Summer Approaches, Petunias Go

Nearly all the petunias around Abu Dhabi have been pulled up and discarded as the warm weather takes hold. The green-jumpsuited workers, their backs bent over the city's flower beds so many months this winter, now spend their days trimming lawns and squatting by sprinklers, watching to see if the water sprays the right way.

I clipped, fertlized and watered my own petunias this morning. They're definitely not ready for the trash can. I really think it's possible that my flowers can make another great showing before we leave Abu Dhabi. And tomorrow I will get someone to help me turn my incredibly heavy cycads tree - I think he's getting a little sun burn.

As I move about the city, the heat produces a thin coat of water on my face. The body's natural cooling system is amazing. Someone told me that women in the Gulf have fewer wrinkles because the perspiration on their faces prevents their skin from getting too dry. There's a silver lining to everything.

Weather in Abu Dhabi

Above is a picture of myself and my children, on the street in front of our villa in Abu Dhabi, as we walked to the bus on the kids' first day of school last year. I chose it now because it represents typical weather at this time of year in Abu Dhabi. It's beginning to heat up here, but we know it will get much, much hotter and more humid.

Below is a typical view of the street in front of my New Hampshire home at this same time of year, after a snow storm. New Hampshire has gotten more than 102 inches of snow this year. Friends tell me that spring seems very far away in New Hampshire (below).

Can you see the Adirondack chairs M made? They're painted dark green, but are covered in snow on a wintry day in New Hampshire a few years ago.

When the snowing ends and the sun comes out, the view out the rear windows of my New Hampshire home is magnificent.

There's a Wadi in My Kitchen!

Abu Dhabi hosted both the U.S. and French presidents this week - the same week in which the UAE saw record amounts of rain.

The roads here are flat, with no drains, so the water just sits. Puddles grow quickly into small ponds. People are not used to driving on wet roads in the UAE; there are more accidents even than usual. In the last few days we've received more than 100 millimeters of rain, surpassing the old record of 80-some odd millimeters, the newspapers said.

"There's a wadi in the kitchen!" I yelled, feigning alarm, when M arrived home from the office last night.

A wadi is Arabic for a "dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain," according to Wikipedia. Having been to "Wild Wadi," a fantastic water park in Dubai, M and I used to joke that we had our own wadi in our Abu Dhabi villa: when we moved in, the sprinklers outside the kitchen were facing the wrong way. Exterior doors here are not fitted with weather-stripping and the water poured right into the villa, morning after morning. It took a number of days to get this problem fixed.

After two days of rain this week, yesterday's downpour was the heaviest. Portions of major roads were closed and even some schools were closed in Abu Dhabi. Dubai was hit harder and the northern emirates suffered with flooding. When I stood in front of the kitchen sink last evening, my feet were in a pool of water. Seems it came in under the window, and created a mini-wadi across the floor.

Everyone I've talked to today has a small flood somewhere in his villa or flat, but noone seems terribly worried about it. Perhaps because all our homes have tile floors and eventually the water will disappear, or maybe because we don't own our homes? Probably a combination of both. And as one friend said, "Oh well, how often does it rain in Abu Dhabi, maybe twice a year?" True enough.

Regarding President Bush's visit, I feel he missed a great opportunity to strengthen his relationship with the UAE. And we very much need friends in this region.

On a lighter note, President Nicolas Sarkozy was here this week, just after President Bush. At a reception at the Emirates Palace Hotel, according to a French friend, a tent was set up outside to accomodate the large crowd of French citizens there to meet him. Unfortunately, the rain was so heavy it split the roof of the tent and water poured down on some of the guests!

Extreme Cold Spell

"UAE shivers under extreme cold spell" read a headline on the top half of page one, Khaleej Times, yesterday.

It's downright chilly and somewhat windy in Abu Dhabi. As I write this at 9 o'clock in the morning, it's a mere 46 degrees (Fahreinheit) - about 10 degrees cooler than the normal low in January here. Today's high will be 63 degrees, compared with a normal high of 74 degrees in January. With a lot of moisture in the air, we are really feeling the coolness.

People in Abu Dhabi do not talk about the weather, as a matter of course. It's almost always sunny and warm (if not extremely hot) in the Gulf, and it hardly ever rains. In contrast, where I'm from in New Hampshire (US), the weather is a constant topic of conversation. I suppose old habits are hard to break: I've found myself telling Abu Dhabi friends that New Hampshire had a record 44 inches of snow in December. (Now that certainly is certainly something to talk about!)

In any case, everyone I meet the past few days is saying something about how cold it is. We are pulling out favorite wool sweaters; if we don't wear them today we probably won't get another chance to this year.

So, while the UAE experiences the effects of a shamal (a summer, northwesterly wind) that's blowing dust from Iraq and Kuwait, causing dusty conditions and rough seas here, the weather back in New Hampshire yesterday was unusually mild. It hit 60 degrees in New Hampshire yesterday, according to a friend, which made it far easier for people to get out and vote in the presidential primary.

Falling in Love Again

Early this morning I opened the door and fell in love with Abu Dhabi all over again.

The feeling came just in time, as I was beginning to miss home a lot lately. I haven't told anyone about this small bit of melancholy I've been suppressing. In fact I was surprised by how much I've missed home recently, because I love living here.

The homesickness started about three weeks ago. It was the morning after M and I had a big party. After the great fun and late night, we woke up and made a big breakfast. The smell of coffee brewing, of bacon and sausage on the stove, combined with the luxury of all of us sitting around lazily in pajamas and the house still sparkling with new glasses and a platter or two purchased for the event...well it all reminded me so much of Christmas morning that a great feeling of homesickness came over me. Like a tidal wave.

I think the prolonged hot weather played a part too, for I knew it would be crisp and cool in New Hampshire then. Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi the air was still heavy and the temps were still hitting 104 or more.
Since that morning I've been using some of the spices we use during autumn - cinnamon in particular - to give me that feeling of autumn in New Hampshire.

This morning, a Saturday, I was up at 6:30 a.m. I had to drive our eldest to his college-entrance SAT exam. I opened the front door for the newspaper and sweet-smelling, mild air hit me immediately. It must have been about 70 degrees. The air was light and clear with the gentlest breeze. I love Abu Dhabi again.

Separate from that: yesterday I heard an expression I've never heard before. A South African neighbor said raising her three children - now 7, 5 and 3 years old - is "a dead lolly." She meant it was really manageable.

Something I cannot get used to here is that people always ask how much you pay in rent. Back home we'd never ask how much someone pays in rent or how much their house costs. But here, in Abu Dhabi, where the price of rent is all the talk as prices rise nearly as often as we breathe, it is entirely acceptable to make that inquiry.