It has been quite some time since I last logged in to write. Since that day, much has changed. I moved back into my apartment in Oakland and began to readjust into my “normal” way of life in the USA which consists of working at least 2 jobs to sustain the kind of lifestyle I prefer to live; which involves a lot of eating, drinking and traveling.
I was just getting back into my groove when everything stopped due to Covid-19. Well, it didn’t stop totally abruptly, I felt it coming. I knew things were about to change forever but I thought I would have a little more time to prepare. I was wrong.
It was Sunday, March 15th, 2020. I was catching up with a friend over a few drinks at a dive bar about 40 minutes outside of Oakland when the bar phone rang. The bartender answered the phone and almost immediately looked confused. My friend was talking to me, but I had stopped listening to him. I was observing the body language of the bartender while he carried on a conversation I couldn’t hear.
He hung up the phone and picked up the remote to the jukebox while he took a few deep breaths. He then lowered the music and made an announcement, “Finish up your drinks, the bar is now closed”.
“WHAT!!?”- The overall reaction from each and every patron in the place.
I looked at my watch; it was 2:30 in the afternoon.
I looked at my friend; he laughed and said, “This must be a joke”.
I looked at the bartender; he picked up the remote for the television and changed the channel to reflect the local news – Our California Governor, Gavin Newsom, was on the television making an announcement.
“All non-essential businesses, including bars, were to shut down immediately and the enforcement would begin at midnight. “
The bar drew silent as people finished up their drinks, closed their tabs, and made their way to the door.
My friend invited me to his place where he suggested we have a few more drinks and watch the news. I declined. I needed to get home; who knew how long public transportation would keep operating.
As soon as I boarded the BART train a feeling of panic and dread began to settle in my chest.
It has now been 110 days since I left my home in Oakland, California to begin my travels. I spent 9 weeks in Abu Dhabi with visits to Dubai, Al Ain and Oman, a month traveling though India, and now nearly two weeks in Thailand.
The time I spent in Abu Dhabi I was with my brother and his family. My purpose there was clear and my time was more or less structured. I had freedom to come and go, but ultimately I lived in a home with my own room and there was a place for everything.
Since leaving Abu Dhabi, I’ve been solo traveling, living out of a bag, with no plan from one day to the next. I’ve been staying mostly in mixed dorm hostels meeting people from all over the world; many of whom are doing the same thing as me.
I have met so many different types of people on this journey who will forever hold a special place in my heart. Each of them has taught me something about human nature whether that be about kindness, desire, fear, empowerment, or self love.
I have learned that people travel for all kinds of reasons.
Some travel because they’re running. Running from family or social pressures to “settle down”. Running from a bad experience like a divorce, break up, or death of someone close to them. Running from a mundane life they couldn’t put a smile on one more day for.
Some travel because they’re searching. Searching for love, searching for some kind of answer, searching for “themselves”.
Some travel for the adventure of the unknown. The self inflicted stress of learning their way though a new city in a new country where nobody speaks the same language.
Whatever it is, everyone has their reason for starting their journey, even though many don’t know exactly when their journey will end or where it will take them.
In fact, of all the traveling I’ve done and the people I’ve met on those journeys, this journey has been by far more eye opening in the number of travelers I’ve met who are my age and have no plan. People in their early and mid thirties from all over the world are on a mission to see the world and learn about the differences and similarities of us all and I think its beautiful and says a lot about my generation.
I just want to say that I’m proud of each and every one of the people that I’ve met. From the 19 year olds working at the party hostels to the 70 year old taxi driver, you have all brought something very valuable into my soul that I’ll hold onto forever. I hope to be able to share each persons story eventually.
I went to bed last night with a “plan” of how my day would be today… This was it:
Wake up at 6, shower, get ready, take a taxi to Gateway of India, get on ferry to Elorra Caves, maybe walk around that part of town for a bit, take taxi back.
That did NOT happen.
