I rented a car from Avis in Al-Ain and on the way to Dubai the agent calls. "You reserved this car through the American website and as such you are not covered for any accidents." I assured the man and my colleague who looked nervously at me that I would return the car without a scratch and sure enough, eight hours later I did, though I must confess there were others who wished to bring stress into my life but I would have none of it. I felt quite pleased with my driving abilities. I told my colleague I was from the motor city capital of the world, I was driving before there were seatbelts.
The heat has become a little worse now that it doesn't cool off at night.
I have two geckos in my kitchen. I don't mind them, they're eating little bugs I don't see. I don't think they'd win in a battle against large cockroaches, though I've only seen one of those this year.
People leaving the university for good sure aren't having an easy time of things. Teachers have a clearance form and departments have to sign off indicating Tom or Laura don't owe anything or anyone. The trouble comes, nay I say trouble, the stress comes on the last day, closing the bank account after receiving one's final salary, and not even then I understand does one know what time and what date they'll fly outta here. That's hard to believe but with 17 days to go, it is typical in the gulf. Trusting it'll all work out in the end is a source of tension. You'd like to make plans confidently, to tell people at home you'll arrive at such and such time but you don't know until you have the ticket in hand. In my experience it does work out in the end and the best way to manage the ambiguity is not expect. Nevertheless I don't look forward to this next year. One more year, I leaned over to my colleague in the office who is packing it up to be with his family in Tunisia after ten years in Oman, I must be a fool to stay, I must be miserably depressed to stay. I must, I must, I must not have a very good plan otherwise you'd be outta here as well.
I am relieved to have picked up some new books at the largest bookstore in Dubai and can hardly wait to read them. Ramadan begins a week from tomorrow so I'll spend less time in the office and more time in my rat hole, so with good reading that'll be ok until I get the heck out of here. I know I can make a better life here and it'll have to involve Al-Ain. A membership to a hotel with a pool and an exercise room. I did buy, finally, a yoga mat, not for doing yoga, but sit ups, any kind of exercise to shed a few el-bees before I'm outta here. I might be starting a bit late to shed any significant weight but hey, the first step was buying the mat, right?
The heat has become a little worse now that it doesn't cool off at night.
I have two geckos in my kitchen. I don't mind them, they're eating little bugs I don't see. I don't think they'd win in a battle against large cockroaches, though I've only seen one of those this year.
People leaving the university for good sure aren't having an easy time of things. Teachers have a clearance form and departments have to sign off indicating Tom or Laura don't owe anything or anyone. The trouble comes, nay I say trouble, the stress comes on the last day, closing the bank account after receiving one's final salary, and not even then I understand does one know what time and what date they'll fly outta here. That's hard to believe but with 17 days to go, it is typical in the gulf. Trusting it'll all work out in the end is a source of tension. You'd like to make plans confidently, to tell people at home you'll arrive at such and such time but you don't know until you have the ticket in hand. In my experience it does work out in the end and the best way to manage the ambiguity is not expect. Nevertheless I don't look forward to this next year. One more year, I leaned over to my colleague in the office who is packing it up to be with his family in Tunisia after ten years in Oman, I must be a fool to stay, I must be miserably depressed to stay. I must, I must, I must not have a very good plan otherwise you'd be outta here as well.
I am relieved to have picked up some new books at the largest bookstore in Dubai and can hardly wait to read them. Ramadan begins a week from tomorrow so I'll spend less time in the office and more time in my rat hole, so with good reading that'll be ok until I get the heck out of here. I know I can make a better life here and it'll have to involve Al-Ain. A membership to a hotel with a pool and an exercise room. I did buy, finally, a yoga mat, not for doing yoga, but sit ups, any kind of exercise to shed a few el-bees before I'm outta here. I might be starting a bit late to shed any significant weight but hey, the first step was buying the mat, right?
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