One year on

It was a year ago this week that I first got the phone call asking if I would be interested in being put forward for "a great role in the Middle East". I can vividly remember discussing it with Jo and deciding to find out more just for the hell of it. One thing lead to another, and twelve months later here we are, fast approaching the end of our first six months, enjoying our new lives immensely and relishing the challenges and opportunities at work. Life certainly takes unexpected turns on occasion.

It's half term already in the UAE, 2014 is flying past. The kids only get a couple of days off but we are taking the opportunity to explore a bit more of the country having had a fairly quiet January from that point of view. Tomorrow we are heading off to Fujairah for a couple of nights in a hotel. Fujairah is one of the other Emirates which make up the UAE, and the only one with a coastline solely on the Gulf of Oman, and none on the Persian Gulf. More about that when we return.

Flossie was "Star of the Week" last week

Since I last updated you it has been Jo's birthday, the celebrations of which she managed to stretch out for five days, starting with Friday Brunch at the Ritz Carlton Hotel and finishing with ladies night at the same hotel yesterday. I think I can safely say that she has enjoyed herself greatly.

Brunch with friends at the Ritz Carlton

We've also had another sports day for all three children, and Archie has had his swimming gala, finishing second in a couple of races. He also spent his first night away from Jo and I when he hasn't been at his grandma's, when his class had an "Aussie Sleepover" at school. He was very excited in the run up to it, and had a great time, although a week later and he still doesn't seem to have caught up with his sleep.

Sporting activities

Other than the above, the Candy Crush addiction continues, although I've now been stuck on the same level for a few days so maybe this is where I go cold turkey. I did drag myself away briefly to try the Flappy Bird craze but soon gave up in frustration, thank goodness that has now been withdrawn by its creator!

Hope all is well with you wherever you are, and that those of you back in the UK are coping with the wind and the floods.

Thanks for reading as always.

 

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School Days

Another weekend comes to an end all too quickly. It's been the first one where we've been able to focus on doing nice things, rather than rushing round doing various jobs associated with moving to a new country.

It is Flossie's birthday today so we went out for a family meal to a local restaurant last night. We had a lovely time and Flossie was very pleased when they brought a special dessert out for her and sang "Happy Birthday", even though it was quite a posh place.

Flossie with her special dessert

She got another rendition this afternoon at the Al Yasmina School Picnic, held to welcome new and old families to the school (and to drum up support for the "Friends of Yasmina" I think). In fact she got two renditions, one in English and one in Arabic.

School is going well so far. The only disappointment being that Flossie hasn't got into Al Yasmina yet (where Henry and Archie are going for those that don't know). She is still third on the waiting list, with no signs of this changing particularly soon, despite Jo's best efforts.

This means that she has to do a 30 to 40 minute journey to and from Pearl Primary each day. I can drop her off most mornings as the school is less than a mile from my office, but Jo has a pressured hour each afternoon when she has to pick Flossie up at 1:45pm and then make it back to Al Yasmina to pick Henry and Archie up at 2:25pm. Every day it is touch and go whether she will make it in time, but she's got a very impressive record so far. It means she has quickly learnt to drive like a local, but that is for another blog entry.

Anyway, Flossie is making the most of it, and has settled into her new school really well, making lots of friends and winning "Star of the Week" in only her second week for trying so hard.

Well done Flossie!

Archie and Henry have also settled in well, making friends and enjoying most of school life. Mind you homework has started in the last few days so that could all change very soon.

The school drop off and pick up is an experience in itself. Everyone wants to park as close to the school gate as possible, possibly due to the heat, more likely because they (we) are all lazy. This means that people will park anywhere, including the middle of the road, and think nothing of blocking others in, which can be a problem when you need to make a quick get away to pick up at another school (see earlier).

Some parents don't do the drop off themselves, instead they send the maid and / or driver to do it. This causes even more chaos. Some families seem to bring the whole family, including the maid and driver, all adding to the confusion.

Mind you, nothing has yet beaten the occasion, a couple of weeks ago, when a pet monkey escaped from its home near Pearl Primary, and headed straight into the middle of the school drop off crowd. Chaos quickly turned to utter bedlam as frightened adults and children scattered in all directions.

Thankfully nobody was hurt, and the monkey was soon recaptured by its owners and taken home. The father of a girl in Flossie's class works for the Environment Agency here, and he is now involved in an attempt to confiscate the monkey in question. Apparently they can't enter a property to do this, they have to wait until the monkey leaves the house again. I have visions of the house being surrounded by policemen hiding in the bushes waiting to pounce!

It's all part of the surreal life we are adapting to here. The approach to children's birthday parties is another example, but again that is for another day.

As always thanks for reading, and the kind comments from various sources.

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That Was The Week That Was

I can't believe that I'm already at the end of my first week in the new job. This is a public blog so I can't disclose any confidential information, suffice to say I'm certain I'm going to enjoy the new role. There is lots for me to do, but lots of good things to build on.

