friends...

a true friend is someone that understands you even no word is uttered, a true friend knows what makes you happy, sad, or mad, a true friend is always there, in the good and bad times, a true friend supports any decisions you take, a true friend never judges...

I consider myself lucky because of true friends, I have a handfull...they're far from me distance wise, but are close to me every moment in my life.

Distance has shown me who real friends are, those who still consider me, no matter how far in the world I am, and to them I say "I love you and I miss you"

I'm lucky because I married my best friend, but I'm also lucky because I have old friends that will stay forever in my heart...

iwannagohomeeeeeeeeeee

i'm fed up with his place...the sand, the heat, the humidity,the smells, the people,the driving,the food, the service, the job...i can't stand it anymore...

i'm becoming an old racist boring person and i hate myself that way...

only 115 days til Christmas...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GREAT news

before you get married, people ask you when are you getting married....
as soon as that is done, people ask you when you're having babies... when you mention you have great news, they assume it's announcing a pregnancy...

NOPE! my life does not revolve only around making babies, i have a job, i have activities, i have friends, so i do have other great news.... sometimes it's just about being able to buy a couch...to me that's great news ...sometimes it's having found a surprise where i'd least expect it....that's great news too...sometimes it's a friend moving accross the world to be near us...that's is GREAT news!!!

to more great news that make a great life :)

The art of coffee

I always have been a coffee lover from as far as I can remember...
The smell of it brewing, the little cream a real barista can produce on my espresso, the cardamome flavoured turkish coffee...mmmmmmmmm

I judge an italian restaurant not my its fresh tomatoes or its pasta, but by the end of the meal espresso...when you have the perfect one, it completes the whole meal and you leave satisfied with the taste still in your mouth...(Fadi will complain of bad breath...:) and only real italians know how to make perfect espressi.

Yesterday Mohammed, the goffer man at our office, taught me how to make the perfect turkish coffee...I loved watching him! some might say he's very slow (i.e. my boss) but the way he stirred the coffee slowly, almost with love in his hand, just made it taste that much better!

I don't know how people can drink instant coffee!

I love my job...most days ...

I'm either ultra-lazy or ultra-productive, there's no in between with me, when talking about work.
I love my new job and the experiences i'm gaining, i love running around all day and the feeling of complete exhaustion at night.

I usually spend my day correcting drawings, renderings, controlling the informations and the employees,attending meetings, but there are some surprises like today, i get to spend my WHOLE day shopping for high-end furniture for a Sheik's villa...now that's what i'm talking about!

I love the fact that my boss has full faith in me, as she is away on vacation, for the running of her business. 2 weeks of mistakes could kill her office, so being trusted is alot of pressure...BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!

maybe it's time i can ask for a raise :)

Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

if I could only describe this place with one word it would be: WOW!!!!

we've been to Omani cities a few times by car, some are only 1h30 away from Dubai and already the environment is totally different, but Muscat is a whole other story...

So this was our 2nd try to get to this place, our 1st being last week, when Fadi mixed up the flight schedule and we arrived at 6h30pm for our flight that had left at 6h30 am...

After a 45 minutes plane ride, you arrive to the most beautiful place I have ever been to...There are trees, flowers, grass, ocean, mountains, the birds make the best sounds ever, the air is crisp and clean, the heat isn't unbearable, the people are very nice even if they are quite traditionnal.

Their costumes are different only in the turban/hat they wear. They have these colorful scarves knotted on their heads, not the typical white and red squares you see everywhere else. They are simple, mostly fishermen. (Omani fish and seafood are the best of the Middle East...)

We stayed at the Al Bustan Palace, and it is just breathtaking...thanks Andre for all those IGH cards! :) the water of the ocean is clear, the sand is fine and hot...why did we leave!

We went to the Souk on friday afternoon,(after prayer time, when the city livens up) in this maze of little streets, the smells of spices and frankincense (smelled like church) made the experience so much more particular, and we would get lost and end up in different areas...textile souk, gold souk, spice souk...Iwas trying to buy saffron, this very expensive spice, and they all keep them hidden...we don't know if it's because it's illegal or expensive...the guy we bought it off from had this hole-in-the-wall spice store where his grandpa (a very fat, mean-looking man) was sitting. He was the one dealing with the money. And they had this old (130 years old) contraptions they used for weighing spices and lemons....we even got a history lesson...
Fadi left with a Disdasha (look out, here comes the arab man), i got a traditionnal housewife dress and a few gorgeous scarves!Love the souk!

