Thankful Thursday

Okay, I got this idea from another blog that I have been reading lately. It is based on the idea that we can benefit greatly by acknowledging regularly the wonderful things that happen to us each day, sometimes just the little things, the minutiae that tend to get lost in negativity and despair if we don't consciously seek them out. The general idea is that each day you write down in your journal or your blog 5 things that you are grateful for. 

I know that I will not manage to do this every day, but how about every Thursday, making it Thankful Thursday? I think it is particularly apt, given that Thursday here in the United Arab Emirates is the last day of the working week, so a good time for a recap, and lets face it, who can be negative in the face of the weekend? Let's see, what am I thankful for this Thursday?:

1.  Well, it is Thursday, so the whole weekend with AL is stretching out before me - I am definitely thankful for that!;
   
2. Having things to look forward to. Tomorrow we are going on a desert safari with some friends;
3. I have been in contact with several women today who are keen to meet up for coffee, and who are in the same position as me;
4. Gmail chat - I love it. I have chatted with my Mum and my brother SD (ha ha SD, named but not identified!) in the last couple of days and heard all the family news. 
5. I am especially greatful that the best Australian lamb seems to be exported to the UAE - we love the chops and the roast here, it has now become a Thursday night staple. 

See, Thursday is a good day to do the gratitude thing!

Stay posted, tomorrow we are going on the desert safari, and no doubt there will be lots of pretty pictures added to the collection!

Dangling Man - Saul Bellow

Last night I finished reading Dangling Man by Saul Bellow. For such a small book it has certainly taken me a while to get through it. I find this to be the case with a lot of the "thin" books out there - light to carry around, but lots to think about while you are reading. Not necessarily a lot of plot, more contemplation and observation, not really suited to a skim read.

This story is narrated through the journal of Joseph, a young man who has quit his job to enlist in the army, only to find that his call-up is delayed by a series of incidents. The book deals with his mental and emotional state as he waits around, or "dangles," unable or unwilling to obtain employment as a result of the uncertainty of his call-up.

He writes "I have thought of going to work, but I am unwilling to admit that I do not know how to use my freedom and have to embrace the flunkydom of a job because I have no resources - in a word, no character."

I find this quote very appealing - so many of us when at work or study, dream of the things we could accomplish or the hobbies that we could pick up, if only we had more time. And yet for many, including myself, spare time becomes wasted time. What do we have to show for ourselves at the end of a week of "leisure" time? Do we actually pick up these skills or spend that extra time with loved ones, or, do we spend it watching television? For Joseph, life revolves around the few short excursions taken each day for meals, and the "ritualistic" dissection of the daily paper, from the comics to the news, the gossip pages, recipes and puzzles.

Another quote: "Three o'clock, and nothing has happened to me; three o'clock and the dark is already setting in; three o'clock and the postman has bobbed by for the last time and left nothing in my box. I have read the paper and looked into a book, I have had a few random thoughts..."

Ahhhhhh! This sounds like my day sometimes! Although I do manage to read a lot, and I am looking for jobs and sending applications... When AL comes home and asks what I have been doing with myself, I sometimes find myself scratching to describe how the hours passed...routine chores -half an hour...tv 1 hour...reading...several hours...internet - never mind! Unlike Joseph, I do manage to finish the books that I start, and enjoy them too, and I am taking the opportunity to enjoy this time for reading, because once I have a job...

Booklover's Heaven

I have just discovered a link in my online bookclub to a number of books that you can download for free as copyright has expired! The site has links to over 1,700 books, most of which are classics or quality literature. Yay!! I thought the downside would be a slow download speed, but no, it opens almost immediately. This will definitely save me some money. The first book I have downloaded is Edith Nesbit's "The Magic City".

The Book Club

Just arrived back from our first book club meeting. Glad I ventured out - the girls are all lovely, some of them in situations like mine (ie job-hunting), others who are working, others who are stay-at-home mums.

The taste in books varies, but for the most part not too bad. Sometimes there may be a little chic-lit, but most of it will be bestseller literature. I can live with that. Won't be recommending any of the classics, I don't think a book club is the best forum for discussing the classics. It needs to be light and pithy, with some good issues for discussion.

The first book we will read is The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. Reviews have been good, but lets wait and see.

One more picture to share with you of Dubai at night. This is a building across from AL's work. The whole area looks lovely at night. It is heavily edited though, as the original shot was not very good. Still, I like it - looks more like a canvas than a photo, or am I deluding myself?

Going to a bookclub meeting tonight. It is the first one for this area. Hopefully the other women have similar taste in reading material - will go crazy if I have to read chic-lit. At least it will get me out of the house!

Evening Out

After time spent together at the gym, sauna and pool this morning, AL and I ruined all our good work at dinner. Good company and good food - nothing beats it. We joined AL's workmates and another friend at an Indian restaurant in Karama. The evening wasn't without its glitches. We ordered the food, and then AL and workmate went to pick up the friend, while the 2 girls minded the table. Would have been great except that the food arrived almost immediately, but the boys spent about 40 minutes looking for a park. A not very impressed waiter agreed to reheat the food for us. Nice food and very strong chai! Yummy. People were queuing up at the door to get a table at this restaurant!

