I am shocked to realise that it has been nearly a month since I last posted! I don't know where November has gone. It's just disappeared amongst a raft of events and work. So I'll try to work chronologically, albeit backwards.
This weekend sees me home sick, resting up for the big week next week - UAE National Day. We get a long weekend of five days so I'm looking forward to that. I'm not going anywhere, just staying at home and enjoying the wonderful weather, beaches and pools that are on offer.
I've had the last two days off work, initially diagnosed as pharangitis by the Dr. The usual rigmarole of having to return to the Dr each day for a sick note is still in force. Having no voice is a pain but I can still communicate via text messages and internet. What ever did we do before all this social media? I'm sure my time was used much more wisely and not wasted as it is now.
Anyway back to my Dr visit after work Tuesday. I tried to explain that I was very sick with a temperature but she assured me it was viral but did write a prescription for panadol, throat lozenges and antibiotics (not to be used for 48 hours as she was certain I wouldn't need them). As I filled the prescription I realised the antibiotics were the ones that kept me awake all night so instead of getting better I'd spend a week without sleep and try to drag myself out of bed at 5am to get ready for work. Hoping I wouldn't need them, but sure I would I limped home to bed, took a panadol and slept.
By this time my throat was throbbing. I couldn't drink, eat, talk, swallow or hardly breathe. Waking several times during the night to try and force down water or lemonade I knew I'd need those antibiotics. Still I resisted and rested up all the next day. The pain had eased and I could eat and drink but not talk. Another night saw me coughing up muck and feeling really lousy. So another visit back to the Dr for another sick note and different antibiotics. I'm sure I never used to feel so crappy on antibiotics as I do nowadays but they are into my system and hopefully working. I was in bed at 6.30pm last night and it was a struggle to stay up that late. So this weekend will be rest and recovery.
Work is keeping me busy and I finally have my full quota of teachers. Not bad three weeks out from the end of a 16 week term! I sometimes wonder how schools are supposed to operate efficiently (LOL) without basic neccessities such as teachers, paper and other equipment that we consider classroom basics.
National Day celebrations at our school were moved forward from December 1st to yesterday as so much money had been spent that they wanted to ensure all the students were there and not away on holiday as most will be Sunday. Unfortunately I missed them so didn't get to see all the fuss and entertainment. They sure know how to put on a party here. Luckily I have the big one to look forward to next week where the country goes all out.
Last weekend I finally got to visit Sadiyatt Beach on Sadiyatt Island. It's just over the bridge from where I live on Reem Island but since the beach opened to the public I've never been there. It cost 25AED to get in, another 50AED to get a sun lounger & umbrella. Of course I needed the umbrella as I didn't want to be out in the sun all afternoon so splurged on it all. A nice man carried my chilly bag down to our chairs by the beach front (lucky for us someone just left) and swept the sand off for me. I know for next time to take my own padding for the chair as it wasn't that comfortable. My friend had hers so learning. The water had waves, it's direct into the Gulf, but wasn't as warm as I'd expected. I don't swim in the sea much here due to the hassle of getting parking etc and I have the most wonderful pool downstairs.
As it was my birthday weekend I had a big weekend planned and the beach capped it off nicely on Saturday. Friday night saw me meeting a group of kiwi friends down at the beer garden for a quiet one and some fish and chips. They are the only place that does decent feesh and cheeps here (that's how the waiter said it). The beer garden was under reconstruction last time I was there and now boasts a much larger seating area.
I discovered that the bar ' Whakataua' is now open to the beach and we spent a long time sitting on bean bags, sipping cocktails and staring up at the stars. It was such a relaxing atmosphere listening to the female DJ who played just the right sort of chillax sounds until midnight. As a bonus the (very young) frenchman on the bean bag next to me added to the entertainment!
(Apologies as my typing is useless today, not sure if it's me or the keyboard but hopefully I've caught all the mistakes.)
Thursday night saw me at the 'British Club', an exclusive establishment that harks back to the days when Britian ruled the waves in the Gulf. My friend belongs so gave me a ticket for a Motown revival show for my birthday. It's great that the boy has his licence and is able to drive and drop me at events. The plus side for him is that he then gets the car for the night!
Oh, what a night! The two guys in the group were fantastic. We were first up dancing alone on the wooden dancefloor down on the sand. And yes, the 2nd song was the Drifters, 'The Boardwalk'. These guys had spent 15 years between them on the Drifters circuit and had all the old moves and voices! The crowd was well aged and well licqoured. I danced the night away and we were among the very last to leave. As always at events here, you meet the most interesting people and a couple at our table live in the same building as me.
The week before the same friend and I went to the Abu Dhabi Golf Club (another of those establishments) for a Queen revival show. Talk about high energy! The band didn't stop, neither did we with the dancing.
This new friend loves to dance as much as I do. It's funny how people come into your life. The saying that some come for a reason, some for a season, and some for a lifetime, sure fits here.
