Superficial Joy

I have a new job!!! I quit my current job as of December 31 about a month ago and have since been enduring work while trying to figure out what to do in January. My back-up plan of moving to Ireland to work a stress-less job and relax was becoming real. I verified that my working holiday student visa application is still valid. I applied for a job in Dubai and another one in Abu Dhabi. I even considered staying in Austin for a while (don't tell my father!). But then I went to an interview at an American school here in Abu Dhabi, which I got through a happy series of coincidences [read: God in action]. As soon as I entered the building I felt my entire body, mind and soul relax. It felt familiar as I walked to the meeting room. At the end of interview I was offered the job. Did I mention that on the way to this interview I was imagining ways to turn it down, just in case? Let's just say that thus far the job I've been doing hasn't been agreeing with me. M...

Then every now and then you find an allergy-friendly Advent calendar!!

It has been a long, long time since I've written. I will fill you in later as to why, but for now I'll just say I have been working a lot. This weekend, however...Thanksgiving! Not that you can tell around here. There is some Christmas stuff for sale in the stores, but Thanksgiving is obviously not a big deal in a country that is not the United States. This was a regular work week, but since there is not any Thanksgiving advertising I didn't really feel the holiday until I saw so many friends holiday-ing with family on Facebook. About a week ago I realized that this could be my one opportunity to see the entire Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Every year I intend to get up in time to see it, which means 9 a.m. And every year I sleep in so long I barely see Santa at the end. My plan for Thursday after work was set: watch the Macy's Parade at 6 p.m. local time. I invited a couple of friends to join me. Then on Friday we decided to have a Thanksgiving potluck in...

From https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lonely I post a lot about loneliness. I know this. Most of my life has been lonely. As a child I felt disconnected from my parents, and the loneliness never really left me. My brother is 4 years younger than me and we mostly ignored each other growing up. I had a few best friends in grade school, but one moved away after 6th grade, another one and I had a falling out in 8th grade (although I'm happy to report reconciliation at our 10 year high school reunion), and the closest one and I ran in different circles once we hit high school. Consequently I spent all of my time and energy after junior high (the worst years of life for myself and most girls everywhere) desperately trying to overcome a deep feeling of loneliness, but it never seemed to budge. As I grew up I discovered habits and people that gave me temporary relief from the agony of isolation. I also wanted desperately to feel a part of with people. Th...

After two months of taxis I am finally independent! Last Thursday I got my driver's license (a process I'll detail in another post), without which you cannot rent a car in Abu Dhabi.  Ideally, I'd like to live somewhere that is very pedestrian and bike friendly, so the idea of sticking to taxis was sort of appealing to me. You have to walk to all the taxis, right? There are other benefits of taxiing around: someone else is driving and has to pay attention (there are a LOT of car accidents here and people drive like maniacs), you can get current on all your Words with Friends games on the way home from work, it is about the same price for a taxi and a really small rental car, taxis are easy to get overall and will go anywhere. The drawbacks, however, outweigh the benefits. Most are obvious: there is a lot of waiting  for taxis. For example, the street my school is on is not a super busy one for taxis, so we order them and sometimes have to wait more than a few min...

Look where I ran tonight!! It's a Formula 1 racetrack--the Yas Marina Circuit here in Abu Dhabi. I don't know if you can do that in other places, but you can do that here in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday (ladies only) nights until race season starts (which, by the way, is the weekend of November 23rd. If anyone has extra tickets, I'd love to go!!!) I went with 3 other women tonight. I ran, 2 hired bikes and one walked. At each grandstand there is loud music blaring. The kind that's great to exercise to. There were zillions of people there. You can rent a bike here for free. So glad Liz bought this water pack before me--I love it! Bikers on the right going counter-clockwise. Walkers on the left, going clockwise. Don't I look just like my dad here? Goofy smile and all :) I don't think I have EVER been this hot before.

Crying every day. Smiling more each day. Dread most workdays. Eating all the time. Sleeping is getting more. Lonely is declining. Inspiration is increasing. Confidence is growing. Boundaries are improving. Hemlines are dropping. Mall visitations decreasing. Courage is growing. Spending in declining. Christmas is approaching.

