Ahoy !

LooK! We got a boat!

(and if you enlarge the photo you will maybe see our little friend)


Well the big news is that we finally have got our boat, made it seaworthy and at last have taken it out on the water. It is only 17.5 feet and is meant for skiing but it is really pretty and fun. The weather has been iffy and the seas a bit rough but we finally took it out last weekend. There are some nice sandy islands where you can set up a little picnic area and then go pull each other around on skis and wakeboards. I was glad I brought my wet suit because the water is still very brisk.

We are searching for a good name for her with some local flavor: perhaps Nefertiti? If you have any ideas pass them along.

Other than that I haven't got a lot to report. Our neighbors are moving which is a little sad but fairly typical around here. On the bright side she has some awesome plants which I hope to snag.

This month I've gone around and taken pictures of some of my favorite places just to give you a small taste of what it is really like to live here.


This is a sign at the beach that we walk to some mornings. Much to our hilarity, from the street it looks like "Use of Skillets". I was very disappointed to discover that this was not the case.






This is where we buy all our "sweets". Wouldn't you?




And of course this is where I have my hair done. It's the best.




This is where I shop when I want something really, um, virulent to wear. Like when I feel the need to destroy my host.






In this town you're nothing without a trolley boy.







Sure, cats can climb ladders. Whadja think? Now get my sweet butt down from here!




Ciao for now. I hope you all get something special in your easter basket.

love,
Jaimie

Feelin' the Love!

You don't think I would neglect to send you all a Valentine do you? I mean, I know I've been a bad blogger but I would never let such a special occasion slip by without a peep!

In fact, it's been so long since my last post, when I logged on today, my headings were all in Arabic! They just introduced right to left languages onto blogger so I guess they assumed that since I was writing from Abu Dhabi I would like to see my blog in Arabic. It took a few moments to sort it out but all is right again, for now.

Ali is still a telly kitty.




We have been experiencing something known as "weather" here in the Middle East, though nothing compared to what you guys have been going through. First we had rain, about a week or two of it. It happens every year but the builders tend to ignore it and many people spring leaky roofs. In Dubai the streets were flooded and they called off school and work. (Then Bush made his visit and everything was called off again.) I thought it was kind of fun. Then it was "cold" for the last few weeks. Temperatures all the way down in the 50's, fahrenheit. I think you can be used to cold weather or hot, but not both. Here, we are overwhelmingly hot weather people. Also, the houses are built to be cool in the summer so really we are living in tiled, stuccoed mausoleums. And there are no fireplaces and the a.c. is for cooling only, not for heating. So we've been freezing! I had to buy space heaters for our bedrooms. The cats have been huddled together in a pile. We've all had colds.

But today is warm and beautiful. I must immediately go out and enjoy it because very soon it will become unbearably hot.

I included this photo because it is an interesting interior view of my house and it proves I've finally learned how to rotate!



So I will be the first to admit I've been a lazy girl and there is not much to report. I've been doing the usual suburban mom thing, helping my kid with midterms and boy scouts, cooking dinner and taking the cats to the vet. Except, I'm in Abu Dhabi. I'm even in a Bunco group! It's really silly fun and I'm all for purely social get-togethers. And we give prizes.

I have a pretty nice herb and vegetable garden started on my back patio, so with any luck I'll have tomatoes in a few weeks. My geraniums in front look very happy as well. My rooftop idyll however had the crap beat out of it by the winter "shamal" winds. The pavillion, which was bolted onto the floor, was pulled up and the covering ripped off. Plants didn't look terribly happy either so I moved most of the smaller ones to my bedroom balcony. It's a great space up there but the winds can be really wicked at most any time of year. I'll have to figure out what else I can do.

My little garden.




Some of you have expressed a desire to visit. Well of course! You are always welcome and I have plenty of room for everyone. I would just die if anyone visited me here! From now until May is the best time to come; but if you can take the heat then just come on whenever you like. I will lend you a cat for the duration of your stay.

I am so getting one of these before I come home! (pronounced "keff" - sort of).




To all of you, a very sweet and special Valentine's Day.

love,
Jaimie

Let's Christmas and a Happy 1429!!

It's as cold as it looks, but beautiful!




Hello all! I am finally over my jet-lag after flying to the states and back over the Christmas break. It was a sort of "Murphy's" trip. Not quite everything that could go wrong did, and those that did were not irretrievably lost but it wasn't the most relaxing of vacations. Highlights included making a lightning dash into Amsterdam during a long layover at Schipol Airport, and seeing my friend Stephanie and her son Robbie in Memphis. The low points were my catching an awful cold on the flight over which took me the length of our stay to get over, Connie's losing his suitcase (again), and missing our flight from Denver back to Memphis due to snow and poor road conditions in the mountains. Everything came out all right in the end, just not quite as we had planned it.



