Dreams Do Come True

Hopeless romantic is a term I have used many times to describe myself. As those who knew me as a teen would agree I would watch all the sappy love story movies and shows and wish that life was like a fairy tale or romantic movie. 

A few years ago a movie called Under the Tuscan Sun was added to my dvd collection that is less than 20 movies deep. I don't remember why I have it, or if it was one my mom had, but now it is mine. 

One of my favorite scenes is when the main character played by Diane Lane is reminded that all the things she wanted have come to pass... a house full of love, etc, even though they weren't in the form she might have thought. 

Once upon a time, in a land far away, a young (ahem) lady wished to have a kitchen in which to cook lovely homemade meals and someone to cook for. She longed for a view out her window that looked down on the city lights and out onto water. Her dreams and wishes for living on an island with friends were grand and her pocket book meager as she searched for an affordable home on the Texas coast. 

Being a social creature who enjoyed having someone to share a home. She thought it would be so nice to not have to eat alone and such a relief it would be to share her daily grind with someone at the end of the day. 

Lo and behold, just as she was giving up hope of anything coming of all her dreams, as they felt more than an arms length out of reach, her life changed. 

In what felt like a whirlwind romance, she was scooped up and moved to a land far away to work in the vocation of her life's calling. 

The home she was provided is on the 5th floor of the only two high rise buildings on a small island in the Arabian Gulf. Because of a housing shortage, all her compadres and coworkers would have to share housing, so she openly accepted a room mate who has turned out to be a blessing in disguise. 

Each day she comes home to a wonderful home with a view of the water, and looks out over the small town on a small island. The water view and the sea breeze take her breath away and calm her senses as she watches the sun set and the lights glisten in the night sky. 

Twice a week she cooks in her small but efficient kitchen for at least 3 people and sometimes up to 10 for the Dinner Club she started. 

On the weekend a drive to the beach and some time to read and relax are great therapy and help her ready herself for another week. 

She works hard, she listens to her room mates woes and triumphs and shares her own, and she enjoys her time with friends. 

She knows that no matter what comes next, if she makes the list, and puts the thought out there, there isn't anything that can stop her from living life happily ever after. 

It may not look exactly like I envisioned, but small details have to be added to the list to make it more exact... and the future ones for 2012 will have more details. I can't wait to see the results. 

How would you...

explain to someone who speaks limited English and is the UAE what Tulle is, because you want some for a display project?

describe a ribeye steak and what part of the "cow" (for lack of a word) that is...and how big you want it in kg instead of oz?

explain why you drink coffee in the morning after you get to work because it helps you wake up?

It seems they only drink when eating.

and a plethora of other ways to communicate in a different culture come to mind... these are only the ones from the last 30 minutes...


And...

why do I wonder why I am so tired at the end of the day... lol 

Eid Mubarak!

                                                                                                                                                                                   For Eid, a national religious holiday allowing me 3 extra days off this week, a trip to become more familiar with my surroundings was in order.
First stop, Abu Dhabi, a 5+ hour trip from home, for simple things, like a hair appointment and a splurge of a dinner and movie out on the town. Bright and early the next day, a drive north ( I think, I am so turned around having a coast line on the North side of the country and yet I look out my flat window to the south and see the marina) to Dubai. Surreal is the best word I can think of to describe the current of excitement running through me as the realization of what was ahead and how it seemed like a dream far from the reality I would have ever imagined for myself.
After two days of enjoying the sights, and barely scratching the surface of all the city has to offer, the road was before me again.
The second stop, Madinet Zayed to spend time with friends and see the sights of Liwa. As we drove down the street right behind her villa, through the bushes by the road we spotted camels and their keeper. A great photo op. On up the road we drove to where the camel races are held and an oasis of a hotel provided more ops for great shots. Then the red sands of Liwa. An amazingly overcast day with occasional sprinkles from the sky, good friends, new friends, and an adventuresome spirit created a wonderful experience to be remembered always. On the road less traveled back to the ferry port, time was taken to contemplate what brought me here... it couldn't be any better if it was a dream.