We then walked around the Corniche, trying to spot dolphins (that area is known for dolphins), we walked up this old staircase leading us to a fort, but we had to back down because the stones kept crumbling down...

I could write all day about this place, and still wouldn't be able to describe it truthfully, to it's fullest...you just have to come see for yourself!

we were both sad to leave that place, but thankfully flights are cheap, and a short distance away...

Have i ever said how glad i am to be in the Middle East? Who gets to see all these places?

the new "it" thing

you can own your very own chinese iphone for half the cost of the real thing.. a philippino lady comes in once a month with the chinese versions of the latest electronic, and if you are lucky they last longer than 3 days...

so everyone in my office has an "iphone" and are in a competition for the coolest ring tone...after 2 weeks of alien sounds and the latest lady gaga hit, we now have the sound of a guy p*ssing and flushing the toilet...greatttttttt...

i love my 2006 motorola pebble, even if it dies on me after a 5 minute conversation...ring tone: real sound of a real phone DRING DRING!!!!!!!!

July 5th 2010

it is the week of freedom and celebration...first came Quebec's day, then Canada's day, then 4th of July, and today is Fadi's birthday AND the day i became a legal resident in the UAE...

how can I explain the weight that has lifted from our shoulders? no more hush-hushing, no more illegal worker comments with allusions to mexicans, no more possibilities of ending up in jail and facing deportation...

today is a great day!

even thinking that I will eventually have to go through this again when we move to a different country doesn't put a damper on my parade :)

oh happy dayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!

time flies like a vulture in the sky...

we're already at the end of june...tommorrow I will have been married 1 month!!!!!! already!!!
that means christmas is right around the corner :)))))) SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
how i long for snowy days, frost that make your nostrils stick together, warm fires in my parents living room, ski days with my friends, cheese fondue, hot wine, christmas trees (and music...that's the first time i'll ever say that...probably because last year wasn't my traditional xmas and I missed out on my mom's frenzy)

how do I convince Fadi to move to the Rockies????????????

happiness is...

welcoming two brand new lives in the world...
to the proud tatie mamanou, i share your feeling of pure happiness and burst of love you felt yesterday...you'll see it never goes away!
congratulations to your whole family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xxx tatie kat

Finita la musica, passata la festa, evviva la vita...

married.
back @ work.
groceries.
laundry.
dishes.
slap in the face.
reality.

the taxi's waiting, he's blowing his horn...

one of my favourite song since i'm a kid is this Peter, Paul and Mary "Leaving on a Jet Plane"....i don't know if it was a premonition of my world travelling "piqure"...

so i'm leaving Dubai today, arriving in Switzerland/Germany tomorrow , and leaving and arriving for Montreal after tomorrow...wow thank goodness for air miles :)

i'm super excited to see little nephew, sister and brother-in-law, super excited to see my family and friends in YUL, super duper excited for wedding day, but extremely sad to abandon love of my life for 3 weeks... what's he going to do, what's he going to eat, will he be super lonely???

"when i'll be back i'll wear your wedding ring....so kiss me and smile to me, tell me that you'll wait for me, hold me like you'll never let me gooooooooooo"....

Volcano ellldfdjfjkgnoiejps

Tsunamis, Earthquakes left and right, mud slides, now volcanos....I think Mother Earth is sending us not so subtle messages...

lets hope that when i can fly (hopefully on the due date because i'm just wayyyyyyyyy to excited not too, i mean my nephew is waiting for me :) my plane doesn't drop because of volcano spit hardening in the the turbines...

i'm too excited, please Mr Volcano i want to goooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5h30 am and 29C...

oh boy...it's going to be a hot one today....hope the AC doesn't break down at the office like it happened twice in 2 weeks...

last night we stopped by my favourite place and sat outside at the sushi restaurant, overlooking the water, yachts, Zayed Grand Mosque, sunset and one of my favourite song was playing...
perfect night, perfect atmosphere, AND a nice surprise phone call...OUR MATRESS HAD ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! after exactly 1 month and 21 days of sleeping on a blow-up matress, which in the last 2 weeks had decided to metamorphose itself (picture coming soon...) sleeping on the real mcoy felt soooooooooooooooooo gooooooooooooooooooooddddddddddddddddddddddddd!!!