I've already been out to a number of meetings with potential clients. I'm learning about all sorts of businesses, including operating mega ports, digital oil fields, developing enterprise skills in UAE nationals, and reclaiming land from the sea. I've met people from all sorts of countries, including the UAE itself, India, Pakistan, Sudan, France and one or two from the UK. All have been friendly and welcoming.

View from my office window

There is definitely a lot to get on with, but it is all new and exciting, which is good.

Out of work there has been progress as well. We have signed our tenancy contract, which means we have been able to arrange for the electricity and water to be turned on (hopefully this will happen tomorrow or Saturday), which means that the landlord can get on with sorting the villa ready for our arrival.

Our container is being processed by customs on Tuesday, and will then arrive at the villa on Wednesday, when we will move in. On Friday a large delivery will arrive from Ikea, and thankfully they will build everything for us. So by next Saturday we should be properly in and getting ourselves sorted.

Archie and Flossie enjoying their five hour Ikea experience

And possibly the best news of the week is that the first school day (well it was only an hour actually) went well for all three children. Flossie is still third on the waiting list for Al Yasmina so I took her off to Pearl Primary this morning. She was a little nervous, but did really well, and got on with meeting her new classmates and having a look round the school. Jo took Archie and Henry to Al Yasmina, and again, they both got on absolutely fine. All three of them seem to be looking forward to their first full day on Sunday, which has to be a good result.

Day one of school (please note Henry refuses to have his photo taken in his natty green trousers)

Other than that Jo has done a fantastic job of keeping the kids entertained this week, and getting to know lots of people staying at these apartments who are in the same position as us. She has been introducing lots of children to each other, which I am sure has contributed to our kids feeling more relaxed about going to school today.

Thanks for reading as always. More coming soon.

 

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Money, Money, Money

I seem to have spent the last couple of days handing over piles of notes to various people. I can't get a UAE bank account until I have my residency visa (which still hasn't come, but will come tomorrow I'm sure (Insha'Allah)), which means I don't have a local chequebook, and therefore everything has to be paid for in cash or international bank transfer (not an ideal option as these take four or five days).

The main logistical challenge has been with the villa. Having accepted the landlord's offer to rent the villa to us, we now need to pay a maintenance deposit, and a full year's rent in advance, before the process can continue. As an aside, it is only after we have paid all this money that we get to see the contract, which seems a little back to front to me, but "that is just the way it is" (another phrase I'm hearing more and more).

Anyway, as we want to get in the villa as soon as possible I needed to pay the maintenance deposit in cash, so I spent yesterday afternoon and this morning, moving money between accounts online, and using my maximum withdrawal allowances to cobble together the money. I then headed to the landlord's bank to pay the money into his account, although the taxi driver didn't quite understand where I was asking to go, which meant he took me to Al Hilal Luxury Car Showroom rather than Al Hilal Bank. I didn't have that much money with me!

This afternoon's task was to find the uniform shop to order some trousers for Henry, as he is too tall for the standard sizes. The school had sent out a vague map of the shop's new location so I confidently showed this to my taxi driver. He got me to the general area but there was no sign of the shop. After driving in circles for ten minutes, with the driver getting increasingly agitated, I decided to get out and continue on foot.

This turned out to be a mistake. The temperature here has dropped from last week, but it is still in the mid 30s today. I wandered up and down the block where I was convinced the shop was, but could not find it, and was getting increasingly hot and bothered. Eventually I decided to walk round to the back of the block, and hey presto, there was the shop.

Down I went to the uniform section, where I was presented with a numbered ticket (they seem to have this queuing system pretty much everywhere), and told to take my place in the queue. The room was big enough for maybe 15 people and there were at least 20 of us in there, and from what I can tell, the queuing system was being completed ignored.

I decided to join the scrum, so approached the counter and explained why I was there, namely to order some specially made trousers. The lady behind the counter was adamant that I didn't need to do this, even when I shared Henry's measurements. She called a few colleagues over and a very animated discussion took place, which I didn't understand a word of. Finally they decided that yes, it would need to be a special order, and (of course) there would be a 50% premium for this. Eventually the paperwork was completed and I handed over my credit card, but of course it was cash only. Given that the villa deposit had pretty much cleaned me out I was a little concerned that I didn't have enough cash to pay for the trousers and get a taxi back to my hotel, but thankfully I did, with a few dirhams to spare.

It's now time for me to pack up as I am checking out of the hotel tomorrow, to move to a serviced apartment ahead of Jo and the kids to arriving on Wednesday. Hopefully we won't be there for too long but let's wait and see.

Thanks for reading, as always. I am aware that a couple of people have tried to leave comments on previous posts without success. I have changed some of the settings, which may have sorted this, but do please let me know if you still have a problem.

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