Domestikatie

Hellooo.  I’m so sorry it has been so long since I published.  There is a very good reason but I think I am over it all, and will begin to publish a bit again.  I make no more promises as to frequency, but I will do my best.  My life here is quite busy now.  I am teaching yoga, and I LOVE love love it.  I give group classes and have several private clients as well.  It keeps me sane and grounded, and makes me smile.  I am also doing a few Ayurveda consultations, some in conjunction with healthy cooking classes, and/or meal prep.  I have settled in and am truly enjoying this chapter. That said… Thank you for sticking with me, or if you are new, thanks for stopping by.  Please read on, and enjoy!

HAPPY ACCIDENTS

As a child, I watched a guy with a big red afro create beautiful works of art in what seemed like minutes.  The paintbrushes he used seemed as though they should be painting walls, not minutiae on canvas, but nevertheless, right before my eyes a painting appeared, with detail!  The man’s name was Bob Ross.  If you are an American you likely know of him and perhaps like me watched him.  For my non US friends, google him.  Bob lives on in YouTube glory for all eternity (hopefully) for everyone to see and experience.  Go watch one or two of his videos.  (Also google his background – fascinating to see how he came to be the man you will see.)

Mr. Ross was very soft spoken in his process.  Very gentle and kind, what people might refer to today as Zen.  His subjects were always happy.  He painted Happy Trees, Happy clouds, happy waterfalls, you get the picture.  If you did as suggested and had our own easel, canvas, palette, and brushes so you could paint along, he encouraged you by insisting there were no mistakes.  Everything you put on the canvas was fine.  It could be painted over or turned into something completely different.  A dropped blob of red paint could become a happy little rose bush.  There were never ‘mistakes’.  Only ‘Happy Accidents.”  I have interpreted that saying and applied it to life in general.  It’s similar to believing in the Butterfly Effect – there really are no mistakes – just choices to make and directions to take.  Life really is what you make of it, Every. Day.

Fast forward more years than I care to think about (and half a world away) and visualize yours truly about to miss her first flight ever (well, unintentionally anyway).  Handsome Hubby and I are in the back of a car flying towards Dubai to catch said flight.  I am using words my mother always told me were not only impolite, they were downright improper and only used by the uneducated.  I was definitely flunking kindergarten at the moment I realized there was NO WAY we were going to make that plane. 

Breathe.

Breathe.

OK now… pick up the phone and call the airline.  (Brief moment here to thank the people who thought up mobile phones, and a nod to those who create them as well.)  45 minutes of phone time later, almost to the Dubai airport, the airline gave us new flights for the following morning.  The cost was $218 per person and I thought all things considered it was OK.  We would lose our prepaid hotel room in Paris, and our early morning first class train ticket to Amsterdam We would also have to spend the night in Dubai, BUT we would arrive in Amsterdam with plenty of time to relax for a day before our Bike and Barge trip began. Ultimately that was the most important point. In exchange for this, we gained a 12-hour layover in Beirut. Hmmmm.  Not my first choice I thought, but it was acceptable all things considered.                                              

Except… It turned out to be a GREAT choice.  We walked up to the transit desk in the airport and asked if it was legal for us to leave the airport and go into town for a while were told we needed an address to put on the immigration form.  I reached out to a friend of ours in the US with family in Lebanon.  Time differences being what they are that didn’t work out, so I went online to Booking.com and found a hotel with no deposit required and free last minute cancellation.  Booked it while Handsome Hubby pulled up his Uber app and voila! 10 minutes later we were through immigration (no visa needed for US citizens) and in a car headed for Beirut. 

Our good luck held and we happened to get a really fun driver who spoke English well. After asking a few questions and telling him we’d like to have some Lebanese food for dinner, we determined that we first wanted to head up the mountain and view the city from above.  Beirut is a coastal city, that looks west over the Mediterranean Sea. The city is surrounded by, and in some cases grows up the side of mountains on all sides. Beirut is about half Muslim, and it was the beginning of Ramadan. That means that the Muslim population is fasting from sunrise to sundown, and as in Abu Dhabi and Dubai many restaurants in town were closed during daylight hours out of respect for that.  He suggested that we may more easily be able to find a place to have dinner up in the mountains.  We chatted and he spoke of the diversity of Lebanon, and once over the first mountain we were able to see further into the country.  It is a country of mountains and huge trees and really great beauty.  He made a few phone calls, and then asked us to trust him on a place for dinner. We agreed to do so.  

Along the way at our behest he stopped at a liquor store and grabbed us a bottle of Lebanese Red wine.  One thing we have learned in our time here in AD is that Lebanese wines are amazing!  Lebanon is one of the oldest wine producing regions in the world. Lebanese wines were known to have been exported to Egypt as early as the 2600s BC, and their virtues extolled throughout ancient history.  Robert Ballard, a famous underwater archaeologist (the guy that located the Titanic) found the wrecks of two Phoenician ships from 750 BC, whose cargo of wine was still intact. As the first great traders of wine, the Phoenicians protected it from oxidation with a layer of olive oil, followed by a seal of pinewood and resin – this is thought to possibly be the origin of the Greek’s taste for retsina. (Geographic History note: Ancient Phoenicia comprised part of what is now Syria, most of Lebanon, and went down through what is now part of Israel.) All this is to say that the Lebanese have a long (and somewhat colorful) history of winemaking.  They seriously know what they are doing.  Some of our favorite wines are Lebanese labels, and here they are quite affordable, especially compared to American or European labels.    

Our driver took us up and around the mountains through a cute little village, seeming to follow signs for a resort. We were dropping down the back side of another mountain, into a small canyon with a river below.  He turned opposite the directional sign for the resort into an even smaller lane. We drove through a beautiful olive grove, filled with gorgeous, gnarled trees that had to be ancient. The road ended at well-tended, flower filled landscape with a restaurant at the edge of the river. 

The owner came out and greeted us, then escorted us inside.  The restaurant was quite large, and completely empty. He was normally closed until Iftar (the meal Muslims eat after sunset to break their fast) but our driver had called ahead and he was happy to serve us. He did not have a menu written in English but asked what we enjoyed eating. Lebanese is one of our favorite cuisines and after hearing us, he went back to the kitchen and prepared our meal. The owner’s son, Khalid, was our server.  He spoke beautiful unaccented English and told us he had been taught it in the local schools from a very early age.  His teachers had been American, and he seemed pleased that we had commented on his accent. He also spoke French and a couple of dialects of Arabic.

We sat down and took in the unfiltered olive oil on every table (made on site from the olives in the grove) and the surrounding gardens, the beautiful wide planked wooden floors and the river running literally right along the side of the building. Khalid opened our bottle of wine and poured us each a glass, then asked what kind of music we liked. He dialed it up on Spotify and ran it through the speakers in the dining room.  Handsome Hubby asked me to dance, and I accepted.  We danced to George Winston, on soft wood floors with the river rushing next to us, at the bottom a canyon in Lebanon.  Wow.  Our dinner, comprised of copious amounts of freshly made Lebanese favorites, was delicious.  Afterward the owner gave us a tour of the grounds.  He has been in his job for almost 30 years and this restaurant and the grounds are his retirement plan.  The gardens are large and spacious.  They host weddings and other events.  He plans to add a few hotel rooms this year.  We plan to go back and stay in one of them.

Wine – $26us, Dinner for two including tip – $27us, Experience – Priceless.     

On the way back to the airport, our driver gave us a tour of Beirut.  The heart of the city combines ancient and modern and is much more European in appearance than any other Middle Eastern city we have seen.  It is really quite cosmopolitan, and I would also say pretty as far as cities go with the waterfront parks and sidewalks, all of which were bustling with activity.  It is a place I would love to return to, and plan to do so soon.

Talk about “Happy Accidents!”  This is a top 10 in that category.  Go if you get the chance. 