routine...

every morning we are up and going by 5h15 am (yes, i know, unthinkable!)
our regular drive is on one of the most dangerous highway in the world, through the "desert", and we are lucky if we only see 1 accident (and by accident i don't mean fender benders, i mean full on overturned cars, smashed windows, pile ups...) the way people drive in this coutry...i'm pretty sure people buy their licenses!

it's not all bad though, every morning we get to view the sunrise over palm trees, and right before entering Port Zayed (where Fadi works) the highway goes up a bit and then we have an amazinggggggggg view of Abu Dhabi down in front of us...

After dropping him off, i then head over to my office through the animal market where i regularly see goats tied up and sitting in a wheel barrow screaming on the top of their lungs, being pushed by men in full afghan attire, to then hit the chaos of traffic in the heart of "Tourist Club Area"...

I don't know how i'll ever be able to go back to driving on boring roads, in industrial parts of North America...

i heard bells ringing

i've been receiving mass emails of my wedding planner/organiser (aka mom for the intimates) and although i organised 90% of this back in november, it's hitting me hard...in jut a few weeks, "i'm goinggggggg to the chapel and i'm gonna get maaarried..." Fadi's been feeling it to...might explain his perma-grin :)
we're both excited to have all our friends and family in one big room..it's going to be chaos!!!!!!!!!!

i'm kind of nervous though, walking in church with a gazillion people starring at me...the bets are on...am i going to cry? giggle? smile relaxingly? force a smile? or just plain concentrate not to trip with my heels on my dress and be my clumsy self...?

see you soon :)

writing on my lunch break...

yesssssssss i have a lunch break, which if you can put 2+2 together means I (finally) HAVE A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh and not any job, i'm a CHIEF DESIGNER...well i'm on a 10 day trial so cross your fingers for me....day 3 is going greattttttttttttt!
it's a great little unorganised company, and my job is to reorganise it...YAY! i love organising stuff :) i basically spend my days bossing people around on how to do their jobs, correcting drawings and designs, and re-evaluating their system...
we are part of the Royal Group of the U.A.E and our main clientele are Sheiks, so imagine no limits on budgets... mmmmmmmmmhmmmmmmmmmm that's what i'm talking about!
And for the 1st time it is a job i got hired based on my skills, not on how i know someone who knows someone...feels GOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

you can now all refer to me as Chief, master if you prefer...

in a BEIRUT state of mind....

WOWOWOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what a beautiful country!!! i love it! I would totally live there if it were a more stable environment and there were less military presence... (it's everywhere, it's scary...they walk around with their big guns around their necks...)

so we left thursday night, arrived at 1 am in Beirut, checked in the worst possible hotel you could find (never ever go to Grand Hotel Versailles in Hamra!) from the outside looked like a gaudy italian wannabe renaissance palace, and inside the room, smelled like someone had died and rotted for 3 weeks in it... good thing we only booked 1 night there!

The next morning, we were waiting for our driver who was 1 hour late(yes yes we had a driver for 2 days, he was great! brought us to everything we wanted to see, scenic tours and all....best way to travel when you only have 48 hours somewhere and you don't want to waste your time...)
About 20 taxis a minute passed by, honking, trying to get us to go with them...

Finally he arrived and we set off to our 1st stop, BarBar for some manouche (yummmmmmmm fresh out the oven)...we then proceeded to Harissa, to see the giant statue of Mary...what a view from up top!
Then we headed for Jeita grottoes, which are magnificient!!! it was great until we went into the 2nd grotto, and there was 1 hour lineup with people pushing and shoving...(I'm now learning that i am very american, and my notion of personal space will only be respected in Canada and USA...) and until the kid behind us puked all over, and Fadi's white pants were splatter...no comments (as i said them all already)...

Then we left to Byblos, wow what a beautiful area! I absolutely love it there! walked the ruins, the souk and the old town, got fooled price-wise on souvenirs (ya, i know, typical) ....