Still pinching myself even though I don't want to wake up.

Pumpkin Carving Party

Big J, and his bride, invited me to such a party one year, right after my mother died. I was reluctant to go, but at the same time, knew I should get out rather than moping around the house.
Not knowing what to expect, due to their son being one of my small charges during the week, I took some sodas, or cokes, or as they say for anything carbonated in the UAE, pepsi(s) and my favorite coconut flavored spirit... just in case.
It was a blast. There were small children there, but all the adults were indulging in the holiday spirit as well. It was good for me to get out.
Scary pumpkin faces all around.
Funny pumpkin faces were too.
Carving tools, messy guts, children laughing, adults having fun. It was a fun time and a tradition I chose to adopt, even if I couldn't be there with them for it.
So, Friday night, a small group of us gathered to enjoy our own party.
Pumpkins, as I know them, are hard to come by in the UAE. But don't doubt if I found one, even though it cost more than if I had bought 10 of them at home. (The saved seeds will grow many pumpkins for next year)
No fancy carving tools, no patterns other than what I could see on the computer screen and a little while later there was a jack-o-lantern on the table.
Looking evil, I was told he was.
Named him Darth Vader after my favorite pun'kin carving partner, Lil' J.

I have often wondered why I have really enjoyed this new tradition more than any other holiday and last night I figured it out. It is a new one, with no memories of past ones with my mother.
Having always loved the holidays, I hope to make new traditions and enjoy them once again... in this year and the next few.

A Week in Pictures

Wrong, In All The Right Ways

What a day.
Blaming it on Solar Flares...
Yes, Yes I am.

Some days you are the windshield, some days you are the bug.

Today was a buggy day.
So after having a bowl of potato soup and cruising my favorite websites, I turned on the TV. Chose to channel surf today. Stopped on a couple of show channels and nothing caught my interest. So then I chose VH1 and Pink started Raising a Glass to me.
It truly was the beginning of a flash back.
When I was 19 or so, MTV came on for the first time. It was, of course, all the rage. There was Martha Quinn and all my favorite songs with outrageous videos (for the time).
The one night that is extremely memorable was spent watching MTV with Robert Lockwood at one of his friends house.
We had been to the Paramount Club in Amarillo TX, dancing and having fun. After the club closed, we went to his friend's house to hang out. I can even remember what I was wearing, black jeans, and a hot pink and black striped shirt that was a knit pullover, with a plunging V-neck and puffy-topped long sleeves.
I only knew Robert a few days before this night and a few days later he moved to Japan with a bunch of marines.
I have thought of him many times over the years and always wondered "what if"... man I really made a mistake in losing him...

And then the conversation I had with my son this afternoon came to mind. We joked about making all our mistakes early in life so we could have them out of the way and not worry about doing stupid things, or making mistakes that hurt others later in our lives.
It really made me laugh. I wish it were true. Life would be so much simpler if it was.
So, yeah... the universe is talking to me today, and apparently, my son and others in my life as well.

What is the universe showing you today?

oh and the title of the post is from "Raise Your Glass" by Pink. It is a really cool song and a great video. 