Instead, my day was so much more fantastic, it almost brought me to tears thoughout the day and nearly brings me to tears to think about it as I prepare to write about it right now…and I’m not an emotional person.
This is what DID happen:
I woke up at 6, showered, got ready and went down to the front to ask the reception the best way to get to Gateway of India. The receptionist told me I could take the local train which would take me 1.5 hours, or I could take a taxi which would take me 1 hour. Considering I wanted to get on the 9am train and it was nearly 7am, I told him I would rather the taxi. He told me to walk to the main road and take a right and that there was a taxi stand there I could get a driver from.
I walked to the main road and saw a line of tuk-tuks.
Unsure if this was the correct kind of taxi he was referring me to, I began to ask the men standing with their tuk-tuks if they could take me to Gateway of India. You would think I had made the place up as nobody seemed to know what I was talking about. The tuk-tuk drivers flagged down a local who appeared to be my age to try to use him as a translator. The translator talked to the tuk-tuk drivers for a few minutes and it seemed to me that nobody in the tuk-tuk group wanted to work this morning. The man who they had flagged down then told me that the tuk-tuks would not take me the whole way because it was too far, but that I could either take a tuk-tuk half way and take a taxi the rest, or just take a taxi the whole way but it would be upwards of 700 Rupees one way. I told him I’d rather just take the taxi, so he advised me that if I keep walking in the same direction and I’d see the taxi stand.
I walked down the same street, around a bend, and back up to where I had been nearly five times before already and didn’t see anything that looked like a taxi stand, so I asked someone new. The gentleman who helped me the second time told me to walk back the way I had come from and that the stand was right on the bend on my right hand side. He said the taxi would either be black and yellow, or blue and yellow.
I began to walk back.
As I was getting to the bend, I saw two black and yellow taxi -ish looking vans and I met eyes with an older gentleman sitting in the back of one who just happened to look up from his newspaper as I looked over at him. We smiled at each other, so I said a prayer and walked in front of all the incoming cars in order to make my way across the busy street to him.
“Are you a taxi driver?” I asked him
“Yes, where would you like to go?” he replied
“I’m trying to go to Gateway of India, though I understand it’s pretty far away.” I responded
“It’s no problem. You are a guest in my India, I will take you where you want to go.” He assured me. “Have a seat”, he said patting the backseat of the car where he had been sitting, “I will take you there, and if you want, I will take you site seeing and bring you back too.”
“Well, how much will that cost?” I asked him.
“For you, 1500 Rupee”
Considering it’s an hour drive and that’s only 20 US dollars, I agreed, and got in.
As we took off onto the crazy road, my driver began to share with me that he had been in Mumbai for 42 years and that he had been driving taxi for over 20 of those years. Before driving taxi, he parked cars for hotels (Valet?). He told me about his small village 1500km north and about his wife, children and grandchildren.
His grasp of the English language was not 100%, but I understood 90% of what he was saying to me which is more than good enough.
I then told him I intended to take the ferry to see Elorra Caves when we arrived at Gateway of India.
He looked at me strange and said, “Elephanta caves? Elorra caves is a 7 hour drive in the other direction.”
Considering I don’t feel confident about anything I say here, I said “sure!”, and we continued on our way.
Something told me I was in good hands and that wherever we were headed would be amazing.
As our journey continued, the driver, who by then I found out’s name was Tiwari, began to ask me how I wanted to plan the day. I told him I wanted to go to Gateway of India, get on the ferry to the caves, check them out, and then I would maybe want to grab a bite and head back.
Tiwari told me the ferry alone was an hour in each direction, but that “no problem, I will wait for you at the car whenever you return”.
This seemed ludicrous to me.. Drive me an hour to a place where I will take an hour to get to my destination and then check it our for at least an hour before taking another hour long ferry back …. that would mean him waiting at his taxi for at LEAST 3 hours for me if not longer… so I invited him to join me and told him I’d pay his way.