I know it’s been a while. I got going on the Egypt travelblog part 2 and it was 26 pages. (FYI – that is 42 on the blog page.) I got it down to 18 pages – still too many on the blog. Then I got distracted. I went back to it a couple of times but was not successful in getting it to a reasonable level. So I moved on. I have tons of picture to share at some point if any body is interested but for now, here’s a quick (and short) update of what’s been going on:

I’ve been busy this spring. At the invitation of my yoga instructor, I attended an intensive asana training course in south India (Mandrem, Goa) at the end of March. It was difficult. Pushed me past my comfort zone but by the end of the 8 days I felt really good. The beaches are beautiful in that area.  The sites you see are different. For example, it isn’t every day that you see a guy jogging through the sand with his brahma…

Or a family of pigs foraging along the beach.

 

The sunsets are fantastic even on a cloudy evening though!

The other thing I have been doing is painting. I have been doing some of the local 2-3 hour paint a picture and have a cocktail things, and enjoying them, but then decided to see what could happen if I took actual lessons. So I found a 13 class (2-3 hours per) course that had flexible scheduling available and signed up. These classes took precedence over the writing, and as a result I haven’t posted anything. At the bottom of the page are a couple of the things I have done. I finally broke down and bought myself some brushes and paint. I am not the greatest, but I really enjoy it. I find myself getting lost and spending hours…

So why am I writing now? I’m back in India, and didn’t bring my supplies with me…

The trip started out touring with my husband, son, and unofficial/sort of daughter touring the Golden Triangle. We saw the Taj Mahal…

the Red Fort,

    

The Amber Fort,

           

and spent time in Jaipur where we toured the King’s Palace in the Pink City, and a few textile shops. India is a country a little less than half the size of the lower 48 states, but with over 1.2 BILLION people. Yeah. It’s crowded. Especially obvious in the larger cities, like Delhi, and Jaipur. Family transportation is… interesting.      

It is not an overly wealthy country, and touring here is not everybody’s cup of tea. It can be extremely depressing. There is extreme in your face poverty, as well as ridiculous trash management issues. You cannot drink the water (but then you can’t in AD either) and plumbing facilities are often less than optimal to say the least. BUT they are working on it, and definitely trying hard to be better. Signs of that are everywhere. Still it has a way to go. The absolute best part of India to me is the people.

They seem to always be smiling, happy, upbeat, and grateful, regardless of their situation. I love the joy on the faces of these 2 little hitch hikers on the back of our pedicab in the Delhi market. They ran and jumped on. Instead of admonishing them the driver just laughed, as did we. It was all in good fun, and the guys got an after school ride.

After the crowded and hot big cities, Shanna headed back to Dubai and the rest of us came up to the mountains to cool off. It’s beautiful up here. If you haven’t seen the posts from September/October 2016 please scroll back and have a read. I am back in the same place to pursue more Ayurveda training. In addition, I start yoga teacher training today. I’ve been taking yoga classes on and off for 30+ years. Not steadily, but whenever I had the time, easy access and money to do so. That is, until we moved to Abu Dhabi. For the past couple of years my practice has been 4-7 days per week. My Yoga Instructor in AD combined with the experience in Goa convinced

me to add this to my book of knowledge, and I am looking forward to the challenge! Here is a photo of the primary location of the school.

My apartment is about 50 yards uphill in this building.

I have a great place with multiple windows in each direction that catch the breezes beautifully. I absolutely love this part of India. It is laid back, friendly, and most definitely beautiful. The Himalayas provide a jaw dropping background to the classrooms I will be spending much of my summer in.  

I put my son in touch with a friend and after a couple of days here he headed over to join a group that is hiking up to the source of the Ganges. He has been gone for 6 days and was just now back in touch to tell me they were down and back in cell range. He has photos and stories and had a great time. If he’ll let me I will post those on the next installment. I can’t wait to see them myself!

Here are a few of the things I have done in art class.

                

Until next time…

Growing up in the US, one never expects to say the words “Let’s go to Egypt for the weekend.”  Mexico, yes. Bahamas, yes. Maybe even Jamaica or the Caymans if you live in certain parts of the country. But never Egypt. However, if you live in the UAE – why not? We had a “gotta get outta here” moment, and started looking at a map. It came down to Jordan for Petra or Egypt for Pyramids, and the flights to Egypt were better. So I booked it.

Immediately we started hearing from our friends. They either loved it or hated it, and they ALL had strong opinions. Those who hated it told us “They hate Americans,” “You’ll get ripped off,” ‘It’s very dangerous” and so forth. The ones who loved it spoke in glowing terms of the amazing history, relics thereof and art. Now that we are back I will clarify… We found first hand that the hater’s first statement is dead wrong, and we already knew that the second two are true of just about anywhere you go if you aren’t careful, and don’t use common sense. As for the lover’s comments on the history and art… truth.  And incomparable. Egypt is amazing.

We arrived and were greeted prior to immigration by the local agent’s representative, who processed our arrival visa and walked us through passport control. He then handed us off to the owner of the tour company who waited for us with one of his drivers outside the airport. What a fantastic individual! Jimmy is Cairo born and raised, speaks great English, and has an absolutely encyclopedic knowledge and incredible love of Egypt. We knew right away that we were in great hands. He gave us a lot of background and history of Cairo as we made our way to the hotel.

Cairo is not what one would call a pretty city. It’s not the cleanest place I’ve been to (nor the dirtiest) and it is very large. In fact, it’s HUGE! Cairo proper is home to around 10 million people, and the entire metro area is more than double that, making it the largest city in the Middle East, the second largest on the African continent, and number 15 overall worldwide. The population is dense, with around 60,000 people per square mile, most living in unfinished buildings. This gives the city an air of poverty that is misleading. Turns out that local law states if your building is unfinished, you don’t have to pay taxes on it. The result is this massive amount of unfinished buildings that upon closer examination are covered with satellite dishes – a luxury not seen in truly impoverished areas.

We got to our hotel totally exhausted (more on that later) and were asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow. The next morning Jimmy and his driver picked us up at 8:30 and off we went to Giza. I have no idea why, but in my head Giza was going to be in the middle of nowhere, a long ride away. Wrong. Giza is a suburb of Cairo, and the city actually creeps right up to the edge of the Giza Pyramid Complex. We entered the complex and began to learn about how the pyramids were built. Note: I came here believing they didn’t actually know for certain, and seriously thinking that aliens were not a bad theory. I mean these things are monstrous! The Cheops (Khufu) pyramid is 146 meters tall (just shy of 480 feet) and uses 210 layers of stone. The stones used to build it were largely cut on site and weigh between 15-20 tons each at the bottom, decreasing to between 1.5-2 tons at the top. A hair cannot slide through the joints and this was built around 2450 BC (not only Before Christ, but also before concrete, conveyor belts, and cranes.) The architecture is mathematically precise, with the entrance oriented almost perfectly to true north. It has remained standing strong for well over 4000 years. So seriously, HOW did they do it? Here’s what we know: It was NOT slave labor. The people who built the pyramids were craftsmen from all over the country. There were thousands of them, many well respected in their fields. There had to be not just builders, but also scientists and mathematicians because they were able to create a structure that has lasted, largely intact, for this long.  The structure supported enormous weight, and allowed for adequate ventilated access when the time came to bring the sarcophagi into the appointed chamber(s). They moved much of the stone from place to place on sleds, which were pulled by however many were required for the weight. One person poured oil along the pathway to ensure the rails would glide easily. They also used fulcrums and levers with counterweight to lift some of the stones into position.

I chose to go inside and see the King’s Chamber. It is not an easy climb! The path is well maintained and lit, but the fact that a whole lot of it is done while you are bent over makes it difficult. If you have a bad back or bad knees I would not recommend it. BUT… If you choose to give it a go, it’s totally worth it. The   chamber is a rectangle with a flat roof, completely lined in 60 tons of incredibly smooth red granite from Aswan. There is the remnant of his sarcophagus still there, broken and without a lid. The room is not decorated in any way, but is spectacular for it’s size and the red granite lining.  Most of these tombs of kings and pharaohs were robbed centuries ago, and very little remained when they were ‘discovered’ over the past couple of centuries. It is the design and the genius of the building that we get to admire today.

