Superficial Joy

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 bedtime 9:30.

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, that

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