Ohhhh my, GAME CHANGER!!!
Tiwari was so excited at my offer, and we made a light plan for the rest of the day as we drove toward Gateway of India.
In the hour it took us to get to our destination we talked a lot about everything under the sun while he simultaneously pointed out our surroundings.
Tiwari and I spent the entire day together!! We walked around Gateway of India, jumped on the ferry to Elephanta Caves, explored the hand carved caves which is said to be one of the enigmatic heritage sites in India, met some furry creatures that I fell absolutely in love with, and then we drove around town and had a delicious Indian lunch, stopped for some beers and whisky, and then he drove me back to my hostel.
I was a whirlwind of emotions when I got back to my room this afternoon.
I will see Tiwari again tomorrow morning at 5am as he will be taking me to the train station for my departure to Goa. I told him I’d call him again prior to my return on the 4th of September in Mumbai so that he could show me more of this city he loves.
I have so much to look forward to!
I also have two more beers and some whisky to enjoy before bed!!
India: Ganesh Chaturthi or ‘Ganesh Festival’ image of the elephant-headed god Ganesh
I’ll pour myself a glass of Scotch before I write this one….
WARNING: This is a blow off post… there may be choice words some may not appreciate.
I was losing my mind this week. I was filled with so many emotions that no matter how far I ran in this disgustingly humid yet desert-like heat, I couldn’t arrange my thoughts into comprehension that I was comfortable with.
I felt like I got hit by a rogue wave and the bowl of shiny cherries I had been carrying around with me fell out of my hands and into the sand. The pieces all scattered in the sand or being washed away by the sea, and I couldn’t even find the bowl to put them back in… fuck!!
I could say it was frustration, but my frustration was in layers like a shitty cake.
I could say it was anger, but my anger stemmed from the past and the present and everything in between.
I could say it was confusion, but I was too confused to know why.
I could say it was even a little sadness, but I try to never admit my weaknesses…
So here I was.. losing my fucking mind.
Where do I start… breathe in… breathe out…
As you all know, taking any kind of risk has a certain monetary value. As you can imagine, quitting your job and taking off for months at a time means there is a bit more risk. Unless, of course, you’re blessed with one of those “WFH” jobs that allows you to really “Work from anywhere”… don’t get me started on my jealousy.
I thought I had all my “money” things in line. I had someone living in my place and paying my rent who would also send me my bills as they arrived so I wouldn’t miss any payments, money in my checking account to last me a few months of paying said bills/ traveling/ having some fun, money in my savings account for any emergency that may come about, and cash in my pocket.. My plan was set, but it all revolved around the first piece of the puzzle going down on time before the rest of the puzzle could fit into place.
As you can probably assume from my tantrum, the rent money didn’t come in on the 1st (and still hasn’t).
I, of course, paid my rent on the 1st, when it was DUE.
POOF: $1150 over budget.
I made contact with the individual* a few days ago who sayid they paid the rent and put all the blame on Wells Fargo for not ‘initiating the payment in time’.
They said it should arrive in my account no later than Wednesday..
*Nothing disgusts me more about a human being than one who can’t take responsibility for themselves and their actions..just simply say, “I waited until the last minute to pay the rent so it will be late this month, sorry”.
Puts me to my next money topic, my bills…
The same individual in my apartment was supposed to be sending me my bills as they came in. My routine was that I would receive the email and then I would go online and pay the bill…easy enough.
So why when I went to rent a car the other day to drive to Dubai did my card get declined for non payment!!? I went though the emails, nothing.. I made a 300 dollar payment on the card hoping that the large amount would open the availability of the card up to me sooner… no such luck. Luckily this country is so willing to accommodate they rented me the card without a deposit..
I’m sure my interest rate just went up over that garbage..
I spoke to a friend who agreed to grab my mail once or twice a week to send me my bills so hopefully it won’t happen again…ok, another positive.