On our way back, we went to visit some nuns related to Fadi who run an orphanage....Very nice and generous women...They all thought i was Iraqi, and started talking to me in soureth...mmmm nope, don't understand!!! So they started talking arabic, thinking i was lebanese...nopeeeeee....wrong again!

By then it was late and we were famished, so the hotel manager (we changed hotels for the 2 other nights, thank goodness! We were in Verdun) sent us off to his favourite local restaurant called Istambouli...food was crazyyyyy & ambience reminded me of Pizzeria Napoletana, for the lack of effort in the decor and the noise.... beats Andalos any day!

The next morning we started off early, and what a day we had...first stop was the rock in the sea then our driver took the scenic route (which means the super long one) to go to Baalbeck...well it's a nerve wrecking drive through the mountains, in an old car with screeching tires, at least he knew what he was doing (or so i kept telling myself)...the views are just breath taking, there was snow on the cap of the mountains, the air was pure and chilly(finally some oxygen) and we could hear nothing but silence...(when you live in Dubai with construction 24/7, its a luxury to" hear" silence)....We then passed Zahle and entered what seemed like war zone (well it was a few years ago)....our driver telling us its Hezbollah town...well i keep thinking to myself greatttt is there no other way to get there, i don't want to get kidnapped on my birthday! It was dirty, dusty, makeshift tents as homes, pictures of Hezbollah leaders everywhere, saw a few donkeys instead of cars, and when there were cars, lets just say you can barely call them cars... Not my comfort zone....but yet again travelling takes you out of that zone anyways...right?

we finally got to Baalbeck and the ruins... after seeing Pompeii a zillion times, i am still amazed by how they built these temples, arenas.... without the big trucks and technologies we have these days...i overheard a tour guide saying how one of the stones weighed over 10 tons... how did they bring it up there????????

after a few hours of sightseeing old rocks, we headed back to Beirut for some downtown walking... I love this city, the old, the new....The people are beautiful, but then again, Lebanon is the Middle eastern country with the most plastic surgeries...They have style, and the shopping there is greattttt (to bad we didn't have time to shop though...next time) So we walked on the corniche and the old downtown, where kids played on Place de l'etoile with their nannies while the parents smoked shisha on the terraces.... Saw alot of army guys , tanks, guns, sand bags...felt surreal, like in a movie. I'm not sure i like that part... Then headed back to Verdun, nice neighbourhood, to walk around until it was time for Fadi's friend to pick us up to go celebrate my 30th birthday...

He was 45 minutes late...why should i be surprised, as they have a reputation??? (no names will be named :)
we headed back to the mountains where we attended Easter mass (in french), the nuns singing was quite nice.

We then headed over to "Chocolate" a new club (did they chose that club because it was Easter?)
where mercedes and bmw is the lowest acceptable car in the parking lot, where boomboom music pierces your ears, where maids clean up the bathroom after each use (cleanest club toilet i have ever seen!) and where women barely have any original body parts left...

It was 3 am, and we had a 7 am wakeup call to leave...already... i was sad to go, because i felt rushed through the weekend to see eveything, but i know i'll be back! Lebanon is my new Italy....

the big 3-0

last week i was laughing at Fadi (not so nice of me) because he had caught a flu, in the middle of the desert, where temperatures are well over 35C these days...well it came back to bite me in the a**...i've been sick with the flu since...GREATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

i had a 2 day stint in an interior design company, a big one, to find out i was hired to do something else that they had promised me...so even though i haven't had a job in a longggggggggg time, i decided not to be fooled, and actually came to realise (more like voice out to myself and stop denying) that it's not what i want to spend the rest of my life doing, and i also realised (more or less) what i wanted to do...yes people, i am heading back to the blackboards and notebooks...
i will either finish my hotel management diploma (1 year left if they credit my 2 years i did back in the cavemen ages) or start a project management diploma...

yes i like bossing people around , i had a hard time admitting it...but now i'm going to learn how to do it well :)

i hope i will always stay in the design/architecture/construction world but not as a creative part of it...cross your fingers for me!

i'm glad i have my supportive man and family backing me up, because as my looming big 3-0 is coming (ya ya i only have a few days left of my twenties...) a change in career orientation is somewhat hard...i've been meaning to call my friend Steph for a pep talk :)

anyways...2010 is a big year... new country, new husband, new career...what else?

Can i rant?

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
that is the best "word" to describe how i feel...