A couple of elves I ran into at the airport.


Our return voyage was blissfully uneventful and for once, I welcomed a return to the warm and by now quite pleasant climate of Abu Dhabi. Honk if you're glad to be home! Beeep!

I've spent most of the time since our return "recovering" from the rigors of travel. This requires maximum sleep and minimum exertion for as long as necessary.

In actuality, Ali, our oldest kitty, stopped eating while we were gone and lost 50% of his body weight which required a stay at the veterinary hospital and a hefty cash infusion. He was re-hydrated and fed and had his teeth cleaned because his mouth was hurting him. They shaved a large swathe on his side to put a pain patch (which he promptly yanked off- silly kitty!) and now he looks like Tele-Kitty.



Connie and Robert hard at work in Winter Park. Check out the fine artwork.



Close up of the "painting. I swear to God I rotated it first!


I've also been spending far too much time at Engrish.com, which inspired the first part of today's heading. I finally had to cut myself off. I laugh so much and so long that it's like getting an abdominal workout, or so I've been telling myself. Do check it out if you've never visited it before but be prepared to waste a considerable chunk of time. Neither would I recommend it during meetings or other times when your loud guffaws would be deemed inappropriate.

We are currently enjoying a long weekend due to the Hijari (Arabic calendar) New Year. So to all of you, a happy, prosperous, and healthy 1429!

Talk to you soon.



Stephy and I say "Let's New Year!!"

Eid Mubarak!!

Hello beloveds! The above photo was taken during the celebrations for National Day, commemorating 36 years of nationhood for the United Arab Emirates. Yay! A day or two off work, lots of firecrackers, people decorating their cars, gunning their engines and generally making a lot of hooha and clogging the streets. We were on our way home from dinner and got stuck in traffic so I popped out of the sunroof and tried to snap a couple of shots for you all. I haven't really mastered nighttime photography as you can see but the funky light effects are kind of cool. The building is called the Emirates Palace which isn't really a palace at all but a sort of super-posh hotel and restaurant complex for visiting dignitaries and such.

The other nice thing about National Day is that they put decorative lights up all over town and they thoughtfully leave them up throughout December which allows us to pretend they are Christmas lights. It makes things a bit more festive.

Also coming up is the Eid al Adha. We are currently in the holy month of Hajj which is when devout Muslims make their pilgrimage to Mecca. At the end of the month there is a "feast" (fete, festival, holiday) to celebrate the first pilgrimage made by Mohammad. Again, a couple of days off work, fireworks and honking, visiting friends and exchanging gifts. It is also a time honored tradition to, um, sacrifice a goat or lamb or two. One of our neighbors down the street has a few goats in a pen outside his house and his neighbor across the way has a rather large sheep tethered in the front yard. I declined to photograph them for you in light of their sure to be nearly immediate demises. Sorry. At least it's supposedly done humanely. Just in case, I will stay inside for the next day or two and then it will be time to fly home. Oh, and "Eid Mubarak" is the holiday greeting.


Speaking of Christmas, I'd completely forgotten what it's like to put up tree with kittens in the house. All the bottom limbs are broken off. Someone (DAISY!?) has chewed through a strand of lights. I awake in the night to the sounds of an ornament being batted around like a ping pong ball and the whole tree smells like cat pee. I'm thinking pine tree air fresheners for ornaments next year. It doesn't look too awful in the photo but the effect is generally pathetic.


Sorry. I tried to rotate it but it didn't work. Look at it sideways. Now that's pathetic.


Honeywell recently treated its employees to a family day of fun at the Officers Club in Abu Dhabi. There was a lovely buffet, ATV riding on the beach, shooting at the firing range (for those 16 and above) and bouncy castles and a video arcade for the kids. The Officers Club, aside from being a very swanky facility with health club, restaurants, olympic size pool, travel and banking services, as well as the above mentioned amenities, also has a couple of interesting exhibits on the history of the military and police in Abu Dhabi as well as popular firearms. You may just be able to spot the Menehune in some of these photos.


I salute you soldier dude of the desert!




Tres swanky, non??


And it just wouldn't be right to go without a picture of my cute but troublesome kittens. It is all about them after all.


No, we did NOT just peepee on the tree. Or eat that stuffed penguin ornament.


Have a merry holiday season and I will write again soon. Love!

Holidays in Abu Dhabi

Well hello everyone. First I want to express heartfelt thanks to all of you who had such sweet, encouraging things to say about my blog. I am so glad you found it enjoyable. I love the connection I feel with all of you who are so far away... but always in my thoughts.