So here I was, all week, trying to plan my next move (I have to leave UAE by August 18th because my visa expires, again), and I had almost no fucking play money to buy my plane tickets with and my credit card was being declined due to “missed payment”..so I was dipping into my savings account and giving myself a damn anxiety attack in the process.
Because time is sensitive and the days of waiting last minute to purchase tickets on the cheap are over, I purchased my ticket to Mumbai. I booked accommodation for a few nights there and booked a 11 hour train to Goa because after being on “vacation” the last few months, I decided that I need a fucking coastal party in India to relax these nerves, I also booked my accommodation there (I hope 5 days isn’t too long..or too short..).
All booked, still no rent deposit into my account.
I contact my bank… maybe there is an issue on their side??
NOPE.
Stop. Breathe. Call an Arabic friend because instead of puff, puff, pass, they’re full of positivity, positivity, pass.
My Arabic friend 1. got me to breathe and remember “life is good”, and 2. set me up with his personal driver in India and promised me that this guy would take good care of me.
I called his driver in India who informed me that there is currently a taxi strike in India** , but that he would be sure to pick me up wherever I needed him.
**Looking at you, Ganesh!!*
Ok, a few weeks out are booked, money should deposit any day; why did I still feel like shit?
I called an old lover and friend and confessed that my excitement of traveling alone has dwindled down to anxiety. Confessed that this kind of an adventure that I used to crave and feed off of now feels like such trouble and that I’m feeling all the feels about leaving my family and traveling alone and that every step just feels so daunting all of a sudden. I told him that “giving up” and going home seemed like a better option right now.
He told me, “It’s not giving up if that’s what you want to do, but let’s talk though your other options…”
We did.
I decided to stay….
Today I took a break from the travel planning to spend some quality time playing pretend with my niece and nephew, and then went to the pool to drown in the heat and some crappy teenage book that was left in the house from the previous family that lived here.
I began to feel better…finally.
After the pool I took a hot shower, shaved my legs (it sometimes just makes me feel like a new woman), and jumped back on the computer.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
My productivity came back!! My anxiety dwindled.
I got the paperwork together and applied for my India Visa and I booked myself to stay in India through Ganesh Chaturthi (The festival celebrates Lord Ganesha as the God of New Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles as well as the god of wisdom and intelligence..If you know me, you’ve seen my home and my tattoo) and then began to forward think from there…
I started to stare at the map… Thailand? Vietnam? Cambodia? Indonesia???
When I first began to tell my friends and family that I would be traveling to the Middle East, the most common reaction was concern about my safety.
Even as I’ve been here for now for over two months, I still get the occasional message asking me about how “safe” I feel here.
Well, let me just tell you that since arriving in the Middle East, I have met mostly only absolutely amazing people. From Abu Dhabi to Al Ain, to Dhank, Oman, and up to Dubai. I’ve rented two cars and driven all over this beautiful desert meeting people all along the way.
The only people I’ve met here who I didn’t particularly enjoy were a group of Americans who were drunk at a pool bar (getting drunk in public here is very frowned upon) talking about how they’re better than everyone because they’re Christians and serve in the US Navy (seriously, these particular guys were awful).
The people I have met who are from here are kind, generous and proud of their country. They acknowledge how much their government does for them and are appreciative of the things they have. They are excited to show you their culture and introduce you to their way of life. They are quick to ask you if you need help if they sense you’re lost or confused. They are very highly educated and have well thought out formed opinions.
The locals I have met here are the kind of people you can sit and have a conversation with for hours, and I love to talk.
Last Saturday I was laying poolside talking to a local Arabic friend about the hard parts of life. This particular day we talked about guns and gangs and violence. We talked about terrorism and hate. We talked about hardships and the crime we have personally experienced. We talked about the perspectives we’ve been fed by our government and our media. We talked about the differences in our countries laws and possible solutions for it all. We even talked about the importance of mental health.
Our conversation was eye opening to me.