Something to Write About... Part Two

Friday morning, bright and early, my flat mate and I boarded the ferry boat bound for the mainland. We chose to travel early rather than rush on Thursday afternoon and drive 3 or more hours in heavy traffic to Abu Dhabi.
We chose wisely.
The ferry left on time and was not crowded at all. Less than a dozen cars and not many more people. We were two of five women on the boat. It is an easy calculation because women sit in a different area than men on the ferry. The water was beautiful, the sunrise divine.
The waves were a bit rougher than I have experienced before, but we figured it might be due to how light the boat was without a full load.
After docking in Jebel Dhana and making our way to the main highway, her phone rang. A co-worker on the ferry let us know the ferrys had been cancelled for the rest of the day because of the rough sea due to wind.
Wow, weren't we lucky to have made it to the main land before that decision was made? Well, that is debatable.
There is always a long list of places and items to find in Abu Dhabi and priorities have to be made. So we took care of several things on Friday, like the Teacher's Place, Spinney's Supermarket, the furniture store, checking into the hotel for the evening, visiting with friends and eating a great meal.
Spinney's is a great Ex-pat store with many brands from the states and a "must" visit before heading back to the island. So, actually it was a recon mission to see what they had for Halloween.
It was a wonderful day that found me stating how happy I was for two main reasons: one was our GPSR or SAT NAV as my flat mate calls it, is very up to date, has a sexy man voice and took us to a new Spinney's we hadn't been to. The other was the radio station we had on was playing great music.
We chose wisely.
Saturday morning found us sleeping a bit late and heading out to make a few new places and then to IKEA before heading back to the Ferry.

Before we even made it to our first stop, there was a text and phone call.
The ferry was not going to run all day because of high winds.
WHAT? We need to work tomorrow morning...
We can try to fly in on Saturday, but the two flights are over booked by 15 people each. The ferry in the morning is at 8:15 am and we would need to be closer to it or get up at 4 to drive in the wee hours.
Or we could stay in Abu Dhabi for a day and take the plane on Sunday and miss a day of work...
Hmmmm it was a crap shoot. Who knew what would work.
I had friends closer to the ferry we could stay with and that would alleviate the need to drive too far and give us a chance to have a decent night's sleep.
If the ferry did run, we would be at work by 10 and be able to just be "late" and not "absent".

After 2 hours of contemplation, we chose to try to make it to the ferry. Knowing that if it didn't run we would need to drive back to Abu Dhabi, a three hour drive, to try to catch the plane and leave our car at the airport.
So, at 6 am, we were up and driving to the Jebel Dhana. When we arrived at the ticket counter, we didn't even ask if the ferry was running, we just gave them our documents and money and waited.
Then, after some discussion about car registration, that had never come up before, we were handed our tickets... WHEW!
We chose wisely again....
Home by 10, and at work.

A lesson learned, don't assume the ferry will run just because it has every other time you were traveling off the island.

Something to Write About...

On the way to Abu Dhabi, my flatmate said
"We have gotten so comfortable and nothing much has been going on, so I don't have much to write home about."
UGH!!!
Don't say that! was my first thought.
It has become clear to me, that when you put the thought out there, it seems to come to pass...

Sure enough. We should be home by now, sleeping in our own beds. But NO...
we now have something to write about.

Unfortunately, I will have to wait til tomorrow to write... it is after 10 pm here
and I have been driving all day and trying to figure out the best way to get home, to my warm, cozy comfy bed.
Goodnight, until it be morrow. 

On the Road Again

Tomorrow morning, my flat mate and I are driving to Abu Dhabi. The ferry ride alone is an hour and a half. Then three more hours to the heart of the city.
Funny how I always want less of a commute somewhere, and I end up driving 200 miles anyway...
This time I am taking the camera and an extra battery.
The ferry leaves at 6 am, so hopefully some great early morning shots from the boat.
The Grand Mosque was lit up blue last time we were there, so I am hoping it is again and to get some night time shots as well.
We will be down on the Corniche to look for some school supplies, so a new area to explore.
It is a short 36 hour "getaway" but it will be good to not have a full schedule of things to take care of...
I will be happy if all I do is have a pedicure and take some photos.

oh and, btw, still don't have the ticket booked for the Winter Holiday and I tried today for 2 hours... ugh!!!