Tiny goals achieved & some gratitudes for today: I just exercised for the first time in at least 2 weeks.  I did NOT eat half a box of cereal today. I did not eat ANY cereal today (first time in about a month). One month past, and I am still here!  I hit my step goal today. I stayed in pajamas all day. All. Day. Long. Meals for the week are planned.  Main course meats for the week are bought. I cooked a roast. It tastes pretty good (thank you, Francesca) Almost 9 hours of sleep last night! I heard myself complaining today, and realized I've been complaining like that a lot. Now I can stop. My UAE bank account has money in it! I mastered the roughly 17 thousand steps to logon to my UAE bank account. It only took an hour. I had coffee with a friend. I am going to be in bed tonight by 9:15. My house in Boise is rented! Officially! My hair is not falling out. I get to end the night with some college football. I washed my sheets today. Better make bed...

After I visited the Burj Khalifa on my trip to Dubai last weekend, I went to the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo. From visiting the CN Tower in Toronto earlier this year I learned to book ahead of time online to secure a time slot. As it turns out, booking online benefited my visit to both the Burj and The Aquarium. On MyConcierge.com I found a combo ticket for both for AED 180. The only restriction on the ticket was blacked out times at sunset--no problem for me since I was there during the day. Regular price for the Aquarium ticket is AED 100 (approx. $27) and around AED 125 (approx. $35). That's a pretty decent savings, yes. But listen to this: when I looked up the price of a ticket to the Burj for that same day (while I was waiting in the endless line for the Aquarium), it was AED 500!!! That's $136!!!! So if you come to visit, you MUST tell me before we go that you want to go to the Burj! Here are some highlights from the Aquarium, which is connected to the Duba...

I finally went to church tonight. The Anglican church here appears to be quite hopping. Tonight's service had over 50 people, a lot to me for a Sunday night mass. Other service times are Friday morning, Friday afternoon and Sunday morning. Friday is the Muslim holy day, so our work week is Sunday-Thursday. I think that is why the Friday times. I can't begin to tell you how good it felt to be there! There was such a sense of home walking into the sanctuary with an altar and a cross hanging behind it and the chairs all lined up in the familiar arrangement and the music and it was lovely. Hearing the words of Jesus and the familiar prayers of God's love and the freedom we have in it were nourishment to my soul. Just like at home, I arrived during the Gospel. Today's service was themed Covenant. The preacher talked about our covenants with God and with each other. Whatever else she said, I heard some lines about being faithful and staying . Staying hit me hard. Here...

Coming in to Dubai on the highway from Abu Dhabi The second week of school ended with a 3 day weekend! Holidays are an interesting thing here. Thursday the 21st was the Islamic New Year, but it was not "officially" named the holiday until Wednesday. Thus, the day off was expected but not officially declared by the government until Wednesday morning. Muslim holidays are determined by the position of the moon, as the Islamic calendar is a lunar one. Thus, until someone sees the moon, no holiday notice is issued. Once the holiday is proclaimed, various ministries of the government declare a public holiday. The notices are posted in the papers like this one in the  Gulf News . For my holiday weekend I rested on Thursday then spent today in Dubai. I rode up with a friend who had business there for a few hours. She dropped me at a taxi and while she did her thing, I did some sightseeing. First I went to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. The best part ...

Well, I've been here 2 weeks. I know there's been radio silence from me ever since I posted about feeling lonely, so here's the update: 1. I made friends with some expats who have lived over here for various lengths of time, from 16 years to just got here last week. Mostly they don't drink, so I am in good company. We've gotten together a lot and that has helped  immensely. You might be thinking,  But wait, Joy, you live in a Muslim country! Why is drinking an issue there?  Among the western expats, it appears that much of the socializing that goes on is in hotels, specifically hotel buffets on Fridays, or in hotel bars the rest of the time. There are screaming deals for ladies, such as free drinks during happy hour.  Free. Drinks.  Not half price or two-for-one, but FREE. And happy hour isn't an hour or two, it's like 4.  FOUR . Here's one... Another couple of examples... Before I got here I was worried about my social situation, tha...

