November, 2007

Dubai is starting to look and feel like a normal place- We have clouds in the sky, you can make out the horizon instead of just smog and dust, and the weather is perfect. Christmas lights are up along roads and in the malls. Even the Daily Show with John Stewart comes on now (albeit, episodes are from earlier in the year, so it's no longer relevant to the news). And hotel prices are through the roof now that we're in season. A few mornings in mid November, I would wake up for work and notice that my apartment was in limbo... I'd look out my balcony and see nothing, just white fog. The heavy fogs are amazing to look at from sky-scraper roof levels- the fog is so thick, but above it you can clearly see the other skyscrapers with the clearest views. The downside is that despite how uncomfortably hot the ocean water has been this summer, now it feels too cold to get in!!



So, to recap the last month- I went to Egypt at the end of October for a planning workshop. As I've recounted to many of you, Cairo was very old, dirty, and filled with people eager to take advantage of western generosity. I got ripped off so many times, and it really makes you feel so much less compassionate for other people. Even when I was flying out from the airport, the security guy looked at my passport and screamed out, "an American!" Instead of feeling warm and welcome, I felt like it was sounding the horns for the hounds. I've said I could never live there, just because I would have to be an aggressive, rude, and loud person just to stand my ground. I did get to take a day off and see the Cairo Museum and the pyramids and sphynx. That was the highlight of the trip, but the place was mobbed with scammers as well.



After Egypt, I went to Gainesville, Atlanta, and Florence. Gainesville was a lot of fun because I got to pick up with all my small group friends that I miss so much. Jen, Darren, and I managed to work in croquet, a run, a bike ride, and rummikub- all of which I have been unsuccessful at doing while in Dubai. I really miss Gainesville a lot, and it was strange to think that most of the people I love there will be moving on to someplace else by the time I would get to visit again. I was sad, but I can't be too upset considering I ran out on them first! The tough part about Gainesville was that I had a hard time adjusting to the timezone- I was completely out by 9:30 or 10:00 PM.



After Gainesville, I rented a car and drove to Atlanta- the actual reason I flew back to the states! I was honored to be Chad's best man in his wedding. Chad and I have been friends since we were 3 years old, and we still act like it some times. I am always amazed at how we create our inside jokes so quickly, and even after the visit, we have even more (mainly about me leaving behind important things at supercuts). It was a catholic wedding, and so we had to bow whenever we walked by the crucifix (I forgot twice), and Cathy had me read from the apocrypha. It really was a stress-free wedding, mainly because Chad and Cathy have been together for so long already, but also because Chad and I played a lot of violent Nintendo wii leading up to the ceremony. It was very hard to leave Atlanta, just as it was hard to leave Gainesville.



After the wedding, I got to go home to Florence with my parents for a few days. It was fun to go to church and see family and old friends. And it was great to just enjoy being lazy around the house and the yard again, without being consumed with work. We had our traditional seafood supper with my dad's family, and we also rode up to NC to see my mom's mom. It was very relaxing. My parents took me to Charleston to stay and visit with Clemson & Florence friends for the night, and then I flew back to Dubai the next day. As soon as we took off from Atlanta to Dubai, a guy one row up, sharing the same aisle as me threw up all over himself and the floor. I got nervous that I would smell it and get sick before my 15 hour flight, but I was ok. I wish that I had taken a picture of it, that would have been perfect for the blog!!

Although I was beginning to feel apprehensive about coming back to Dubai, I have been settling back into the life here and feeling ok about it. Despite being swamped with work. Since being back, I've been snowboarding at ski dubai with some of the transient US staff, I was invited to have Thanksgiving with some coworkers, I got my permanent drivers license, and this weekend I went to the Dubai Grand Prix power boat races- the first of a week-long semi-final. I also got to drive out onto the Crescent of Palm Jumeirah (before I had only gotten up to just before the fronds- the rest is restricted access). It was beautiful to be offshore from Dubai and to look back and see the skyscrapers of the marina. Today is UAE National Day, so thankfully I have the day off from work. I'm pretending it's my delayed thanksgiving day off from work.



Thanks to everyone's hospitality to me while I was in the states, I think I saw about half the people I would have liked to see, and for those I did see, the time was cut way too short. I'm looking forward to you coming to visit!!