Ok here goes....
LOSER MOMENT OF MY LIFE IN DUBAI SO FAR-I thought today was Tuesday not Monday because the work week here is Sunday to Thursday; went to a meeting of the American Women's Association of Dubai in Jumeirah Islands to make the acquaintance of other expats and instead only met one gracious woman named Michelle who is hosting the event....TOMORROW. At least I know how to get out there to her house and will not spend a small fortune on a taxi again! She 's nice too and lived in DC...we swapped stories.
(Other loser moment....GI Jane was on the FoxMovie Channel this morning and I caught the opening credits....a long shot up the Potomac to end gracefully on the Kennedy Center and the Watergate...and my eyes welled with tears. Thank God I didn't blink; the Great Lash mascara would have run for sure!)
I walk through the Mall of the Emirates to get to work. Yeah, the Mall. And its the largest one. And I want to shop but I can't so I just pine.
I caved last night and went to Pizza Pizza and got a delicious Quattro Formaggi pizza and it WAS SO BLOODY GOOD! Especially with a Schweppes Ginger Beer, the closest thing to beer I can get unless I go to a hotel bar...
Subway, Costa Coffee, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, KFC, Starbucks....all places that each time I see, its like watching a dog walk on its hind legs...really cool and weird. If I see a Taco Bell I might have a small heart attack!
I was told there was green here but the golf course doesn't count because I DON"T GOLF!
There are so many buildings here that due to the market crisis, are left standing unfinished....for more than a year now...so anyone who thinks or says that Dubai is prosperous and fabulously luxurious only watches Keeping Up with the Kardashian's...
This place is better when you have people around you that you know...like my friend Shoaib. He beat a path outta town to go hob knob with the Ambassador to the EU Commission in Islamabad and I am still trying to get to know people to share adventures with....like finding Lulu's; the Middle East's answer to a Super Target. It was a defining moment much better enjoyed had I been with another person I know well who could laugh at my awe of the place. (BTW-Don't go to Carrefour here or anywhere else unless you are desperate....its like a bad KMart, not that any are good.)
Men stare as much here as they do in the US (and that's not me being egotistical and vain....I could have warts all over my face and be dressed in sweats and tennis shoes but I don't cover myself head to toe so they stare.) Somehow its not as lascivious as when Hispanic men do it though. It feels more like a bit of awe then 'I am going to stare at you until my Superman x-ray vision powers kick in so I can see what you look like underneath all those clothes'; my lady friends in DC know what I am talking about!
I still have not been to the beach; see for those that don't traverse Google Earth to really get a view, there is a huge freeway, Sheikh Zayed Rd. and then loads of prime developed desert to drive through before the coastline comes into view. And from the street you can only longingly see the Burj Al Arab Hotel (the sailboat hotel) because the side closest to the beach front has huge billboards all along it, masking the desert properties from view. So its not as glamorous unless you are in those places and who can afford them...maybe the former CEO of Blackstone? I think he is hiding out in Abu Dhabi, right?
Alright here is the pic du jour....of course I have others on my actual camera but at the moment I am working from my phone so....meanwhile, see that sand. Its EVERYWHERE!
What's next?
LOSER MOMENT OF MY LIFE IN DUBAI SO FAR-I thought today was Tuesday not Monday because the work week here is Sunday to Thursday; went to a meeting of the American Women's Association of Dubai in Jumeirah Islands to make the acquaintance of other expats and instead only met one gracious woman named Michelle who is hosting the event....TOMORROW. At least I know how to get out there to her house and will not spend a small fortune on a taxi again! She 's nice too and lived in DC...we swapped stories.
(Other loser moment....GI Jane was on the FoxMovie Channel this morning and I caught the opening credits....a long shot up the Potomac to end gracefully on the Kennedy Center and the Watergate...and my eyes welled with tears. Thank God I didn't blink; the Great Lash mascara would have run for sure!)
I walk through the Mall of the Emirates to get to work. Yeah, the Mall. And its the largest one. And I want to shop but I can't so I just pine.
I caved last night and went to Pizza Pizza and got a delicious Quattro Formaggi pizza and it WAS SO BLOODY GOOD! Especially with a Schweppes Ginger Beer, the closest thing to beer I can get unless I go to a hotel bar...
Subway, Costa Coffee, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, KFC, Starbucks....all places that each time I see, its like watching a dog walk on its hind legs...really cool and weird. If I see a Taco Bell I might have a small heart attack!
I was told there was green here but the golf course doesn't count because I DON"T GOLF!
There are so many buildings here that due to the market crisis, are left standing unfinished....for more than a year now...so anyone who thinks or says that Dubai is prosperous and fabulously luxurious only watches Keeping Up with the Kardashian's...
This place is better when you have people around you that you know...like my friend Shoaib. He beat a path outta town to go hob knob with the Ambassador to the EU Commission in Islamabad and I am still trying to get to know people to share adventures with....like finding Lulu's; the Middle East's answer to a Super Target. It was a defining moment much better enjoyed had I been with another person I know well who could laugh at my awe of the place. (BTW-Don't go to Carrefour here or anywhere else unless you are desperate....its like a bad KMart, not that any are good.)
Men stare as much here as they do in the US (and that's not me being egotistical and vain....I could have warts all over my face and be dressed in sweats and tennis shoes but I don't cover myself head to toe so they stare.) Somehow its not as lascivious as when Hispanic men do it though. It feels more like a bit of awe then 'I am going to stare at you until my Superman x-ray vision powers kick in so I can see what you look like underneath all those clothes'; my lady friends in DC know what I am talking about!
I still have not been to the beach; see for those that don't traverse Google Earth to really get a view, there is a huge freeway, Sheikh Zayed Rd. and then loads of prime developed desert to drive through before the coastline comes into view. And from the street you can only longingly see the Burj Al Arab Hotel (the sailboat hotel) because the side closest to the beach front has huge billboards all along it, masking the desert properties from view. So its not as glamorous unless you are in those places and who can afford them...maybe the former CEO of Blackstone? I think he is hiding out in Abu Dhabi, right?
What's next?
1 comment:
home sickness does kick in when u are away, i know :(
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