Greetings from the air somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. I am in the latter half of a 14 hour flight to JFK and have exhausted my list of things to do. I slept the first 3 hours, ate lunch, watched Eat, Pray, Love, slept another 3 hours, ate dinner and watched Going the Distance (ironic right?!). Now I'm jamming to Akon and providing an update on my last week until 2011. I know I wrote about this en route to Abu Dhabi, but business class rocks my world. Dean (my US partner) is escorting me home (ha…how lucky am I to get partner escort to and from Abu Dhabi?!!?). Anyway..that bastard got upgraded from business to first and they were not having me joining him. Damn. I did get to enjoy the first class lounge so started my morning with a delicious breakfast.
Lets see…..my last week was as busy as I expected it to be and I have to say, the 6 hours of sleep I've gotten on the plane so far have been much needed. As soon as I'm done writing I fully plan on passing back out for a couple more hours until I land in New York. The red wine is helping with this initiative!!!!
I think I blogged last on Monday night right before I went out so here is an update since then.
Dean flew in Monday night so I left work, went home, blogged, had dinner and then went to meet him at the Beach Rotana (if you hvaen't gathered so far, it’s a fairly popular hotel with some great bars/restaurants!!)!. They also have a beautiful tree up right now so I don't mind being there all the time. Ha!! We sat outside and caught up on my first 6 weeks over wine/beer. Then we went to Trader Vics for a drink and Oliver came to meet us. The American trifecta at its finest. Lol. I was really smart and when they went back to the Beer Garden for another beer, I politely excused myself and went home. It doesn't happen often so I'm proud of myself when it does!!!
Tuesday was a big dinner for my real job. For some reason I feel very strangely about writing the name in my blog (of my real employer or my Abu Dhabi employer) so ideally you all just get what I'm talking about. Anyhow….it was a very strange dinner. There were about 12 partners, me, Oliver and another chick who is a Director I think. Being here has been great exposure for me, as I wouldn't have met any of these ppl had I stayed home. I met partners from Qatar, Netherlands, London, Dubai, etc. So the Global SWF leader was there and he was like..Cristina how many of these people do you know? I said, well just the ppl sitting to my right and left (way to branch out I know!). So he gets them to introduce themselves, and it became very weird. Oliver didn't know most of them, Lars didn't know some of them, Dean either. But instead of speaking to the group, they all just talked directly to me. Now mind you, I, as a Manager am the LEAST important person at this dinner. But you would have thought I was the most and they were all trying to impress me. It was bizarre and hard to explain I guess. After, we went for a drink and Dean/Oliver/Lars were like WTF was that? Maybe I'm making partner this year and no one has told me yet? HAHAHAHA!!!! It was a fairly late night and I was tired on Wednesday…..like hard to keep my eyes open tired.
Wednesday night was our secondee Christmas dinner. Secondees are those who aren't actually employed by the company in AD but we're all there from our respective firms for a set period of time. It was essentially the whole legal department and me (I'm in tax for anyone that hasn't figured that out or doesn't know). I cabbed over with Katie (it was also her sort of going away dinner since yesterday was her last day at work and she goes back to London on Sunday…SOOOOO SAD. More to come). We went to Chamas, a Brazillian steakhouse at the Intercontinental. Food was great, and drinks were flowing. Katie and I split a bottle of red wine, each had a martini and then someone at the table suggested unlimited capariniahs. Apparently it was 45 dirhams for 1 or 60 for unlimited, so it seemed fiscally responsible to go unlimited. Bad idea. They were insanely strong and didn't stop coming. All in all, it was a great dinner. Well then the group sort of split . Most went to 8, which is a club at the Shangri-La that I do intend to visit one day…but it was on the other side of the island and I figured a bad idea. Katie and I went to Oceans/Sax (where I had been the previous Wednesday) to meet some other folks. It is 3 blocks from our pad and has GREAT music on Wednesday night. Its been two of the most fun nights out for me so I will prob become a regular. The bouncer recognized me and seems to be a fan so also a plus! I tried to leave at 2am but was bullied into staying later…ha. The one good thing about Sax is that the music is so good that I essentially stop drinking and start dancing and that helps with the morning after. I got home about 3am and prepared for the worst the next am.
Surprisingly, I did the best at work on Thursday. Katie lives 2 doors down from me and I considered knocking on her door but figured she was fine. Wrong. She bbm'd me back at 10 am and had just woken up. Anwar was also emailing me that he was rolling in way late. That seemed to be the case for everyone in legal. I was there at 8:15 ready to go! I am somewhat of a rockstar here….for whatever reason I can handle no sleep and constant nights out better than anyone I hang out with. They were like why do you look so freaking chipper and good this morning when none of us got any sleep and were quite hungover. Oh you know, cuz I'm awesome?! So we all had some good laughs on Thursday about the way the night before went. I also went to a late lunch with a co-worker so that was sweet cuz it killed 2.5 hours of my afternoon. I had a very busy week but by Thursday was mostly in good shape to head out for the holidays.
So the Global SWF leader (Jan) wanted to have Dean, Oliver, John (UK partner) and I over to his place for drinks and then head to Emirates Palace for dinner and to see the 11M Xmas tree in the lobby. That’s right, 11M . They are going for a Guiness World Record. We shall see. Anyhow…..Jan's place was sick. Unbelievable location, views, apartment, etc etc. I guess that’s to be expected right? I told Dean I needed an upgrade from my craphole hotel apartment immediately!!! So we had a few glasses of wine and then eventually went to Hakkisan. I have been hearing about this place (Chinese) since arriving and it was supposed to be the place of our tax team xmas dinner which has been pushed to January. I convinced them all to go and it was sooooo good. I ate a ton of randomness (I do have to say, I've been slightly more adventurous on the food front since arriving here since there are often not the options I'm used to. Case in point, I had a steak sandwich for my lunch today and it was phenom.). Anyhow…..we had a great dinner, drank tons more wine and martinis and coffee and booze and then John went to the airport, Jan went home, and the 3 amigos went to Etoilles. At this point I was stuffed and the vodka tonics were not going down so well. But the music was pretty good and I did some dancing. Oh wait..forgot to mention, met this guy Greg the night before when we were cabbing from Jan's place to Emirates who was with Daniel, someone I met week one who works for my old client. Greg was in AD interviewing at old client. Turns out, he's sitting directly behind me on the plane. Small world sometimes right??!?!?! His interview gig was pretty sweet..flew him out here business class for a week, gave him a driver who showed him around Dubai/Abu Dhabi. Makes sense though, if you are committing to moving all the way out here, you ought to know what you are getting into. I just wung (is wung the past tense of wing?!) it, but I also am only here for a limited period.
On that note….I've essentially been offered a full time job already. I really didn't expect that this early in the game, but they love me already so I guess want to plant the seed. A huge part of me wants to consider this, but I'm not sure its right. Forgot to mention, I'm up for promotion this year and I herad from my coach on Thursday (our mid year review where they sort of make a good indicator of your year end fate was on Wednesday) and she said I basically had it in the bag. So I really am not ready to leave my job as I want the promotion and do love the opportunities it has. On the other hand, my AD employer is phenomenal and I have loved every second of my first 6 weeks. I have learned so much, met so many great people and really am living life to the fullest. Anyway,….thats not something I need to figure out now so……
We stayed out too late again and I had to get up at 6:30 to shower, pack and meet Dean at his hotel to head to the airport. Oliver is also moving into my place for the next 3 days (look at us saving the firm money!!!) so I had to make sure things were cleaned up, put away, etc. I essentially threw a bunch of randomness in my suitcases and left.
So here I am……11 hours into my flight and thinking about what an amazing experience I have had so far. I still can't believe that this is my life right now, and that the first 6 weeks are over. In some respects I feel like I've been here for ages, and in others, it went so fast. I know I work hard and completely deserve this experience, but really, its been so much more than I ever expected. Professionally its an amazing experience, but lifewise, it can not even be explained. I have met some AMAZING people so far. I feel like in Liana I have met my long lost twin. I am so lucky to not only work with such an amazing chick, but to have grown so close and had soooo much fun since I got here. She is a big fan of my staying forever, lol. Anyhow, she's in Australia for the holidays and we're fully prepared to take 2011 by storm together. She was so unexpected but a great surprise. Katie is on her way out, which is extremely sad. She is an American but has been in London for a bit and headed back there now. Liana and I wil def. be heading to London for a visit! Anyway…Katie has become a great friend and I don't think that’s going to end even though she's headed back to reality. We bonded over drinks, runs, concerts, and I think she is fabulous. Alice is a newer friend but she's here for a few months and I'm excited to hang with her more. She is a UKer and a blast so far. The 4 of us had a blast the last few weeks and we'll def miss our #4. Oliver has been wonderful to have as well. We don't spend as much time together as I figured we would (since I've developed much more of a social life than expected!) but we make it a point to do at least one dinner a week and I love having him here. There are so many more new friends I've met that fall into one big category of super fun and accepting. Being an ex-pat here is actually really easy, as we are all in the same boat and most ppl that have come here are very similar (adventurous, outgoing, etc). Most nights end up just a ton of ppl and its an, anyone can come, anything goes mentality which is super refreshing.
It's funny cuz I went out to hail a cab the other night and realized the woman next to me wanted one but they were all whizzing by and she wouldn't stick her hand out. So I got her a cab and then myself. Same thing happened a few days later. For all the cab trouble I had when I got here, that was sort of a wow, I'm becoming a local moment!!! I had no idea what to expect when I came out here and took this huge gamble, but what a reward I have received so far. I have met great people, learned so much about other cultures, learned a ton at work and just had a truly amazing experience. I am excited to go home for the holidays and see everyone, but I will be happy to come back and finish out this journey in the new year.
I'm head to DC now (well JFK and then DC) until Sunday and then I head to Tampa to see my family for an early xmas. Then back to DC to celebrate Xmas and New Years and then back to Abu Dhabi on January 2nd. It's not going to be at all relaxing but I've sort of gotten used to that in the last 6 weeks! I am really not looking forward to it being freezing, but I guess I'll get used to it. When I left my hotel this morning in jeans, tank top and flops and was hot, I sort of wanted to stay. Lol. It's been snowing in DC and its cold as crap in Florida should be an experience. I don’t even have a coat with me. Better be door to door service!!!
I have load of plans for 2011 which I'm excited for. The girls (see above) have agreed to meet for a weekend in Beirut, Oliver wants to go skiing in Lebanon for a weekend (so I'll be bringing my gear back!), Liana and I (and Alice if we can convince her) will go to London to see Katie, Oliver and I might hit the Maldives and I fully intend on going sky diving in Dubai for my birthday in March. I feel like the first 6 weeks were insane with concerts, events, Formula 1, getting acclimated, etc and the second half I plan to actually do some travelling, see the Grand Mosque, go for a boat ride, etc etc.
I hope everyone has a great holiday season and wishing you all a Happy New Year. Thanks for following my blog (I hope to have kept you all fairly entertained) even though some of it prob cant be fully appreciated in writing. I can't wait to see some of you in the coming weeks (don’t be too jealous of my fabulous tan!!)!. Love you all and talk to you again in 2011!!!!!!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
A week of fun!
Sorry I'm late on blogging....I just knew I had so much to write about and could barely function by yesterday! Last week was a whirlwind of fun...the second I dont think I could possibly have anymore, more comes along! I'm loving it!!!
Okay....last Monday was back to work after the long weekend followed by a chill night at the gym. And then it all went downhill!
Tuesday I was supposed to be having a dinner with some of my clients audit folks from the UK but when I emailed them that morning, they had messed up the date and meant tomorrow, not last week. Since I was dressed nicely and it was my brother and sisters birthday, I figured it only made sense to go celebrate on their behalf! Oliver and I decided to meet up for dinner and I was dying for a good steak (last one I had had was day 3 in AD!). So we went to the Rodeo Grill at the Beach Rotana and had a great dinner and shared a bottle of wine. Then we decided to go for one drink at Trader Vics (also in Beach Rotana and known for their Mai Tai's). The other times I've been, I've felt like the drinks were really week. So either something was wrong with me or they decided to trick me because 3 Mai Tai's later, I was in trouble. I did meet the executive chef for Sheikh Mohammad so that was entertaining as I told him wonderful stories about my pasta and pancake making skills. Lol. Around 12 we decided we had stayed out much longer than planned and I knew I was feeling off so I headed home and passed out. Wednesday morning was awful. I woke up spinning and felt like I got run over multiple times by a truck. I got up and got ready for work and suffered through the day. The problem being, I had already made plans for Wed night not expecting Tuesday to be anything!
So by the end of Wednseday I'm starting to feel like a human being again and agree to go for a couple drinks as it was ladies night and we were gonna go 3 blocks away from my hotel. Have I ever mentioned that I'm very easily influenced? Yeah, I am. So we go to Oceans and sat out on the terrace which was really nice..had some wine, and then some vodka tonics and then a tequilla shot (STUPID!!). So then this club Sax is right down the hall and again, its ladies night so we go, end up at a table with a bottle of grey goose and I don't even want to know what time it is. I had a blast but after rolling in at 3:30, I was a little mad at myself! Thursday morning I woke up to my phone ringing and knew immediately that something was wrong. Check my phone..its 8:30...which is the time I'm supposed to BE at work. Oops. So it was my driver that had been calling...I felt bad that he waited around for nothing but also thankful that he woke me up! I got ready so fast and was at work by 9:10 so really, thats not that bad. I don't feel quite as bad as the day before, I was just completely exhausted.