This particular woman is the mother of a lovely young lady who spends a lot of time at our house with Mr 19. The mum is English, father Turkish so the United Nations theme continues with Turkish often spoken. I haven't met the dad yet but he arrived last night from Nepal where he was guiding a tour group so hopefully I'll meet him soon. Mr 19 visited their home in Istanbul over the summer holidays.
That same week I received an amazing email. One of those 'Once in a lifetime' emails!
Many months ago, so long ago in fact that I'd forgotten about it, I'd applied for the ballot to get tickets to Gallipoli for the 100 year commerations. As I was applying I put in one for the boy as well. In due course I got a response to say that I'd been unsuccessful but the boy was on the wait list. Life went on and as I say, forgot all about it.
Imagine my surprise when I opened my email and read that he'd got two tickets from the wait list! I read, then reread, then read again as I couldn't believe my eyes. Talk about jump for joy! I was so excited. It was luck that I even read the email as it was from Ticketex in NZ and I get heaps of junk email here for all the concerts so I just thought it was another promotion. Wow!!!!
So then began the frantic purchasing of flights and a tour for the actual day. Little did I know that you had to be on a tour but as the penisular will be closed to all but ticket holders they are only letting tour companies take you in. So I spent a long time researching tour companies, looking at flights. And you guessed it, all flights from here to Turkey were ridiculously expensive for that date. And it's not holidays for us so I will have to take a couple of days of unpaid leave. So flights were purchased on Yugoslav Airlines via Belgrade then on to Istanbul, arriving Thursday 23rd afternoon. An overnight tour leaving at 8am from Istanbul and returning late the next night was purchased. We fly home on the afternoon of the 26th with a long wait in Belgrade and arrive back here at 6am the next day. Oh well, the joys of travel. So it'll be direct to work from the airport. Did I say how excited I am????
I called in help from the Turkish tour guide but he was unavailable in Nepal. He has spent years leading tours to Gallipoli but doesn't do them now and said most of his friends weren't next year as it would be chaos. So I went ahead and booked anyway as there is an expiry date to have all your information in. Now I just wait until they issue us the tickets...
The beginning of November say me at the inagural Abu Dhabi Taste Festival which reminded me a lot of the wine festival back in Blenheim, minus the wine. Although, having said that, there was Marlborough wine on sale! But mostly it was beer. Once again the music was amazing and it was the start of a dance fest month for me with Frankie Vallie band playing.
The weekend before saw me meeting up with a group of new kiwis here for ladies night on Halloween. The old and the new kiwis had a few drinks (all vodka based for the ladies) and I had no idea there were so many different flavours of vodka.
Upon leaving I was very pleased to see that my driver had left my car out for me...
This weekend sees me home sick, resting up for the big week next week - UAE National Day. We get a long weekend of five days so I'm looking forward to that. I'm not going anywhere, just staying at home and enjoying the wonderful weather, beaches and pools that are on offer.
I've had the last two days off work, initially diagnosed as pharangitis by the Dr. The usual rigmarole of having to return to the Dr each day for a sick note is still in force. Having no voice is a pain but I can still communicate via text messages and internet. What ever did we do before all this social media? I'm sure my time was used much more wisely and not wasted as it is now.
Anyway back to my Dr visit after work Tuesday. I tried to explain that I was very sick with a temperature but she assured me it was viral but did write a prescription for panadol, throat lozenges and antibiotics (not to be used for 48 hours as she was certain I wouldn't need them). As I filled the prescription I realised the antibiotics were the ones that kept me awake all night so instead of getting better I'd spend a week without sleep and try to drag myself out of bed at 5am to get ready for work. Hoping I wouldn't need them, but sure I would I limped home to bed, took a panadol and slept.
By this time my throat was throbbing. I couldn't drink, eat, talk, swallow or hardly breathe. Waking several times during the night to try and force down water or lemonade I knew I'd need those antibiotics. Still I resisted and rested up all the next day. The pain had eased and I could eat and drink but not talk. Another night saw me coughing up muck and feeling really lousy. So another visit back to the Dr for another sick note and different antibiotics. I'm sure I never used to feel so crappy on antibiotics as I do nowadays but they are into my system and hopefully working. I was in bed at 6.30pm last night and it was a struggle to stay up that late. So this weekend will be rest and recovery.
Work is keeping me busy and I finally have my full quota of teachers. Not bad three weeks out from the end of a 16 week term! I sometimes wonder how schools are supposed to operate efficiently (LOL) without basic neccessities such as teachers, paper and other equipment that we consider classroom basics.
National Day celebrations at our school were moved forward from December 1st to yesterday as so much money had been spent that they wanted to ensure all the students were there and not away on holiday as most will be Sunday. Unfortunately I missed them so didn't get to see all the fuss and entertainment. They sure know how to put on a party here. Luckily I have the big one to look forward to next week where the country goes all out.
