Superficial Joy

No posts for so long! But I'm going to try to get you up to date. A few weekends ago I participated in this amazing event called  Darkness into Light . It began in Dublin, Ireland to support  Pieta House , an organization that works for mental health awareness and suicide prevention. It has spread over the last few years to numerous cities around the world. Emma spent the night and Darlene came over at 3:30. Attendees gathered at 4 a.m. for speeches and awareness about mental health issues, then walked 5 km in the heart of Abu Dhabi as the sun came up. It was amazing to be with so many people coming together for a good cause, especially one that is so close to my heart. I have lost several students and several more friends to suicide and I found myself crying as I listened to the speakers. The Irish Ambassador to the UAE spoke as well. I felt comforted by the familiar sights and sounds of an early morning event. The air was really cool (like 80 degrees...

It's time to celebrate!  I earned my PADI Open Water Diver certification! One of the items on my bucket list since I knew I was coming to the UAE has been scuba diving. Imagine my shock when, on my first day of work this semester, the teacher in the classroom next to me invited me to get my certification with her and 2 others in Fujairah, a city in the UAE about 3 1/2 hours from Abu Dhabi. This was definitely a sign that I was in the right place. I rode the fence for a while a nd I may have waited until the last week to get the 15 hour online portion done.  The anxiety of doing something new was grand. The last time I felt that was when I arrived in Galway, Ireland alone to begin my Master's program. Coupled with the fear of the unknown was images that old movie  The Abyss  that always freaked me out. Breathing under water felt claustrophobic even sitting in my living room.  I believe in "fake it 'till you make it," though, and when the w...

My favorite shoes in the whole world: Crocs flip flops  (not just any flip flops, either. The Capri V).  Okay, you can stop laughing now. Really. I have them in black, brown, black with sequence and silver with sequence. (I just noticed they now have a pink version which you can be sure I will get this summer). I buy the at DSW whenever they're in stock, no matter what the color. The are awesome. Can you tell which set I left in the car today while I was at work?

It's over. I am devastated. The cycle of grief has begun. On my way home this afternoon, my 36 hour-long relationship with Alexander Hamilton finally came to an end.  [Spoiler Alert: he dies in the end]. At 3 1/2 hours to go I stopped listening for a few days to prolong the grief. Yes, I've completed the entire Ron Chernow biography of our first Secretary of the Treasury. I'm not gonna lie, I was only interested in the book initially because of the Broadway play   Hamilton . I've listened to Act One so many times I just had to find out the real story of this amazing man (Really, I think I wanted to see how much of the play is true). But it grew on me. It took a few chapters, but I eventually got sucked in. There were definitely a few chapters where I zoned out for miles at a time (like, for example, all those words about the Federalist Papers), but overall I bet I heard about 70% of the book. And by the last 10 hours I was all in. It is an incredible story...

The cherry on top: spending the evening with a new friend Last Wednesday was a treat! A unique show about Vincent Van Gogh came to Abu Dhabi. It was called Van Gogh Alive: The Experience . Some of the places it's visited are Beijing, Berlin, Bogota, Budapest, Charlotte, Florence, Hangzhou, Istanbul, Krakow,  Milan, Moscow, Phoenix, Rome, Seville, Shanghai, Singapore, St. Petersburg, Tel Aviv and Warsaw (it you are near it, go!). It's really hard to describe, but is was amazing. It didn't involve paintings but instead, images projected on screens scattered all over a set of rooms. Every 34 minutes the program begins that involves sounds, images, words and sometimes video. Maybe it's easier to let you read about it yourself. You can see people standing and sitting while the program is playing. These are big! The landscape screen in the middle is probably 6 feet tall. Along a small corridor were 2 sets of exhibits. One side was a...

Saturday is long run day, regardless of the continent, no matter whether Saturday is the first or second day of the weekend.  It's not Robie, but it was a beautiful day for a 6-miler (Yes, that has become long. Don't judge me) on the Corniche . I know I've written about running here before, but it was an especially spectacular day. The Abu Dhabi Sailtoad takes Robie to the Middle East. I'm not sure how far I could run, but at least 4 or 5 miles one way. It's brick, but it's beautiful. The best part of any run....putting on flipflops at the car! And everything else needed for a great post-run.   It was such a great Saturday! I went home, showered, then spent the afternoon completing online training for my job while watching the entire first season of The Good Place  (it is laugh-out-loud funny, I totally recommend it). Part of me felt a little guilty just sitting around while I'm living in such a faraway land, but it was more or le...

Quite a while ago I went to see Evita in Dubai, but i forgot to hit "Publish". Better late than never. The woman who played Evita had an incredible voice. Other than that, I can't believe that Andrew Lloyd Webber, creator is such masterpieces as Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon , was the creator. I was totally underwhelmed by the "story" [read: lack thereof] and the chords in the opening scene sent a revolting shiver down to my spine that I could not shake until intermission. Still, the setting, the complex and the venue are incredible. Look closely, there are duck-bananas on the prowl!! I'm in Dubai for the weekend for a workshop and just got back to the hotel after seeing Evita  at the Dubai Opera . This was my first visit to this venue, although it is down by the Burj Khalifa area which I have visited several times. While the journey through the parking garage to the "Opera Section" was long and winding, I was rewarded wi...