So we had already bought tickets to Creamfields, which is a big DJ dance festival that they host around the world and brought to Abu Dhabi for the first time last year. Liana and I figured everyone else was going so we mine as well. By the end of the work day Thursday (that just dragged on and on and on and on), all I wanted was to sleep but again, we had tickets, so it was kind of late. So we came home and changed real quick and then Katie drove Liana and I over to Yas island where they had a hotel room (Li and I tried to get one for the whole weekend but we attempted this the day before and everything was sold out....note for next time, plan ahead!). So we meet Alice there and have champagne and vodka redbulls while everyone finsihes getting ready (and Alice finished her 2 hour conference call!). By this time I'm getting my 3rd wind and ready for more so we go to the event and had a ball. Dizzee Rascall was great, we danced, met lots of random ppl, had drinks and took a million pictures (Alice has all of them...I'll bug her to put them up when she returns from her last minute work trip to San Fran!). Anyway..ppl all started to get separated and then we found out David Guetta wasn't coming on until 3:30 (originally was 2-4). I'm thinking how on earth am I going to make it that late, I'm soooo tired! Anyway....Alice and I got chicken schwarmas (they are big here and quite delicious...big as in popular..not in size, they are actually quite small!) and then tried to re organize everyone. We find Liana and then witness a fight of which Alice tries to help, ends up getting a bottle of water thrown in her face and lost her blackberry. Kind of a downer. So she ended up heading back to hotel and we have no idea where Katie is but assumed she had called it a night. So Liana and I hang out until about 4:15 and then heard David wasn't even on the island and after our Akon experience the previous weekend, we gave up and decided we'd here him on our iPods. Lol. So we head out to get a cab and that was a complete disaster. Like the UAE is a mess on a lot of fronts and sometimes its funny and sometimes its just really annoying, particularly when you haven't slept in days and its 4:30am. Liana and I gave the taxi organizer dude a load of sh*t before finally agreeing to go wait in the queue with everyone else. Bad move. We should have stayed with the original plan to get one on that side of the road. The line ended up kind of shifting like 1/4 mile down the road and then there wasn't a steady stream anymore so ppl just kept walking and then cabs stopped stopping because we weren't in the cab queue anymore. Then ppl started to sort of lose the line and others were clearly upset by this. We watched a girl in a tutu tell this guy off, was great. So then its finally our turn and a cab finally stops so we go to jump in as some other idiot jumps in the front. We're like, we're not getting out, and he was like, neither am I. So we figure fine, we'll go drop you off and then us, it was a little out of the way but not that bad. He ended up paying for the whole thing so that was nice. Got home about 5:30am...a guy was just getting dropped off at the airport as I stroll up and I just kind of laughed.
Friday I got up around 12:30 (phew..finally some sleep!), hit the pool and then started getting ready again for night #4. Our work Xmas dinner got moved so we were able to go to the Rugby ball we originally thought we'd miss. So we get all dressed at like 5 and head back to Yas (Yas is kind of a pain to get to but there just keeps being events there! Also the reason we wanted to stay the whole weekend but again, procrastiantion doesn't get you anywhere). We had managed to get a room for Friday night since Creamfields was over so headed over there, had a snack and a bottle of champagne before heading over to the hotel where the ball was. Met up with Katie and Ben (Ben is Katie's good friend from London and also coincidentally, Liana's flatmate). So we hung out with them at the bar until people started making their way to the ball. The ball was really fun (and my first). We had loads of wine and champagane and a great Xmas dinner of turkey, potatoes, carrots, etc. We danced to typical wedding style music for a bit and then decided we had had all the fun we were going to have. Katie ended up heading home and Liana and I went to Allure, the first nightclub on Yas and operated by the Cipriana's chain so its really nice. It wasn't too busy but that was perfect. Went back to the hotel around 4 and passed out. Saturday we got up and then went to the pool for the afternoon. It was nice to be at a different pool which was more resort like than my rooftop one. Had an amazing club sandwich and just chilled. Came back to Abu Dhabi around 4, took a nap, and then hit the gym before going out to dinner. I was excited for the buff mozz/tomato appetizer all day but they ended up being OUT of buff mozz. What kind of italian rest runs out of buff mozz. Suprised they had pasta. Ha!
Yesterday at work was long (as I stayed up reading/goofing off instead of going to bed at a decent hour) and today was the same. Work has been busy as well since its the last week before the holidays and a ton to finish up so not getting enough sleep is starting to take its toll.
We were supposed to have our work xmas dinner last night and I was all excited all day cuz we had planned on going to an amazing Chinese restaurant but the boss had to cancel it around 6:30pm so that was a downer. It also meant that I had to go to the gym which I wanted nothing to do with. Lol. Liana and I pep talked each other to going and then Katie ended up wanting to do a run with me which was nice to catch up on the weekend and stuff. Its her last week here in Abu Dhabi (SAD!) so we had a nice run/chat along the corniche. It goes by so much faster with a partner and we ran a good 40 minutes without me getting bored so that was great. I did stay up late again reading cuz I'm an idiot...but at least I'm getting a decent amount of sleep.
Work went later than hoped today and one of my partners just flew in so I'm going to meet him for drinks to catch up before he comes to meet with the client in the morning. 4 more days til I head home and plans every night...I can handle 4 more days though. I pretty much can't wait to get on the plane and pass out!!!
Will have more fun stuff to come at the end of the week...and then it will either be silent for a few weeks or it will be adventures in dc/florida until the new year.
Okay....last Monday was back to work after the long weekend followed by a chill night at the gym. And then it all went downhill!
Tuesday I was supposed to be having a dinner with some of my clients audit folks from the UK but when I emailed them that morning, they had messed up the date and meant tomorrow, not last week. Since I was dressed nicely and it was my brother and sisters birthday, I figured it only made sense to go celebrate on their behalf! Oliver and I decided to meet up for dinner and I was dying for a good steak (last one I had had was day 3 in AD!). So we went to the Rodeo Grill at the Beach Rotana and had a great dinner and shared a bottle of wine. Then we decided to go for one drink at Trader Vics (also in Beach Rotana and known for their Mai Tai's). The other times I've been, I've felt like the drinks were really week. So either something was wrong with me or they decided to trick me because 3 Mai Tai's later, I was in trouble. I did meet the executive chef for Sheikh Mohammad so that was entertaining as I told him wonderful stories about my pasta and pancake making skills. Lol. Around 12 we decided we had stayed out much longer than planned and I knew I was feeling off so I headed home and passed out. Wednesday morning was awful. I woke up spinning and felt like I got run over multiple times by a truck. I got up and got ready for work and suffered through the day. The problem being, I had already made plans for Wed night not expecting Tuesday to be anything!
So by the end of Wednseday I'm starting to feel like a human being again and agree to go for a couple drinks as it was ladies night and we were gonna go 3 blocks away from my hotel. Have I ever mentioned that I'm very easily influenced? Yeah, I am. So we go to Oceans and sat out on the terrace which was really nice..had some wine, and then some vodka tonics and then a tequilla shot (STUPID!!). So then this club Sax is right down the hall and again, its ladies night so we go, end up at a table with a bottle of grey goose and I don't even want to know what time it is. I had a blast but after rolling in at 3:30, I was a little mad at myself! Thursday morning I woke up to my phone ringing and knew immediately that something was wrong. Check my phone..its 8:30...which is the time I'm supposed to BE at work. Oops. So it was my driver that had been calling...I felt bad that he waited around for nothing but also thankful that he woke me up! I got ready so fast and was at work by 9:10 so really, thats not that bad. I don't feel quite as bad as the day before, I was just completely exhausted.
So we had already bought tickets to Creamfields, which is a big DJ dance festival that they host around the world and brought to Abu Dhabi for the first time last year. Liana and I figured everyone else was going so we mine as well. By the end of the work day Thursday (that just dragged on and on and on and on), all I wanted was to sleep but again, we had tickets, so it was kind of late. So we came home and changed real quick and then Katie drove Liana and I over to Yas island where they had a hotel room (Li and I tried to get one for the whole weekend but we attempted this the day before and everything was sold out....note for next time, plan ahead!). So we meet Alice there and have champagne and vodka redbulls while everyone finsihes getting ready (and Alice finished her 2 hour conference call!). By this time I'm getting my 3rd wind and ready for more so we go to the event and had a ball. Dizzee Rascall was great, we danced, met lots of random ppl, had drinks and took a million pictures (Alice has all of them...I'll bug her to put them up when she returns from her last minute work trip to San Fran!). Anyway..ppl all started to get separated and then we found out David Guetta wasn't coming on until 3:30 (originally was 2-4). I'm thinking how on earth am I going to make it that late, I'm soooo tired! Anyway....Alice and I got chicken schwarmas (they are big here and quite delicious...big as in popular..not in size, they are actually quite small!) and then tried to re organize everyone. We find Liana and then witness a fight of which Alice tries to help, ends up getting a bottle of water thrown in her face and lost her blackberry. Kind of a downer. So she ended up heading back to hotel and we have no idea where Katie is but assumed she had called it a night. So Liana and I hang out until about 4:15 and then heard David wasn't even on the island and after our Akon experience the previous weekend, we gave up and decided we'd here him on our iPods. Lol. So we head out to get a cab and that was a complete disaster. Like the UAE is a mess on a lot of fronts and sometimes its funny and sometimes its just really annoying, particularly when you haven't slept in days and its 4:30am. Liana and I gave the taxi organizer dude a load of sh*t before finally agreeing to go wait in the queue with everyone else. Bad move. We should have stayed with the original plan to get one on that side of the road. The line ended up kind of shifting like 1/4 mile down the road and then there wasn't a steady stream anymore so ppl just kept walking and then cabs stopped stopping because we weren't in the cab queue anymore. Then ppl started to sort of lose the line and others were clearly upset by this. We watched a girl in a tutu tell this guy off, was great. So then its finally our turn and a cab finally stops so we go to jump in as some other idiot jumps in the front. We're like, we're not getting out, and he was like, neither am I. So we figure fine, we'll go drop you off and then us, it was a little out of the way but not that bad. He ended up paying for the whole thing so that was nice. Got home about 5:30am...a guy was just getting dropped off at the airport as I stroll up and I just kind of laughed.
Friday I got up around 12:30 (phew..finally some sleep!), hit the pool and then started getting ready again for night #4. Our work Xmas dinner got moved so we were able to go to the Rugby ball we originally thought we'd miss. So we get all dressed at like 5 and head back to Yas (Yas is kind of a pain to get to but there just keeps being events there! Also the reason we wanted to stay the whole weekend but again, procrastiantion doesn't get you anywhere). We had managed to get a room for Friday night since Creamfields was over so headed over there, had a snack and a bottle of champagne before heading over to the hotel where the ball was. Met up with Katie and Ben (Ben is Katie's good friend from London and also coincidentally, Liana's flatmate). So we hung out with them at the bar until people started making their way to the ball. The ball was really fun (and my first). We had loads of wine and champagane and a great Xmas dinner of turkey, potatoes, carrots, etc. We danced to typical wedding style music for a bit and then decided we had had all the fun we were going to have. Katie ended up heading home and Liana and I went to Allure, the first nightclub on Yas and operated by the Cipriana's chain so its really nice. It wasn't too busy but that was perfect. Went back to the hotel around 4 and passed out. Saturday we got up and then went to the pool for the afternoon. It was nice to be at a different pool which was more resort like than my rooftop one. Had an amazing club sandwich and just chilled. Came back to Abu Dhabi around 4, took a nap, and then hit the gym before going out to dinner. I was excited for the buff mozz/tomato appetizer all day but they ended up being OUT of buff mozz. What kind of italian rest runs out of buff mozz. Suprised they had pasta. Ha!
Yesterday at work was long (as I stayed up reading/goofing off instead of going to bed at a decent hour) and today was the same. Work has been busy as well since its the last week before the holidays and a ton to finish up so not getting enough sleep is starting to take its toll.
We were supposed to have our work xmas dinner last night and I was all excited all day cuz we had planned on going to an amazing Chinese restaurant but the boss had to cancel it around 6:30pm so that was a downer. It also meant that I had to go to the gym which I wanted nothing to do with. Lol. Liana and I pep talked each other to going and then Katie ended up wanting to do a run with me which was nice to catch up on the weekend and stuff. Its her last week here in Abu Dhabi (SAD!) so we had a nice run/chat along the corniche. It goes by so much faster with a partner and we ran a good 40 minutes without me getting bored so that was great. I did stay up late again reading cuz I'm an idiot...but at least I'm getting a decent amount of sleep.
