I know that once or twice I may have mentioned something about the heat in Abu Dhabi, but the thing is, even I forget how bad it can get. The thermometer is way up over 110 degrees and the humidity is hovering at 65%. You are guaranteed that universally coveted, shiny, dewy (greasy) look. It's 3pm right now and there is no one out there, and there won't be until close to dusk. After the sunsets though, get ready for action! The streets will be thronged with wandering souls (shoppers) until the wee hours.
The photo above is a perfect example of Abu Dhabi nightlife. It's our favorite arabic restaurant, The Lebanese Flower. It doesn't even get happenin' until 10:00pm. You can walk up and order your food or sit down in the restaurant or on the patio. They even deliver. But we do what the locals do; we drive up and sit in traffic in our car and a waiter comes and takes our order, and ten minutes later he brings us our food and we drive away. Awesome!
Now that we've been here a little over a year, I can not help but look back and see how far we've come or indeed whether any progress has been made at all. To help clarify my thoughts and serve as a gauge, I made this little profit and loss chart:
PLUS
cats +3
boat +1
really good persian rug +1
really big screen tv +1
sweet philippina house maid +1
cheap bejeweled flip flops from the hypermarket +2
cool vacations +2
useless knitted items +3 (minimum estimate)
MINUS
stringy hair -at least 6 inches
chub -about 10 lbs
my cool bicycle -1 (someone took it from our yard)
lamps -2 (cat damage)
decent yoga studio -1 (in autumn goes back to plus column)
sanity -1 (mine of course)
So I guess things are about even.
Meanwhile, back at the mall, where we have been hiding out waiting for summer to go away, I have spotted a very disturbing trend that I desperately hope will not wash up on American shores:
Yes, I mean unabashedly high-water pants!! It's a trend because I saw it twice, at two different mall, on two different days, on two different people of (I think) two different nationalities.
ghaaaa! My eyes, my eyes!And while we are on the subject of fashion, don't you know that Robert Cavalli would be stunned (with delight) to know that his giant advertisement is gracing such a choice and exclusive piece of downtown Abu Dhabi real estate?
I may call them and ask them to hang that sign on my building so that delivery men will finally be able to find my house.Which brings me to a couple of signs I've been saving for you:
The place to shop for green heads.
When your laundry gets to a high level, this is where you bring it.
The reason why we are here.Soon I will be writing you from Switzerland! Love to you all,
Jaimie
