Missin and Reminiscn

It feels like I have been gone for a while but, it really hasn't been too long at all! I mentioned in my first post that some really close friends flew in to say bye to me when I left Boston.

Thanks Nikki, Andi, Dani, Abby, Meg and Annie for coming my way to say bye! It was a great time with all of them and here are some of the fun times we had... you all should go visit these places they are some of my favorite in New England!

The North End in Boston with Andi, Kristen and Christine

Meg in Hampton, NH

Annie and Nikki at Singing Beach in Manchester By the Sea

I never took any pictures with Dani and Abby- but, I know someone has them so send them to me and I will add them on here!

Ladies Night

My sister-in-law Jessie plans the events for the hospital. My first Saturday night here she had a women's dinner for Oasis' 50th Anniversary. I had the opportunity to go and be a part of the evening. Here in the Emirates the government is run by a Sheik and the term Sheik or Sheika (for a woman) is used before any royalty's name. At the women's event one of the women from the ruling family, a sheika was the guest of honor. The founder of the UAE had one of his sons at Oasis Hospital and she was representing that family at the dinner.

Here in the UAE local women do not mix with men, this means that any event large or small men and women are in seperate rooms. At the dinner even all of the serving staff and security had to be women.

It is also uncommon to find local woman who are willing to be photographed but, this woman Ahalam who I work with and her mother were willing to stop for a picture.

Work it Out.

Yesterday I finished my first week of work. My official title at the hospital is Assistant Director of Business Development (looks good on paper) but, I mostly will be working in the Marketing Department. The departments is a one man show right now and I will be the 2nd person in the department! I will work with a man named Jomy who is from India but has lived most of his life here in the Emirates.

I also started Arabic lessons this week. My teacher's name is Latifah and she is actually from Oman. She lives just over the border so she commutes to and from Al Ain. Many of the translators at the hospital are from Oman. It's more like driving over a state border for them!

The desert is winning right now

So, I have always taken pride in the fact that I never get sick when I travel abroad. I have been to about 8 countries and have stayed away for up to 3 months and have never been sick. In Mexico not even Montezuma's Revenge could get me! Here in the desert the heat is winning.

I am exhausted and have a sinus infection that is making it hard to sleep. I went to the doctor today and started anti-biotics. I'm sure it will help but, the stubborn part of me hates that the desert heat is winning this battle!

Completely unrelated- this picture below is of me and Trey. I am wearing a pair of the white gloves that a lot of women here wear to protect their hands from the sun while they are driving or walking around outdoors. Being fair skinned here is considered beautiful. The white gloves are a stark contrast to the women's black abayas.

"It's Freaking Friday"

This is a famous quote from Christine "It's freaking Friday"- anyone who ever lived at 15 Ashland Street or was even there when Christine got home from work knows exactly what I mean when I say this.Let me give you a run down of a Friday evening at 15 Ashland. You hear the door lock jiggle and then the door flings open and Christine drops her things and before you see her you hear "It's freaking friday" and the party begins! I loved hearing that affirmation that the weekend had arrived.

Here this takes on a whole new meaning. Thursday is our last day of work for the week. Friday is the Holy Day here- Muslims worship on Friday's. For me it's a day of relaxation and rest.

Today I woke up and went to the gym with Jessie (trying to join her healthy habits). We stopped back home so I could get pants on- I wore shorts to the gym but those are not ok for public places. Next, it was off to the store (imagine a Super Walmart on steroids) from groceries, hair dryers; about 15 to choose from, soccer jerseys (not like imitation brands at Walmart, this is where the steroids come in they were the real brands) and washers and dryers. Literally they had everything you could ever need.

After the store we headed to Jessie's house to make lunch for some company that we had. It was wonderful to be sitting around with Emirati women for a meal. There is no better way to get to know people and a culture than to sit down and talk about life. The four women arrived completely covered in their abayas. I felt nervous at first- it was such a strange feeling- I have been seeing these women for the past 4 days and have

even met many who were dressed like them at the hospital. We sat down to lunch and I quickly made friends. I am hoping to have one of the girls come to my apartment when I move. I need friends here and I need to make them fast! I was surrounded by so many girls at home!

My gym membership is already paying off because after the girls left we went to the pool at the gym.

Here I am enjoying the heat. It was so much easier to enjoy the heat when I was wearing typical summer clothes. A bathing suit and a cover up felt amazing after wearing sweaters and jeans in this desert heat.

Then I was off to the mall to change some money and I bought a straightner! I will get to look totally normal soon.

Here we are in the desert

So, the title of this went from "It's getting hot in hur" to "You can't take off any clothes" (I am a woman living in a conservative culture) to it's current title because duh- I moved to the desert and what more could I expect than temperatures in the 100's. It was about 115 degrees today. It made me angry and then I met a woman who gave it to me like it is. She asked the usual "How's it going?" I said "Good" the polite good we all respond with and she was quiet and looked at me like that's it, you just moved all the way over here from America and all you got is "good". So, my jet lagged self added "It's hot, really hot" and she looked back and said "Yeah, so it is and it's not really getting better". That's the reason for my current blog title- Here we are in the desert.

I did all my HR paperwork and I am just about ready to get to crackin' at work. Sunday is orientation and Saturday I will help at a women's event for the hospital. My weekends here are Friday and Saturday- we always work on Sunday.

Tonight after work was church- it is an Anglican service. That's pretty different from what I am use to at home. It was nice though and I liked going to church with family. I'll put up some pictures tomorrow!

I'm Here!

I am here safe and sound. A real post is coming!