Work went later than hoped today and one of my partners just flew in so I'm going to meet him for drinks to catch up before he comes to meet with the client in the morning. 4 more days til I head home and plans every night...I can handle 4 more days though. I pretty much can't wait to get on the plane and pass out!!!
Will have more fun stuff to come at the end of the week...and then it will either be silent for a few weeks or it will be adventures in dc/florida until the new year.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Another amazing weekend....Dubai style.
Where to begin.......Let's see...
Last week was fairly uneventful. I didn't feel great Sunday/Monday so stayed worked and layed low the first half of the week. Wednesday was the weeks Friday (we had Thursday off..and tomorrow too...woot!)and we had a client/work dinner which was nice. Went to Finz...a great seafood restaurant at the Beach Rotana and sat out on the water. Got to bed fairly early to get ready for the weekend.
Thursday I got up and hit the gym and then packed up and waited for my fabulous chauffer Liana to arrive. We drove up to Dubai and went straight to the mall as I needed a complete outfit for the Rugby 7's on Friday. Katie and Alice had gone up earlier that day and we ran into them at Top Shop, trying on the skirt I found at the front of the store. Ha! Great minds think alike. Liana already had most of her outfit but the rest of us were basically starting from scratch. I was able to get a skirt, shirt, suspenders (or braces as they call them here), fishnets, boots, a shoulder cover up (what are those called?!) and some jewelery. Liana got some knee highs, shoes and accessories to finish hers off. Katie and Alice had to run to get formal dresses for the Rugby Ball they were attending that night but their costumes turned out fab as well (see facebook for photos!). Maybe I should back up.....I guess there is a day out of every Rugby tournament where people dress up. The theme this year was movies. We were originally going to be the Pink Ladies from Grease but couldn't find any pink jackets. Then we were gonna do some sort of school girl theme since that would be pretty easy but then Liana mentioned the Craft. It was funny cuz I had thought of it the night before but wasn't sure anyone else had seen it. It turned out perfectly cuz there were 4 of us and the outfits were easy, sexy and fun. Okay....so we also got mani/pedis at the mall. The girl who did my toes must have been her first day or something. It took 2 hours for me to get a mani/pedi...Liana started 30 minutes later, had a mani/pedi/threading and leg wax and we finished at the same time. The girl literally took the paint off my toes 10 times. I was about to lose it. Thankfully it turned out okay so in the end I guess it was fine. Then we went to grab food (Chinese, yum!) and then went to the greatest place ever.....Candylicious. It is an enourmous candy store and I haven't had any since arriving in the ME so I was in heaven! Even got some Xmas shopping done! At this point it was like 10pm so we got our butts to the hotel and checked in. The client has great rates with a few hotels in the area and this was one. We had a sweet room, complete with camel cookies as it was UAE National Day (which is why we were off work). We got ready and then got picked up by some of Liana's friends from Qatar who were in town (and all were very excited about winning the 2022 World Cup bid). We went to Barasti which is a great beach club and had a fabulous night. Katie and Alice were staying at the hotel where this was but never made it after the ball. It was funny cuz we were meeting them back at their hotel the next morning to go to Rugby together so it would have made more sense if we just stayed at same hotel since we spent a good amount of time taking cabs around the city. Anyhow....we got to bed around 4am (we tried to make it an early night, oops) and got up at 10ish to start getting ready.
The outfits were looking good and we were mostly ready and then I had a slight incident. The ring I bought didn't go on all the way to my ring finger at store but it had tags on it so I figured once I took them off it would be fine. Well I go to slide it on and its not a great fit so I give it a little push and bam..its on. And omg....it needs to come off. So I try and nothing and start freaking out. I literally thought I was going to end up in the hospital with a possible finger removal cuz it immediatly swelled up and started turning blue. Liana was joking at first when I was like..what do I do? And then she looked at it and goes..oh god. So I'm trying to stay calm but of course, thats difficult. After some soap adn cold water (my dumba** was using hot which makes you swell!), it came off. My finger hurt for the rest of the day and I was shaking for a good 30 minutes but at least I still have a finger! So then we got a car to the rest of the Craft crew and got some funny looks although most ppl asked if we were going to Rugby so thankfully they got it and didn't think we were hookers! Well until we got to their hotel. We went to get on elevator and some hotel workers were like..are you staying here. No, we're just meeting friends. What room are they in? 413. What are there names? Katie/Alice. Okay we have to call them. Great. We're not hooking at 11am...we're meeting friends and when they come down they will look the same so simmer down. Ha. We had some mimosas..put the finishing touches on our outfits and set off. We thought Rugby was closer to Katie/Alice hotel (which was like 20 minutes from ours) but it turns out it was way past ours so they should have come to us but oh well. The stadium was pretty far away...a 100 durham cab ride anywhere in the region means its pretty freakin far.
So we finally get there and get out and no one else seems to be dressed up and we're like....is this some sort of joke?! Nah...just a lot of losers who didn't. We got our tickets and went in. The Craft was a hit. A lot more ppl than I expected knew what we were and everyone wanted to take photos. We got some great standing spots right along the side of the field and watched a bunch of teams warm up...watched the US beat Argentina and then did a lot of walking around. It was soooo hot until the sun started to go behind the stadium at 3:30 and I was hoping I wasn't going to end up with a fishnet sunburn but thankfully all was okay. We had a really great day, met lots of crazy people dressed up as Hooters, table tennis players, penguins, etc. We kept asking what movie they all were and a lot of ppl didn't get the movie memo..just the dress up memo. Oh and over here its called Fancy Dress. I assumed ball gowns...and then was informed Fancy dress is Costume dress! Good thing I have ppl to steer me in the right direction. Liana was a hoot watching the teams warm up....you could tell which ones were used to it and which ones were newbies cuz those ones she could distract and make blush. She had us all cracking up. I got proposed to, and had some scones/jam that Liana essentially stole from and old guy. No really he gave it up quite easily but I hadn't eaten anything all day (except for the candy necklace I had...we found black ones with skulls the day prior and had to have them) so it was a life saver to eat something. We left around 6 as Liana and I had Akon to attend..I wish it had been two different days cuz it was a lot for one day...I was jealous Katie and Alice got to take naps! So we get to hotel and I need to check in to my own room which was a bit of a pain. 1. I looked like a hooker 2. I had no luggage cuz it was all in Liana's room and 3. I forgot my passport (since thats not a normal thing to need in the US) So yeah....he's like I don't know what to tell you and I'm like..so what you want me to sleep on the street? Thankfully with all the secondment stuff, I had it scanned to myself in an email so I sent that to them. Then I had to jump on a call at 7 so it was a lot of rushing around.
I scarfed down a pizza, showered and go ready for the 2nd time, this time for the concert. Liana's friend from Kuwait came to town and we met 3 others in the hotel to head to the concert. It was supposed to start at 9 and there were no scheduled opening acts, just DJ's...so we figured getting there around 10 would be fine. When we got in, the DJ was great. Playing hip hop and the place was massive so it was like being in a big club. Well then around 10:30 they switched DJ's to these two idiot girls who thought they were the coolest things ever. Well they started playing techno. Um.....hi ladies...we are here for a HIP HOP concert. Why on earth would any of us want to listen to tecnho? Ppl were also starting to get ancy for Akon. So the longer we waited, the more annoyed we got, etc etc. Ppl started booing the girls, then everyone sat down at one point. One of the DJ's (we'll call her blondie) clearly realizes everyone hates them but doesn't know what to do. Her friend (we'll call her oblivious) keeps dancing and singing like everything is just peachy. So they have them up on the screens and you can see blondie telling oblivious to take off her headphone things and listen to the booing. I guess oblivious's bright idea was to pretend like we all loved them still and move on like nothing was amiss. Meanwhile blondie looks like shes going to cry. Ha, I really wanted her too. It would have made my night. Another thing to note...there were sooooo many weirdos at this concert. At the end of the night we all agreed it had been surreal. Like did any of that actually happen? Too many things to write....but use your imagination and it probably occurred. So anyone want to take a guess when Akon came on? He was supposed to come on at 9. He came on at 12:30. Yep....3.5 hours late. And he was only on for 55 minutes. My guess is because the venue was closing down and he had to rush through the show. I was not amused. It was great to see him, we were super close, but after being out in heels all day, rushing to get there, and then waiting for hours. My mood was not the best. So yeah..disappointing evening but was still good to see him live. We were supposed to go out after to meet all the folks from Rugby but it would have ben like 2 am and we gave up.
Today I got up and went to breakfast with Liana and Jermaine and then we hit the pool for an hour or so and then I hopped in a cab to go meet Katie/Alice who gave me a lift back to Abu Dhabi since Liana was staying another night. It was great to hear about their night since they actually got to go out! Fun was had by all but it was good to get home and unpack and relax some. I took a 3 hour nap and then hit the gym. Every part of me wanted to keep sleeping or just eat but I knew I needed a good workout. Thankfully it turned out to be a great one! Then I got some room service, went and found an adapter since my computer was completely dead and the 3 prong plug I have doesn't fit in the adapter I have at the hotel. Thankfully the front had one so I could upload pics and fill you all in on my crazy few days.
We have tomorrow off as well since its Islamic New Year on Tuesday but having a day off in the middle of the week is stupid so they gave us today Sunday off instead. Brilliant!!! I am gonna head to the Beach Club for the day for some relaxation and then will get some laundry done.
I think thats the highlights. This was quite the lengthy entry already! I have less than two weeks until I head home and its going to go pretty fast with one short work week, some events planned for next weekend and then one last full week with a ton of week night events for holidays, partners in town, etc etc. Excited to see everyone but not looking forward to doing so in the COLD!
Last week was fairly uneventful. I didn't feel great Sunday/Monday so stayed worked and layed low the first half of the week. Wednesday was the weeks Friday (we had Thursday off..and tomorrow too...woot!)and we had a client/work dinner which was nice. Went to Finz...a great seafood restaurant at the Beach Rotana and sat out on the water. Got to bed fairly early to get ready for the weekend.
Thursday I got up and hit the gym and then packed up and waited for my fabulous chauffer Liana to arrive. We drove up to Dubai and went straight to the mall as I needed a complete outfit for the Rugby 7's on Friday. Katie and Alice had gone up earlier that day and we ran into them at Top Shop, trying on the skirt I found at the front of the store. Ha! Great minds think alike. Liana already had most of her outfit but the rest of us were basically starting from scratch. I was able to get a skirt, shirt, suspenders (or braces as they call them here), fishnets, boots, a shoulder cover up (what are those called?!) and some jewelery. Liana got some knee highs, shoes and accessories to finish hers off. Katie and Alice had to run to get formal dresses for the Rugby Ball they were attending that night but their costumes turned out fab as well (see facebook for photos!). Maybe I should back up.....I guess there is a day out of every Rugby tournament where people dress up. The theme this year was movies. We were originally going to be the Pink Ladies from Grease but couldn't find any pink jackets. Then we were gonna do some sort of school girl theme since that would be pretty easy but then Liana mentioned the Craft. It was funny cuz I had thought of it the night before but wasn't sure anyone else had seen it. It turned out perfectly cuz there were 4 of us and the outfits were easy, sexy and fun. Okay....so we also got mani/pedis at the mall. The girl who did my toes must have been her first day or something. It took 2 hours for me to get a mani/pedi...Liana started 30 minutes later, had a mani/pedi/threading and leg wax and we finished at the same time. The girl literally took the paint off my toes 10 times. I was about to lose it. Thankfully it turned out okay so in the end I guess it was fine. Then we went to grab food (Chinese, yum!) and then went to the greatest place ever.....Candylicious. It is an enourmous candy store and I haven't had any since arriving in the ME so I was in heaven! Even got some Xmas shopping done! At this point it was like 10pm so we got our butts to the hotel and checked in. The client has great rates with a few hotels in the area and this was one. We had a sweet room, complete with camel cookies as it was UAE National Day (which is why we were off work). We got ready and then got picked up by some of Liana's friends from Qatar who were in town (and all were very excited about winning the 2022 World Cup bid). We went to Barasti which is a great beach club and had a fabulous night. Katie and Alice were staying at the hotel where this was but never made it after the ball. It was funny cuz we were meeting them back at their hotel the next morning to go to Rugby together so it would have made more sense if we just stayed at same hotel since we spent a good amount of time taking cabs around the city. Anyhow....we got to bed around 4am (we tried to make it an early night, oops) and got up at 10ish to start getting ready.
The outfits were looking good and we were mostly ready and then I had a slight incident. The ring I bought didn't go on all the way to my ring finger at store but it had tags on it so I figured once I took them off it would be fine. Well I go to slide it on and its not a great fit so I give it a little push and bam..its on. And omg....it needs to come off. So I try and nothing and start freaking out. I literally thought I was going to end up in the hospital with a possible finger removal cuz it immediatly swelled up and started turning blue. Liana was joking at first when I was like..what do I do? And then she looked at it and goes..oh god. So I'm trying to stay calm but of course, thats difficult. After some soap adn cold water (my dumba** was using hot which makes you swell!), it came off. My finger hurt for the rest of the day and I was shaking for a good 30 minutes but at least I still have a finger! So then we got a car to the rest of the Craft crew and got some funny looks although most ppl asked if we were going to Rugby so thankfully they got it and didn't think we were hookers! Well until we got to their hotel. We went to get on elevator and some hotel workers were like..are you staying here. No, we're just meeting friends. What room are they in? 413. What are there names? Katie/Alice. Okay we have to call them. Great. We're not hooking at 11am...we're meeting friends and when they come down they will look the same so simmer down. Ha. We had some mimosas..put the finishing touches on our outfits and set off. We thought Rugby was closer to Katie/Alice hotel (which was like 20 minutes from ours) but it turns out it was way past ours so they should have come to us but oh well. The stadium was pretty far away...a 100 durham cab ride anywhere in the region means its pretty freakin far.