When I came out of the pyramid, we rode around to a knoll not far away to take some silly photos. Afterward we made a complete circle around the pyramids ending up at the Sphinx. This is the first known sculpture carved out of a single piece of stone. The carvers created it by removing the stone around it.  This dude is pretty beat up, but still amazing in the details.

        

We left Giza, stopping for a bowl of Kushari to eat along the way to our next stop. This is a traditional Egyptian dish that one can find about anywhere.  It consists of lentils, rice, and noodles with tomato sauce and is accompanied by choice of garlic sauce or chili sauce – or both.  It’s delicious!

The second part of our day 1 was spent in Saqqara and Memphis. Saqqara is a huge burial ground that was used when Memphis was the capital of ancient Egypt. You can see a lot of progress in building styles and materials here, including what they believe to be the very first pyramid built in Egypt. It is not nearly as big as any of the big 3 pyramids in Giza, and was done in more of a step down style, using much smaller stones. Inside the tomb of Ti the writings on the walls were very well preserved, and some even had color remaining. I took the stooped hike inside one of the underground tombs here and was rewarded with a chamber that had stars (or starfish) carved on the ceiling, and in part of the access tunnel. Here the sarcophagus had been raided as well, but carvings were still visible at the bottom of it, below where the mummy would have lain.

 

    

Our last stop before heading back into Cairo proper was to see the enormous statue of Ramses II in Memphis. Indeed it was huge, but still such detail.

I cannot begin to describe the overwhelming amount of history and beauty we encountered today, and we still had a full day to go! Jimmy took us to a very small (3 tables) local restaurant for dinner. The female owner is an excellent cook, and does something different every night. When it is gone it is gone. The rule is that they will bring whatever you want but you have to eat all they bring. It was close, but between the 3 of us we managed. I have no idea what all we ate. There was a lot of food, and almost everything was wonderful. The total tab for dinner was in the neighborhood of 10 bucks, including tip.

Egypt’s economy is in a big slump right now, and the cost of goods is extremely low. I would put eating out and hotel prices on par with Thailand, and just a pinch more expensive than India. Which means it’s truly inexpensive at the moment. The economy has been largely dependent on tourism dollars, which have for the most part dried up since Arab Spring and the large protests that unseated Mubarak in 2011. One of the things I noticed is that the Egyptians take great pains to make sure you know and feel you are safe and welcomed.  They want (and need) those tourist dollars to return.

This is the end of our Day 1, and therefore Part 1 of this post.  I will follow up soon with Part 2, which includes the Egyptian Museum, Coptic Cairo, and the GIANT street market.

        

I screwed up.  Big time.  It wasn’t intentional – not that screwing up ever is – but this wasn’t even on my radar.  Larry was notified he’d been hired in late March, and was here by mid-April. I was focused on family and getting the house packed up until I came in early July.  No thought whatsoever was given to Christmas decorations. HUGE mistake, but I didn’t discover it until a year and a half later.

This past Christmas was our first one here. Last year we took a river cruise and visited many wonderful Christmas markets from Prague to Budapest, and it felt very much like Christmas as a result. But this year, Christmas was really different. It was weird. It was also wonderful. It was weird not to have a real Christmas tree. Of note is the fact that real Christmas trees are actually available here. I saw them available for purchase at one of the Spinney’s grocery locations, and even at the souk! And they weren’t expensive. In fact, I’ve paid more back home. But… there is definitely not room on this particular boat for a real live Christmas tree. Luckily, there are also plenty of fake trees available here, in every size shape and color. I even saw a Charlie Brown tree! So we ended up with a 2 ft tall white tree that would fit on top of the dining table in the saloon. There are also stockings, tree décor, gift wrap and pretty much all other accouterments of Christmas.  I bought some plastic balls, because they were the right color, and they would do. All of this was available and easy to get except for one HUGE difference… There was no hype. The home décor wasn’t in stores until around the 9^th or 10th or so of December, and at no point in time did you hear or see ads with anxiety creating gift hawkers on speed urging you into a buying frenzy. That was the wonderful part. Having plastic Christmas tree decorations, that had absolutely no meaning was weird. And also kind of depressing. But I suppose it could have been worse.

There were a couple of Christmas markets offered around the city, and the malls had enormous Christmas Trees. I even heard carols being played on the sound system at a few stores. There was not any cool, crisp, pine scented air. And there was no snow. Considering my last +/- 25 Christmases involved snow and cold, the weather was weird.

We had guests with us over Christmas, my sister in law and her husband came to see us from their home in Germany. Initially anyway, they found the weather very much to their liking (not surprising).  As the week wore on, we began to wake up to dense fog. At one point we even had to close the windows and revert to the A/C to keep from waking up in a puddle and they finally admitted to bringing the fog and damp with them. While they were here we did the standard stuff; day trip to Dubai for the Old Souk and Ski Dubai, back to AD for the Louvre, and the Grand Mosque. This time we toured at night and it was spectacular! This is by far my favorite time to tour.  The light is amazing.

We did some shopping together and they commented on how surprising it was to see Christmas trees in every mall and hotel, and in some of the restaurants as well. This was not at all what they expected. They also did not expect the wide variety of goods and services we have available to us here. My brother in law being something of a foodie was particularly amazed at the cultural diversity of the food and spices on offer at the grocery stores. He was really surprised to find that yes… pork is sold here – just not in the main store – you have to pass through the secret door (mostly) hidden at the back with the ‘No Muslims Allowed’ sign on it.   

And of course, as he has done every year since maybe forever, my husband played Santa Claus for hundreds of local children. As I have done for the past 4 years, I joined him as Mrs. Claus. This year there was a slight twist. We did a quick stint as Santa and Mrs. Claus on Christmas Eve, and we had Elves with us! 3 beautiful young ladies joined us to throw candy to the kids from the beach of The Club. One, an attractive English friend of ours who lives locally, another a beautiful young woman from Colorado (now living in Dubai) whom I have known since she was a teen, and the third, her gorgeous Iranian friend. Santa is definitely international! It was a crazy appearance, lasting all of 30 minutes. At the end, Santa told the children to be sure and go to bed early, but also to get up early and make sure to wake their parents up right away so they could open all of their presents! Well done Santa! Our brother in law got it all on video, but I am unable to load the file – it’s huge!

Afterward we came back to the boat, and chatted together, enjoying a few cocktails and laughing. Everybody stayed on board with us over night Christmas Eve. For the second time ever, we had a full boat. On Christmas morning as everybody gradually woke up and came into the saloon to see and open their stockings… it finally felt like Christmas. A different Christmas to be sure, but Christmas nevertheless. It was a lazy morning filled with spiked coffee, gift opening, and lots of food. And of course, mimosas.      

 

 

 

 

It comes down to this, regardless of what was in my head about how Christmas should be, the fact is it’s not about the weather, or where you physically are. It’s about the people you love, and those who love you. It’s about making sure that all of them know how important they are, and how loved. And it’s about giving yourself a little love too. The setting doesn’t have to be perfect if the sentiments are.

I know this comes late, but I hope you all had wonderful holidays filled with love and laughter, and that your 2018 is all that you visualize it to be.

PS – I tossed the plastic Christmas balls.  I can do better. 

 

Hi there! Sorry I have been out of this for so long. I/We got busy making the new boat a home, with repairs, changes, etc, and then I started a small business (more on that in a later entry).  Eventually I reached a point where I felt as though I really had nothing interesting to say, OR… it was just too hot for me to be functional.  It had gone on for so long that it was incredibly hard for me to do much of anything, seemingly forever. Then… thank God for the miracle of changing weather.  Gradually (oh so slowly) it got nicer and nicer until it is now beautiful. Along the way we finally had some guests.  And then we had more guests. But now… enough with the excuses. I’m baack!