You see, I am a 33 year old female from the United States of America and I have personally experienced more crime in my life than this 36 year old man who was born and raised in Dubai.
I have experienced more death (suicide, cancer, overdose and accidental), I have experienced more hate, I have experienced more gun violence, more depression, more anxiety, more more more more more of all the negative things in life… and it never really occurred to me that these things do not have to be “just a part of life” like I had always thought.
My Arabic friend doesn’t know a single person who has committed suicide or died from a drug overdose. He only knows one person who got cancer, and they got treated in Belgium (paid for my the UAE government) and has not had cancer again since. He doesn’t know anyone who owns a gun, but he does know a guy who has a pet tiger (which is against the law here). He has never met anyone who has been stabbed. He has never seen a dead person on the sidewalk. He still remembers the first fight he saw at a night club.
This is not a sheltered man. In fact, he has traveled much of the world and experienced several cultures. He speaks six languages.
We chatted all afternoon.
The next day when I went to see him, I told him about what had just happened in Gilroy, California. 4 dead, 15 injured.
His eyes got wide and his forehead crinkled. He put his head down and shook it side to side and said, “Some people are so sick”.
Little did I know that less than 7 days later I’d be telling him about another one. This time, El Paso, Texas. This time 20 dead, 26 injured.
It’s almost time to move out of the extended stay hotel and into an apartment. The hope is that we will begin to move on Thursday or Friday of this week.
While I’m excited to move, I’m also a little bummed since this extended stay hotel offers breakfast every morning and dinner four nights a week.
In the new place I’ll have to cook all my own food…or perhaps just eat less.
The new apartment is larger than our current accommodation and also has a gym and a pool (actually two). Something the apartment offers that the hotel doesn’t is several grassy areas with jungle gyms and swings and things for the children.
One thing that doesn’t exist in that neighborhood, however; a hotel. No hotel = no bar. So, I will have to get more adventurous and learn a few more bus routes!
In the meantime, I have four or so more days here on Yas Island, so I will do my best to inhale it all in before we depart.
There is that saying, “The grass is always greener…”. I’ve heard it a million times, and I am sure you have too, but did you ever sit down and think about what that means? Like really think about it….?
In the last year or so I’ve come to realize that the grass is only green where you water it.
I had a similar routine for years; I would spend a few years single and having a great time. I would party without a single care in the world, take spontaneous trips at a last seconds notice, and talk openly about how I loved my freedom and didn’t need anyone else to make me happy. I felt grateful that I didn’t have to report back to anyone or ask permission to do anything at all. If I wanted to stay out all night, I would. If I wanted to stay in all night with a face mask on and a glass of wine, I could do that too.. I could do whatever I wanted, and I loved it!!
And then eventually I’d meet a man I wanted to invest some serious time into and I’d suddenly stop and spend all my time with that man. Before too long I would realize I felt alone and secluded from all the fun, and I would begin to think about the grass all my friends were frolicking in and I’d want that back. So, without warning I’d break another heart and jump back over the fence.
And then the cycle would begin again. This went on for years.
In 2010 I moved to San Francisco after a pretty dramatic break up with a guy I had been dating for several years. When we met he was amazing, but as the years passed by I began to feel completely taken advantage of. He was in a band and his band came before anything else and often required the assistance of my pocketbook. He also was mostly staying with me in my one bedroom apartment but was never contributing to rent, utilities, or groceries. He eventually began making a documentary that circled around a bunch of conspiracy theories and little by little I began to feel unsafe in my own home (He insisted on keeping a loaded shotgun in my home!!! WTF!!). Needless to say, I had to end that and get far away. So I took off to California.
When I began my journey in California I was living on a couch on 18th and Shotwell and googling (literally) “where to make friends in San Francisco”. All signs pointed to a park in the Mission District called Dolores Park, so I set out to find it. After a few days of wandering the city trying to find this park (this was before smart phones), I found it.