So we finally get there and get out and no one else seems to be dressed up and we're like....is this some sort of joke?! Nah...just a lot of losers who didn't. We got our tickets and went in. The Craft was a hit. A lot more ppl than I expected knew what we were and everyone wanted to take photos. We got some great standing spots right along the side of the field and watched a bunch of teams warm up...watched the US beat Argentina and then did a lot of walking around. It was soooo hot until the sun started to go behind the stadium at 3:30 and I was hoping I wasn't going to end up with a fishnet sunburn but thankfully all was okay. We had a really great day, met lots of crazy people dressed up as Hooters, table tennis players, penguins, etc. We kept asking what movie they all were and a lot of ppl didn't get the movie memo..just the dress up memo. Oh and over here its called Fancy Dress. I assumed ball gowns...and then was informed Fancy dress is Costume dress! Good thing I have ppl to steer me in the right direction. Liana was a hoot watching the teams warm up....you could tell which ones were used to it and which ones were newbies cuz those ones she could distract and make blush. She had us all cracking up. I got proposed to, and had some scones/jam that Liana essentially stole from and old guy. No really he gave it up quite easily but I hadn't eaten anything all day (except for the candy necklace I had...we found black ones with skulls the day prior and had to have them) so it was a life saver to eat something. We left around 6 as Liana and I had Akon to attend..I wish it had been two different days cuz it was a lot for one day...I was jealous Katie and Alice got to take naps! So we get to hotel and I need to check in to my own room which was a bit of a pain. 1. I looked like a hooker 2. I had no luggage cuz it was all in Liana's room and 3. I forgot my passport (since thats not a normal thing to need in the US) So yeah....he's like I don't know what to tell you and I'm like..so what you want me to sleep on the street? Thankfully with all the secondment stuff, I had it scanned to myself in an email so I sent that to them. Then I had to jump on a call at 7 so it was a lot of rushing around.
I scarfed down a pizza, showered and go ready for the 2nd time, this time for the concert. Liana's friend from Kuwait came to town and we met 3 others in the hotel to head to the concert. It was supposed to start at 9 and there were no scheduled opening acts, just DJ's...so we figured getting there around 10 would be fine. When we got in, the DJ was great. Playing hip hop and the place was massive so it was like being in a big club. Well then around 10:30 they switched DJ's to these two idiot girls who thought they were the coolest things ever. Well they started playing techno. Um.....hi ladies...we are here for a HIP HOP concert. Why on earth would any of us want to listen to tecnho? Ppl were also starting to get ancy for Akon. So the longer we waited, the more annoyed we got, etc etc. Ppl started booing the girls, then everyone sat down at one point. One of the DJ's (we'll call her blondie) clearly realizes everyone hates them but doesn't know what to do. Her friend (we'll call her oblivious) keeps dancing and singing like everything is just peachy. So they have them up on the screens and you can see blondie telling oblivious to take off her headphone things and listen to the booing. I guess oblivious's bright idea was to pretend like we all loved them still and move on like nothing was amiss. Meanwhile blondie looks like shes going to cry. Ha, I really wanted her too. It would have made my night. Another thing to note...there were sooooo many weirdos at this concert. At the end of the night we all agreed it had been surreal. Like did any of that actually happen? Too many things to write....but use your imagination and it probably occurred. So anyone want to take a guess when Akon came on? He was supposed to come on at 9. He came on at 12:30. Yep....3.5 hours late. And he was only on for 55 minutes. My guess is because the venue was closing down and he had to rush through the show. I was not amused. It was great to see him, we were super close, but after being out in heels all day, rushing to get there, and then waiting for hours. My mood was not the best. So yeah..disappointing evening but was still good to see him live. We were supposed to go out after to meet all the folks from Rugby but it would have ben like 2 am and we gave up.
Today I got up and went to breakfast with Liana and Jermaine and then we hit the pool for an hour or so and then I hopped in a cab to go meet Katie/Alice who gave me a lift back to Abu Dhabi since Liana was staying another night. It was great to hear about their night since they actually got to go out! Fun was had by all but it was good to get home and unpack and relax some. I took a 3 hour nap and then hit the gym. Every part of me wanted to keep sleeping or just eat but I knew I needed a good workout. Thankfully it turned out to be a great one! Then I got some room service, went and found an adapter since my computer was completely dead and the 3 prong plug I have doesn't fit in the adapter I have at the hotel. Thankfully the front had one so I could upload pics and fill you all in on my crazy few days.
We have tomorrow off as well since its Islamic New Year on Tuesday but having a day off in the middle of the week is stupid so they gave us today Sunday off instead. Brilliant!!! I am gonna head to the Beach Club for the day for some relaxation and then will get some laundry done.
I think thats the highlights. This was quite the lengthy entry already! I have less than two weeks until I head home and its going to go pretty fast with one short work week, some events planned for next weekend and then one last full week with a ton of week night events for holidays, partners in town, etc etc. Excited to see everyone but not looking forward to doing so in the COLD!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Week 3 in Review
Another week in Abu Dhabi comes to an end. I was a complete slacker at blogging the past week so wanted to post before a new week and new adventures begin!
The past week was quite full. I think the only days I chilled out were Sunday and Tuesday!!!
Monday, Katie and I met after work and went for a run on the Corniche. It was really nice to have company and made the 45 minute run go by really fast....but definately a little hard to chat while running. This time I was smarter and took water though, the last time I thought I might die if I didn't get back to my room. Then we showered, changed and went out for Thai. Had a great dinner (pad thai and tempura veggies...yum!) and it was great to catch up since she had been away for the week.
Wednesday I met Oliver for dinner/drinks after work, had some phenomenal chicken penne pasta with a macademia nut pesto (yum again!).
Thursday was Turkey day (Happy belated Thanksgiving all!!!). I worked a full day and then went to Maria and Ryan's who were hosting for me and 3 other non-Americans who were experiencing their first Thanksgiving. Ryan stayed home all day and cooked and did an excellent job. The only problem being that dinner wasn't actually served until about 11pm and by that time we had all had a lot of drinks. Needless to say, by 3:30am I was done!!! All in all, it was an excellent replacement for being in the states. Oh...and one of the English guys was like, I don't think I can eat or drink another thing....the 3 of us were like, well, then you've had the full thanksgiving experience, ha!
Friday I slept in, hit the pool and then started getting ready early as we had a long evening planned. Katie was sick so had to bail out but Liana and I drove over to Yas for the Nelly Furtado/Taio Cruz concert. We went to this really cool bar first (rooftop of the Yas Hotel) for dinner/drinks but alas, no food til 7. We ended up getting food at the concert and that was quite an event. It is shocking to me how dumb people are sometimes, especially when your job is to know the 5 menu items. Anyhow, we eventually got our snack wrap type food which was not going to cut it, ha. Everything was really late (I've been told that is the UAE way, meetings all start late, etc etc which is hard for a punctual person like myself to get used to) so the first act didn't start until almost 8 and we were there right on time at 7. He was a UK artist so I knew none of what he was singing but wasn't bad. Taio Cruz was on next and he was great. In the meantime we ran into another co worker and his wife so that was fun. There was a 30 minute break or so between Taio and Nelly so that was annoying cuz you are just standing around in this big arena. Anyway, she came on and her first song was great...second was okay..and then it went downhill. She was singing all these really boring ballads and it was quite depressing. Liana had found out that a well known hip hop DJ was going to be at Etoiles so we had planned to go there next and just ended up leaving the concert early. Well when we go to Etoiles, we were too early (see a pattern!?)..so we went out on the terrace and had some food. The 4 of us had a ball and danced til about 3:30am. Oh..I even got a love note from some guy at the bar....written on pink paper. Swoon. Ha. So then we get a cab home who decided it would be fun to race another cab and it was quite an interesting ride....Liana left her car since she didn't want to drive home but in reality, since she had been drinking water the last 2 hours, it probably would have been safer!!!!
Today I actually got up before noon (shocker!!!) and hit the grocery store cuz I wanted cereal and had no cereal or milk which meant it was time for a trip to the grocery store. Had my breakfast and then hit the pool for the day (yes, I am officially brown). Got my butt back to the gym after taking 3 days off and as much as I did not want to go, I had a great workout. Then I went to meet one of the local partners for drinks at the Yacht Club...so nice to go sit outside and catch up on how things are going, etc. Then I came home and had some mac n cheese and here we are.
It was my second full work week as well (I know, how on earth do I have time for work with my social life right?!) but it went really well. I actually enjoy going to work everyday so thats a definite plus! This coming week should be another fun one....we have Thursday off for UAE national day and there is a ton going on in the area. The NBA Jamfest is happening in Abu Dhabi so I think Liana and I are going to try to hit that on Thursday and then drive to Dubai. Then its the Akon concert on Friday (so excited!) and then the Rugby 7's tournament is going on so I think we're going to do that on Saturday. Just in time to go back to work for another 4 day week (another holiday..hhahahah).
Hope all is well stateside and that you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. I will be home in less than 3 weeks!
The past week was quite full. I think the only days I chilled out were Sunday and Tuesday!!!
Monday, Katie and I met after work and went for a run on the Corniche. It was really nice to have company and made the 45 minute run go by really fast....but definately a little hard to chat while running. This time I was smarter and took water though, the last time I thought I might die if I didn't get back to my room. Then we showered, changed and went out for Thai. Had a great dinner (pad thai and tempura veggies...yum!) and it was great to catch up since she had been away for the week.
Wednesday I met Oliver for dinner/drinks after work, had some phenomenal chicken penne pasta with a macademia nut pesto (yum again!).
Thursday was Turkey day (Happy belated Thanksgiving all!!!). I worked a full day and then went to Maria and Ryan's who were hosting for me and 3 other non-Americans who were experiencing their first Thanksgiving. Ryan stayed home all day and cooked and did an excellent job. The only problem being that dinner wasn't actually served until about 11pm and by that time we had all had a lot of drinks. Needless to say, by 3:30am I was done!!! All in all, it was an excellent replacement for being in the states. Oh...and one of the English guys was like, I don't think I can eat or drink another thing....the 3 of us were like, well, then you've had the full thanksgiving experience, ha!
Friday I slept in, hit the pool and then started getting ready early as we had a long evening planned. Katie was sick so had to bail out but Liana and I drove over to Yas for the Nelly Furtado/Taio Cruz concert. We went to this really cool bar first (rooftop of the Yas Hotel) for dinner/drinks but alas, no food til 7. We ended up getting food at the concert and that was quite an event. It is shocking to me how dumb people are sometimes, especially when your job is to know the 5 menu items. Anyhow, we eventually got our snack wrap type food which was not going to cut it, ha. Everything was really late (I've been told that is the UAE way, meetings all start late, etc etc which is hard for a punctual person like myself to get used to) so the first act didn't start until almost 8 and we were there right on time at 7. He was a UK artist so I knew none of what he was singing but wasn't bad. Taio Cruz was on next and he was great. In the meantime we ran into another co worker and his wife so that was fun. There was a 30 minute break or so between Taio and Nelly so that was annoying cuz you are just standing around in this big arena. Anyway, she came on and her first song was great...second was okay..and then it went downhill. She was singing all these really boring ballads and it was quite depressing. Liana had found out that a well known hip hop DJ was going to be at Etoiles so we had planned to go there next and just ended up leaving the concert early. Well when we go to Etoiles, we were too early (see a pattern!?)..so we went out on the terrace and had some food. The 4 of us had a ball and danced til about 3:30am. Oh..I even got a love note from some guy at the bar....written on pink paper. Swoon. Ha. So then we get a cab home who decided it would be fun to race another cab and it was quite an interesting ride....Liana left her car since she didn't want to drive home but in reality, since she had been drinking water the last 2 hours, it probably would have been safer!!!!
Today I actually got up before noon (shocker!!!) and hit the grocery store cuz I wanted cereal and had no cereal or milk which meant it was time for a trip to the grocery store. Had my breakfast and then hit the pool for the day (yes, I am officially brown). Got my butt back to the gym after taking 3 days off and as much as I did not want to go, I had a great workout. Then I went to meet one of the local partners for drinks at the Yacht Club...so nice to go sit outside and catch up on how things are going, etc. Then I came home and had some mac n cheese and here we are.