Murphy's Law

For as many years as I have not lived in the Texas Panhandle, it was a given where I would be on just about every school holiday. My boys and I would travel to see and spend time with my mother, whose nickname was Ya.
Having lost her to cancer two years ago, I haven't, or should I say, we haven't had a holiday, of any kind, that felt like a true holiday. Now having said that... the friends that have been so wonderful to have me join them for holidays need to know that I truly enjoyed them... they were just different.
This year, as amazing as it still seems... I am not in the US or now affectionately referred to as "the states", but on the other side of the world in, what seems at the moment as "the endless summer".
My co-workers ask on a regular basis "Are you going home for Christmas?" and I have vacillated back and forth. I want to go home AND I want to see the world while I am on another continent, and see other continents as well.
One friend is going to India and the trip looks amazing and affordable. I was contemplating it until I heard my own voice while talking to a friend about it... and I was saying how it looked amazing, esp. for a 15 day trip. I remember while on my trip to Turkey, where we rarely stayed "still" for a second and we had a few nights in a row in different cities, it felt like we were constantly moving with luggage in tow. So 15 nights, each in a different spot to sleep didn't sound fun to me...
Back to my original thought of going to Germany for the Christmas markets and then on to the states with a return flight at the end of the holiday. I priced it and it was a 500 dollar difference in flights, so that doesn't seem like a huge cost for a flight to Germany and much less expensive than a round trip ticket.

Today I received an email from Southwest Airlines for the lowest fares I have seen since....  I don't know when. So I clicked on the link... and it won't load.
I click on another link,.... and it won't load.
I google Southwest .com and ... you guessed it... it won't load...
so I watch a show and wait for lunch hour in the Central Time zone to be over... thinking they are just busy...
because, once I am in "the states" i.e. the GREAT STATE of TEXAS, I would like to fly to three cities, Lubbock, San Antonio and Corpus Christi and cheap flights would be wonderful, otherwise I might be renting a car and driving.
and now,
now that is late night here, (for me after 9 is late)
and after lunch in Texas,

yes, you guessed it....
the page won't load, and no matter what link I use, it ain't happening tonight...

Murphy's Law, I made a decision and now it isn't executable... well,
at least
Not Tonight

I will try again in the morning...
don't you dare buy up all the tickets before I get one...lol

Green Chiles? I don't need no stinkin' green chilies...

The island is a great place to find fresh fruit and vegetables, some of it is even grown here and not shipped in. However there are comfort food dishes I make that require some ingredients I haven't found on the island, or in Abu Dhabi.
You guessed... a small can of green chilies is a normal ingredient in a traditional family "Mexican Casserole" dish my mother taught me how to make.
Jumping up and down in the Hypermarket clapping my hands and squealing YES, YES, YES was probably the closest I have been to resembling Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally... and that was just over finding Old El Paso Red Enchilada Sauce. Of course, I would have preferred Hatch green enchilada sauce, but I knew that wasn't going to happen.
All of the other ingredients fell into place, even Tostito Rounds, which I paid a very pretty dirham for. In the end, it was worth it, and the casserole was tasty, as the empty bowls attest. It is great to have others over to dinner and have them enjoy the food. In the end, I used a can of Rotel, which had me doing the happy dance in the store aisle as well. (it truly is the "little things" that make life grand)
One of my dinner guests has been harping on me to take pictures of all the food I am making that is "western food" and not local food. I think I want to make some local dishes and learn some new recipes and take pictures of them.

Tonight, my flat mate and I went out to eat, because local food sounded good to me. An amazing dish with lentils, couscous (or a rice I don't know), pasta, chick peas, tomato sauce, fried onions, some other beans I don't know, and a spicy sauce. It is quite tasty, and a dish that could easily have fed 4 people. I also gambled on a dish that simply said "Spinach and Meat". A bottle of water to wash it all down and it was a grand total of 18 dirhams. If you calculate the exchange rate, I paid less than 5 USD for it. My camera was not in hand tonight, but next time it will be. 

