More on RAK

Hi everybody:

I have a phone now. Sam is also extremely proud to have his own cell phone. He wears it in a holster on his shorts. I would like to tell you my address, but I still have no clue. All will come in time! At the moment, our only mode of transportation is taxi, walking, and Sam's scooter, but this too, will be fixed. I will get a car here for sure. I should have internet at home in the next week, and that will make communicating so much easier. I would like to write on my blog about my Italian washer/dryer. It is all one machine, and it is brand new, and highly dysfunctional. It hums and whirrs for four hours per load, clicking, gently swishing, blowing, and then spitting out wet, warm, still soiled clothes, but I will have to wait until I have regular internet access to fully describe it in all its inneffectual glory.

We have made two trips into Dubai. The first visit was to a cultural center for cultural sensitivity training. The second visit was to the Mall of the Emirates, where Ski Dubai resides, sitting ensconced grandly in its enormous metal casing. Sam and I skied for two hours. We were provided with outter garments, boots, skis and poles and a ticket. There is one lift and one poma, and three little ski school moving ramps. There is also a tiny ski chalet mid-slope, where Sam insisted we stop to get hot chocolate. It was a completely surreal experience, with the ceiling painted a calming blue, chilly air, real snow, fake trees and boulders, and diners and shoppers outside the glass windows peering in to see the skiers in our winter wonderland fishbowl.

Sam is pacing around the fort, having already had his chocolate cake and tea, and he is ready for a swim. Tomorrow, it is back to work, for the workweek is Sunday through Thursday. It looks as if the school will open the last week of September, or possibly a week later than that. I have yet to see the school, because it is still under construction, but it is supposed to be a real showpiece, the first international school in this emirate.

In the meantime, we visit with new friends in our apartment buildings, or go to the pool, which is just a block away. Grocery shopping at Spinneys provides real entertainment, with its international clientele and foreign brands. Sam watches our huge TV, with its Showtime channels, and cartoons in arabic (he doesn't seem to notice or particularly care). We are having fun. Sam is remarkably unsentimental about our old life, old pets, old town, old state. Maybe homesickness comes later for him, or not at all, depending on how regularly he gets fancy cake at the hotel, I suspect.

I hope all is well, and thanks for keeping the news from home coming my way. It is grounding!

Love,
Lucy and Sam