It was my second full work week as well (I know, how on earth do I have time for work with my social life right?!) but it went really well. I actually enjoy going to work everyday so thats a definite plus! This coming week should be another fun one....we have Thursday off for UAE national day and there is a ton going on in the area. The NBA Jamfest is happening in Abu Dhabi so I think Liana and I are going to try to hit that on Thursday and then drive to Dubai. Then its the Akon concert on Friday (so excited!) and then the Rugby 7's tournament is going on so I think we're going to do that on Saturday. Just in time to go back to work for another 4 day week (another holiday..hhahahah).
Hope all is well stateside and that you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. I will be home in less than 3 weeks!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
A Day in Dubai
It's Saturday night and my week off is coming to an end. It has been a very relaxing week and I'm so glad I got to get some sleep, sun and spent some time figuring out where I live!
So yesterday morning I set out to Dubai to meet Oliver for the day. He has been apartment hunting and was in need of some help and company. Getting there was a bit of a pain in the a** (does anyone see a pattern I have with transport here?!). Apparently my hotel told them I was going to the Dubai airport which I NEVER once said. And I was dressed for the pool carrying a day bag. Did it look like I was going to the airport? So anyway...I don't say anything at first since the ride is supposed to be an hour anyway. As I see we're getting into Dubai I tell the guy where I'm going...he seem perplexed....so he asked me again and I tell him...and he goes, this way? And I'm like I don't know where it is, you are my driver and I already told you this was my first time in Duabi. So he's like....are we going to the airport after that? Umm...no. No airport. Well your hotel told me airport...well I'm not going there so get over it and take me where I want to go. After a million circles and pulling over with our hazards and going to the wrong hotel, I get there. Or well..I can see it, he goes by, I say um you just passed it..he says where? I am like its RIGHT there..he aaparently does not believe this so we argue a bit and then he heads back there..goes by again trying to find his way to the front and finally I was just like STOP.....I got out and was gonna walk...so he goes to get out and says, let me help you with your luggage. I dont have any luggage you idiot....did you put any in when you picked me up an hour ago? Needless to say I was quite irritated by the time I got there but everything got better after.
Did some hanging at the pool and then walked over to the Dubai Marina. What a different feel from Abu Dhabi. It's all very new and modern, tons of tourists and not many locals. Had a delicious caprese panini and then walked the rest of the way through the Marina and across the street to the beach. Wow. I hadn't seen this much skin since I entered the middle east. Tons of females in bikinis and tons of females in general. We hung out there for awhile and then walked along the JBR (can't remember what this stands for) until we found the Hilton so we could go have a drink (since you can only drink at hotels). Went out to the pool bar and had 2 blue lagoons and then had dinner at On the Border (not quite the same as the US since you coudln't drink but the fajitas were the same!). Then we got ready to go out Dubai style. Went to an outdoor terrace (the weather was amazing!) and wow....soooo many good looking females. Oliver was in heaven and I was in shock. I didn't know a crowd like this existed in the UAE!!! I got two free glasses of champagne for being female and we watched the crowd. After the music was getting irritating (all techno) we left for another rooftop bar which was a bit better but it was getting late, I was exhausted and it was time to come home.
Today was another day at the pool (last for a week, ha!) and then I hit the store to get a pot that I could actually cook with and made my favorite boxed shells and cheese that I bought in Dubai. It was not quite as good as Kraft, but it did the trick. I will be bringing back the Kraft kind when I return after the holidays.
Going to try to get to bed shortly since its going to be a long week at work and I've been in full vacation mode for a week. New pics are up on FB.
So yesterday morning I set out to Dubai to meet Oliver for the day. He has been apartment hunting and was in need of some help and company. Getting there was a bit of a pain in the a** (does anyone see a pattern I have with transport here?!). Apparently my hotel told them I was going to the Dubai airport which I NEVER once said. And I was dressed for the pool carrying a day bag. Did it look like I was going to the airport? So anyway...I don't say anything at first since the ride is supposed to be an hour anyway. As I see we're getting into Dubai I tell the guy where I'm going...he seem perplexed....so he asked me again and I tell him...and he goes, this way? And I'm like I don't know where it is, you are my driver and I already told you this was my first time in Duabi. So he's like....are we going to the airport after that? Umm...no. No airport. Well your hotel told me airport...well I'm not going there so get over it and take me where I want to go. After a million circles and pulling over with our hazards and going to the wrong hotel, I get there. Or well..I can see it, he goes by, I say um you just passed it..he says where? I am like its RIGHT there..he aaparently does not believe this so we argue a bit and then he heads back there..goes by again trying to find his way to the front and finally I was just like STOP.....I got out and was gonna walk...so he goes to get out and says, let me help you with your luggage. I dont have any luggage you idiot....did you put any in when you picked me up an hour ago? Needless to say I was quite irritated by the time I got there but everything got better after.
Did some hanging at the pool and then walked over to the Dubai Marina. What a different feel from Abu Dhabi. It's all very new and modern, tons of tourists and not many locals. Had a delicious caprese panini and then walked the rest of the way through the Marina and across the street to the beach. Wow. I hadn't seen this much skin since I entered the middle east. Tons of females in bikinis and tons of females in general. We hung out there for awhile and then walked along the JBR (can't remember what this stands for) until we found the Hilton so we could go have a drink (since you can only drink at hotels). Went out to the pool bar and had 2 blue lagoons and then had dinner at On the Border (not quite the same as the US since you coudln't drink but the fajitas were the same!). Then we got ready to go out Dubai style. Went to an outdoor terrace (the weather was amazing!) and wow....soooo many good looking females. Oliver was in heaven and I was in shock. I didn't know a crowd like this existed in the UAE!!! I got two free glasses of champagne for being female and we watched the crowd. After the music was getting irritating (all techno) we left for another rooftop bar which was a bit better but it was getting late, I was exhausted and it was time to come home.
Today was another day at the pool (last for a week, ha!) and then I hit the store to get a pot that I could actually cook with and made my favorite boxed shells and cheese that I bought in Dubai. It was not quite as good as Kraft, but it did the trick. I will be bringing back the Kraft kind when I return after the holidays.
Going to try to get to bed shortly since its going to be a long week at work and I've been in full vacation mode for a week. New pics are up on FB.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
A relaxing few days off
It's Thursday night and I have just spent the last 4 days doing a whole lot of nothing!!!! It was a much needed break after the first 2 weeks of craziness. Lets see....
Monday I slept in (til like 2) after Sunday's night out. Hit the pool for a bit and then did some work and went to bed. Tuesday I decided it was time I get some groceries so I set out on a mission. I finally hit the bank (since I owe everyone and their mom money right now!) and then found a supermarket very close. Its not one of the really nice ones but its like 2 blocks away and was good for what I needed. Got a lot of the staples, as well as some candles, hangers, etc. Nice to know I can grab 12 sodas for 12 dhs....better than 1 for 12 from room service. Gotta start saving money! Came back with enough time to hit the pool and then got a great work out in before spending 3 hours on calls with the US (bad thing about being here is that I could prob work 15 hours a day with the time change). I wasn't complaining though since I did nothing all day.
Wednesday was a great day. I went over to the Beach Club at the Beach Rotana for the day and its fab (I get way discounted rates since I'm staying at a Rotana property). Layed out for a few hours, had a pina colada, used the gym, sauana, jacuzzi, got an hour long massage and then finished off with dinner at the pool bar. Perfect day. Oh and then I did movie marathon when I got home...Ended up watching 3 movies when I meant to only watch one. The bad part....the last 5 minutes of movie 3, the volume on that channel stopped working so I have no idea what they were saying, could only guess from looking what was going on. So annoying! Today I slept in a bit, went to the pool for a few hours and then went for a great run along the Corniche. It really was beautiful to run along the water and feel the breeze. The odd part was being one of about 10 females out (compared to the 5000 men..they seem to walk in packs of like 10) and the only female running and therefore the only female not wearing full clothing. I try to ignore it (thank god for my iPod but its a bit uncomfortable at times). Oh...and I saw at least 4 male couples holding hands. Not sure what this is about....is this a normal local custom I am not aware of or is it exactly what I think it is? Thought their was a no PDA rule overall....who knows. There were a ton of ppl out jet skiing which is on my to do list for while I'm here. I'd also like to do a boat tour at some point.
I just made myself dinner for the first time and it didn't go so well! The one pot I have is tiny and I was making penne pasta....and then I couldn't get the heat to a point where it wasn't just boiling over the whole time. A bit frustrating but at the end, I had a decent dinner of penne pasta, sauce and melted cheese that did not come from room service. Today I also had cereal for breakfast so I went a full day with no room service....victory! On the list of things to buy is a bigger pot. On the plus side, I am on load 2 of laundry for the evening and I am doing a MUCH better job at that!!!! I no longer have to look at the instructions for 15 minutes before starting and nothing has been ruined yet (knock on woood..or as they say over here...touch wood).
Speaking of picking up local sayings....there are a few things that I find myself using now since I hear it so much....keen, fancy and que. Maybe I'll get lucky and come home with a cool accent since I'm like the only one without one. Sad.
I just finished off my last twist off bottle of wine and do not have a wine opener...guess there is item 2 on the list of things to buy.
So tomorrow I am headed to Dubai to help Oliver apartment hunt since he's completely indecisive and needs assistance. Will be cool to finally see the city and hit a night on the town in a different locale. Then everyone that went away for the holidays is finally coming back so I have friends again and can get back to my constant going out...ha!
Oh..and in case anyone was counting, out of the last 7 days I have spent 6 of them at the pool (and plan to add tomorrow and Saturday to the list as well). I am back to the color I was when I left Cancun and couldn't be happier seeing that its the middle of November.
Monday I slept in (til like 2) after Sunday's night out. Hit the pool for a bit and then did some work and went to bed. Tuesday I decided it was time I get some groceries so I set out on a mission. I finally hit the bank (since I owe everyone and their mom money right now!) and then found a supermarket very close. Its not one of the really nice ones but its like 2 blocks away and was good for what I needed. Got a lot of the staples, as well as some candles, hangers, etc. Nice to know I can grab 12 sodas for 12 dhs....better than 1 for 12 from room service. Gotta start saving money! Came back with enough time to hit the pool and then got a great work out in before spending 3 hours on calls with the US (bad thing about being here is that I could prob work 15 hours a day with the time change). I wasn't complaining though since I did nothing all day.
Wednesday was a great day. I went over to the Beach Club at the Beach Rotana for the day and its fab (I get way discounted rates since I'm staying at a Rotana property). Layed out for a few hours, had a pina colada, used the gym, sauana, jacuzzi, got an hour long massage and then finished off with dinner at the pool bar. Perfect day. Oh and then I did movie marathon when I got home...Ended up watching 3 movies when I meant to only watch one. The bad part....the last 5 minutes of movie 3, the volume on that channel stopped working so I have no idea what they were saying, could only guess from looking what was going on. So annoying! Today I slept in a bit, went to the pool for a few hours and then went for a great run along the Corniche. It really was beautiful to run along the water and feel the breeze. The odd part was being one of about 10 females out (compared to the 5000 men..they seem to walk in packs of like 10) and the only female running and therefore the only female not wearing full clothing. I try to ignore it (thank god for my iPod but its a bit uncomfortable at times). Oh...and I saw at least 4 male couples holding hands. Not sure what this is about....is this a normal local custom I am not aware of or is it exactly what I think it is? Thought their was a no PDA rule overall....who knows. There were a ton of ppl out jet skiing which is on my to do list for while I'm here. I'd also like to do a boat tour at some point.
I just made myself dinner for the first time and it didn't go so well! The one pot I have is tiny and I was making penne pasta....and then I couldn't get the heat to a point where it wasn't just boiling over the whole time. A bit frustrating but at the end, I had a decent dinner of penne pasta, sauce and melted cheese that did not come from room service. Today I also had cereal for breakfast so I went a full day with no room service....victory! On the list of things to buy is a bigger pot. On the plus side, I am on load 2 of laundry for the evening and I am doing a MUCH better job at that!!!! I no longer have to look at the instructions for 15 minutes before starting and nothing has been ruined yet (knock on woood..or as they say over here...touch wood).
Speaking of picking up local sayings....there are a few things that I find myself using now since I hear it so much....keen, fancy and que. Maybe I'll get lucky and come home with a cool accent since I'm like the only one without one. Sad.
I just finished off my last twist off bottle of wine and do not have a wine opener...guess there is item 2 on the list of things to buy.
So tomorrow I am headed to Dubai to help Oliver apartment hunt since he's completely indecisive and needs assistance. Will be cool to finally see the city and hit a night on the town in a different locale. Then everyone that went away for the holidays is finally coming back so I have friends again and can get back to my constant going out...ha!
Oh..and in case anyone was counting, out of the last 7 days I have spent 6 of them at the pool (and plan to add tomorrow and Saturday to the list as well). I am back to the color I was when I left Cancun and couldn't be happier seeing that its the middle of November.
Monday, November 15, 2010
A night with Prince & Pitbull
Agghhh.....relaxation time!!!! I'm sitting in bed catching up on life, laundry is running (hoping for better luck this time) and charging up all my electric devices that are now dead. Ha.