Last weekend I finally got to visit Sadiyatt Beach on Sadiyatt Island. It's just over the bridge from where I live on Reem Island but since the beach opened to the public I've never been there. It cost 25AED to get in, another 50AED to get a sun lounger & umbrella. Of course I needed the umbrella as I didn't want to be out in the sun all afternoon so splurged on it all. A nice man carried my chilly bag down to our chairs by the beach front (lucky for us someone just left) and swept the sand off for me. I know for next time to take my own padding for the chair as it wasn't that comfortable. My friend had hers so learning. The water had waves, it's direct into the Gulf, but wasn't as warm as I'd expected. I don't swim in the sea much here due to the hassle of getting parking etc and I have the most wonderful pool downstairs.
As it was my birthday weekend I had a big weekend planned and the beach capped it off nicely on Saturday. Friday night saw me meeting a group of kiwi friends down at the beer garden for a quiet one and some fish and chips. They are the only place that does decent feesh and cheeps here (that's how the waiter said it). The beer garden was under reconstruction last time I was there and now boasts a much larger seating area.
I discovered that the bar ' Whakataua' is now open to the beach and we spent a long time sitting on bean bags, sipping cocktails and staring up at the stars. It was such a relaxing atmosphere listening to the female DJ who played just the right sort of chillax sounds until midnight. As a bonus the (very young) frenchman on the bean bag next to me added to the entertainment!
(Apologies as my typing is useless today, not sure if it's me or the keyboard but hopefully I've caught all the mistakes.)
Thursday night saw me at the 'British Club', an exclusive establishment that harks back to the days when Britian ruled the waves in the Gulf. My friend belongs so gave me a ticket for a Motown revival show for my birthday. It's great that the boy has his licence and is able to drive and drop me at events. The plus side for him is that he then gets the car for the night!
Oh, what a night! The two guys in the group were fantastic. We were first up dancing alone on the wooden dancefloor down on the sand. And yes, the 2nd song was the Drifters, 'The Boardwalk'. These guys had spent 15 years between them on the Drifters circuit and had all the old moves and voices! The crowd was well aged and well licqoured. I danced the night away and we were among the very last to leave. As always at events here, you meet the most interesting people and a couple at our table live in the same building as me.
The week before the same friend and I went to the Abu Dhabi Golf Club (another of those establishments) for a Queen revival show. Talk about high energy! The band didn't stop, neither did we with the dancing.
This new friend loves to dance as much as I do. It's funny how people come into your life. The saying that some come for a reason, some for a season, and some for a lifetime, sure fits here.
This particular woman is the mother of a lovely young lady who spends a lot of time at our house with Mr 19. The mum is English, father Turkish so the United Nations theme continues with Turkish often spoken. I haven't met the dad yet but he arrived last night from Nepal where he was guiding a tour group so hopefully I'll meet him soon. Mr 19 visited their home in Istanbul over the summer holidays.
That same week I received an amazing email. One of those 'Once in a lifetime' emails!
Many months ago, so long ago in fact that I'd forgotten about it, I'd applied for the ballot to get tickets to Gallipoli for the 100 year commerations. As I was applying I put in one for the boy as well. In due course I got a response to say that I'd been unsuccessful but the boy was on the wait list. Life went on and as I say, forgot all about it.
Imagine my surprise when I opened my email and read that he'd got two tickets from the wait list! I read, then reread, then read again as I couldn't believe my eyes. Talk about jump for joy! I was so excited. It was luck that I even read the email as it was from Ticketex in NZ and I get heaps of junk email here for all the concerts so I just thought it was another promotion. Wow!!!!
So then began the frantic purchasing of flights and a tour for the actual day. Little did I know that you had to be on a tour but as the penisular will be closed to all but ticket holders they are only letting tour companies take you in. So I spent a long time researching tour companies, looking at flights. And you guessed it, all flights from here to Turkey were ridiculously expensive for that date. And it's not holidays for us so I will have to take a couple of days of unpaid leave. So flights were purchased on Yugoslav Airlines via Belgrade then on to Istanbul, arriving Thursday 23rd afternoon. An overnight tour leaving at 8am from Istanbul and returning late the next night was purchased. We fly home on the afternoon of the 26th with a long wait in Belgrade and arrive back here at 6am the next day. Oh well, the joys of travel. So it'll be direct to work from the airport. Did I say how excited I am????
I called in help from the Turkish tour guide but he was unavailable in Nepal. He has spent years leading tours to Gallipoli but doesn't do them now and said most of his friends weren't next year as it would be chaos. So I went ahead and booked anyway as there is an expiry date to have all your information in. Now I just wait until they issue us the tickets...
The beginning of November say me at the inagural Abu Dhabi Taste Festival which reminded me a lot of the wine festival back in Blenheim, minus the wine. Although, having said that, there was Marlborough wine on sale! But mostly it was beer. Once again the music was amazing and it was the start of a dance fest month for me with Frankie Vallie band playing.
The weekend before saw me meeting up with a group of new kiwis here for ladies night on Halloween. The old and the new kiwis had a few drinks (all vodka based for the ladies) and I had no idea there were so many different flavours of vodka.
Upon leaving I was very pleased to see that my driver had left my car out for me...
It's a tough life here but someone has to do it!
