This has been a week of firsts!
FIrst night in our new apartmentFirst day of schoolFirst time drivingFirst time using new washer & dryer First night I’ve cooked a meal in a month
Saturday Aug 14th was our first night in our new apartment! We have officially moved out of the hotel. I will miss daily housekeeping and room service I admit, but not living out of suitcases! I wouldn’t say we were settled in yet, but it feels good to be moving in that direction! Our boxes of clothes & personal items that were sent from Florida are scheduled to be delivered on the 19th, so we hope to have our suitcases put away before the second round of unpacking begins! Most of the major furniture has arrived. We just don’t have dining chairs yet! It has been interesting to see just how little one can survive with! And I have been impressed with how productive I have been without internet, TV, or a cell phone!
The girls started school on sunday the 15th. Yes the school week is sunday through thursday. Something we are still getting used to! They enjoyed their first day of orientation, meeting other new students. There were 76 new Middle School students! The school’s second largest new group! But today marked the REAL first day with all the other students arriving! Sara was a bit over whelmed and nervous this morning, but I am happy to report that she made 2 new friends and realized that all the other new students felt the same way! Elise was assigned a buddy who helped make sure she found all her classes. One of their first comments was how so many of the students at the school had never been to the US and most had lived in other countries before coming to Abu Dhabi. But Elise did meet someone who was from Miami! They seem much happier today – I am relieved!! Elise has already asked if she can go to the Mall on thursday evening with her new friends – somethings are the same no matter where you live!
I took a big step on friday! I drove the rental car! You see this was my one big fear! They drive on the right side like we do, but they drive really fast and very aggressively! And there are round-abouts everywhere! After taking taxis everywhere for 10 days I was getting a good feeling about the locations of the major places we needed to visit. The roads are actually laid out in a grid system – even numbered streets run mostly north/south and odd numbered streets run mostly east/west. After living in NY City for 10 years I figured I could handle this! Most of the roadways have 6 lanes and are rather wide. And I have noticed that some of the rules I learned in Drivers Ed are just guidelines here – many of the local drivers drive as they wish! One must be a very defensive driver! I have managed OK , but I’m still a little nervous at night!
It was a good time to start driving actually because this past friday was the first friday of Ramadan. Friday is their holy day. No one was on the roads during the day. But in the evening it’s a different story! The Malls are open until 1am and everyone was out walking the Malls! It was amazing how crowded it was. We were out ourselves buying pots & pans at 11pm! The drive home was a bit scary! Many more cars and like I said they are pretty aggressive drivers. But we made it home OK!
So why is using our new washer & dryer so exciting you ask?!! Well it is a European stacking brand with different options than my washer at home – I had the instruction sheets laid out on the floor! Most of the dryers here don’t use a venting system to dry, they use a condensation system. So it takes hours to dry anything! I was up past midnight our first night waiting for the towels to dry!
And finally, since the pots & pans arrived today, I guess I have to cook tonight! I have not cooked here at all, and didn’t cook the last 2 or 3 weeks before we moved! Luckily the girls have asked for tacos so I think I can do that! That is the one type of cuisine that you don’t find here. We have been lucky to have had Italian, Thai, Chinese, Brazilian, and even Lebanese! My repertoire is not that extensive. Maybe I’ll have time to take a cooking class while I’m here!
It will take a few trips I’m sure before the pantry is completely filled!
Sorry this is such a long message – but we don’t have internet in the apartment and a lot has happened these past few days. We are visiting Leon’s office and are catching up on email! Again we thank you all so much for your continued support as we make this transition – so far it has been a fun adventure!
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