I also just realized that I landed in Abu Dhabi 2 weeks ago this evening. It seems like I've been here for ages. I have had more fun in a 2 week span and met some really great people.
Lets see...Saturday night Liana and I went to ladies night. It's pretty fab to sit out at a rooftop bar and drink for free all night. The weather was great and we had a blast discussing the prior evening (or rather me informing her what had happened the night before!!!). We stayed until midnight or so and then decided to be smart and head home since we actually had to work Sunday morning.
Sunday morning was work at client 1 and then since we closed at 1, I took advantage and shot over to client 2 for the afternoon. By the time I got home I was rushing to the gym so I could be ready on time for our big night. Liana scored us Prince tickets (I was indifferent about going at first since I had seen him on Friday night at Skybar, but figured what the heck, plus I wanted to head over to Yas Island with her instaed of wating and cabbing solo). Soooooo glad I went. He was absolutely amazing. Friday night I was a bit tipsy when he was on and as great as it was, I think I was more listening to the music instead of really hearing it if that makes sense. I found myself standing there thinking about how freaking lucky I am to be having this experience. I mean, listening to Prince (for free) with some great girls in Abu Dhabi....a year ago I never would have imagined I'd be here but taking this opportunity was the best thing I have ever done. I am just so thankful. The place was packed (way more so than it was for Kanye) but we were with a true Prince fan, Alisa, and worked our way pretty close up. He played for a couple hours (a lot longer than Kanye as well) and it was a phenomenal show.
After like 10 encores (I don't think he wanted to stop playing!), it was finally over and we made our way to Skybar for round 2. We didn't have a table this time so it was a slightly different experience but still good times were had by all. Alesha Dixon (no idea who this is) went on for a bit and then the DJ was spinning most of the night. We were all like, wheres Pitbull??? So at 3am he finally came on and was fab. I love his music and I think I was one of the few that knew all the songs he played. It seems he's a bit bigger in the US than he is over on this side of the world. It was funny too, as his last song of the night was his new one with Enrique and I'm pretty sure I was one of very few who had ever heard it. Guess that one is still stuck in America as well. Anyway...we took off a little after 4am and made the drop off rounds (all 3 of us at different places.....coming home was easier..the cab trip there picking up 3 ppl was quite comical, long story, and I think the cab driver wanted to drive us all off a bridge by the time we got to the concert!!!).
I woke up today at 2pm (have yet to have breakfast on one of my days off since I never wake up in time) but it was good to sleep. I pulled a calf muscle at the gym yesterday and after being in heels/dancing all night, I could barely walk this morning. Hit the pool for a bit and am now relaxing. I plan to hit the gym later and other than that, do absolutely nothing but watch tv and sleep. Woohooo.
This week I have off so I'd like to finally get a local phone, go get groceries (so tired of room service), find a dry cleaner, etc. Pretty much everyone has left town for the holidays so I'll prob have a solo week but that works for me as I'm exhausted. I also plan to hit the beach a few times instead of the pool everyday. I have yet to go see the gorgeous water that is right down the street!!!
Hope all is well stateside.....miss everyone. Come visit soon (as you can see from my last week, I will certainly show you a great time!!!!)
I also just realized that I landed in Abu Dhabi 2 weeks ago this evening. It seems like I've been here for ages. I have had more fun in a 2 week span and met some really great people.
Lets see...Saturday night Liana and I went to ladies night. It's pretty fab to sit out at a rooftop bar and drink for free all night. The weather was great and we had a blast discussing the prior evening (or rather me informing her what had happened the night before!!!). We stayed until midnight or so and then decided to be smart and head home since we actually had to work Sunday morning.
Sunday morning was work at client 1 and then since we closed at 1, I took advantage and shot over to client 2 for the afternoon. By the time I got home I was rushing to the gym so I could be ready on time for our big night. Liana scored us Prince tickets (I was indifferent about going at first since I had seen him on Friday night at Skybar, but figured what the heck, plus I wanted to head over to Yas Island with her instaed of wating and cabbing solo). Soooooo glad I went. He was absolutely amazing. Friday night I was a bit tipsy when he was on and as great as it was, I think I was more listening to the music instead of really hearing it if that makes sense. I found myself standing there thinking about how freaking lucky I am to be having this experience. I mean, listening to Prince (for free) with some great girls in Abu Dhabi....a year ago I never would have imagined I'd be here but taking this opportunity was the best thing I have ever done. I am just so thankful. The place was packed (way more so than it was for Kanye) but we were with a true Prince fan, Alisa, and worked our way pretty close up. He played for a couple hours (a lot longer than Kanye as well) and it was a phenomenal show.
After like 10 encores (I don't think he wanted to stop playing!), it was finally over and we made our way to Skybar for round 2. We didn't have a table this time so it was a slightly different experience but still good times were had by all. Alesha Dixon (no idea who this is) went on for a bit and then the DJ was spinning most of the night. We were all like, wheres Pitbull??? So at 3am he finally came on and was fab. I love his music and I think I was one of the few that knew all the songs he played. It seems he's a bit bigger in the US than he is over on this side of the world. It was funny too, as his last song of the night was his new one with Enrique and I'm pretty sure I was one of very few who had ever heard it. Guess that one is still stuck in America as well. Anyway...we took off a little after 4am and made the drop off rounds (all 3 of us at different places.....coming home was easier..the cab trip there picking up 3 ppl was quite comical, long story, and I think the cab driver wanted to drive us all off a bridge by the time we got to the concert!!!).
I woke up today at 2pm (have yet to have breakfast on one of my days off since I never wake up in time) but it was good to sleep. I pulled a calf muscle at the gym yesterday and after being in heels/dancing all night, I could barely walk this morning. Hit the pool for a bit and am now relaxing. I plan to hit the gym later and other than that, do absolutely nothing but watch tv and sleep. Woohooo.
This week I have off so I'd like to finally get a local phone, go get groceries (so tired of room service), find a dry cleaner, etc. Pretty much everyone has left town for the holidays so I'll prob have a solo week but that works for me as I'm exhausted. I also plan to hit the beach a few times instead of the pool everyday. I have yet to go see the gorgeous water that is right down the street!!!
Hope all is well stateside.....miss everyone. Come visit soon (as you can see from my last week, I will certainly show you a great time!!!!)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Highlights from Week 2
Agghh..just finished week two and I'm exhausted. And talking about going out again tonight, ha! I only have a half day of work tomorrow and then I'm off for a week so I think I can handle a little more action tonight and suffer through a morning of work. The big F1 is tomorrow and I'm going to try to score tickets, we shall see what happens.
So lets see.....week 2. It feels like its been ages since I wrote last. I attempted laundry last week, epic fail. Its a washer/dryer combo and almost impossible to figure out. I thought I did, but turns out I did not, and it ended up on a cycle for over 2 hours so I kept waking up til it still on. And then nothing was dry. At least I think they were clean.....smelled crazy like Tide! I'm going to attempt it again tomorrow so we shall see.
So Sunday night after work I met Oliver for dinner at Chi Chi's....Mexican is always a good option! Then Monday I thought I made plans with Katie (fellow American who lives in my building and is great!) for Tuesday but really the plans were for Monday (my miscommunication!). But she was emailing my client email address so I didn't realize until I got to work on Tuesday. In the meantime I hit the gym and had a relaxing night. So Tuesday when we realized what happened, she said she had an extra ticket to the Berlin Philharmonic for that evening and was I interested, ummm...YES! So it was a rush to get home and dress up (thankfully I brought one appropriate dress!) and then we headed over. The show was amazing. So then Oliver was meeting someone at the same hotel (Emirates palace....GORGEOUS!) and the girls I went with to the show all went home. So I stayed with Oliver and crew and we hit up Etoiles for ladies night. It ended up being a really great night although I was exahusted on Wednesday with only a few hours sleep.
Wednesday was another relaxing night..back to gym (I'm trying to keep up a 4 day a week regimen and so far, so good). Thursday I did dinner with Liana and then called it an early night since we knew Friday would be a long day. Oh, and I had lunch with a fellow DCer, Maria, at work who was on secondment but just accepted a full time offer so she is going to be here full time!
Friday I slept in and then chilled at the pool all day until it was time to go out. Katie and I cabbed to Yas Island and met some other Americans at a bar (Maria and her husband and another girl Nicole). We had some pre concert drinks, inclusive of tequilla shots (Katie is a bad influence!) and then walked over to the show. Kanye was great....it was one good song after another. Once that was over we met up with Liana and company to go to Skybar which is this huge after party venue they set up for the occasion. Skybar was nuts. Liana's friends had organized a table and ours was in a prime spot. We knew the scheduled line up was Kelis, Tinie Tempah and Basement Jaxx...but had also heard rumors that Prince would be there. Soo...Kelis went on and was great.....and then Prince came on and stayed on for a long a** time. Way longer than any of the other acts combined. It was amazing. Good people, good music, good drinks. Ended up going to bed when the sun was up (about 6:30am). I slept til noonish and then lounged around before heading to the pool for a few hours. Then I took a nap and ordered room service and now am gonna get ready to go out with Liana again. Its ladies night at Level which is at the hotel right next to mine so I was easily influenced into it. Ha. We could not coerce Katie into it..she is probably the only smart one!
What else.....ohh...I've had some major issues with cabs this week. It was easier the first week cuz I was at an actual hotel where cabs lined up but now I'm in more of a serviced hotel apartments place so its not the same. I do a lot of waiting on the street in the morning, sweating in my suit which sorta sucks. The good news is...Liana has started playing my driver which is excellent. She's been driving me home and even picked me up on Thursday. She is awesome and I think we'll be great friends (not just cuz she drives me around..ha!). Oh and then some drivers are idiots.....like when I finally got a cab one morning it smelled so bad...and then I was like...4th and 15th..not that complicated right? He turns on 11th. I'm like no dumba**....15th. He was like...this is 11. No sh*t...I want to be on 15th. Anyway..I hear thats common here so I guess I get over it.
Workwise things have been really good. The first week was a little slow but now I hvae a ton to do and am enjoying it and learning a ton. And I love that I get the next week off..not a bad gig...I haven't even worked two full weeks yet...lol.
Oh..and Akon is playing Dubai in December and we have a long weekend for some other holiday so I think Liana and I and whoever else we can con into it will make a weekend out of it.
Okay..time to go see whats happening. We're hoping for some celeb sightings since the city is crawling with them. I'll try to blog more frequently this coming week since I'll be off and hopefully have some time for sightseeing. New pics are on facebook.
So lets see.....week 2. It feels like its been ages since I wrote last. I attempted laundry last week, epic fail. Its a washer/dryer combo and almost impossible to figure out. I thought I did, but turns out I did not, and it ended up on a cycle for over 2 hours so I kept waking up til it still on. And then nothing was dry. At least I think they were clean.....smelled crazy like Tide! I'm going to attempt it again tomorrow so we shall see.
So Sunday night after work I met Oliver for dinner at Chi Chi's....Mexican is always a good option! Then Monday I thought I made plans with Katie (fellow American who lives in my building and is great!) for Tuesday but really the plans were for Monday (my miscommunication!). But she was emailing my client email address so I didn't realize until I got to work on Tuesday. In the meantime I hit the gym and had a relaxing night. So Tuesday when we realized what happened, she said she had an extra ticket to the Berlin Philharmonic for that evening and was I interested, ummm...YES! So it was a rush to get home and dress up (thankfully I brought one appropriate dress!) and then we headed over. The show was amazing. So then Oliver was meeting someone at the same hotel (Emirates palace....GORGEOUS!) and the girls I went with to the show all went home. So I stayed with Oliver and crew and we hit up Etoiles for ladies night. It ended up being a really great night although I was exahusted on Wednesday with only a few hours sleep.
Wednesday was another relaxing night..back to gym (I'm trying to keep up a 4 day a week regimen and so far, so good). Thursday I did dinner with Liana and then called it an early night since we knew Friday would be a long day. Oh, and I had lunch with a fellow DCer, Maria, at work who was on secondment but just accepted a full time offer so she is going to be here full time!
Friday I slept in and then chilled at the pool all day until it was time to go out. Katie and I cabbed to Yas Island and met some other Americans at a bar (Maria and her husband and another girl Nicole). We had some pre concert drinks, inclusive of tequilla shots (Katie is a bad influence!) and then walked over to the show. Kanye was great....it was one good song after another. Once that was over we met up with Liana and company to go to Skybar which is this huge after party venue they set up for the occasion. Skybar was nuts. Liana's friends had organized a table and ours was in a prime spot. We knew the scheduled line up was Kelis, Tinie Tempah and Basement Jaxx...but had also heard rumors that Prince would be there. Soo...Kelis went on and was great.....and then Prince came on and stayed on for a long a** time. Way longer than any of the other acts combined. It was amazing. Good people, good music, good drinks. Ended up going to bed when the sun was up (about 6:30am). I slept til noonish and then lounged around before heading to the pool for a few hours. Then I took a nap and ordered room service and now am gonna get ready to go out with Liana again. Its ladies night at Level which is at the hotel right next to mine so I was easily influenced into it. Ha. We could not coerce Katie into it..she is probably the only smart one!
