Well, here we are, already at the end of November, and we still haven't managed to recap our first few months together in the UAE! It's hard to go back when life insists on moving forward. (And also when you have an exhausting day job that saps your will to live....juuuuuusssst kidding! Sort of. Work/looking for work can be pretty draining. Unlimited Netflix streaming doesn't help, either.)
Anyway, our apologies. And now, we bring you the start of our "autumn" in the Emirates.
Flags that accompanied plants we gave as housewarming gifts to new neighbors and friends in our building. Everyone moved in at once!
Andy lands in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, September 8th, just as Ramadan is ending and a few days before Emy is scheduled to begin work. (Little bit of irony: The first day of school here was Sunday, September 11th.) His arrival marks not only the start of life together, but also ushers us into the realm of "Mamser" (combination of "Ma'am" and "Sir"), the all-in-one greeting preferred by employees in shops, restaurants, and public spaces across the city.
"Good evening, Mamser!"
"Can I help you, Mamser?"
And occasionally: "How are you? Ma'am...sir?"
It's like there's some universal customer relations training manual instructing workers to address all married couples appearing in public together as one entity. (With some notable exceptions, which mostly involve people addressing Andy on matters related to Emy, even if Emy is standing right there. But more on that another day.)
The first activity of our newfound Mamser/married life existence?
Why, renting a car, of course!
After weeks of putting her life in the hands of the city's notoriously crazy cab drivers, Emy is more than ready for a little more safety/autonomy as far as transport is concerned. Andy is less than sold, seeing as he'd be the one driving, and in a completely foreign place. But after seeing the beauty the rental car company provides, it's all worth it:
Oh, wait, no, that's a photo from the Dubai Auto Show.
THIS is our car:
It's OK if you're still jealous.
Really, though, this little guy has carried us on plenty of carpools, border runs, day trips, etc, without any major issues. We're super grateful to have a car, and Andy has adjusted to the chaotic driving just fine ;)
Highlights: Setting up house and starting school, activities both requiring plenty of flexibility and patience. As with any transition, there's an adjustment period, and in Abu Dhabi, it's seems to be a rather lengthy one. In fact, there are some things we to which we'll probably never become fully accustomed.
All the same, the end of the month found us settling nicely into our first home together. (OK, so we still don't have a working stove and our entire building runs on generators. Nevertheless, with each passing week, our apartment becomes a little bit comfier and a little more "ours.")
Here's a small peek of our place so far...
(We promise our bed doesn't always look like that! Often enough though, and we're trying to give at least a semi-realistic picture here ;) )
Excursions: Nothing you haven't heard before. Andy visited Ikea for the first time, and Emy decided she never wants to go to Ikea again. Other than that, our adventures were of the "everyday existence" variety: finding restaurants, exploring our neighborhood, taking care of paperwork, buying groceries...It's doing all that in a new context that makes for an adventure. Meaning there's plenty to come....Stay tuned....
