Monday Aug 8 2016
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
We just are
returning for our two week break in the US. We saw so many friends and all our
docs for a great trip. The Portland
weather was PERFECT! One day the temps got up to 90 but we didn’t find it uncomfortable
while our friends complained about the heat…sissies!
I think I
only made a couple of lunches (sandwiches) and maybe two dinners, one was a
hearty salad for guests Gary and Edmund, long time dear friends. The rest of
the time we met friends for lunch or dinner, often in restaurants. Neither of us
gained weight and still stuck to our regime of smaller helpings. Almost every
night I indulged in ’ice cream’ made from coconut milk since I am lactose
intolerant but again I ate ½ cup per serving and was pleased I didn’t have any
weight gain. It was an indulgence that isn’t available in Ahmedabad so I
relished it. I was surprised that we didn’t exercise while home as the weather
was perfect for our morning stretches, floor exercises and long walks but…our schedule
was packed each day with either one or two medical appts., meeting friends and
shopping for things we needed in India that we can’t get there. One day we met friends for coffee and another
couple an hr later for coffee and lunch. We walked twice.
Our return
trip was the mirror image of our flight home. Returning ,we left Portland at
9:00 in the morning Saturday, flew to LA and had a five hr. layover then left
LA around 5:30 p.m. for a 16 hr flight to Abu
Dhabi arriving at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday. I watched four
sessions of Night Manager, a great British series and all of a TV series of War
and Peace, six hrs. It made the trip fly by. I nodded off from time to time as
did Ron. Upon arrival in Abu Dhabi, we
checked into the on site hotel, never leaving the building and had a hot bath
before crawling into bed and watching a little news and Olympics but turning
off the lights at 10:30. We slept until about 4:45, drifting in and out of
sleep for about 30 minutes, then woke up. Today is a gift as we don’t get back
on the plane until 1:00 for a 2.5 hr. flight home to Ahmedabad. Ron has
tomorrow off to recoup and we will catch up with grocery shopping and just
relaxing.
One of the
highlights of our trip was seeing our son Mark and his family. Rachel and the
boys arrived Saturday afternoon and Mark arrived late that night. They spent
all day Sunday and part of Monday morning before heading to S
Oregon for the Britt Festival where Mark performs each summer. The
family stayed with us with the boys on the floor of the guest bedroom with M
&R in the guest bed. It was wild and fun and as grandparents exhausting.
Ha!
Tuesday Aug 9
The monsoons
are HERE! I woke up at 3:40 this morning and gave up trying to go back to sleep
a little before 6:00. I put on my exercise clothes and headed out the door for
my walk. Ron was still asleep…sort of. After one lap if was misting so I got my
umbrella then on the second lap I was getting wet even with the umbrella as
mist turned to down pour so I gave up and came back to discover Ron up and
starting to do some floor exercises. I joined him as we both are disappointed
in how little exercise we have been doing. It poured rain at least four times
today. It is now 8:30 p.m. and it is pouring.
We went grocery
shopping this morning and I was quickly thrown back into reality. Three items I
needed were not available, a problem when using imported items. Sometimes the
shops run out before the next shipment. We came home for lunch and returned to
the Voadaphone store to complete our transfer to a different plan. OMG, Ron had
to have two passport photos and his passport with his Indian visa, two copies
of our house lease agreement, a reference. He had to sign every page in
multiple places. He said he had bought houses and had less to sign. We have
never experienced anything like this when getting a phone plan. It took an hour
with two men working on this. India
makes everything harder than it should be.
When we got
home it was almost 4:00 and my lack of sleep was slamming me so I went upstairs
to take a nap. I was too tired and couldn’t get to sleep. Ron went up at 8:30
tonight and crawled into bed. I will join him shortly as I am exhausted.
August 10, 2016
We woke up
around 7:00 to rain. It rained continuously most of the morning. No need for AC
last night while we slept nor this morning. It is lovely in that respect. The
down side is finding a break in the weather to exercise and laundry takes days
to dry. With hand washing there is no ‘spin’ cycle! I am hanging out at home waiting for
Vadaphone to send a rep to confirm that we live at this address. Like I said, India
likes to make things complicated.
Rahul rides a
motorcycle to our house and now that is it raining he arrives soaked to the
bone. He doesn’t wear rain gear as he doesn’t find it useful. So I gave him a
towel and he changed into his spare clothes that he keeps in the car. So many
differences here.
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