It finally hit. I have literally  moved to the other side of the world.  Both this and yesterday mornings I awakened after a fantastic night's sleep and cried when I realized I am still here. In my apartment-that-feels-like-a-hotel-room-still. Cold marble floors. Echo-y 10 foot ceilings. It is SO hot. I knew this going in, and is exactly how I expected it. Maybe I was hoping I was wrong. I miss being outside all the time in Boise. I'm suddenly wishing I had spent way more time in the mountains this summer. I am SO cold. Just like Texas, they haven't figured out that when it's 114 outside, the A/C set to 80 would be sufficient. Every inside venue is freezing cold. I am lonely. My coworkers are really nice and kind but that doesn't seem to matter. There is nothing to do except be in a mall. I joined the wrong gym in my impulsiveness to get settled. And it's in a mall. My apartment is only on the 3rd floor and overlooks...a mall. I have no wifi. Ev...

I'm not gonna lie, last night I had my first good cry. I took a bath (after too many days not) and the tears just came. I was so tired and hot outside and freezing cold inside and not thinking straight and lonely and irritated with myself for eating my anxiety and wanting to sleep and anxious about the first day and did I mention lonely and generally questioning my life choice to move to the other side of the world... But today, it all got better. As soon as I went downstairs to meet my colleagues in the same building for the shuttle to school I began to calm down. They were all worried about the same things I was. When we got to the school, I was amazed. I cannot tell you what school it is and therefore will not post pictures, but it is magnificent! There are windows everywhere . Every aspect from the classrooms to the library are spectacular! My classroom is tidy and empty, full of possibility and windows. The women I met today are kind and passionate and dedicated. Numerou...

Well, I made it. I'm going to post things all out of order, beginning with my new digs and going backwards to the packing. The last few days in Boise were so busy and I was so exhausted I had no time. Now it is 8 on Saturday morning and I am in the Starbucks which is super conveniently across the street from my new apartment building. Here's my building: I was collected at the airport by a few staff from school and along with about 6 other new teachers. They are from Iraq, Ireland, Australia, and the UK. As soon as I arrived we gathered then moved to the shuttle bus. I was happy to see everyone else had 3 suitcases and a carry-on as well! We are not all in the same building but scattered amongst about 5 different apartment structures; 4 of us in this one. Two school employees handed out keys, etc. and made sure we got to our quarters okay. Here it is! Let me just say, it is nice than these pictures make it look like. The living room. There is a balcony behind th...

I could not sleep last night for anything. My head is completely and consistently filled with lists of things i think need to get done before I leave: take down the Christmas lights, plug the holes in the walls, throw down grass seed, sort the filing box, clear out the fridge.... It's never-ending. After yesterday's rest what I learned is that I need more rest. Daily, actually. I can feel my body in a constant state of "on" and I don't like it. I want calm, where my body is really, truly not agitated and fully trusts that it is safe in thw world and that it us not being threatened. So I left town today to go camping in the middle of nowhere,  Idaho. To be totally honest, this has been planned for weeks but isn't it slightly coincidental that it coincided with needing to calm down? I was so tired today I barely remembered the essentials to bring camping and forgot a slew of things, but I made it up here. I am with friends and it is quiet and peaceful and [r...

6 days to go! In one week I'll be IN Abu Dhabi!!!!   But today, REST.  By the time I was alone and home and done last night it was 9 and while I was amazingly exhausted, I felt so relieved to have absolutely NO commitments until Saturday. Letting go of the leftover things is HARD! I keep having to remind myself that if I had to leave tomorrow, I'd be just fine. I have a slight  [read: sarcasm] tendency to expect more from myself than is reasonable, and I may  have been known to work myself into a frenzy over things than are not as essential in real life as they are in my head. So today I may not get off this couch at all! I may just watch 4 more episodes of Law & Order , drink tea, doze off, possibly take a shower. I may take a nap or go to the pool. Later I will go to dinner with a friend, but I may be in my pajamas until that happens!   

Aside from these beautiful flowers, friends gave me some wonderful cards this weekend. I just opened all my cards and I feel so loved and nourished! Every single one of them are coming with me to Abu Dhabi to help me fend off the certain lonely days that are sure to come. I'm not gonna lie, this one is my favorite: But here are some of the other ones, just for some happy thoughts!