First I want to talk about the weather. I very seriously do not recall it being THIS nice last year. It could be because I left and didn’t spend my entire first summer here. This year I did, and I believe that doing made me appreciate this amazing winter weather more. I should also give a nod to experiencing winter this year with open windows instead of in a high rise with little to no outside air circulation. Whichever it is, the weather right now is truly beautiful. Our highs are in the low to mid 70s, with lows in the low-mid 60s. Our new home has 30 windows/hatches/portholes that open. 22 of those have measurements of around a foot or less in each direction, but nevertheless we are able to catch the wind from whichever direction it blows. It comes right on through and is just incredibly comfortable. I cannot find the words to describe how much I love this.  I am an outdoor girl, and not a fan of a/c.  While I definitely understand the necessity of it (especially here) I am so very grateful to be able to experience this time of year with windows open and real air surrounding me. (Except for that time our relatives from Germany brought that foggy stuff with them. “I’m dreaming of a foggy, damp, Christmas” said nobody, ever. But we had one -Thanks Mike and Sheri! – Read all about that in the Christmas in Abu Dhabi entry coming next.)

So… As I said, we’ve had our first guests aboard our new home. In fact, we’ve had a “full house” now several times, with all 4 bedrooms occupied. We’ve loved it! The best part of having guests here is their surprise when they realize that the

UAE is not at all what they envisioned. The first guests we had were our sons, who are both in their 20s. Needless to say we had a busy couple of weeks. We took them to the Grand Mosque of course, and this time we went at sunset. This gave us a different perspective based on the light. It is surprising how the light changes the view at different times of the day. We also took the boys to The Club (several times). In fact, after asking questions trying to learn about the sport, my son was invited to play Cricket with some of the employees one morning. He came back smiling, said he had a wonderful time, but still did not have a full understanding of the game. I don’t either, but man is it ever

popular! We enjoyed several family activities, including a painting class and a trapeze yoga class.  You can see that my son really enjoyed that one!

We also did some things that we had not ever done before, like going to the newly

opened Abu Dhabi branch of The Louvre. What a treat! The building itself is spectacular, built on/in the water with the most interesting roof/ceiling I have ever seen. From the outside during the day it sort of looks like a spaceship

At night I think it looks as though it is covered in stars. But the inside! Wow. I am in love with the way the light moves, and the shadows play. I also enjoy wandering through the maze of galleries that offer a wide variety of works, from prehistoric to modern. I liked it so much that I became a member, and plan to visit frequently.  here is a link if you’d like to see/read more about The Louvre Abu Dhabi:

https://www.louvreabudhabi.ae/en/about-us/our-story

 

On another day, we all went on a desert safari together. The high speed ride through the sand dunes was a blast! I posted several videos to FB that many of you might have seen and laughed at. Contrary to popular belief I am NOT the one screaming in those.  We enjoyed the company of a couple from Atlanta, here in Abu Dhabi for a couple of days.

They were great fun and really good sports. The safari through the dunes stopped several times along the way. Once to visit a camel farm,
once to take a breather in the dunes, and then finally for a traditional dinner in the desert.

We also took the boys to Dubai for a day.  We spent the first part of the day at the Old Souk, and had a blast.  The guys enjoyed learning to negotiate prices, and laughed and joked with the sellers throughout the shops.  We made a few purchases and then moved across to town to a place that neither Larry nor I had been to before.  It’s called Global Village. GV describes itself as “A Cultural Extravaganza” and features buildings designed to look like a typical or iconic area/building of the featured country.  Inside it’s building, the country displays and sells traditional wares, and gives periodic demonstrations and shows that teach us about life in that particular country.  Here is a link for you to follow if you want to find out more about it:

http://www.globalvillage.ae/en/

We found it fun, but I think a bit too touristy for me to make it a regular thing.  However, one defining moment there. I was walking along, chatting and laughing with the boys. Looking around, taking in the crowd, I stopped, and so did the boys. I asked them to look around them, and tell me how they felt. The responses were all smiles. They were happy and enjoying themselves, but they were puzzled about why I asked. I asked them to look around again, through eyes that were back in the US, and asked how they would feel if they were in this crowd back home. We were in a wonderful family oriented setting here in the UAE, surrounded by children running and laughing, men and women seated at cafes or strolling along talking and laughing just as we were. The only difference between us is the way we were dressed and the languages we were speaking.  We were in our jeans and t-shirts, they were mostly in what is referred to as ‘National Dress’ (abayas and dishdashas – respectively black or white with head coverings). I was pleased to see the look of surprise and understanding in both of our son’s eyes. They got it. I daresay this particular circumstance would not be possible back home. There is no fear here, no spewing of hatred. Just a peaceful coexistence, and everybody getting along with a common goal of enjoying a pleasant evening with family. This is the norm here, even in a community that is so multicultural it is hard to describe to anybody who hasn’t experienced it. We as Americans are a minority. Our hosts, the Emiratis, are also a minority. We are regularly surrounded by people who speak 6 different languages. Yet nowhere is there a riot, nowhere are people shooting each other, and nowhere are people teaching or preaching hatred.  Amazing.

 

I waited until we had completed our test run to post this one.  Enjoy!

My grandparents had a handy man they would call whenever something needed to be repaired around the cabin. In my juvenile memory, it seems that Lester could fix anything. Broken toaster? Call Lester.  Leaky roof? Call Lester. Dock repair? Busted pipes? Hole in the screen? Yep, Lester. The thing is, Lester was a country boy, born and raised in the mountains of North Georgia where time drifted on the wind, and therefore pinning it down was a completely foreign concept. The joke was that he would say he’d be there Tuesday, he just didn’t specify WHICH Tuesday. He was nevertheless a genius when it came to maintenance and repair. I tell you this story because getting work done here functions in pretty much the same way. The ‘Lesters’ of Abu Dhabi also grew up in environments where there wasn’t any emphasis put on the clock. However, just like my grandparents knew… if you have the right guy doing the work you accept the wait. So here we are over a month in, and all of the hoses for the power steering on Tao 1 have finally been manufactured according the exact specifics, and installed. We were then instructed not to touch anything and await their return to complete the repair.  A week or so later they returned, and almost finished.  Several days after that they were back to bleed the system and we had permission to take her out and check on repairs.

While this was all taking place, the process taught me that the spare room we want to use for a makeshift closet, will need to be fitted with lightweight and easy to move components. The starboard engine compartment is beneath that berth, and access needs to be simple, speedy, and stress-free. So I have to rethink the original plan. While it meets the concept of simple, it’s neither speedy nor stress free, so I’m spending lots of free time perusing the topic of storage in small spaces in general and boats in particular. So far I haven’t found anything that will work well in this particular situation, and at times throw up my hands thinking we should just chuck everything. Hopefully our storage unit arrives before I actually lose it and follow through on that thought.

The beds on board are super comfortable. The mattresses are thick, high density, good quality foam. In the 2 forward cabins, the mattresses rest on a flexible low profile bent wood frame that acts much like I imagine a box spring is supposed to. The size of those beds is equal to a Cal King, slightly longer and just a pinch narrower than a standard King, with one bottom corner lopped off at an angle to accommodate a plumbing run. The two aft cabin beds are more like platform beds with the same type of mattress, sans the spring effect beneath. Those appear to be like an extra-long Queen, slightly tapered at the far end, though not as much as a cuddy. Just enough to bring closer the feet or the heads of 2 people sharing. Fitting bottom sheets on any of these is yet another exercise in patience. I may have mentioned previously that both Larry and I are convinced that at least part of this journey for us is to learn to be more patient. We find the lesson almost every day in one form or another. Some days I think it’s working and we’re learning. Other days, not so much.