The first day I spent at Dolores Park I was wide eyed; observing. I saw people laying on blankets, reading books and magazines, drinking water and beer, listening to music, and even smoking joints (I was not in Pennsylvania anymore, that was for sure!).
So, the next day I went back to the park with a blanket to lay on, some beers to drink, and my journal. I did this nearly every day for about a week when I finally met a group of men who were on a blanket next to me. There were about 7 of them, and then me. They were all highly educated and very friendly and vowed to show me the city. And boy oh boy did they!!!
From using public transportation, to partying in the Castro District, the Mission, the Tenderloin, and Downtown, to every single street festival and drag show we had a BLAST! They showed me love in ways that I had never felt before. They quickly became my San Francisco family and I will forever love each and every one of them. They taught me the importance of watering my own grass, and that is something I’ve been working on ever since.
I have, of course had bumps in the road. Gave some men too much of my time who didn’t deserve it, gave other men too little of my time that did, and through all of those experiences I have learned a lot about myself, and what my grass needs to stay green, yet I never really put myself first to keep it that way. I spent my time having fun and not necessarily nurturing my own soul.
I traveled and worked and traveled and worked until eventually I began to feel that dissatisfaction with my life again. I did what I always have done and began to look for a new place to live. Where would I want to go next? What would it take for me to pick up my life and move it again, now at 33.
And that’s when I was approached with this opportunity to live in Abu Dhabi for 3 months.
The universe has shown herself again!!!! In my moment of need, she showed me a promising path!!!!
So now, here I sit, in Abu Dhabi.
Currently living in an extended stay hotel, life has been wonderful. I’ve been running at the gym nearly every day, eating healthy, drinking tons of water, rotating my time between the beach and the pool, meeting friends and enjoying the occasional scotch or whisky (as opposed to my previous routine of over indulgence).
When I talk to friends from home they all mention that I seem to be ‘beaming’. That my Aura has changed and that I appear to be so happy here.. and it’s true.
Yas Beach, Abu Dhabi
I’m watering my own grass.
In 15 days we’ll be moving into our new apartment in a neighborhood of Abu Dhabi called Al Reef. Life will certainly change for me as the feeling of being on ‘vacation’ will surely come to a close, but I hope to take that opportunity to get the house set up, continue on my road to good health, and begin to really explore this city as I will be closer to town and therefore closer to public transportation.
There is a list of places I want to see and things I want to do while I’m here in Abu Dhabi, and its just about time to start exploring those places.
As each day goes on, I remind myself of how important it is to water my own grass. No snarky text message or projections from other peoples personal dissatisfaction can take me down right now. I’m on a cloud of self care and I don’t intend to come down from it anytime soon.
Even if you’re not in a position to check out completely like I have pretty much gotten the chance to do here, please remember how important your own grass is. It needs watering, and even the occasional fertilization (not always the easy part of grass care, but necessary non the less), and of course, gentle touch and lots of love.
It has officially been one week since landing in Abu Dhabi and starting this new journey of exploration. Since getting here, every day has been hotter than the day before. This is a trend that is expected to continue though the summer, and as of yesterday we finally hit 101.
With this extreme heat, efficiency of appliances is very important here. From the air conditioning to the escalators.
I have spent the last week observing these different machines and am absolutely fascinated every time I notice another little built in efficiency that I hadn’t noticed previously.
The first thing I noticed was the air conditioning.
I remember hot and humid summers as a little girl growing up in Pennsylvania. I remember our house being freezing cold, and then stepping outside into the summer sunshine and it being thick and hot, and then going inside an establishment and being blasted with cold air the minute you walked in (the “cold section” of the grocery store was always the worst!). There was never comfort, just two extremes; hot and cold. I never understood why people kept the temperatures so drastic… but I was a child, so I didn’t have a say in it, so I just had to deal (I had these kinds of feelings a lot as a child…perhaps that is what has made me so “controlling” as an adult).
