at a night club place, which I don't like, but found instead that it was more like a lounge bar on a cruise ship with live music. Ah, life in Dubai. Today I am hosting a "wine and cheese" social to ask new teachers how I can better support them as a counselor. Fun times.

Dog River in Dubai...

For those of you that know my Saturday lifestyle in HR, you'll be happy to know that last night I found the Dubain version of Dog River, the local coffee shop. Linds and I would wake up nearly every Saturday morning, daily during the summer, head to Dog River, drink our coffee, talk to everyone that wandered in and eventually leave when we got hungry for lunch. Hours and hours of endless entertainment, internet surfing and parallel conversations. I think the most common comment was "it's so nice, we should do something outside" which somehow led to wine tasting... the black and white party, etc.

Anyways, yesterday after work, I asked a friend of mine to take me to the Dubai Central Post Office to pick up a pkg from my sister, I was so excited to get it! I actually made a birthday list for the first time in maybe 20 years and Kristin sent it all to me, Luna Bars and Conditioner, I know, exciting! I can't even explain how happy I was to get a few things from home. So, after we did that, we decided to go down to the Marina, which I have been to one other time, but it was during Ramadan, and just seemed like another row of restaurants, coffee shops etc. It was also about 8 zillion degrees the last time I was there, so I was irritated in general. Well, last night I actually felt like I found my favorite place in Dubai. It was just like Dog River, well, like I said the Dubain version of Dog River. You just have to exchange the palm trees for fir trees, buildings for mountains, sea for river, yachts for kayaks but, you get the idea. First we had dinner at this little Japanese place then we went and had coffee at Starbucks (Starbucks is the only place that always has soy milk) and sat by this fountain and watched people and talked for hours. I really never wanted to leave. It almost reminded me of the fountain in college where I used to go "study".

So, it's taking forever, but I am finally finding things about Dubai that I really like. The weather is finally cooling down and I'm also one step closer to getting my Resident Visa, which means nothing to me except, then I'll be able to get a car. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to do daily, little life tasks when you don't have a car! I mean, when's the last time you've tried to steal a grocery cart only to be caught at the exit and asked to return it... I think it took us 20 minutes to walk home, less than 1/2 a mile, and I'm not exaggerating. We were carrying a blender.... The other ridiculously annoying thing about Dubai is that we have no internet at home, the companies are supposedly fighting over who gets to supply internet to our building and it will all be settled in about two weeks. Right. Same story since mid-August and no progress has been made.

I'm also becoming a bit more confrontational in this town. A few weeks ago I had this small leak in my bathroom. The water was just dripping down, so I asked our building manager to have someone take a look at it. Three days later I had an AWFUL day at work, and by awful I mean worse than usual, they are all really, really, really bad. So I walk in ask if it's fixed yet, just like I had been doing every day, and he says yes. I grab my keys, say thank you and go up to my apartment. I walk in and hear this sound, so I go to the bathroom and there is literally water pouring out from the bathroom and into my bedroom. I just stared at it for a second and then went out to the other room and called a friend of mine and told him he had to come up right that second. He comes up and he just looked at me, he knew I'd had a horrible day at work, and then I just walked him back to the bathroom. He immediately asked if they were coming up to fix it, of course I hadn't bothered to tell them yet.... Instead, I let the water run all over while I opened my last bottle of wine and poured myself a glass. Even though it was Ramadan, I had my glass in hand and instead of being nice at all, I went down there screaming like a crazy person and he says he'll send up someone to fix it. The security guard shows up, apparently he is also the plumber, with some guy, they look at it, move the ceiling tiles around and then turn off the water. They leave my apartment an absolute mess with water everywhere, mud from their shoes etc. I go back down and am again, screaming at the building manager that he needs to have someone come and mop up the water, clean my floors and oh, I don't know, get my water turned back on? He says no, the cleaners have left, you'll need to do that yourself ma'am. I think I said something along the lines of "I don't care if you are personally mopping up my floors with your own clothes, I expect that somebody is up there to clean this up right now." Then I stormed off. Again, the security guard is apparently also the cleaner, he showed up and miraculously found a mop, bucket and was able to clean it all up. My friend's comment was only, uh, for tonight, you're on suicide watch. Within days.... I had my water back. Nice. I hope when I get home I am able to remember that you can actually ask for things to get done and they do, as opposed to this constant bantering that seems to be normal here, acutally, not only normal, but expected....

Ahhhh, the joys of living abroad.