The best news is that we seem to have weathered the worst of the heat. The days, while not anything near what I would refer to as cool, or even bearable, are nonetheless quite suddenly lower in temp. I no longer see 45+ degrees noted on the Honda’s exterior thermometer.  (45 Celsius is 114 Fahrenheit)  In fact, it seems that we aren’t getting over 38 most days, which is +/- 100. This morning I took my coffee, breakfast, and book upstairs on the flybridge and read until after 10. It was 34 (roughly 90) and the humidity was just less than 50% when I finally took it inside. In my previous life this would still have been tough, but with a breeze coming off the sea today I found it was actually decent. Several nights ago we went over to a neighboring boat and shared an evening cocktail on their upper deck. It was lovely right up until the point that the breeze stopped and the humidity level rose drastically in 10 seconds flat. I am looking forward to the day when we can open the windows and doors all day and just let the (less humid) breeze blow right on through. Maybe another month or so. Speaking of the breezes blowing through… I was amazed to realize that we have 30 separate opening windows of various sizes on this dude. That’s a heckuva lot of air movement!  I cannot wait to get to the point where we can open them all up and be comfortable.

So back to the test run. We invited a couple of friends to ride along and took her out for a spin. It was a beautiful morning, and we motored around one of the many little nearby islands… the steering is fixed!  Yay! It was so nice to be able to hold a course and see results when I spun the wheel. See the wake in the video above?  Straight as an arrow. She purred like the large cat she is and to make it better, we had a great view of the Abu Dhabi skyline from out on the gulf.

We returned to the dock to find that nothing had moved from where it had been placed.  Dishes, glassware and spice rack all remained in their proper places, so we are good to go! Everybody had a celebratory cocktail (or two) and some lunch, and Larry and I breathed large sighs of relief.  Life is good.

(Video courtesy of our friend Habib Durrani.  Thanks Habib!)

I wrote this entry over a month ago and was caught by surprise when I went to post the first boat entry and did not see it. Then I remembered I was planning to take photos to include first. But… life got in the way. That or my ADD kicked in. Probably the latter. Anyway I have since updated it. We have had the Honda for about 8 weeks now, so the entry is a bit long, and there are very few pictures, though I did go take a couple for you. Enjoy….

You may think that some of the tidbits in this blog post are made up, and included just for laughs. But no. Everything in here happened just as it is written. It could be that these types of things may possibly be why AD is called by some “The Land of Not Quite Right.”

I think I may have mentioned that they raised the taxi rates on the first of June. Depending on how far you go, the increase results in a 25-30% increase in transportation cost. If most of your rides are relatively short, the percentage increases since they have also mandated a minimum. Our rides are both. Many short and quite a few others not so much. The result was that our transportation cost increased by almost 35%. Add that we are moving farther from the places we frequent the most, and the overall cost goes up a bit more. So we decided to buy a car. Not a new one. An old and extremely inexpensive one. Our requirements?

• The vehicle is to be used in the summer only (too hot to walk or ride the bike) so it must have great A/C.
• It must be able to valiantly battle the insane drivers here without losing (I consider a few dings and dents as victorious battle scars.)
• It must hold our stuff (or most of it anyway.)
• It must not cost more than $3k US

The used vehicle market here is a thriving one. Almost every day somebody’s employment contract expires and they are given 30 days to leave the country. Used vehicles are easy to come by and affordable. So are used furniture and used appliances, but we don’t need those and I digress…

So… Buying a car in Abu Dhabi. Like anywhere, when buying a used car you need to get it checked out. We found a Honda we liked, and took it into the local Honda dealership. They offer a complete inspection, top to bottom, for 500AED (about $135US). This includes taking it out to the desert for a 4wd and suspension check. You get your 500 back in the form of a discount off the services required should you choose to use the dealership for those repairs. As we expected, the report was thorough. It showed a whole bunch of stuff that needed to be done.  Of course, every little minute issue was detailed for us in a 2 page line item report including things like “headlights need to be polished” and “interior light bulb needs replacing.” Good info, but not really what we were looking for. By driving it, we knew it needed to have the brake rotors turned or shaved. We were looking for what else was absolutely necessary and the associated costs. There was nothing really serious, so we used the report to negotiate a price that fit our budget, and bought a 2004 Honda MR-V (called a ‘Pilot’ in the US) maroon in color, with new tires and a freezing cold a/c. It is Rock Solid!

Things to know about vehicles in the UAE. Window tinting is considered a necessity. DARK window tinting is on most vehicles. Our SUV has super dark all through the back, and moderately dark on the front side windows. The windshield is moderately tinted, but a very dark tint runs across the top edge, as you can see from the photo taken through the windshield of our Honda here:

Also, this vehicle is insulated. I don’t know about others, as I have not been in many private vehicles here. I know that the doors on our Honda are heavy and seem very dense in construction. When left under any sort of cover the cool stays in the car for 2-3 hours and that is no small feat here. I really wonder, based on the weight and solid feel of this vehicle, if additional insulation isn’t part of a package that if not standard, is a regular option here. This is a question I will be asking my longer term friends. If it turns out that it is, I wonder if we could get it done in the US? I mean Phoenix area vehicles could really benefit. Heck, Flagstaff vehicles could too in winter!

An interesting thing here in the UAE is that license plates and insurance belong with the car, not the individual. I understand the theory is that cost to repair/replace the vehicle is the same regardless of the driver. So the insurance is based on repair cost rather than your driving record. Makes me wonder if it is just assumed you will eventually be in an accident? Hmmm. Anyway, the insurance company is conveniently located within the motor vehicle department, which is open 24/7 (except during Ramadan). So it is easy to transfer the insurance at the same time that you transfer registration etc. There is no such thing as a title here. In order to sell a vehicle, the seller/owner and the purchaser go together into the vehicle registration office. The car registration is checked for outstanding traffic or parking violations (which if existing are paid on the spot) and the registration is transferred. Done. Takes about 20 minutes plus any line waiting time. Very simple and clean. The new owner is then given a registration card in their name, which includes history of the vehicle in an encrypted form. Among other things, the history includes tire purchase date, since it is mandated by law that you must have new tires every 2 years. (The heat wears the tires quickly, and they become an explosion hazard.)

Next we had the brakes and a couple of other minor things handled by the dealership, and we were off.

Now, Yours Truly needed a license. Handsome Hubby had gotten his early on. I hadn’t needed one so hadn’t bothered. Now things had changed, so I did the research on what I had to have to get my Emirates Driver’s license. According to all of the info online I needed my US driver’s license, passport, resident visa, Emirates ID, and permission from my husband to drive a vehicle.  

So smartass hubby and I collect all of the required paperwork, and head for the licensing office together.

I get in line only to be motioned to the front (being female is an advantage in some cases here) where I am told I will need to have my AZ Driver’s license translated into Arabic, and take a vision test in the adjacent room. I am pointed to the registration office (conveniently next door) and walk over to have my license translated. A table in the lobby has a sign which reads “Translation 25dhs.” I hand the young man my license, and he types out a translation of basic info – when and where the license was issued, when it expires, any special requirements, etc. – and hands me the translation and a bill for 50dhs. I look at the sign, and back at the guy, and back at the sign. He says… “50 dhs” and smiles. I just paid him. Sometimes it is not so advantageous to be an American expat. It is also seldom worth the effort to argue.

Walking back to the licensing office, I step into the eye exam room.  There is a standard chart on the wall, and a gentleman seated in a chair looking in that direction with one eye covered. He is obviously trying to decipher the letter. It very seriously went like this… The man administering the test says “That looks like an H to me Mr. Hasan.” The guy in the chair says “yes, yes. H.” Another letter comes up and Mr. Hasan squints a bit. The administrator says, “Is that a B?” Mr. Hasan nods slowly and says, “Yes I believe that’s a B.” The administrator says “Great job!” signs off, hands him his affidavit, and wishes him well. (That scene explains soooo much.) I was next. I took my eye exam (without prompting from the administrator) got my affidavit signed, and stepped back into the license line. Again I was pulled out, handed a number, and pointed in the direction of a female agent. I went and waited for her to be available. Miraculously she called my number as soon as she finished with the person at her desk.

