Boxing day

On Boxing day (the day after Christmas day) we went to Berts boss Samir's home to meet his lovely family. Samir and his wife were born in Algeria but have lived in Australia for 15 or so years and his children were just delightful. He took us to this beautiful Indian restaurant. The decor was stunning and the food fabulous. Good food, good company, and beautiful surroundings what more could you want?

Ibn Battuta Mall

Shopping malls in Dubai are not just about the stuff in the stores, they are just so beautiful its a pleasure to spend the day there. I usually hate shopping, but Ibn Battuta mall near our house just might change that for me. It is divided up into areas, China, India Persia, Tunisia and Egypt where Ibn Battuta once explored.

This is the India section

And so this is Christmas!

Pumpkin pie, apple pie and cherry pie. Jane and Bills dogs. We bought them a rawhide bone each for Christmas and they were pretty excited with their gifts.

And Caleb with his rawhide bone, tragically this was lost soon after the photo was taken and he had to wait until Jere's was chewed in half so they could share.

It is Christmas evening and I have survived Christmas without my Mum, kids, dog etc. Our lovely friends Bill and Jane from Texas invited us to spend Christmas day with them in Abu Dhabi and they had other guests from Bills work, and Michelle and Brian. Michelle and Jane I met at church and they have been very kind to me and helped tremendously in helping me get settled here.

The hardest part was because of the time difference making a phone call home to speak to loved ones was difficult, but I spoke to them yesterday, and will probably be able to catch them tomorrow at home.

We were surprised at the number of text messages we received from Muslims wishing us a Merry Christmas. We really need to be sure to learn the right thing to say for the next Muslim holiday.

Thanks Bill and Jane for making what was potentially a very difficult day away from home, lovely.

Wedding anniversary

Today is our seventh wedding anniversary.

In those years we have sold a house and bought another house, then sold that and moved into another house, 6 weeks later, bought another house and moved into that. We have sold several cars, and bought several more. Moved temporarily to South Australia and then the following year moved for 5 months to Perth Western Australia. We drove to Perth and back with two dogs, thats about 3,500 kms each way. We have done two around the world trips, and one trip to Germany last year. We were involved in a very stressful court case, Bert had major surgery and Berts children have given us three granddaughters born.

Then the whole Abu Dhabi job situation arose, so we have spent most of 2009 in limbo. I started packing back in February and just today our boxes were delivered in Dubai. Bert lived and worked between two continents for most of the year and this is my third trip here.

He has now started new employment with a UAE based company.


Is it any wonder we are tired and never want to pack a suitcase again for a while.

After all that, its been a great 7 years and I wouldn't change a thing, I perhaps just would do it all a bit slower.

New apartment

I have not been able to log into blogger for a while, the internet where we are living is sketchy so I am sorry for the delay.

We are in the new apartment. I feel like we are living in a goldfish bowl because of the lack of drapes, we have them, but not the tracks to hang them from and there is nothing to even just tack them up with. The installer promised they would be finished last Tuesday, so maybe tomorrow... Inshallah or God willing.

Despite the long drive after long days Bert is happy we are living here too. We have a ton of services at our fingertips. Laundry, ironing and drycleaning is picked up and delivered every second day (yeah!!!) The local grocery store delivers several times a day, so I email them a shopping list and its delivered later that day. We also have five or six restaurants who also deliver free of charge to our apartments.

Floods across the Emirates.

A trip to hospital.

I have dealt with medical emergencies now in Malaysia, USA, Germany and now UAE and I do think this one was the easiest to handle.

I have a vitamin B12 deficiency and have injections once a month to keep things ok. I had one a month ago when we were in Australia and thought by the time the next one is due we would be settled and know where to go etc.

Yesterday I was feeling pretty ordinary after a long day of packing, moving, travelling, cleaning, unpacking and then a round of extreme shopping with Bert the day before.

I woke up this morning and it hurt to move, everywhere. I felt like I was watching the world from under water or something because everything felt foggy.

We were due to pick up a young Indian guy who works with Bert as he comes to church with us. So Bert called him and Eddie sent us to a hospital near where he lives. Our insurance still isn't through because of problems getting our visas processed due to the Eid and National day holidays here.

We were so impressed. I saw a doctor who listened to what the problem was and he gave me a quick once over. He said I needed to see another doctor at another hospital and they would take me. So within a few minutes I was put in a car with a driver who took me to the other hospital. It really was only a short distance and if I had been well you could have walked it. Bert was still parking the car by this time but Eddie was running between the two of us making sure we were ok.

A short wait for the doctor and everything was fine. I was very impressed with him, I do believe he knew more about B12 deficiencies than my doctor at home in Australia. So I got the injection, and his card and phone number for future injections or appointments.

I am already feeling much better, the relief is almost instant with the injection.