It all started 48 hours ago, when I was sitting at home waiting for our TV to be delivered, and waited, and waited and waited...until FINALLY! the phone rings and delivery man said: "we're lost we can't find your building"...aahh
Fast forward to 11h30pm, fadi and I both in deep sleeping mode, when loud a** techno starts...Stupid neighbours having a party, on monday night,right next to us...as if our bed was in the middle of their room...greattttttt...go get security in my pj and big sleepy hair... 3 times...everytime getting louder and louder...on purpose...the lady (to remain polite and not use the b word) has the balls to come ring our doorbell and act all mad:"we disturb you?" duhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! "1 night in the whole year i make party for husband birthday, 1 day..." i absolutely don't care please turn off your damn music, stop your clapping, whistling, foot thumping, stiletto wearing, yelling...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lasted until 3am...let's just say fadi's 4h30am wake up call never happened (at least i got him for the whole day :)

But wait...the story doesn't end there.....
Yesterday we were waiting for our washing machine who was supposed to be delivered in the am...stayed at home until 1h30pm, called the delivery man 48 TIMES and no answer....they decide to call us at 3h30pm saying they would deliver the next day because they hadn't heard from us...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Guess that's the price to pay when you go to a different country expecting things to be done when they should be done, done the right way, done the kat way ...

I had an evil little revenge though this morning...woke up at 6h30 am, blasted "welcome to the jungle" G'n'R, followed by "Sabotage" Beastie Boys, followed by techno...just a little wake up call for my neighbours...

in search of words...

my best friend in the world just lost a very important family member...

no words could ever describe her pain or the pain we feel for her and her family...

we love you and are thinking about you, even if we are a million miles away...

From Abu Dhabi to Dubai...

what a hectic week it has been...

Apartment-check
Visa renewed- check
Abu Dhabi yacht show + gigayacht party-check
Berkeley visit-check
Moving-check
Furniture buying...nothing more than 3 spoons and forks...

first thing we did was drive (7 hours total) from Abu to Oman and we basically drove only 200km!!??!! their border system is so unorganised, we can do U-turns right in front of an agent! we can get exit-entry visas into Oman for the price of 6 omani rials (which = to 60 dirhams= to 17 $) but the catch is you have to pay to exit UAE and pay to get back in...

Oman is beautiful, mountains everywhere, and camels laying around ... feels a bit like Afghanistan, although no talibans there!

on the way back we got hit by a sandstorm followed by 2 rainstorms and it has completely destabilized the country...flooded highways, pools instead of parking lots, uprooted trees...this country never planned on having a regular rainstorm, it's as if we were hit by Katrina 2 when we barely had a little rain...

i'm starting to understand how this country functions...slowly!

ournew apartment has a kitchen (yes a luxury here not to share a kitchen with everyone else) and a very comfy blow up matress (hint hint). That's the only piece we own but not for long! Ikea trip is on the list for tonight!!! never been so excited to buy furniture!

Tomorrow we're going to Abu for the "wakestock" (ok people have to stop copying woodstock!!!!) a wakeboard event on the Corniche, with free concerts and waves and beach!!! (bet some of you are a little jealous :)

then we're hitting the old town Deira for some native feel (i.e. market ) i'll let you know about that...i'm sure i will talk about some smells, which here are mandatory..ranging from indian taxi driver armpit, to heavy incense, to Dubai water (we're in the process of buying a water dispenser, never going to cook with our tap water...eeew) to over-perfumed veiled ladies...
if only pictures captured smells you could understand what i'm saying ...

a week in the life of...

i want to apologize, i am not a very loyal writer...
so we've spent quite a busy week...
to start off, Valentine's day here is quite the celebration...it's worse than in america...hearts everywhere, mega-productions by restaurants...we usually don't celebrate but we had a good excuse this year. For 2 weeks, star chefs from around the world were doing their things in different restaurants throughout the city and we reserved at a very upscale Abu Dhabi restaurant (Pearls & Caviar none the less) with a chef called Claude Bosi, that i had heard of. A set 6 course meal with champagne...yum yummmmmmmmmmm the restaurant was picture perfect, a mix of luxury and snobiness and jetsetness...the furniture was a designer's dream and the food was a gourmet's wish come true. Not only did i get a rose from the hostess but at the end of the meal, all the women received a necklace with 2 pink pearls on it...that's what i'm talking about!

