First week in Abu Dhabi

Totally exhausted from not only the change in time zones (11 hours difference from NM) plus our 35 hr or so flight and associated travel time really took it out of us. Our first day here (Jan 5th) was spent in a state closely resembling the sloths in a tree. We had no food in the house, so we ventured out only to grab a bite to eat and breathe a bit of fresh air. I have to admit more than a bit selfishly, I was glad cooking was not yet on my list of duties and I could concentrate on being a couch slug. I explored the apartment, and as I had a mental image of it from a year of knowing Mark was here, I was more than pleasantly surprised with what I saw. We are on the 5th floor which puts us above the majority of road noise and we have very quiet neighbors. We have 2 bedrooms, one with a King-size bed and one with two twins beds, that Mark uses as his (ahem) "dressing area" (Well, he calls it 'staging area'---won't ever get the military-speak out of that boy!). There is a spacious main bathroom with a smaller restroom up the hall....and a spacious kitchen! Ok, maybe I'm using the word 'spacious' too much....but for a two bedroom apartment, we have hit the big time. The kitchen is large with many cabinets, and the only complaint I have about it, is it has a combo clothes washer/dryer that does a poor job in the drying department. I'm fine with that though, I don't like to "bone-dry" my clothing in the dryer and I prefer to let it air-dry--which, takes maybe a day here. So, with advance planning, I have managed just fine with the little unit and we have made our peace. Mark has always sent his stuff out to be laundered/ironed/starched---which surprisingly is very cheap---so, we are fine in the clean clothing department. The oven is a combo regular/convection oven that cooks things pretty fast, so that has been a thing for me to adjust to. The living room is a combination living room/dining room and.....you guessed it, spacious! All the floors are marble and the doors are heavy and ornate. The bathroom counters are marble composite and I've decided the kitchen has 'Corian-style' counters. The ceilings are high, maybe 12-14 feet, which lends to the spacious feel (sorry, used it again). We have purchased a few things we needed/wanted, but the apartment was pretty well stocked by the business. TV does leave a little to be desired---my current shows I loved in the US aren't shown here for the most part, and when they are, the episodes are 2-3 years old. DVDs are pretty darn cheap, so we will start a collection of those....something we never did in the US! I will be well-versed in National Geographic and CNN and etc. I did catch the Dallas Cowboy bloodbath dealt by the Vikings, only it started live here at 10pm. When I saw how it was going to go, I conked out on the couch....awoke to more bad news and trudged off to bed. I'm sure they will show the Superbowl but I expect it to start here around 5am on Monday morning. Depending who is in the game, will affect my interest in it and my desire to hoist my body from bed at that hour. I'm anxious for the Olympics to start!

One of our very first purchases was a thinner bedspread. He had gotten a goosedown-type comforter, and I was dying of spontaneous combustion each night. I ventured out alone to one of the local malls for that, ON MY OWN, in a taxi.......and I will speak more of the traffic and driving in my next blog entry.

Our apartment is in one of twin 19 story towers right smack-dab in the middle of downtown---and we have a tiny view of the gulf between other skyscrapers if the skies are not hazy. The top two stories of each tower are work-out rooms and pools...and a very nice sitting area that I have taken advantage of just to feel the sun while I catch up on reading and daydreaming. We are about 5 city blocks from the Gulf. Our high temps now are about 75-80 so I am really enjoying them because I know it won't be long till they hit 120 during the summer months. It rarely rains here, which I actually don't miss because of our years in Albuquerque. Mark said in November or so, they got a heavy rain they called their "100 year rain" that flooded the city and flushed out the stray cats from their hiding holes. If I recall correctly, he said about 5 inches fell. I've seen very few stray cats, although Mark insists there are many....and they arent like US cats....they have a sort of Egyptian-cat look to them. The poor things are hungry and diseased, and it really tears at your heart to know their plight. I've not seen a single dog since being here. Although I greatly miss our schnauzers, I'm glad to know they are in their safe and comfy house, with pillows to sleep on, plenty of food to eat, and with someone who loves them as much as we do. Again, thank goodness for Megan and Tommy which make this possible, easier and less worrisome than if we left the house and animals with strangers.