I stepped up to her desk and handed her my stack of paperwork and documentation. Smartass Hubby steps up ostensibly to give permission and is very disappointed to learn none is required. (Awwww, poor baby, I think he was truly disappointed.)

After completing the data entry portion, the license agent asks me if I would like to comb my hair before the photo is taken. I asked her if it was really bad. She nodded. I pulled out my comb and she watched in horror as my curls turned into an afro. Now, I have curly hair that is particularly uncooperative in the humidity here. Locals are not used to seeing this sort of phenomena, since most people here have hair that is extremely straight. I wish I had a photo of the look on her face. I started laughing. She started laughing. Larry was already laughing. I tried to pat it down and she kept laughing. She took the photo, turned it toward me shaking her head and saying no. We both continued to laugh. Finally I finger combed and patted it down enough to where it would fit in the photo frame. She just shook her head and took the photo, smiling apologetically as she handed me my license. I have purposefully not included an image of it here out of fear that my mother will croak if she sees it, but it might be very close to this…

 

 

So… I am now out on the road with my new UAE driver’s license, all legal and stuff. Driving here, while nothing as scary as India or some East Asian countries, is still quite an interesting process. We often joke that when you leave here, you will be able to teach both defensive and offensive driving courses. In addition, it is likely that you will need counseling for the rest of your natural life for the default to aggression that happens the moment you are behind the wheel. This is not the place for hesitant driving, slow reaction times, or timid thoughts. You won’t ever get anywhere! Fear is not a choice. Driving here means that on almost a daily basis you will witness people making a left turn from the far right lane. Across moving traffic.  OR making a U-turn from the same (both without benefit of blinker usage). You will be pushed out of your lane by somebody who wants to be in it (again no blinker) and can plan on being cut off multiple times every couple of kilometers. Many locals consider red lights or stop signs merely suggestions, and yield signs are not considered at all. One way street? Nope. Double/triple parking that blocks the road? Yep. Regularly. The most interesting time is Friday morning prayer around a mosque. Taxi drivers, as well as anybody who can’t find parking, will literally stop and get out of their cars leaving them abandoned anywhere along the entire road, often with doors open. Now, granted that not many people are out driving at that time of day here, but nevertheless it is a sight to behold. I have witnessed it twice, and therefore it cannot be an anomaly.

There are also the occasional clowns who think that city streets are a great place to open up their Ferrari/Lamborghini/Maserati/Porsche etc. They like to test out size, speed, and agility by darting between the Land Cruisers and Patrols that cannot see their 3 foot tall outlines, and then getting out before they are smashed because of it. Good times.

Before I came here, I was told there would be a whole lot of those fancy expensive cars. It is not entirely unusual to see them, certainly more often than in the US, but not nearly as many as the perceived. There are also many cars you may never have heard of. Along with Toyota, Nissan, etc, there is Jac and Chery (I think they are Chinese made) as well as Skoda, which is made in Hungary I think. But if I had to peg the “National car of the UAE” it would be the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. They are everywhere. As are the Nissan version called a Patrol, and the ever so slightly smaller Mitsubishi Pajero. Those vehicles will accommodate large families that include multiple wives and children. I once saw 12 people climb out of a Patrol. You simply cannot fit family in a Ferrari. Plus, in the unlikely event (or not) of an accident, the Land Cruiser wins. Every time. Inshallah.

Sticking with the family theme, how many of you have ever seen a 4 door Porsche that wasn’t a Cayenne?

Or a Bentley SUV?

My favorite is the black Rolls Royce riding on black and red 20s.  I didn’t get photos of that one, I was too busy staring and wondering why.  I did get a photo of this guy as he cut me off and raced ahead.  I like the car, in fact I think it may be my new favorite.  Everybody needs a convertible turquoise Bentley, right?

Post note: We are grateful we chose an SUV type of vehicle for an additional reason. At the moment it is serving as our storage unit, until the real one is delivered. YAY for storage space!

My first memory of driving a boat is of me in my orange “Mae West” life preserver, sitting on my Pawpaw’s lap. My hands were on the wheel as we made our way up Lake Burton to Mary and PD’s cabin for dinner. Nana was riding shotgun. I must have been 3 or 4 years old. My grandfather had a fiberglass open bow boat, maybe 15 feet in length and powered by a 75hp Evinrude outboard. I remember feeling like we were flying over the water. A few short years later I was allowed to operate “putt putt” on my own. “Putt putt” was an old wooden boat my Nana had. It had a 5 horse Johnson motor, a metal steering wheel, and it meant heavenly freedom! Being allowed to drive it alone officially elevated me to a big kid. I took my cousin and my little brother, and sometimes my friend Ginger across the lake to the Marina for lunch and ice cream (which we charged to my grandparents account.) Sometimes we would stop at the beekeepers place, Honey Hill, to make use of the rope swing. I spent a good bit of time every summer of my childhood on that lake in North Georgia, and with those boats. The very best memories from my childhood are a result of that time, and I have had a love of Mountain Lakes, and of boats ever since.

Fast forward past several decades and multiple boat excursions and rentals (both sailing and power) to now. In the twists and turns that our lives take, where I am now is nothing I could (or would) have imagined just a few years ago. The least surprising part is that there is a boat involved. My husband has a love of boats as well, and has owned several. However, other than a 3-day excursion with friends on a houseboat at Lake Powell (and few cruise ship experiences) neither of us has actually lived aboard. Until now. Almost 3 weeks ago Tao 1 completed the final leg of her journey to her home in the UAE. It was a long and rough journey for all of us, but she made it relatively intact, and we are settling in and learning how to live in a small floating space.

Our learning curve is large, and is coming at us quickly. There are things we expected, and things that we could not possibly have anticipated, regardless of what we have read, been told, and observed. Some of the things we knew… Air conditioning needs in the Middle East far exceed those in the Mediterranean, where our boat has lived its entire life. What does that mean? That means the 2 compressors we have on board are in no way capable of keeping our living space anywhere near cool between about 10AM and 5PM unaided. We also knew that we need to apply anti-fouling as soon as possible (scheduled for late September so it won’t melt off). We knew that the fire extinguishers need to be replaced/recharged. Those are the things that needed to be done right away. There are some other things that we can do as we go, but none of them are major. That was our conclusion when we made the decision to purchase her while in Tunisia last spring.

Fast forward to almost 90 days later when she arrived in Jebel Ali port, just south of Dubai. After several delays (at least one caused by the US Navy having target practice at Iran in the Persian Gulf) the transport boat finally arrived. Since we expected the air conditioning problem, we had the custom cover company lined up and ready when Tao 1 arrived. They had to measure, and it would take a while to have the covers made. However, as I alluded earlier there were a few additional issues we discovered that we did not expect. Our expectation was that we would offload the boat in Dubai, and motor right on down to Abu Dhabi. That did not happen. When we were finally able to board her, we saw a large stain covering the floor at the flybridge helm. Turns out that somewhere along the way, there was an issue with the steering, and what we saw was hydraulic steering fluid spread across the floor. We had no autopilot and very little steering capability using the wheel. In addition, contrary to the agreement, they shipped her almost completely empty of fuel. One of the forward tanks had ¼ tank, the rest showed empty. So we took her out of the big port on one engine, barely able to steer, and got her to the closest marina so we could have a look. Long story short the steering system is shot and needs to be replaced. In the process of tracking that down, we repaired a leaky fuel line and replaced one of the bilge pumps that was not working as it should. We are aware we bought a used boat, and that not everything is going to be perfect. We did however expect to be able to take her home without incident. Instead, it was 3 days later, and still without steering. We used opposing engine power to stay our course from Dubai down to Abu Dhabi. What can we say, stuff will need to be fixed, but we are nevertheless pretty happy with the purchase.