I did receive some suggestions - mainly more photos! I hear you. I like pictures too and promise to take many more and post lots and lots of them. Even my scintillating prose can't show you all the things I see around here. Also, some of you have never seen my husband Connie and in fact doubt that he even exits. Fair enough. You'll see him today.

When last I left you we were madly preparing for Thanksgiving. It was a scramble especially since I spent the 24 hours before in Dubai. I made the dishes that I could ahead of time and prepped the others so they could be put together at the last minute. Some of you know that I have done a pot luck style Thanksgiving before but remember that most of my guests were not American and in the end I simply must have cornbread dressing, sweet potatoes, and gravy just the way I like them. So even if guests bring things I end up cooking a full meal anyway.

When the first guests arrived I was still stirring gravy in the kitchen but everything else was ready to go. The guests dined on the terrace under canopies surrounded by large potted plants and lighted by morrocan lanterns. It was very atmospheric. We had about five children of all ages running around. Robert soon had everyone armed to the teeth with guns, swords and light sabers so battle waged around us on every floor. At some point I realized I had not changed out of my monkey slippers and had been entertaining my guests in them all evening. Oh well.

There was plenty of food, wine, music and company. The last guests departed well after midnight. That's the kind of Thanksgiving I like.

So, holidays in Abu Dhabi. Right now we are celebrating National Day. This is the 36th anniversary of when the United Arab Emirates became a country in their own right. Before this they were known at the Trucial States, a British Protectorate. There are seven Emirates: Abu Dhabi (the capital), Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, and Um Al Qawain. I have been to or through most of them. Robert is actually in Fujairah this weekend, camping and snorkeling with his boy scout troop.

The town is lit up and people are driving around with flags on their cars and honking. We get a couple days off work. Also, the month of Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) is coming up and there will be a holiday (Eid) at the end of that.

What is different from my last time here is that apparently it is the new thing to decorate and advertise for Christmas. There are tacky ornaments and cheesy carols at nearly all the stores and hotels now. It's not terribly sincere. I almost prefer it the old way where we just made do with what we could find. Oh well.

Enough blah-blah for now. I must give the peeps what they want: photos!




Did I tell you my neighbor has camels? Well he does!







This is Connie and Robert at Lookout Mountain last summer. We did "See Rock City".





Look closely. There is a cow in the back.





Must always end with "cute cats nappin" photo.


You are always on my mind! Talk to you soon.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

We are getting ready for another big Thanksgiving here at the Evans house. This year we have invited some Brits, a family from Mexico, a couple of Canadians and one or two Americans. I'm turning the rooftop into an outdoor dining area/garden room and it should be a really nice time. Of course I'm reminded of the wonderful Thanksgivings I've shared with so many of you. That's what inspires me to invite large numbers of people into my home and cook them turkey and dressing.

I've been doing some traveling. In October a week in Phuket, diving and relaxing. In the beginning of November I went with Connie to Salzburg for a week. He had a conference; I just hung out. It's a beautiful, old city and I feel like I covered every bit of it on foot, while somehow managing to skip the "Sound of Music" tour. I was not as successfull at avoiding those Mozart chocolates and sacher torte.

My next trip is home (Tennessee) for Christmas with a side trip to Winter Park, CO.


Some of you may know that when I dine at Trader Vic's, my favorite cocktail is the Menehune Juice. It is very yum and comes with this little doll who is a, you guessed it, Menehune. He's some kind of mythological polynesian island guy. Anyway, I keep one in the car with me and will take photos of him around town. Kind of "where's the Menehune?" By the way, I dropped my camera, (the last time I was at T.V.'s) and broke the LCD screen. So of course I got a new fancier one at duty free and I'm still learning how it works. So here's a couple of pics to bide the time.



Menehune sez: "This traffic sux!"






Robert and me at dinner in Phuket. This is how I look with short hair and a 12 year old on my shoulder.






The first week we were in Abu Dhabi we were invited to an Iraqi wedding. This photo was part of a video. Sorry. But you get the idea.



You know I love you. I'll write more soon.

Blogging is Backwards

So this blogging thing isn't working quite as I'd hoped. I began my story (blog) at the beginning which is now at the end. But we're all here to learn n'est-ce pas? While I hope to develop a bit more polish in the future, for now I'll just put up some photos, which by the way appeared much better in the tiny viewing screen of my little camera.





I *said* ry ruv roo!





I guess they're comfortable.




Robert has a Daisy on his shoulder.



Bear with me while I get my act together to provide a genuinely entertaining blog. Ciao!