Abu Dhabi Day 17 - Monday 17 August 2009

I think something in the frankfurters put me over the edge last night… I got hardly any sleep. No more franks! Tonight’s meal is spinach with chicken, mushrooms and spring onions!

Abu Dhabi Day 16 - Sunday 16 August 2009

Living in suburban AD has been terrible for the health. Although the alcohol intake has been much reduced, I have now started eating things like frankfurters, mars bars and instant noodles on a regular basis. This is partly due to laziness, as 50% of the time I cannot face preparing real meals when I get home from work, but also because cooking for one person is never as appealing. I am now familiar with all the processed food brands in the frozen and refrigerated sections at Carrefour. Last week in the supermarket I noticed the contents of the basket of the 30-something year old, single, expat man behind me – it was remarkably similar. Pre-packaged food, nuts, chocolate… plus about 5 packs of Marlboro Lights (which thankfully I haven’t been driven to yet).

So, in order to encourage healthy eating, or at least more diverse meals, I have decided to photograph dinner each day. Here’s the first! Thai noodles with veggies, egg, and YUK beef frankfurters (there were two left, which I had to use up, and I still have 3 unopened packs in the freezer – there was a promotion!!).

Abu Dhabi Day 15 - Saturday 15 August 2009

I cannot get my head around weekends here. I hate going back to work on Sundays... I feel so cheated, even though I get Friday and Saturday off. I spent a very hungover day lamenting the system and struggling to stay awake.

The ride back to Abu Dhabi was dusty, and prompted my companion to tell me that apparently you can get pulled over by the police if your car is dirty. Mine is filthy but I have no idea where to get it cleaned, nor where the petrol station is.

On a more positive note I have successfully zapped the ants. Baygon is amazing!

UAE Day 13 - Thursday 13 August 2009

DUBAI, freedom! What a place Dubai seems after Abu Dhabi; it feels like another world. A futuristic place, and so much more fun that AD, but still hot, humid, dusty, confusing and with a slight eeriness to it. I think this comes from the lack of people wanting to make it a home for life. It is a frontier town where people come to in order to make money, and then leave. Everyone I spoke to was planning to depart in the next year or so, no matter how long they had been living there.

A super fun weekend of drinking (so necessary after the past two weeks), eating free food, parading round town, going to a fashion show, singing karaoke, dancing in a bar, and eating macdonalds at 3am!

Abu Dhabi Day 8 - Saturday 8 August

A horror movie at the cinema in the afternoon, involving me sitting for the last 20 minutes with my knees in front of my eyes blocking the screen and my fingers stuck firmly inside my ears. Why do I do this to myself, especially when I am living alone? Then some retail therapy, and dinner in an Iranian restaurant in Marina Mall. I sat in a completely bizarre booth with a friend, sealed off from the rest of the world by some rather ugly curtains. Whenever the waiter came by he would knock and ask permission to enter before doing so. Apparently curtained booths are all the rage with young couples that are dating on the sly. The girls sometimes cover their faces completely with a black shayla (head scarf) so they are not recognised!

Abu Dhabi Day 7 – Friday 7 August 2009

A quiet day at home… A day of being a domestic goddess rather than an intrepid explorer. A day of cooking mum’s yummy vegetable soup recipe, and fresh pasta sauce and doing the laundry and watching TV and dancing around the living room and kitchen to the Black Eyed Peas whilst cleaning the floor.

A day of trying to eradicate the entire Abu Dhabi ant population. Who knew that ants could exist in such a place. I feel like I am on the moon when I look out my window, with nothing around except dust, and yet there are millions of ants which appear if even a miniscule amount of food falls on the floor.

Ants, ants everywhere. Every table, every chair!

Abu Dhabi Day 6 – Thursday 6 August 2009

The view from my apartment window…

It has not helped the cabin fever, but this has been somewhat alleviated by the car, which I was provided with today. It is a light silvery, beige-coloured Nissan. Almost every car here is white, beige, or silver because of the dust… The rest of the cars inevitably look dirty.

Driving in Abu Dhabi requires one’s full concentration. No one seems to pay attention to the speed limit, the lane markings, or their own safety. Also, all the roads look the same, surrounded on each side by mysterious high walls that mark the boundary of each property. Amazingly I made it home after dark without getting lost.