the next night after work we went to see Valentine's Day the movie, and i got Fadi to go only because there was a bunch of known actors in it...and we were both surprised in a good way...it was hilarious!
the cinema is in the big marina mall, and you have assigned seats and the movie started late...never seen before...assigned seats! at the end it was passed 10pm, and the stores were still opened...what?????? you can shop until midnight here....!!!for all you shopaholics out there!

friday we went to Al Ain, a city at the border of Oman (we're going there next week, i need to renew my visa) and the drive (1h30) is quite beautiful, from seeing palm trees of Abu Dhabi, to seeing the desert (the real one with the bug dunes) we did some camel spotting (alot!) even saw these little trucks transporting them to somewhere...so funny!
so we get to this small city, and visited an oasis that has been around for thousands of years (supposedly) visited a palm tree farm (miles and miles of date producing palm trees) and ended our day at the Wildlife centre (a pretty name for a zoo) but they have only animals on their way to extinction...we saw beautiful animals up close that you only see on the discovery channel...i was like a child pointing and ooing and ahhing (especially at the monkeys )
we ended the day by seeing a falconry show. It's big here, and only the rich people do that sport as a bird (falcons) can cost up too 100 000 dirhams. So basically we had these vultures and falcons zipping over our heads (really low) it was impressive!

saturday we went back to Dubai and...we found our apartment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yayayayay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
we have partial marina view, partial sea view and of course partial construction view... we have a balcony and 2 bathrooms...it seems quite common here to have 2 bathrooms for a 1 bedroom apartment...(just more cleaning to do...) anyways, as of next week, whoever wants to come visit, we have a place for you! oh and don't worry the AC will work! :)
we are situated in the Dubai Marina right near the walk by the beach, with little boutiques and cafes...i'm so excited!

well, gotta go sign that contract!

a country of contradictions...

flickr.com is banned but you can google massage and they direct you right away to the sexy kind with phone numbers.

you can watch any american romantic comedy but all the kissing scenes are cut out.

the women wear black abayas and head scarves (or full face blind) but they walk around sporting big shopping bags from La Senza and Victoria's Secret.

Abu Dhabi just won the greenest city in the middle east award for the most grass + trees, and also for their effort in recycling, yet they're wasting layers and layers of water for this grass which isn't supposed to grow here, in the desert... AND everybody drives SUV's here.

their supermarkets have the most variety of international fresh fruit i've ever seen, yet they're the country most affected by diabetes.

this is probably the safest country in the world regarding crime, warning you they will lash you, deport you and ban you from the country if you're caught stealing, but everytime we go to the supermarket, we see people eating and drinking without paying...everywhere in the market you will find empty chocolate wrapers, empty bottles of juice or water, half eaten oranges...you don't even see that in Detroit!

the compound

we live in a super nice area a bit out of Abu Dhabi called Bain Al Jessrain, where villas the size of castles surround us. We are near the water, the Shangri-La hotel is right by us and we have the choice of a dozen different great restaurants. (We tried 2 already, yum yum, got to watch out if i want to fit in my wedding dress...)

our compound is very nice, each "villa"(there are 5 of them) has 6 rooms and an indian...yes, there's a male maid that lives with us, and he cleans EVERY day the villa from top to bottom...spotless! He's becoming my friend although i still can't remember his name (Salas, Salis, Silas...who knows?) Some people pay him extra cash every month for him to do their laundry and dishes, clean their rooms and wash their cars...
The other day i was so bored because the internet wasn't working, so i decided to do laundry....After all our clothes, towels, bedspread and sheets were done i wanted to wash our pillows...And he said laughingly (with a thick indian accent) "No, no ! No wash pillows!" Either he doesn't know that we can wash pillows or he just thought this crazy woman is a clean-o-phobe! I was just bored....

Yesterday i met a few neighbours while i was sitting on our front steps. We have americans, kiwis, brits, canadians (OMG he's such a hick!! he's from Halifax and ya...no more comments...)
Everybody here has an accent....thick...i've been speaking english for many many many years and i don't understand anyone...even Halifax man...obviously the funniest ones are the indian, very cliche...