Taking the focus back to the A/C… This was the largest hurdle we had to overcome in order to be able to move forward with our plans. The Marine a/c system just can’t cut it alone. In fact both compressors shut themselves off and figuratively cross their arms, shake their heads, and quit around 9:30-10:00 each morning. However, once the sun goes behind the enormous trees just west of us, we can start them up again and they do a beautiful job until the next morning. One thing we completely blew by is the fact that our boat has significantly more glass, at substantially flatter angles than many of our friend’s boats. Ours is like a greenhouse! The result is that since our arrival, we have had to work to create as much of a barrier between our inside cabin and the sun as we can. Thankfully we are both adept at hillbilly engineering tactics. With the help of cardboard, the deck pads from our flybridge, a few random Styrofoam coolers, and copious amounts of duct tape, we succeeded in cutting back a portion of the heat.

    

In fact, the inside temp went from 118 down to 109. Progress! Next, we turned on the extractor fan over my oven, and opened a few smaller portholes to create some air flow. After that I recall walking in from the outside and thinking that the air was starting to cool. Then I glanced at the thermostat. It read 105. Seriously? Just shoot me now. Next we added towels and blankets as sort of makeshift ‘drapes’ and knocked off another 2 degrees. None of this makes it perfect, or even livable, but all of it creates less work for the a/c when it gets turned back on each afternoon. Meaning, the boat requires less and less time to be completely habitable once the a/c kicks back on.

After much debate back and forth, we decided to go ahead and make the move anyway. We spent a few days getting her cleaned and prepped for us to do that, then we made the leap. But first, we purchased a portable air conditioner to point directly at the bed so we could sleep… and spent our first night aboard on August 5. Larry went back to work on the 6^th. I spent the next week being gone between the hours of 10 and 6 every day, and Larry did likewise on his weekend in town. At night and in the early mornings, we worked on the boat. During the day we hung out at the club, saw a few movies, and just did whatever it took to stay busy during the heat of the day until the covers arrived.

Finally, she got her new covers installed. They are made with Sunbrella fabric and custom created for our windshield dimensions. It dropped our max inside temp down to 89. In the past I would have sought out a fainting couch and swooned while whining loudly, but at this point 89 at midday feels wonderful. Did you know that Sunbrella typically offers a 10 year warranty on their fabric? Except here.  Here in the Middle East the sun is so brutal that they cut that in half to 5 years. The manufacturer who created the covers drops it to 4. Coincidentally, that’s about how much longer we anticipate being here, so I am OK with it. As you can well see, the temperature drop on board was dramatic, though noon to 3 is still on the warm side. So taking a cue from one of my neighbors living aboard a sail boat, I bought some sail shades, and we hung them over the boat, adding shade over the windshields. That got us a few more degrees, and overnight temps down to mid 70s. YAY! Portable a/c is on the cockpit deck now, awaiting the new surround.

The window film guy comes today. He has promised us another significant drop in midday temps, and also indicated we could shut off one a/c overnight. I doubt it. The man doesn’t know me at all! I’ll grab a quilt before I turn off that a/c! But I am happy to take every decreased degree possible.

In terms of overall living the boat is quite comfortable.  Years ago I worked for a company based in Virginia and arranged to open a California office for them. The owner and I had an agreement that he changed without notice and long story short, I ended up living in a 300 sf apartment paid for by the company for a period of 6 months. It wasn’t a studio – the square footage was chopped up into separate living, sleeping and bathing rooms. I tell you this because it was really claustrophobic, and this boat feels so much more spacious than that was. In fact, I think the main saloon is about the same square footage, but it’s open and bright. If you add the space in the pontoons, I think our indoor living space is a right around 550sf. When the weather is nice our living space more than doubles, and we will have 3 separate defined common areas, and a very large uncovered sun deck.

   

Living like this requires some skills I have previously not really had. The primary of these being extreme organization. Everything must have a place, and everything must go back into its place once used. It doesn’t take much at all for the space to appear cluttered. I had a friend ask me how minimalist the living is. I struggled for a precise answer because it isn’t minimalist living to the extreme, at least not by my interpretation of the word. Yes you must pare down your belongings. You simply don’t have space for lots of peripheral stuff. No artwork or tchotchkes, so you need to pick a couple of favorites, and let the rest go. Same with clothing, the storage space is limited but pretty well planned out. You need to choose which things you actually use, and give away the rest. We will have a small storage room in the parking lot, very small. It will hold 2 of our suitcases, filled with things we seldom need like formal wear, and winter clothing. It will also hold our portable a/c unit over the winter. That will fill it up, and anything else is going to have to be onboard. We have no space for superfluous stuff. If I want a new pair of shoes, I have to get rid of one to make room. Same for a new shirt, pants etc. We have 3 hanging closets on each side. They are small, but hold a surprising amount of stuff. I have 2, Larry has 2, and we reserve the ones in the staterooms on the port side for guests. There are no drawers at all on this boat outside of the kitchen, which surprisingly, has plenty of storage for our needs. We do have several shallow cabinets with shelves, and also open shelving running through all staterooms. There is enough storage in the bathrooms for what is needed. On the starboard side, we have our master bed forward, as well as a dressing area and a clothes washer. We will probably turn the aft stateroom into something resembling a small closet with small, lightweight and movable chests of drawers, making the whole starboard pontoon the a sort of ‘suite’ giving us separate sinks and mirrors etc. Once it is all done I will post photos and a blog so that you can get a better visual of how this all works.

The Marina we are in is beautiful. If we look to the east, we see the city, and when we look to the west, we have a lovely well landscaped park-like setting. There are large trees, flowers, green grass and winding pathways. Parking is plentiful and close. Since we are literally next door the Presidential Palace, the security is extraordinary. There are more full timers living here than I originally thought. Our first dinner on board, our next door neighbor came over with a bottle of wine and welcomed us to the neighborhood. The pier we are on has 10-12 full time occupants, and several part timers (weekenders). Everybody is generous with advice and help. As I was working on the boat that first week, they all invited me to come take a break and sit in the air conditioning on their boats. With one exception, they are running mid 80s during the day as well. The one exception is the same next door neighbor who brought the wine. She and her husband live on the 58 foot Beneteau sailboat you can see just past us in this photo…..

They drape tarps over to tent it, and have 6 a/c compressors. 6!!! Their boat is chilly inside, maintaining 22-23 celsius, or 72-74 fahrenheit all day. We are almost there overnight now, but during the day… not yet. However the window film guy says when he is finished we will be close. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

At this point I have spent several full days on board, mostly tinkering with the storage and organizational issues, still trying to figure it all out. I do some reading, and have time and inclination to write again. It took a while. Being too hot makes me sluggish, and sleepy. I have been in that space a lot recently. I can say this though, we have learned a ton in the past 3 weeks. Living this life takes work. Boats require constant attention and upkeep. Tao 1 had one previous owner, who used her only occasionally. She is responding well to people cleaning her up and taking care of her. With each problem solved, 2 more seem to resolve themselves. She is a good boat, and a good choice as a liveaboard. That said, I think that by far the most important lesson we have learned so far is that I will not ever be here in August again. Ever. Life is good here, but in August it’s better somewhere else.