Here, in Abu Dhabi, it is hot and, believe it or not, insanely HUMID (yeah, I thought the desert would be a dry heat too)!! Because of the intense hot weather here (and, if I’m being honest, probably because of the amount of money this country has), they have several appliances that are much more efficient than anything I ever saw in my travels before. Yes, you walk into a business and it’s cooler inside that business, but it’s not ridiculously cold. In fact, after a few cups of tea, one might even wish it was a tad bit cooler. They also do not have air conditioners blowing on high the second you walk into an establishment the way they do back in the USA. The air is circulated thru the buildings in a way that not once have I even felt my hair blowing in any kind of air conditioned breeze. Indoors is simply a nice, reasonable well circulated temperature.
Early Morning Humidity in Abu Dhabi
Also, outside they have air conditioning too! Back home in the USA every time I would sit outside in the summertime at a business they had these giant misters that they would turn on that would keep people cool by keeping them well misted with water. Here, they have a machine that is on wheels to keep it mobile and has a large filter on it to catch the water droplets. So they simply roll it to where they want it, plug it in and pour water into it and voila!! The machine blows out cool air instead of a wet mist because it blows through the filter. Nobody sits soggy.
The washer and dryer in our apartment is also amazingly efficient. First, it’s ONE unit!! One machine that does the washing AND the drying. It’s ideal to me for two reasons; 1. It doesn’t take up a lot of space, so even people with small spaces likely have room for one (back home in Oakland, California I live in a 650 sq. ft studio), and 2. There is a setting on the machine that will put the items into ‘dry’ mode immediately following the ‘wash’ mode, so no soggy mildew smelling clothes if you get distracted during your laundry time! Genius.
Dual Washer and Dryer!Wash&Dry functions
The kitchen also has a gadget that I think is awesome!!! It’s a conventional oven that is built into the cabinet (I love when appliances don’t take up counter-top space), and it has a setting that turns the conventional oven into a microwave!!!! Never in my life have I seen a multi-use appliance like this! I have, instead, gone into many homes over the years and noticed how many appliances people have. Usually they have a microwave, a conventional oven and a toaster (the list goes on and on and on when it comes to appliances Americans “must have”) resulting in cluttered counter-tops and/or cabinets. This is a single appliance that can toast your morning bread, heat up last nights dinner leftovers for lunch, and cook a casserole for dinner! It’s awesome!!!
Conventional oven and Microwave
It also really makes me wonder what else can be created that can have multi purpose….
Malls are very popular here in Abu Dhabi. While they do have services for delivery (Uber Eats and Amazon.com to name two that are likely familiar to most of you) like we do in the USA, as well as online shopping available from all major retail stores, their malls are thriving here unlike ours. Back in the USA our malls are now mostly closed store fronts and empty parking lots, but here, its totally different. It is a place to gather, socialize, eat, pray, and shop. They have prayer rooms all over the mall so no matter where someone is, when the clock strikes at a prayer time, they can go.
Lunchtime at Yas Mall
So here we are, in the middle of the desert, with these giant malls. How is that efficient, you might wonder. Well, here is the thing; The temperature, as I mentioned above, is cool and well circulated. Also there is very little need for artificial lighting because there are so many skylight style openings in the roof that allow the sun to light up the walkways (the lights are on sensors for gloomy days), the escalator even has a sensor on it that (get this!!) slows down to nearly a crawl when it’s not being used, and speeds up when someone is about to walk onto the escalator. I literally sat on a bench and watched this process with pure excitement for way to long…
There are also many other efficient things that they do here in the UAE that I have not seen in my previous experiences, and I will continue to observe and share with you as I can.
For now, It’s 1:30 in the afternoon and I just got back from the gym so I’m going to throw on my swimsuit and walk over to Yas Beach with a friend I met a few days ago. It will be both of our first times vising the beach despite the fact that I have been living here for one week, and they have been living here for ten years!!
The plane has landed and the journey shall now begin!