Sunday Snippits

The Grand Mosque

Driving Miss Cindy

In the late 60's and early 70's my family traveled to Mexico several times a year. Well, at least once a year. A family of five in a four door Oldsmobile, or Ford Station Wagon, whichever we had at the time, with a poodle name Tommy, would trek across Texas to Piedras Negras, or Ciudad Acuna for a vacation South of the Border.
Many times we stayed in a motel with a two tone blue motif and a kidney shaped pool and a very dark cantina with tinted glass doors depicting a pink panther. It was a very enjoyable trip every time. Shopping in the market, buying silver charms for my charm bracelet and pressed metal trinkets, blankets, sandals, or whatever else caught our fancy.
At the time, I thought nothing of us driving across the border, nor did I give a thought to how narrow the streets were, much less how crowded. My Daddy just drove like it was no big deal. If he was nervous or worried, it didn't show to me.
We ate at local eateries, huevos rancheros and other local fare, visited a resort cantina with outside tables, huge olympic swimming pool with diving boards, high and low. The bar had animal heads and skins, including a snake skin the length of the bar and a full sized stuffed Grizzly bear. We never stayed there... so I don't know if they had hotel rooms or not, but I know we enjoyed exotic dinners outside, listened and danced to bands at the outside bandstand, and visited nearly every trip.
It seemed very normal at the time as something we "just" did. Now, it seems very magical and exotic compared to stories I hear from some others.
Many times since those early trips I have returned to the border towns of Mexico. One of the most memorable was when I was in college at San Angelo State and my mom drove down and we spent a few days in Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras. We were not brave enough to drive over, so we walked over and took a taxi back.
Another time, my last husband and children drove across and he was so nervous, I had to drive. It was then I realized and remembered the narrowness of the streets and craziness of the drivers. It was a short drive, parking and then driving back across the border after a day of shopping and eating. An educational experience for all.

This year I am in the UAE and so much of my experiences here are similar to the ones from trips to another country with my family. New foods, staying in the country and experiencing the culture... but also, now, driving in another country.
Last weekend, my partner teacher in the same grade level and I rented a car to drive in Abu Dhabi and back to our flat on Delma Island. There aren't many destinations we would need a car for, but the few we do have, are more easily traversed if we do have a vehicle with a motor and air conditioner. Early in our discussion of how we wanted things to go, it was decided I would drive and she would navigate... it worked out well.
As usual, the fear was greater than the reality. Riding with taxi drivers who drive like bats had me worried about the defensiveness needed as a driver. The crazy things I see other drivers do without concern had me thinking of what the traffic laws actually say, but driving in the UAE is not that difficult... most of the time.

As I drove the 3 hour drive from Abu Dhabi to our ferry to the Island we call home, my thoughts drifted to my daddy and what he would think of his little girl.... on the other side of the world, driving in a country that seems to have stood still in time for the last 40 years in so many ways, and what he would say.

He would smile this silly grin I see on my youngest son's face sometimes and in a happy voice "well look at you, young'un... when are you going to cross the equator too?" and of course he would ask if the beer here is different and warn me not to fall for any of the men.

Haven't seen a UAE beer and even though some of the men are attractive, I just keep driving along.

Very Long Day

At the end of the day
all that matters
is crisp, yet soft, white linens, caressing my freshly showered, tired yet exhilarated body, as I nestle in with a mountain of soft, downy pillows and fall asleep...
Doesn't really matter where you are in the world, you can still get so tired that you just want a familiar spot or reminder, to let you know this new life is not a dream.
Out my window is a nighttime scene that brings me peace and serenity.

The day started with a wake up call a mere 4 hours after my restless night began. Somewhere in the mix, there was last minute packing, saying goodbye to all the great people at the hotel I was leaving, boarding a bus for a 3 hour ride into the Western Region, pizza in desert, an informative meeting of what to expect over the next week. A lively dinner,  reasonably priced, with pool tables and darts... felt like home and that was a very good thing. A shower and sleep.
Today I will try out the pool and the beach.
There is so much less going on now, for a bit, I will write more often.