    

 

One of the common themes of discussion here in Abu Dhabi, is time.  How long have you been here?  How long do you plan to stay?  When is your next holiday?  How long will you be gone?  And so forth.  The topic is much more common recently because, as I have previously mentioned, most people vacate the premises over the summer.  Particularly in July and August.  It was during one of these conversations over the weekend that I suddenly realized I had been here a year.  Almost to the day.  I am amazed, and more than a little grateful at how much things have changed since that day.  A year ago when I stepped off the plane I was truly unsure if I could do this.  I mean, heat is one thing.  I grew up in Phoenix for goodness sake!  I know I don’t like heat, and have a rough time dealing with it.  BUT, I felt like I could handle it for a few years, take a hit for the cause so to speak.  How bad could it be?   I had been 100% certain everything was going to be fine.  Right up until the moment I took that step off that plane and into the soul sucking, mind numbing heat and humidity that is relentless in July and August in Abu Dhabi.

FYI – We are in the red (where there aren’t any numbers) from end of June through August – avg humidity 70-90% and temps 90-110

I mean, think about it.  I knew exactly 1 person here – my husband.  He works a 4 on/3 off per week over 3 hours away.  That means that I spend 4 days per week alone in a city I don’t know, surrounded by people I don’t know, filled with a heat unlike anything I have ever experienced.  So… yes I admit it.  I allowed my head to fill with serious doubts.  But that’s the thing – I allowed it. The situation was not the issue, I was.

When you add to all of this the stories people tell of wives (or ‘trailing spouses’ as we are called here) that did not stay.  There are many who have left after just a few weeks and not returned.  Others who have stuck it out longer but ultimately could not stay and returned home.  There are many, many stories of failed marriages as a result.  What I am saying is that regardless of how it may look, this is not easy, even with the most awesome and fantastic husband in the world at your side.  Those of you who really know me, will understand that I am not an extrovert.  I prefer to stay at home rather than go out somewhere, and I would rather not spend time anyplace that involves crowds. I also know that sitting home alone for long periods of time is not conducive to good mental health.  I need to get outside, and I have to literally force myself to go and meet new people.  The sad part of the beginning of this adventure here was the timing.  Getting outside in this weather is nearly impossible.  Meeting anybody at this time of year is equally so.  Even when you are trying hard.  So after only a month and a half I was thankful for the break that Ayurveda classes and India afforded me.  That my friends saved everything for me, because I returned to an entirely different Abu Dhabi.  When I came home in mid-October the weather was downright nice and there were people everywhere!  My amazing husband had gotten us memberships into The British Club, and we were off and running on a much more positive note.

Fast forward to now, 1 year later… Same horrifying weather, same deserted city as when I arrived.  I can’t get to India this time because of the boat delays.  But everything is going to be OK.  What makes it different now?  I know the city and I know people, a few of which are actually staying over the summer.  I understand how it all works.  And my marriage has gotten even better (as if that was possible) as a result of the challenges of the past year.  Here we are, we have made our first whole year and can now really be considered Expats.  We’re doing it, and we are doing it right.  This is home now.  We came with few expectations, lots of hopes, some goals and a loose timeline.  God willing we will continue to be able to make it all work.  That said, my fellow expats always smile when anybody talks about timelines over here.  The ones who came and persevered to make it through the test of that first year also had timelines.  Without exception, they have stayed past them, some as long as 15-20 years (stop panicking dad, we definitely won’t be doing THAT!)  Life here is not easy, but it is good.  I am told it gets even better with time, and I have no doubts that is true. I’m counting on it!

So for those of you who have been reading and keeping up with us this past year – thanks for hanging in there.  The comments here on the blog and those on social media, as well as the personal notes we have both gotten have really helped.  One of the things you find out when you are so far from home is who your true friends are, and who fades away when you aren’t there.  We know we are very blessed and we are grateful for you.  Thank you.

Now for some updates….

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UPDATE 1:  The ship transporting Tao 1 has made it to the Suez canal on its long journey here.  It is finally free from the clutches of the French and we have been given a window of roughly July 18-23 for arrival.  Exact arrival date will be given 3 days out (once it leaves the port prior to Dubai).  So stay tuned for that – if you are actually in town this July, look for the ‘boat warming’ invite!

UPDATE 2:  I know I never posted the final installment on our Phuket vacation.  I couldn’t get it right.  So – Here are the good parts;  We rented a scooter for a day, and decided that one was not enough for both of our butts (although I am sure it made great comedic relief for a few locals.)  So we rented 2 scooters for 2 more days.  We rode them all around the island sampling restaurants with a budget of $5 per meal. We were not disappointed.  It seems Thais are born able to cook.  Thai food = YUM!  We also spent a bit of time investigating Thai massage.  The massages were 300 Thai Baht ($8.75US) for an hour.  We were able to test and disprove the theory that any massage is a good massage (but they aren’t necessarily absolutely horrible either – just weird.)  We also posted a few beach pics on FB, but here are a couple more…

  

And more photos of where we stayed…

   

and a better shot of they picture they took of us the night they cleared the bar for a private dinner for us – so we could celebrate Larry’s birthday a month early…

Life is good indeed.

 

I received my SCUBA certification 30 years ago, and used it a lot throughout my 20s and 30s.  In fact, sometime around 1991 I came to Phuket while I was working for Club Med.  While here I did a 2 tank dive, the second of which was at a spot called The Flower Garden.  It was a high speed drift dive, lots of ‘flowers’ but not much else besides sea slugs.  On the ascent, we heard the boat pull away and looked up to see tons of Portuguese Man o’ wars over our heads.  The dive guide gave the order to descend and swim out.  None of us got stung, but suffice it to say Phuket did not hold great dive memories for me, even though all reviews would indicate it to be a great dive spot.

Fast forward to 2017, and my handsome hubby wanting to display his shiny new PADI creds.  The obvious choice was get him underwater while here, so off we went!  They really have ramped up the program and are doing a fantastic job with the diving experience here.  Everyone who books gets a private dive guide or guides for their party be it 1 person or 20.  The dives are done cooperatively, with divers and dive companies sharing one of several large, purpose designed boats.

Each group with a specific guide or guides to accompany them.  Our guide was Colin, and he was with us for two days of diving.  He was not only our dive guide, but also our photographer.  All photo credits on this post go to him.

Larry and I were among the second group to be dropped off.  One we got underwater we were happy to find good visibility of around 20-25 meters.  Larry’s classes and check dive had been beach dives in the Arabian Gulf.  Fins had churned up so much silt off the bottom that his visibility had been less than a meter.  I enjoyed watching his face as he looked around.  His eyes were wide with wonder and he was smiling the whole time.  We had tons of cool stuff to see, and it made me happy to have somebody along enjoying themselves as much as I did.

We had 3 dives each day.  They were each 50 minutes in length, with an hour minimum break between them.  The dives went from 7 to 25 meters in depth.  Visibility varied as you will note in the photos.  The stuff we saw was also quite varied.  The Thais have been working to try and bring back the coral, creating underwater marine parks and protected areas.  This is having mixed results as they don;t really have the resources to police it.  That said, there are places where the coral is beginning to come back.

It is amazing how much energy you use, and how hungry you are when you come up from a dive!  Larry and I agreed that if we went diving a couple of times per month it would greatly improve out fitness levels.  Thankfully, they served both hot breakfast and lunch on the dive boat, as well as snacks of fresh fruit.

I am sad to say that one photo taken that did not come out very well was of blue tipped spiny coral.  It was SO beautiful!  There was a large grove(?) (maybe) of it.  It looked as if the tips were glowing.  The photo was very disappointing though, so I have to go with the memory and did not include that shot here.

We got lucky on the second day of diving, and got to see a few reef sharks and a couple of banded sea snakes.  Both days we saw eels.  On one of the dives the second days there was an island of what looked like a field of yellow daisies (actually anemones) but Colin was looking the other way so I have no photo!

Our dive site on the second day was the Phi Phi islands, an under-water preserve.  As we descended we could see that something had really stirred up the water, lowering visibility quite a bit.  Nevertheless it was another great day of diving!  There is more to see than to write in this post, so I am simply going to add more photos for you to look at.  My best recommendation is to learn to dive.  There are thousands of places around the globe where you an go and see these amazing and colorful creatures…  Give it a go!