Nearly back to school.
I’ve been slack on blogging during the two month holiday break but have started typing up my travel blog from Switzerland so keep an eye out for those instalments as they come online. Although I started yesterday I’m less than half way through the first day. So much to say. I think I thought I was writing a travel blog for lonely planet but was in fact trying to capture every detail so my family could visualise it, especially my Dad who I know would have loved every minute of it.
With our swimming pools being closed over the holiday break for ongoing tile replacement (why they can’t just do a decent job once I’ll never understand) the swimming has been hit and miss.
Currently the infinity pool is closed and the lap pool is open. To accommodate everyone’s needs the hours are as follows: lap swimming 6-7am; cleaning 7-9am; families 9am-7pm; lap swimming 7pm-10pm. Sounds good in theory but I am not up at 6am during the holidays.
The other night I went down to the lap pool at the appointed hour to do some laps. There were 16 people in there, mostly men. I began swimming. Then some other jerk, yes jerk, began to swim in ‘my’ lane and I had to keep stopping and looking up while swimming. After a couple of lanes I stopped and told the lifeguard, “This is crazy!” I was pretty annoyed and got out in a huff and went inside and told the receptionist what I thought of the whole system of not having any lane ropes in the pool! These arrogant Arab men mostly can’t swim anyway so it’s doubly annoying. And they certainly wouldn’t be getting out of a woman’s way. The serious swimmers here have been asking for lane ropes for a year at least, never enough in the budget to do it but they must have had about three budgets by now.
So now I’ve worked out if I head down at 9am immediately after cleaning I can get in my 12-14 laps before the non-swimmers arrive. Then it’s time for a short dose of sun to get my Vitamin D before heading back upstairs for breakfast, usually porridge and a cup of tea. This morning I followed with some time in the jaccuzi to relax my back muscles although it’s never hot enough to do a good job. I feel a massage coming on and luckily I bought a ‘Groupon’ for just such an eventuality.
I’ve noticed the not swimming on my waist line so need to get back into it regularly. So much for buying that bikini! I have been going to the gym in fits and starts (not my forte) and biking, treadmill then some light weights on my shoulders and arms. My shoulder still pains me so it’s important with all the swimming that I do the reverse exercise to strengthen the back muscles. I much prefer walking outdoors and as the temperature cools will look forward to more of that.
It’s entertaining to watch the ‘newbies’ arrive here, particularly at our buildings as they are so high and unique. This morning a group of Filipinos were wandering around taking photos. I wonder if they are our new set of lifeguards as they change them every six months. Not many Filipinos live here unless they are maids and they don’t use the facilities other than with their hordes of charges running wild.
I’ve set myself up a small office area in the lounge so now have my laptop, printer, desk, chair, drawers and files all ready to use. Having two laptops has been a godsend and the teenager has the big desk and office chair in his room, in anticipation of all the homework to start in another week!!!! Well, that’s my version.
In preparation for the return to school I’ve had my hair cut, the pre-requisite waxing done and eyebrows & eyelashes tinted. Now there’s only a massage, nails, then organise to rent a car and I’m done. I haven’t bought any new clothes as I’m not sure what I’ll wear yet. As my new school is further out in the desert I’ll wait and suss out the dress code before spending any money to update my wardrobe. I’m not sure if the house dresses I wore in town will be appropriate out there as the locals wear them under an abaya whereas I don’t.
I had considered buying a car which is a better option if you are here long term. During Ramadan they supposedly have good specials but I didn’t think they were very good so wasn’t too tempted. Also you need to put up 20% deposit and that would eat into my school fee money that I’ve managed to put aside over the summer. Another factor is that our employer terminated quite a number of contracts at the last week of term and if you have a loan it’s very difficult to leave here, hence the high number of ‘runners’ who leave without paying their debts.
On the school fee note - already the school has sent an email to remind us that fees are due the first day of school - AED 23500 for the first term. So, pricey to have your kids in school here if you are an expat. Most jobs cover a major portion of the fees but our employer doesn’t yet we are here teaching their kids. One of my gripes while here...