Before my departure, many of my friends asked me why I would want to travel to the Middle East. They were likely asking because, like I once thought, they were under the impression that the entire Middle East is a war zone. After I was approached by my brother with the opportunity to live in Abu Dhabi with them for a three month period, I began doing some research. I quickly discovered that not only is Abu Dhabi a young city, it is also a safe city, in fact, the safest city in the Middle East for women.
The trip from D.C. to Abu Dhabi was surprisingly easy considering I was traveling with two adults and their two small children (Ages 22 months and 6 years). We flew Etihad Airways. Our plane was an 787-9 Dreamliner, which was very large and quite comfortable. The customer service was excellent and the on board entertainment was sufficient enough to keep even the antsiest of kids entertained for hours. They also served us three complete meals which were tasty and relatively healthy.
When we arrived at the airport in Abu Dhabi, getting thru customs was the easiest experience ever. 1st, there were no lines, and 2nd, the customs consisted of showing your passport and visa to get stamped, and then getting your photo taken for facial recognition (they have one of the most advanced biometrics systems in the world). That was it! We collected all 10 of our bags from the baggage claim, walked outside to where the taxi’s were, the driver loaded up our bags, and we headed to the hotel.
When we arrived to the hotel it was just about 9pm, and the entire family was exhausted from the long day of travel. All any of us wanted to do was lay down and get some serious sleep. Of course though, once we walked through the hotel doors, we got excited and stimulated all over again.
If you’ve ever been to or looked up anything about the city of Abu Dhabi, you would learn that everything here is elaborate and quite stimulating. This made going straight to bed quite difficult, so my brother and I decided to hit the gym to blow some steam while his wife got settled in to our new hotel home with the kiddos. After the gym we grabbed a snack outside at a neighboring hotel. Beside us sat three women in full hijab’s sitting back and enjoying a hookah.
(I can definitely get back into the hookah while I’m here!)
When we got back to the hotel room, I showered and went to bed excited about what the next few weeks would bring.
I slept with my blinds open, as I often do, so that I can be woken up by the rising of the sun. When I woke up to the sun rise this morning, I felt surprisingly refreshed and ready to start the day. It was just past 6am.
After about an hour I heard my nephew rustling around in the other room, so I opened my door to let him in so he and I could begin to enjoy the morning together. We hung out on the patio until my nephew looked at me and said, “Sarah, can we go back inside? It’s too stinkin’ hot out here” (😆). We then played some games that only a child with his imagination could ever think up, and then decided that since the rest of the family was still sleeping, we would take off to the lobby for breakfast. When we returned to the room the rest of the family was starting to get up and get ready to head out and explore on our first family mission; the grocery store.
We boarded the bus to Yas Mall where the closest supermarket is, and headed off.
Again, the efficiency of this place floored us.
1st outing in Abu Dhabi- Destination, Yas Mall
At current, we’ve all arrived back to the hotel and the kiddos and their momma are taking a much needed nap (surprisingly there were no meltdowns while we were out).
Once they awake, we’re off to the pool!! It’s currently only (yes, only) 95 degrees F outside, so we want to make sure we take advantage of the outdoors while it’s still bearable to do so!
In just over 24 hours I’ll be boarding a plane in Washington D.C.. I was lucky enough to get a direct flight from D.C. to Abu Dhabi. The flight itself is just over 13 hours, although with the time zone change, i’ll be boarding at 9:50pm on Tuesday and arriving at 7pm on Wednesday.
I have never been on a plane for more than 5 hours, nor have I ever eaten a complimentary breakfast, lunch, or dinner in flight. I also don’t think I have ever sat still for that long in my entire life.
I bid farewell to the last of my friends from my hometown of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that I was able to catch up with last night, and will bid farewell to my family in about an hour.
My heart is warm with encouragement and love, and my brain is bursting with anxiety of both excitement and fear.
Cheers to what will surely be one hell of an adventure!!
One Good Globe 