It was nice to walk around after dinner and just get a feel for Karama and the people, and the little shops and restaurants. Really miss being able to just walk around the block or down the street for some vicarious consumerism, or just to buy a bottle of milk.

After dinner, and after several wrong turns, we ended up at Um Suquiem beach, where I proceeded to take the long awaited night shots of the Burj Al Arab:

Not a masterpiece, but at least I have the Burj Al Arab in my collection now. No doubt many more shots will follow.

Repairs

The maintenance "boys" turned up today and decided that our rising damp problem is a result of the silicon between the bath and the tiles leaking. They removed all of the old silicon, and replaced it, and scraped all the blistering paint from the walls. Hopefully this prevents the problem recurring. Now we are just waiting for the painter to come and retouch the walls.

I joined an online bookclub - the site itself hosts thousands of groups, including one called book-a-holics. Needless to say, I joined that one! I am in good company there, with lots of people who share my taste in reading.

Yes, I spend way too much time online!

Blue Sky Dubai

The sky above Dubai today was the clearest, most gorgeous hue that I have seen here since arriving. Not a sandstorm in sight! It is amazing that the colour of the sky can have such an impact on mood - everything looks so much fresher and cleaner under a blue sky. I even caught a glimpse of green grass at the golf club, and could see further into the distance than I ever have yet.

Hopefully the weekend is just as clear so we can at last get some quality shots of the Burj Al Arab, without the haze of a sandstorm ruining the clarity of the image.

This is the view from our balcony - look at that colour!

The Biggest Leap!

The biggest leap when moving to a new place is.....trusting your locks to a new and untried hairdresser. Well, I took that big step today, very nervous, despite the glowing recommendations I had read about this particular salon.

Sigh of relief. The stylist is amazing. He barely asked me what I wanted, and yet I walked away with the perfect cut, the right highlights, and cheaper than initially quoted! (Still expensive, but less than I had expected.) AL likes the new style too.

The Cost of Rapid Development, First Hand!

With pressure to construct tower blocks and indeed whole communities quickly, it stands to reason that some corners will be cut along the way. We are starting to experience that first hand in our apartment.

On Saturday for the first time I noticed some blistering on the wall connected to the bathroom, then on Sunday I noticed some on the wall that separates the living room and the bathroom. Today, it looks like this:

Yikes. I think it will be a big job to get this fixed. Suspect that the tiles and grout that went in were not water proof. Bear in mind that we are the first tenants in the property, and have only been here 2 months!

On a positive note, went to the gym today and had a great workout - 20 mins cardio and about 15 mins light weights (very light!). Now if I could just cut back on the junk food....

Sometimes it is hard to be so far from home

Found out today that my brother is in hospital. The doctors suspect meningitis, but he thinks it is a repeat of a bout of cerebral malaria he suffered in PNG. Would be nice to be at home and able to offer support to him and to my parents. At least I got a chance to speak to my Mum and Dad, and offered them a little support over the phone.

My Grandfather is in hospital too - suspected broken ribs. Between the pair of them the family will be busy with hospital visits!!

Oh, and apologies for the dreadful formatting on the previous post. Not sure exactly what went wrong, but will endeavour to avoid it in future posts!

Welcome to my blog!!

Welcome all to my very first post on my very first blog! Thanks for taking a peek at it, and please bear with me as I navigate the ins and outs. No doubt the layout will change constantly as I experiment with new ideas and formats.

A bit of background to get us started:
I'm an aussie expat, living in Dubai with my husband, who was lucky enough to get a great job over here at a time when so many are being made redundant. I'm still looking for work, so I have enough time on my hands to create and maintain a blog, and to read the blogs of others!

You can expect to see a lot of photos of Dubai, as we continue to explore this amazing city and its surrounds, and to read a lot about our experiences here. Who knows, I may even branch out to share my own brand of wisdom!

For now, let's stick with the experiences! We went to a social event today organised by my husband's (let's call him AL) work. A whole crowd of us gathered at the Atlantis hotel for a fantastic meal at Kaleidoscope restaurant. The buffet was amazing - such a variety of food and so fresh. I managed 2 helpings plus dessert, while some had 3 helpings, dessert and room to spare!After lunch we visited the Lost Chambers - an aquarium. Actually you can see a lot of the aquarium from inside the hotel without paying the AED100 entrance fee, but AL and I have always loved these places and had a great time peering in at the fish, stingrays and the whale shark. Take a look at some of the pictures:

The jellyfish looked simply stunning - there were some great electric blue ones as well, but lighting is always difficult in an aquarium, and this was about the best shot I could come up with of the jellyfish.

According to the information brochure, this is a miner's suit, worn to protect miners when they journeyed to the centre of the earth.

I've always loved starfish - it is so weird to touch them though!

My friend here is a bit blurry, but he is such a cool character, he deserves a place on the blog!

Majestic stingrays always provide a spectacle.

Just beautiful!

Part of the ceiling at Atlantis hotel!