Shopping and Lunch Out

...But until it gets cooler, and until all those interesting, cultural lectures and activities begin, I'll have to settle for a little shopping at the Abu Dhabi Mall and lunch at Prego's at the Beach Rotana Resort complex.

The Water is Warm

There is no cold water in Abu Dhabi, not at this time of year.
Our "cold water" tank sits on the roof of our three-story villa, so the cold water is actually very warm. In summer, we turn off the water heater and use the "cold water" tank for our hot water.
The "hot water" tank is elsewhere, out of the sun. It becomes our cold water.

You have to be careful doing laundry in Abu Dhabi in summer. Things have a tendency to shrink; clothes can lose their color. I use the "cold/cold" water setting on the washing machine, and still the water is very warm. I fill the machine and let the water sit as long as I can, so it can cool, before adding the clothes.

We've made friends with a family that is new to Abu Dhabi. We invited them over to swim in our compound's pool. What fun we had - our six children and their four children got along great. We all laughed because the pool water was so hot you had to get out to cool off. It was about 110 degrees that day.
The Arabian Gulf, too, is as warm as bath water at this time of year.

Al Salam Street, Abu Dhabi

It is warm in Abu Dhabi, but the heat doesn't seem to bother any of us as much as it did last summer.
Still, we spend most of our time indoors. Rounds of R.I.S.K., Monopoly, and "Hide and Seek" are played over and over lately by the children.
Villa by villa our neighbors are beginning to return from a summer spent elsewhere. M and I are enjoying weekend evenings dining and talking with them again.

In many ways I have it quite easy in Abu Dhabi. Once a week our large villa is thoroughly cleaned for a very reasonable price. (The people who clean it are a lovely husband and wife from Sri Lanka. They charge me 30 dirhams per hour, which is equal to about $8 per hour; although I pay them about double that, it is still a great deal less than the going rate in the U.S.) We also have our cars washed every morning for the fee of $27 per car per month.

I got very sad news recently from the hardworking man who washes our car. His wife, only 25 years old, died very suddenly back in India of Typhoid Fever. He has a five-year-old son who now lives with his grandmother.

"I bet she was very beautiful," I said to him.

"She was," he said. "Soon I will show you a picture of my son."

"I am so sorry I don't know what to say," I said.

"Just say a prayer," he said quietly.

The photo above, by M, is Al Salam Street, a road I frequently take to get to the "heart" of the city. In the center of the picture is a very large portrait of the late H.H. Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan, founding ruler of Abu Dhabi (on the right, with sunglasses), and H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the U.A.E. and ruler of Abu Dhabi.

Outside the Zoo in Al Ain

This was near the entrance to the Al Ain Zoo.
We ended up near the group in this photo throughout our visit to the zoo. From what I could see they were truly enjoying themselves. There was much laughter, the children ran free, and none of them seemed very affected by the tremendous heat.
The Al Ain Zoo contained an impressive variety of animals in a clean and spacious setting.
Al Ain is a desert oasis town east of the city of Abu Dhabi (and part of the emirate of Abu Dhabi). It is one of the original settlement areas in what is now the United Arab Emirates. The Bedouins who lived in the region used to travel on foot or by camel and set up their tents in Al Ain for the summer months.
The late H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founding ruler of the UAE, was from Al Ain.

Back in Abu Dhabi

We returned to Abu Dhabi two days ago, excluding M and two of the older boys, who are touring Germany until Saturday.

We're wide awake at night and practically comatose in the morning.

Last night we played musical beds: at 1 a.m., my 8-year-old woke me, he couldn't sleep. Two hours later, when I finally heard his soft, steady breathing beside me in my bed, his 9-year-old brother appeared.

With tears in his eyes, my 9-year-old said that he couldn't sleep. He'd noticed his brother's bed was empty and thought he'd been kidnapped. Once he saw his younger brother was still alive, he didn't want to get into my bed with him, so we stumbled down the hall to his room. Around 5 a.m. he, too, fell asleep. My 12-year-old daughter stayed up 'til 4 a.m. finishing the new Harry Potter. My 17-year-old is napping before dinner.

No one is rising before noon.

I am re-living a difficulty I had when we first came to Abu Dhabi a year ago: I keep misplacing things, such as letters I'm about to mail. But I know this will pass.

It is hot, but not oppressive, at 108 degrees. (In New Hampshire it will reach 88 today.) The air looks milky; it is full of sand and moisture.

Perhaps the biggest change in coming back to Abu Dhabi from the U.S. is the brightness of the sun. It is white here, so white I think it will bleach my clothes when I go outdoors.

Some of my plants died when we were in the U.S.
I may have to go to the Iranian Souk for replacements. With the sheer admiration I feel for the date palm trees swaying in the breeze, I'm not sure I can return without a baby palm tree.

The photo above, taken by M, is of the north side of Abu Dhabi.

Roses, Lawn, and Sea in Maine

This was taken by M, July 19th, near where we stayed in Maine.

Swimming off Southport Island, Maine

In five days we return to Abu Dhabi. I will be happy to be back - I've grown to love that city - but I must admit I'm enjoying the cool, clean air, the steel-blue water, and the rocky coast of Maine.