What else.....ohh...I've had some major issues with cabs this week. It was easier the first week cuz I was at an actual hotel where cabs lined up but now I'm in more of a serviced hotel apartments place so its not the same. I do a lot of waiting on the street in the morning, sweating in my suit which sorta sucks. The good news is...Liana has started playing my driver which is excellent. She's been driving me home and even picked me up on Thursday. She is awesome and I think we'll be great friends (not just cuz she drives me around..ha!). Oh and then some drivers are idiots.....like when I finally got a cab one morning it smelled so bad...and then I was like...4th and 15th..not that complicated right? He turns on 11th. I'm like no dumba**....15th. He was like...this is 11. No sh*t...I want to be on 15th. Anyway..I hear thats common here so I guess I get over it.
Workwise things have been really good. The first week was a little slow but now I hvae a ton to do and am enjoying it and learning a ton. And I love that I get the next week off..not a bad gig...I haven't even worked two full weeks yet...lol.
Oh..and Akon is playing Dubai in December and we have a long weekend for some other holiday so I think Liana and I and whoever else we can con into it will make a weekend out of it.
Okay..time to go see whats happening. We're hoping for some celeb sightings since the city is crawling with them. I'll try to blog more frequently this coming week since I'll be off and hopefully have some time for sightseeing. New pics are on facebook.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Pictures at last!
So its early Saturday evening and the end of my weekend...sad...went to fast. Today was an extremely lazy day. I didn't wake up until 3pm but was good to finally get some sleep and I actually feel a bit better today. I went up to the pool and layed out for awhile and ordered food (almost feels like vacation!). Once the sun was no more I decided to take a walk around my new neighborhood and see whats here. I walked down to the Corniche (where the water is) but couldn't find a good place to cross over the main road so didn't actually get to take pics of that but I'm sure there will be more time for that! I think thats going to be my new outdoor run route, once I get a running buddy. There is a mall here..but its crap. I was at the Abu Dhabi mall yesterday and it was phenomenal...this mall is more like a collection of randomness but they do have some American staples in the food court (Popeyes and McDonalds) and a CHILIS!!! For all my Crystal River friends, you know how exciting this was for me and I promise to treat you all when you come visit!
I found a little store (have yet to locate a real grocery store but will do some asking around this week) and was able to get some stuff for my place. Funny thing...a guy that remembered me from last night was there..he offered to buy me a red bull..or really anything in the store. Ha. Too funny. So I got milk, eggs, cheese, soda, red bull, water, laundry detergent, gatorade, etc and it was pretty cheap for everything considering that it was a tiny little place. I also couldn't tell you if they charged me correct or not....but since it was way cheaper than it would have been in the US, I didn't question.
Time for the gym and then gotta figure out how to use the washer/dryer in my room, that shoud be entertaining. Enjoy!
Okay...so I tried to upload pics and have been trying for 30 minutes..I'm not sure if the connection is too slow or what but I'm frustrated. Pics are on facebook for those of you on. If not...I'll try again later on here.
I found a little store (have yet to locate a real grocery store but will do some asking around this week) and was able to get some stuff for my place. Funny thing...a guy that remembered me from last night was there..he offered to buy me a red bull..or really anything in the store. Ha. Too funny. So I got milk, eggs, cheese, soda, red bull, water, laundry detergent, gatorade, etc and it was pretty cheap for everything considering that it was a tiny little place. I also couldn't tell you if they charged me correct or not....but since it was way cheaper than it would have been in the US, I didn't question.
Time for the gym and then gotta figure out how to use the washer/dryer in my room, that shoud be entertaining. Enjoy!
Okay...so I tried to upload pics and have been trying for 30 minutes..I'm not sure if the connection is too slow or what but I'm frustrated. Pics are on facebook for those of you on. If not...I'll try again later on here.
Friday, November 5, 2010
What a weekend!!!!
Aghhh....its 4am and I just returned home from the second night of my first weekend in AD. Wow. What a crazy two days. Lets see.....
Thursday night (my Friday night) we ended up at the Yacht Club at the Intercontinental (yes..in AD you basically go hang out at hotels since thats the only place they can sell liquor). Had a great time sitting out by the water/boats drinking vodka until they closed....then went back to our hotel and continued drinking until 5am or so. I had to check out this morning so I woke up exhausted and feeling worse (this being sick on my first week here BLOWS!).
Anyhow...got all packed up and then hit the mall with Oliver for a real local treat, a Subway sandwich, ha. The food court is full of American places (Subway, Dunkin Donuts, Coldstone Creamery, Popeyes, etc). After walking around for a bit we went back to the hotels Beach Club which was SWEET!!! If you aren't staying at the hotel you have to pay like $60 a day but since I had just checked out they let us go for free for the day. They have pools, a beach, tennis courts, gym, squash, pool bar, etc etc etc. We sat outside enjoying the sunshine and a pina colada for me. Its crazy because its so hot..but its great heat..the kind where you dont even sweat..love it! I wished I had had my bathing suit on for a dip in the pool but it was packed away. We might go back tomorrow for a full day.
So around 4pm it was time to move me in to my permanent home (another hotel). It was so nice to finally unpack all my suitcases and organize my life a little. Then I hit the gym even though I felt like death and just wanted to sleep (hadn't worked out since last Saturday and was feeling gross). The gym here is nice and there is a pool/hot tub on the rooftop as well so I will be taking full advantage of that! Then I did some work and got ready for another night out.
I met Oliver at the Le Meridien (which conveniently is a block from my hotel...although that walk in a dress may have been one of the most uncomfortable ones of my life so far...not that it was at all scary or I felt unsafe....just very awkward to be one of the only females out and being gawked at from everyone...thankfully I was on my blackberry so I didn't have to look at anyone!!!). So we went to an Irish pub first..they had live music which was actually quite good but the crowd was egh and it was 95% males (like most places here) and Oliver wasn't feeling it. So we went to the lobby and asked if there were any other good spots...he told us go to Illusions on the 4th floor......and thats where the fun started. We walked in...very nice place, great music and a decent mix of men/women.....except for one thing....every single female other than myself....was a hooker! I'm serious....every single one. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen. Of course they all thought I was a hooker too because clearly no normal females go to this place. I thought it was hysterical and definately wanted to stay. We watched men skip from woman to woman....one guy in particular getting turned down left and right. HA! Thats right ladies...be picky. I only got propositioned once.....Oliver turned his back for a second and BAM....there was a guy. So I told him right away that unfortunately, I was not a hooker and he goes....well suppose you were.....ummmm..how bout no....I'm not. But no...lets pretend you are..how much would you charge. So I go....20 grand....and he goes..thats way too much....umm yeah..thats the point...cuz I'm not a hooker!!!! I said there are plenty of willing participants in this club..just not me. So anyway....eventually the place go really crowded and ppl actually hit the dance floor and it turned out to be a great night. Girls (ie: hookers) were belly dancing, guys were dancing to songs I've never heard before...was great to watch.
I'm home now....another late night and my throat is on fire (you can smoke everywhere here so thats something I'm going to have to get used to). I promise to post pics tomorrow (except none from tonight cuz I took one and got in trouble). Good night all!
Thursday night (my Friday night) we ended up at the Yacht Club at the Intercontinental (yes..in AD you basically go hang out at hotels since thats the only place they can sell liquor). Had a great time sitting out by the water/boats drinking vodka until they closed....then went back to our hotel and continued drinking until 5am or so. I had to check out this morning so I woke up exhausted and feeling worse (this being sick on my first week here BLOWS!).
Anyhow...got all packed up and then hit the mall with Oliver for a real local treat, a Subway sandwich, ha. The food court is full of American places (Subway, Dunkin Donuts, Coldstone Creamery, Popeyes, etc). After walking around for a bit we went back to the hotels Beach Club which was SWEET!!! If you aren't staying at the hotel you have to pay like $60 a day but since I had just checked out they let us go for free for the day. They have pools, a beach, tennis courts, gym, squash, pool bar, etc etc etc. We sat outside enjoying the sunshine and a pina colada for me. Its crazy because its so hot..but its great heat..the kind where you dont even sweat..love it! I wished I had had my bathing suit on for a dip in the pool but it was packed away. We might go back tomorrow for a full day.
So around 4pm it was time to move me in to my permanent home (another hotel). It was so nice to finally unpack all my suitcases and organize my life a little. Then I hit the gym even though I felt like death and just wanted to sleep (hadn't worked out since last Saturday and was feeling gross). The gym here is nice and there is a pool/hot tub on the rooftop as well so I will be taking full advantage of that! Then I did some work and got ready for another night out.
I met Oliver at the Le Meridien (which conveniently is a block from my hotel...although that walk in a dress may have been one of the most uncomfortable ones of my life so far...not that it was at all scary or I felt unsafe....just very awkward to be one of the only females out and being gawked at from everyone...thankfully I was on my blackberry so I didn't have to look at anyone!!!). So we went to an Irish pub first..they had live music which was actually quite good but the crowd was egh and it was 95% males (like most places here) and Oliver wasn't feeling it. So we went to the lobby and asked if there were any other good spots...he told us go to Illusions on the 4th floor......and thats where the fun started. We walked in...very nice place, great music and a decent mix of men/women.....except for one thing....every single female other than myself....was a hooker! I'm serious....every single one. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen. Of course they all thought I was a hooker too because clearly no normal females go to this place. I thought it was hysterical and definately wanted to stay. We watched men skip from woman to woman....one guy in particular getting turned down left and right. HA! Thats right ladies...be picky. I only got propositioned once.....Oliver turned his back for a second and BAM....there was a guy. So I told him right away that unfortunately, I was not a hooker and he goes....well suppose you were.....ummmm..how bout no....I'm not. But no...lets pretend you are..how much would you charge. So I go....20 grand....and he goes..thats way too much....umm yeah..thats the point...cuz I'm not a hooker!!!! I said there are plenty of willing participants in this club..just not me. So anyway....eventually the place go really crowded and ppl actually hit the dance floor and it turned out to be a great night. Girls (ie: hookers) were belly dancing, guys were dancing to songs I've never heard before...was great to watch.
I'm home now....another late night and my throat is on fire (you can smoke everywhere here so thats something I'm going to have to get used to). I promise to post pics tomorrow (except none from tonight cuz I took one and got in trouble). Good night all!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Greetings from the Middle East
It’s official; I now live in the Middle East (at least temporarily!). Every time I think about that it almost surprises me that I’m actually here but I suppose I’ll get used to it and it will just start to feel normal. I meant to blog earlier but just haven’t had the time (and some computer issues) so here is an overview of my first (short) week in Abu Dhabi!
Let’s start with the flight over. I flew to JFK to meet the partner (Dean) who flew over with me (having an escort made the process much less intimidating!). My 5 hour layover ended up going by pretty fast because 1. I had to hike from the terminal I landed in to the terminal I was flying out of (JFK is starting to rival Miami as one of my most hated airports!). 2. I got a pedicure (I am queen of airport pedicures at this point since I never have time for them prior to my trips!) and 3. I started drinking. After boarding a few minutes late (courtesy of the nonsense from Yemen last week) I was in heaven. Business class on Etihad was just nothing like I expected. I’ve seen the business class sections on my Paris flights so was expecting something similar, but alas, this was way better. I had my own cubby essentially in the last row of my section of business class on the window. The champagne started flowing as I explored my little area. The bed goes almost fully flat, and it was perfect for someone of my size (if you are tall, this would probably suck but I think that holds true for flying in general if you are really tall!). Oh..and the chair had massage options on it…really?! After sitting on the runway for 2 hours (mechanical issues, oh joy) we finally took off. I stayed up for a few hours and watched Grown Ups, drank more champagne and wine and had my delicious dinner. I then proceeded to pass out for 7 hours and had a great sleep. Woke up and had breakfast (forgot to mention, there is a menu of options for all meals, plus a plethora of fun goodies you can have at any time) and then watched Letters to Juliet prior to landing in AD. Got to airport, blew through immigration, pickced up my bags (yay they all made it!) and then proceeded to duty free for an important stop, booze. You can’t buy booze in Abu Dhabi without a liquor license so I made sure to stock up. Dean used part of his allowance to supplement mine and I ended up with 2 litres of Grey Goose (plus a free small bottle they threw in) and 4 bottles of red wine. Customs laws are pretty good in the UAE, you can bring in 2000 cigarettes and 200 cigars (I think that’s what I read!). We got a car to the hotel and I watched in wonder as we headed away from the airport (unfortunately it was dark and there wasn’t much to see on our trip!). Arriving at the hotel was fairly amusing as I had 2 large rollers, 1 small roller carryon, 2 bags of booze plus my laptop bag. Dean had a small rolling carryon. The hotel staff gave me some strange looks when we told them which bags were going with which person. It doesn’t help that my reservation at the hotel was only for 4 days, ha. Checked in (first night room was okay..got moved second night to a fabulous one!) and then went to the bar. I slept terrible the first night..from 2am to 5am and then ended up getting up since I couldn’t sleep (excitement, jet lag, etc). I was at the office at 8am (11 hours after landing…nothing like giving me time to transition right?!) to meet with another partner and both escorted me to the client for my new job. I felt like a child being taken to school on the first day of kindergarten but it was nice to have familiar faces around who could show me how to navigate the cabs, how to get to client, etc.