I’ve been slack on blogging during the two month holiday break but have started typing up my travel blog from Switzerland so keep an eye out for those instalments as they come online. Although I started yesterday I’m less than half way through the first day. So much to say. I think I thought I was writing a travel blog for lonely planet but was in fact trying to capture every detail so my family could visualise it, especially my Dad who I know would have loved every minute of it.
With our swimming pools being closed over the holiday break for ongoing tile replacement (why they can’t just do a decent job once I’ll never understand) the swimming has been hit and miss.
Currently the infinity pool is closed and the lap pool is open. To accommodate everyone’s needs the hours are as follows: lap swimming 6-7am; cleaning 7-9am; families 9am-7pm; lap swimming 7pm-10pm. Sounds good in theory but I am not up at 6am during the holidays.
The other night I went down to the lap pool at the appointed hour to do some laps. There were 16 people in there, mostly men. I began swimming. Then some other jerk, yes jerk, began to swim in ‘my’ lane and I had to keep stopping and looking up while swimming. After a couple of lanes I stopped and told the lifeguard, “This is crazy!” I was pretty annoyed and got out in a huff and went inside and told the receptionist what I thought of the whole system of not having any lane ropes in the pool! These arrogant Arab men mostly can’t swim anyway so it’s doubly annoying. And they certainly wouldn’t be getting out of a woman’s way. The serious swimmers here have been asking for lane ropes for a year at least, never enough in the budget to do it but they must have had about three budgets by now.
So now I’ve worked out if I head down at 9am immediately after cleaning I can get in my 12-14 laps before the non-swimmers arrive. Then it’s time for a short dose of sun to get my Vitamin D before heading back upstairs for breakfast, usually porridge and a cup of tea. This morning I followed with some time in the jaccuzi to relax my back muscles although it’s never hot enough to do a good job. I feel a massage coming on and luckily I bought a ‘Groupon’ for just such an eventuality.
I’ve noticed the not swimming on my waist line so need to get back into it regularly. So much for buying that bikini! I have been going to the gym in fits and starts (not my forte) and biking, treadmill then some light weights on my shoulders and arms. My shoulder still pains me so it’s important with all the swimming that I do the reverse exercise to strengthen the back muscles. I much prefer walking outdoors and as the temperature cools will look forward to more of that.
It’s entertaining to watch the ‘newbies’ arrive here, particularly at our buildings as they are so high and unique. This morning a group of Filipinos were wandering around taking photos. I wonder if they are our new set of lifeguards as they change them every six months. Not many Filipinos live here unless they are maids and they don’t use the facilities other than with their hordes of charges running wild.
I’ve set myself up a small office area in the lounge so now have my laptop, printer, desk, chair, drawers and files all ready to use. Having two laptops has been a godsend and the teenager has the big desk and office chair in his room, in anticipation of all the homework to start in another week!!!! Well, that’s my version.
In preparation for the return to school I’ve had my hair cut, the pre-requisite waxing done and eyebrows & eyelashes tinted. Now there’s only a massage, nails, then organise to rent a car and I’m done. I haven’t bought any new clothes as I’m not sure what I’ll wear yet. As my new school is further out in the desert I’ll wait and suss out the dress code before spending any money to update my wardrobe. I’m not sure if the house dresses I wore in town will be appropriate out there as the locals wear them under an abaya whereas I don’t.
I had considered buying a car which is a better option if you are here long term. During Ramadan they supposedly have good specials but I didn’t think they were very good so wasn’t too tempted. Also you need to put up 20% deposit and that would eat into my school fee money that I’ve managed to put aside over the summer. Another factor is that our employer terminated quite a number of contracts at the last week of term and if you have a loan it’s very difficult to leave here, hence the high number of ‘runners’ who leave without paying their debts.
On the school fee note - already the school has sent an email to remind us that fees are due the first day of school - AED 23500 for the first term. So, pricey to have your kids in school here if you are an expat. Most jobs cover a major portion of the fees but our employer doesn’t yet we are here teaching their kids. One of my gripes while here...
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