Abu Dhabi proper
Trip Start
Mar 23, 2008
1
2
4
Trip End
Mar 2008
Abu dhabi,
United Arab Emirates
Monday, March 24, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7290000/newsid_7290500/7290536.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm&news=1&nol_storyid=7290536&bbcws=1
I feel quite settled already (as Hovis Presley says, "wherever I lay my hat, that's my hat"). It helps that my pals place is full of familiar things. Having lived in Sri Lanka and Africa her house is filled with authentic ethnic artefacts laced with REAL memories (none of this "get the look at your local Oxfam" nonsense)
The Club
. And as I have lived in Sri Lanka and with an African man for many years my house is filled with Sri Lankan artefacts laced with meaning too. The room I have been given houses a magnificent Mombassa four poster and the high walls are covered with classy black and white photos of my friend looking gorgeous at her wedding. The bed is thrown with Asian hand loom weaves in bright colours. I have a huge shiny en suite bath room. I was only sad that my webcam seems to be bust so I couldnīt show off the decadence to my friend on last nights skype call.So back tracking again (I am terribly out of sync always, sorry) - at the airport I trotted past a sea of bearded cabbies and spotted the blondeness of my friend from quite some distance. It was two in the morning for her and when she told me she was pregnant I felt sorry I had dragged her up for this collection. Not as bad as I felt when me and my kids bundled into her apartment and woke up her little one, which she nursed until the early hours whilst we snored off our jet lag. I guess a week on the lash is off then? Actually fine by me, my kidneys are in a state of recovery and I need to feel fighting fit for my trip to France and onwards to Ethiopia next week (I write this with a glass of legally obtained white wine at my side, however).
It was all foggy when we came out of the airport. Odd. I donīt quite understand where the fog came from out here in the middle of the desert. Probably because I lived in Kuwait between July and November I just assume that the whole of the Gulf region is permanently blue skied and hot and dry. The fog left me bewildered - the moon peeping through a halo haze. The other thing that really threw me was bird song. My friend said it may be night jays. They were making a hell of a racket, even though I told them to go to bed, because it was the middle of the night. Not an unpleasant sound, more like a sweet warble. Clever birds, must have realised the gap in the market and filled it quickly with their nocturnal habits. I wonder if they even know that day time birds exist? Maybe they think they are the only birds in the village. Anyway, no one else was interested. It was two in the morning, as I said.
So first day in town, I behaved like a typical ex-pat in said region and headed for the club. I guess "club" is a fairly generic term. I best explain. A large clean blue swimming pool with South Asian staff dishing out towels for plastic sun beds, a Tai or two taking drinks orders on carbon copied notepads, and Philipinoīs opening the toilet doors for you in the changing rooms (I am never comfortable with THAT level of service). The clientele, on this particular day consisted of a few fat white house wives with babies (present company excluded OF COURSE), a 50 something man (with money) and his boob job and tummy tucked (but up close past it) wife, and a VERY bronzed, I-love-my-body bald middle aged man who was fidgeting as he smoked and read his book. Kept looking over at us and every time he did I said "what an arse" to myself in my mind. The water was nice and cool, the mango juice reshly squeezed, and the sun bright, I was even ok with the Robbie Williams that was being played. Oh - and the company (immediate company that is) was exquisite. I couldnīt care less that the "club" wasnīt actually properly built yet and actually a bit of a building site.
It was great to see the Mr of my friend too. Although he was a pal of my ex husband we still get on pretty well. We all went out this evening to Caravan for dinner. Itīs a chain I am familiar with and the kids were happy with it. As buffets go, it wasnīt a patch on the Sri Lankan hotel food that everyone at the table was used to, but letīs face it - it wasnīt Pizza Hut.