First day of work was good…met lots of people, got settled in, started answering US tax questions immediately! Everyone I have met has been great and the office is really nice. I am in a cube again for the first time in over 2 years so that’s a bit odd but its good cuz I’m out in the mix with everyone else. There is this big, beautiful, free breakfast spread each morning in the Lounge which also has foosball and pool tables for fun! They also have free soda and bottled water which is great.
The rest of the time has been fairly uneventful…work all day, dinner at hotel followed by drinks at hotel followed by bed and all over again. It’s Thursday now, my Friday (woot!) so we are actually going to leave the hotel after dinner for some fun. Another director (Oliver) from our NY office landed the day after I did and he is here for 18 months so we’ve become fast friends and I’m really glad to have someone around that is in the same boat as me. Tomorrow I move in to my permanent housing so I’m really excited for that. Living out of 3 suitcases has been a bit difficult (trying to find where I packed anything is quite a feat!). Plus my beautifully organized packing is getting messed up!
Culture shock hasn’t been too bad since I was fairly prepared for it I think. The first moment I felt that wow, I’m going to AD was at the airport in JFK when I had to re check in at Etihad and I was the only white girl in the whole line, not to mention one of very few females at all. Being here is fine though, some men wear the traditional white robes and head dress, some females are in burkas and then everyone else is mostly in suits. At night anything seems to go….I’d never imagine I was in the Middle East when I see people at the bars.
I feel like I’ve already made some friends so it’s not so lonely. Someone at the client that gave me advice on where to live, etc lives in the building I chose so that will be nice. We made plans to hang out next week (she is off to Beirut for the weekend). Yesterday I had to call someone in legal on a US tax issue and what do you know, she is from Falls Church, VA and is over here for 6 months like me. So we’re going to do lunch next week since she works offsite. Oliver is my anytime buddy as well so ideally we can go explore this weekend and figure this place out. He might live in Dubai but for the time being is in Abu Dhabi. I also joined a Meet Up group called New in Abu Dhabi so they organize a bunch of events which I plan to start attending. There is a 10K tomorrow, but its my first week and I’m sick (my body is having a hard time getting used to the change…was close to vomiting my whole first day at work..now have a head cold and sneezing up a storm!) and don’t think that trying to run 6.4 miles is the smartest. It will be nice to work out again tomorrow since I’ve done nothing since last Saturday!!! Anyway, there is a group that is going to start running along the Corniche (along the water) every Tuesday night and there are also Arabic lessons, cooking lessons, happy hours, etc so I’m sure I’ll find lots to do over the next few weeks.
Oh..the other fun thing…I found out that there is a holiday here the 16, 17, 18 (T, W, R) so I get a 5 day weekend sine I work Sunday to Thursday (will be weird getting used to that!). Also, the big Formula 1 race is here on the 12-14 so I don’t think anyone is working on the 14th either. There will be lots going on next week for Formula 1 events…Sean Paul, Kelly Rowland, Kelis, etc etc are doing free concerts on the beach which I plan to attend. I couldn’t get race tickets since I got here so close to the event, but a number of ppl at work have already offered to give up some of theirs (ppl who don’t plan to attend all 4 days). Kanye West, Prince and Linkin Park are the after concerts on race days but you have to have race tickets to go….I think I already scored LP tickets…working on the others now! And…the weather is amazing. Everyone said that I came at the perfect time cuz its finally starting to cool off some. Mornings are a little warm (since I’m in suits) but at night, it’s gorgeous and breezy and I’m in love!
Okay I think that just about covers the past week……I’ll write more this weekend and upload pics.
Let’s start with the flight over. I flew to JFK to meet the partner (Dean) who flew over with me (having an escort made the process much less intimidating!). My 5 hour layover ended up going by pretty fast because 1. I had to hike from the terminal I landed in to the terminal I was flying out of (JFK is starting to rival Miami as one of my most hated airports!). 2. I got a pedicure (I am queen of airport pedicures at this point since I never have time for them prior to my trips!) and 3. I started drinking. After boarding a few minutes late (courtesy of the nonsense from Yemen last week) I was in heaven. Business class on Etihad was just nothing like I expected. I’ve seen the business class sections on my Paris flights so was expecting something similar, but alas, this was way better. I had my own cubby essentially in the last row of my section of business class on the window. The champagne started flowing as I explored my little area. The bed goes almost fully flat, and it was perfect for someone of my size (if you are tall, this would probably suck but I think that holds true for flying in general if you are really tall!). Oh..and the chair had massage options on it…really?! After sitting on the runway for 2 hours (mechanical issues, oh joy) we finally took off. I stayed up for a few hours and watched Grown Ups, drank more champagne and wine and had my delicious dinner. I then proceeded to pass out for 7 hours and had a great sleep. Woke up and had breakfast (forgot to mention, there is a menu of options for all meals, plus a plethora of fun goodies you can have at any time) and then watched Letters to Juliet prior to landing in AD. Got to airport, blew through immigration, pickced up my bags (yay they all made it!) and then proceeded to duty free for an important stop, booze. You can’t buy booze in Abu Dhabi without a liquor license so I made sure to stock up. Dean used part of his allowance to supplement mine and I ended up with 2 litres of Grey Goose (plus a free small bottle they threw in) and 4 bottles of red wine. Customs laws are pretty good in the UAE, you can bring in 2000 cigarettes and 200 cigars (I think that’s what I read!). We got a car to the hotel and I watched in wonder as we headed away from the airport (unfortunately it was dark and there wasn’t much to see on our trip!). Arriving at the hotel was fairly amusing as I had 2 large rollers, 1 small roller carryon, 2 bags of booze plus my laptop bag. Dean had a small rolling carryon. The hotel staff gave me some strange looks when we told them which bags were going with which person. It doesn’t help that my reservation at the hotel was only for 4 days, ha. Checked in (first night room was okay..got moved second night to a fabulous one!) and then went to the bar. I slept terrible the first night..from 2am to 5am and then ended up getting up since I couldn’t sleep (excitement, jet lag, etc). I was at the office at 8am (11 hours after landing…nothing like giving me time to transition right?!) to meet with another partner and both escorted me to the client for my new job. I felt like a child being taken to school on the first day of kindergarten but it was nice to have familiar faces around who could show me how to navigate the cabs, how to get to client, etc.
First day of work was good…met lots of people, got settled in, started answering US tax questions immediately! Everyone I have met has been great and the office is really nice. I am in a cube again for the first time in over 2 years so that’s a bit odd but its good cuz I’m out in the mix with everyone else. There is this big, beautiful, free breakfast spread each morning in the Lounge which also has foosball and pool tables for fun! They also have free soda and bottled water which is great.
The rest of the time has been fairly uneventful…work all day, dinner at hotel followed by drinks at hotel followed by bed and all over again. It’s Thursday now, my Friday (woot!) so we are actually going to leave the hotel after dinner for some fun. Another director (Oliver) from our NY office landed the day after I did and he is here for 18 months so we’ve become fast friends and I’m really glad to have someone around that is in the same boat as me. Tomorrow I move in to my permanent housing so I’m really excited for that. Living out of 3 suitcases has been a bit difficult (trying to find where I packed anything is quite a feat!). Plus my beautifully organized packing is getting messed up!
Culture shock hasn’t been too bad since I was fairly prepared for it I think. The first moment I felt that wow, I’m going to AD was at the airport in JFK when I had to re check in at Etihad and I was the only white girl in the whole line, not to mention one of very few females at all. Being here is fine though, some men wear the traditional white robes and head dress, some females are in burkas and then everyone else is mostly in suits. At night anything seems to go….I’d never imagine I was in the Middle East when I see people at the bars.
I feel like I’ve already made some friends so it’s not so lonely. Someone at the client that gave me advice on where to live, etc lives in the building I chose so that will be nice. We made plans to hang out next week (she is off to Beirut for the weekend). Yesterday I had to call someone in legal on a US tax issue and what do you know, she is from Falls Church, VA and is over here for 6 months like me. So we’re going to do lunch next week since she works offsite. Oliver is my anytime buddy as well so ideally we can go explore this weekend and figure this place out. He might live in Dubai but for the time being is in Abu Dhabi. I also joined a Meet Up group called New in Abu Dhabi so they organize a bunch of events which I plan to start attending. There is a 10K tomorrow, but its my first week and I’m sick (my body is having a hard time getting used to the change…was close to vomiting my whole first day at work..now have a head cold and sneezing up a storm!) and don’t think that trying to run 6.4 miles is the smartest. It will be nice to work out again tomorrow since I’ve done nothing since last Saturday!!! Anyway, there is a group that is going to start running along the Corniche (along the water) every Tuesday night and there are also Arabic lessons, cooking lessons, happy hours, etc so I’m sure I’ll find lots to do over the next few weeks.
Oh..the other fun thing…I found out that there is a holiday here the 16, 17, 18 (T, W, R) so I get a 5 day weekend sine I work Sunday to Thursday (will be weird getting used to that!). Also, the big Formula 1 race is here on the 12-14 so I don’t think anyone is working on the 14th either. There will be lots going on next week for Formula 1 events…Sean Paul, Kelly Rowland, Kelis, etc etc are doing free concerts on the beach which I plan to attend. I couldn’t get race tickets since I got here so close to the event, but a number of ppl at work have already offered to give up some of theirs (ppl who don’t plan to attend all 4 days). Kanye West, Prince and Linkin Park are the after concerts on race days but you have to have race tickets to go….I think I already scored LP tickets…working on the others now! And…the weather is amazing. Everyone said that I came at the perfect time cuz its finally starting to cool off some. Mornings are a little warm (since I’m in suits) but at night, it’s gorgeous and breezy and I’m in love!
Okay I think that just about covers the past week……I’ll write more this weekend and upload pics.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Blogging Take 1
This is my first experience with blogging so bare with me. I have no idea what I'm doing but am going to try to figure this thing out.
Most of you already know that I'm headed to the Middle East on Halloween for a 6 month adventure. I figured that starting a blog would be a great way to keep everyone updated on the experiences I encounter while I am living abroad since I'm terrible with the phone and being 8-9 hours ahead will likely only make it worse!
Why Abu Dhabi you ask? An opportunity came up at work in July that I couldn't pass up. My name went on a list of qualified candidates for my firm and my resume was one of 6 sent to the client from our end. Two other firms submitted what I'm guessing is about the same amount of options. From this initial round I was chosen for an interview and from that round was chosen for a final interview. When I started the process a part of me thought it was a huge long shot, but I also just had this feeling from the day I read the email that I would be going. I'm not a huge "feeling" person, but for some reason, I had a very strong feeling about this. 13 weeks after starting the process, I was informed that I was chosen and life as I knew it was about to change!
I know most people think I'm crazy to want to do this, but its a perfect opportunity for me to go see a part of the world I'd otherwise likely never see. Abu Dhabi is also very westernized and largely made up of ex pats, so its not like going to Saudi. I will not be wearing a burka. I expect to live a fairly normal life, just in a much warmer locale! For those of you who know my obsession with the sunshine and warmth know that this could not have been a better choice! I'm going from mild fall temps in DC to summer like weather in Abu Dhabi and returning just in time for the warm weather to be back in DC. Talk about perfect timing!
Okay...its Monday and I officially only have 5 full days left in the states. I will probably not blog again until I land in my new home (which is fine, since I probably wont tell anyone about this blog for awhile either, ha!).
Most of you already know that I'm headed to the Middle East on Halloween for a 6 month adventure. I figured that starting a blog would be a great way to keep everyone updated on the experiences I encounter while I am living abroad since I'm terrible with the phone and being 8-9 hours ahead will likely only make it worse!
Why Abu Dhabi you ask? An opportunity came up at work in July that I couldn't pass up. My name went on a list of qualified candidates for my firm and my resume was one of 6 sent to the client from our end. Two other firms submitted what I'm guessing is about the same amount of options. From this initial round I was chosen for an interview and from that round was chosen for a final interview. When I started the process a part of me thought it was a huge long shot, but I also just had this feeling from the day I read the email that I would be going. I'm not a huge "feeling" person, but for some reason, I had a very strong feeling about this. 13 weeks after starting the process, I was informed that I was chosen and life as I knew it was about to change!
I know most people think I'm crazy to want to do this, but its a perfect opportunity for me to go see a part of the world I'd otherwise likely never see. Abu Dhabi is also very westernized and largely made up of ex pats, so its not like going to Saudi. I will not be wearing a burka. I expect to live a fairly normal life, just in a much warmer locale! For those of you who know my obsession with the sunshine and warmth know that this could not have been a better choice! I'm going from mild fall temps in DC to summer like weather in Abu Dhabi and returning just in time for the warm weather to be back in DC. Talk about perfect timing!
Okay...its Monday and I officially only have 5 full days left in the states. I will probably not blog again until I land in my new home (which is fine, since I probably wont tell anyone about this blog for awhile either, ha!).
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