As I expected, I decided to make a lazy day of it today. I read some this morning and then took myself to the Mall of the Emirates to watch a movie: Prometheus 3D. I was not impressed. The movie was not what I thought and I am kind of tired of the "Alien" franchise. Oh well. Then I took myself shopping for some much needed clothes (I apparently left all my nice dresses in NY - GRRRRR!). I bought two dresses, two shirts, and some gold jewelry - I usually detest gold jewelry, but it will go best with the navy blue dresses (they are very different, but same color). I still need some black shoes and I need a very nice dress for our company party this weekend. We are celebrating 50 years of ... read more

Well - I survived my first week and I am feeling great! Today my taxi driver told me he knows a shorter route to the office that will save me time and money, so he is picking me up on Sunday. Woot! Today I saw our first American - he was presenting for a Masters degree in Construction Management at the American University of Dubai. It looked interesting and I am thinking of pursing my Masters while here, but I am more interested in the technical side, and namely, Coastal Engineering. It's a thought though. For lunch, we returned to Times Square, where I ate a chicken quesadilla; it really was not all that different from the quesadillas at the chain restaurants in Ventura. It hit the spot. And I got to know Zenah more and ... read more

My sleep pattern is starting to get on track. I crashed when I got home last night around 6:30, woke up around 9:30 and read until about 2am, before getting a few hours more. I am trying so hard to stay awake for another few hours so I can hopefully sleep the whole night though!!! Today I learned my first Arabic word: Jabal means "mountain." I continued writing the same report at work today, even though there really isn't a whole lot more to do until we get the lab results tomorrow. So, I was fairly bored today. I asked if there was other stuff to do, but they seemed insistent on getting the report just so. I'm not sure that I've ever spent 16 hours straight on a 8 page factual report (plus figures), but ... read more

I went to bed at about 2 am and was sound asleep, dreaming of Eric Northman, when my phone rang at 4:17 am. RJ. "Oh shoot Spencerinho! Did I wake you?" It was fine - I'd kind of left him hanging and we needed to talk roommate stuff anyway. But I was completely unable to fall back asleep. I took a shower at 6, ate my grapefruite, had a cup of tea and then dried my hair. Let me just say: I don't know what it is in the water here, but my hair feels AMAZING! I was so scared because in humid climates, my hair tends to curl up like a big poodle; I know some people like that and think my hair looks good in a gazillion ringlets, but it just makes me as ... read more

Well, I had hoped to get some much needed sleep last night. I went to bed around 1 am, was out cold when the fire alarm went off at 3 am. At first I just laid here - it was like a horn sound - so maybe it was just the call to prayer? Then the annoying squealing went off, so I threw off my covers, put on my sandals, and got my purse from my safe....then it stopped. I went back to bed. I really reallly really hope that it is NOT the call to prayer and was just a fluke. I guess I really just don't know what this call to prayer sounds like, especially the first one of the day, so I am thinking anything is possible!!! I woke up around 7, after ... read more