Counting Blessings

Fresh back into work after a wonderful weekend. Didn’t do anything too unusual or exciting: Thursday night despite wrestling with a huge hangover after our office party we all managed to head round to J’s for more wine, and Wagas. Thankfully they deliver here in Dubai – what a treat. Cue much gossiping, laughing and general good times on J’s new bar stools, bought especially for this purpose.

A huge sandstorm meant that the beach was out of the question on Friday (we did head down there to investigate but the Mary Poppins scene of flying sunloungers and piles of sand put us right off) so we headed to one of the many gorgeous pools in the Old Town and hunkered down for the day. Amazingly, despite the force ten hurricane winds out on the streets, the Old Town is completely sheltered. The pool we chose was an oasis of complete and utter calm, and actually heated up, a lot, during the day. Is winter over we cried? After schnuffling through a pile of celebrity gossip magazines the size of Burj Khalifa, it was time for home, change and then down to Nez for more wine and more catching up. There’s a theme developing here, non?

Saturday was gym, relaxation and…yes more time with the gang. No wine this time, we headed to the flicks to see Avatar (more on this later). We headed home narrowly missing getting caught in the most enormous thunderstorm: lightning and so much torrential rain that my balcony is still under two inches of water this morning.

Despite the rain, and as my balcony is quite sheltered, I sat out with a glass of wine at ten o’clock and reflected on how blessed I am. I’m so lucky to have some truly wonderful friends. We’ve all been through our fair share of traumas: break-ups, divorce, near death experiences, and the general stresses and strains that come with living away from home, and family. So after almost two years here together it’s safe to say we’re incredibly close and we’ve been through the full range of emotions and experiences in our adopted home.

I’ve met people here in Dubai who say it’s a false place, that it’s hard to make friends, and that they felt isolated. Nothing could be further from the truth for me. I’ve said it before but it does bear repeating: I’m incredibly blessed and lucky to have wonderful people in my life. Thank you, universe!