We supposedly have a pool, i have yet to find it though...What we do have is these HUGE insects...i think they're cochroaches, but i've never seen one so i'm not sure...all i know is that they're just grosssssssss!!!!!!!!!

Well, we're apartment shopping these days, so we won't stay long in this place, i think sharing a kitchen is asking too much....I found one today, hopefully it will be ours...the terasse on the roof would be ours and its the size of an apartment...Insh'Allah!

Abu Dhabi - day 5

I've been here for 5 days but let me start from the beginning...

On arrival I am welcomed by a sandstorm and weather of 34 degrees celscius (hot) and a very happy Fadi :)
First impressions at the airport, alot of men wearing dresses and are walking with their gross toes sticking out... But then i notice how beautiful the mosaics are and think how happy I am to be here...
Our apartment...well its nice for a short stay. I might be a snob by saying this, but sharing a kitchen with a bunch of other people (no matter how clean it is) does not appeal to me...Fadi promises it's temporary, and my mission is to find us an decent home to start our new lives...
We soon realised that for our budget Dubai is going to make the cut. We visited "new" apartments in the Al Mushrif area (very local, emirates area) and they were dirty, with barriers on all the (small) windows and no oven! So thursday we are going to Dubai to check out the city, say hello to my friends, and visit a few places... (Alvin we'll be neighbours, so come onnnnn, get your butt here)

I've been hanging around the compound while Fadi works, our neighbourhood is really nice, Bain al Jessrain, and wow there are some amazing villas here...I'm totally blown away by these humongous mansions...
Also we are near the Shangri-la hotel, a beautiful resort with stores and about a dozen different restaurants...Oh and beautiful beach...white sand...turquoise water...the works! One of my new favourite places (anyone that comes to visit i will bring you there) it's called Pearls & Caviar (yes yes very snobby name) its this bar on the sea with the warm wind that blows in your hair, mosaic floors, wannabe sails as a roof....aaaaaaa luxury...

After 2 days of being here, after tasting a few restaurants, we decide to go do the groceries...It's just so funny to see the same brands we have in America or Europe but written in arabic...Thank God for famous logos, thats how we bought Tide and Dove and Colgate... :)
Also you see all types of people there, blonde bimbos in tight jeans, a zillion different types of muslims, and Fadi can tell me which country their from just by their costumes...(I have seen alot of Saudi women, well seen is a big word because they don't show an inch of skin, fully veiled, they even wear gloves on their hands)
I experienced different smells, the fresh fish area, the cheese area, the spices area, the different types of sweats (can't wait for summer time, i'll probably die of intoxication)...

There's also a bunch of activites to be done, but i was so sad, we just missed the Camel Fest, where there's an actual camel-milking contest...???!!! I so wished i saw that! next year!

There's so much to see, so much to experience, but I think both of us just want to find our apartment first...

Tonight i'm going to see Amani...She made a good point, wherever I have lived, no matter the reason she came to the city/country in question, we have seen each other... Ok actually this is the 1st time she comes to a country without ME being the main reason, but that's ok, i get to see her :)

as i'm writing this i'm hearing in the background the 12 o'clock call for prayer...

world traveller

so i left my dear Montreal, family and friends 13 days ago...
1st stop: Germany to visit my sister, her husband and little bébé...i had a great time, and was sad to leave them(yes i did cry as the train was pulling away from the station and my sister was getting smaller and smaller....), little bébé is the cutest in the world and his Tatie loves him sooo much!!!!
2nd stop: Geneva to see good old friends...this visit is short, but i have promised to come back ...hung around with Sandra (my nurse these days), Genie(the cat lover ;P), Elie (and no it isn't a boy's name only), Nicky (gooooooood times at the restaurant...still making a list of topics for next time) and Laurence (my high school friend) that has a smiley adorable baby boy (he's so cute i could die, although my nephew is still cuter...yes i'm biased) and her husband (a great man, very generous and sweet)...
I hate goodbyes, i cry every time, but this time it isn't as bitter...because...
3rd stop and final one: Abu Dhabi where i'm going to start my new life with my new family (Fadi, the best man i could have even dreamed of, God's gift to me)
I am cheesy, but i haven't seen him in 19 days and i'm missing a part of me, i'm half empty when he's far, and completely full when he's near...

ahhhh l'amour...