Last week of 2010

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!!!!!!