THE FIRST LESSON
Its a hard lesson but important. Write your blog offline & when finished post it. Oh how I wrote a wonderful, colourful tale, fresh & raw. Wrote to my hearts content & then lost it all when the blogsite timed out.
LEAVING - ALWAYS SO HARD TO DO
Too much to do, too little time, not enough hands, too many different plans. There were things not done & the goodbyes not said but... maybe next time. Its a trifle difficult moving countries anyway, and a bit more challenging with 3 little ones & property to organise. A bit of fuss & bother, but we finally made it out. And won't have to do that again for a little while. Yay!
THE FLIGHT
Emirates was great, business class was NICE, the children were pretty good, just the usual. The fear of flying was well managed & there were no stomach churning triggers.
MELBOURNE TRANSIT
The loveliest people on earth, at least in Australia. On disembarking the aeroplane, the sensation known as Kaija- Meltdown came out. She has been to visit during previous flights & airport departure lounges & was pretty bad even then. Now she's a whole year older, stronger, clever & more stubborn. I will never be embarrassed about anything in public, ever again. We became infamous during our transit process in Melbourne. We had the entire flight crew trying to come to our rescue, our own staring crowds, numerous airport staff having a go, all to no avail. We could have opened a chocolate shop with all the chocolate Kaija was offered & very rudely turned down. We were escorted by a tag team of airport security staff with their walkie talkies (they had to take us in shifts to cope) from disembarkment through to re-embarking. It was like living an episode of Ezy Jet or Airport.
Missing out on our duty free shopping & the business class lounge experience was the least of our concerns. By the time we boarded all was quiet but all the staff at boarding knew us as soon as our bedraggled family appeared. We were famous, I was told. Infamous, more like it. Seth didn't handle it well, he became so stressed he was quite unwell for the next 14 hour flight to Dubai.
ARRIVAL IN DUBAI
It turns out, Melbourne was only a practice. Kaija-Meltdown came out again, & even more explosive than in Melbourne. It was not fun! Dubai is a very busy airport with a lot bigger crowds, probably because it's a transit hub. Different airport culture too. As we'd just been through it before, I think we reacted better but the tantrum was worse, & there was a lot more ground to cover. By the time we found the baggage carousel, all our luggage had been removed from it and was sitting on the open floor so that a following flights luggage could be placed on it.
The crowd stares were not empathetic or friendly, there was absolutely no assistance from man or woman of any ethnic group. Kaija & I endured sort of deep hissing growls from men & eyes of fury from many. None of it seemed to bother her. She held her own, very strong in her anger & determination. It was quite amazing. Needless to say it hasn't given me warm fuzzies for the region. It feels a little souless. And some of the garb worn here especially the moving blackness with little eye slits does nothing to encourage ease and oneness.
1ST IMPRESSIONS
Dubai is a spectacular sight though. Different from the homeland. A sensation for NZ eyes. We're trying to fight NZ time but eventually all fell asleep absolutely exhausted and woke at the time we should have gone to bed. But its about 6am now & a perfect temperature. I'm already acclimatising. I found the heat at 6am yesterday when we left the airport overwhelming. Today's aim is to be outside for more than 10 minutes at a time.
Hours are different here & good for foreign body clocks. After waking last night, Seth was able to go to a bank across the road at midnight & change some US$, hop into a taxi & go to a Jimmy Rockets for good old burger & fries. Taxi fare cheap enough at NZ$2-$3, takeaways a bit more costly at NZ$45.
ACCOMMODATION
We are staying in Dubai Marina area not far from the beach & a marina. But so far crossing the road was so overwhelming to visit the dairy we didn't venture further. Siena pointed out of our apartment on the 14th floor at all the other sky scapers and said castle. She seems to like heights as she loves going on the deck & looking through the transparent balcony railing at the buildings & pool/play area below. We found our apartment at The Waves on the internet and discovered renting apartments is far more affordable than hotels. The 1 bedroom apartment has a full kitchen with dishwasher & push button stove (that Seth thinks is a great toy) & costs about NZ$300 a night. The hotels on the internet for the same sort of room were from NZ$600 a night. The building has a sauna, small gym, indoor art/play room for kids, outdoor pool, spa, playground, underground parking & a bar included. Oddly though, it has not one scrap of information about Dubai, the local area, shops, restaurants, attractions, maps, where to go, where to get anything. It even lacked extras such as additional bedding & towels. Came with a washing machine though.
TODAY
I'm a bit worried about covering up my body. As much as I desire to keep my curves & jiggly bits hidden from the world, it is SO hot! I can't do the long trouser, long top thing in this heat. And women I've seen so far, even westies are quite covered. Today we will try the pool & playground facilities very soon about 7.30am when it opens so I can cope with the heat. Then we are going to go to a mall. Seth is on the apartments computer checking out a mall close by. Apparently a bit of a disneyland - a snowplanet type thing, a magic planet (largest indoor playground in the middle east region) & every shop Seth has ever heard of. Not a big shopper or maller usually, but a hobby I could take up here if there is so much to do & means I can survive the heat. It must be a huge past time in these countries, in this heat. The Indian & Sri Lanken men that flood the service & construction industry here explained that it is very cool & moderate temperatures right now, even at its daytime peak. So note to cool climate dwellers. If any of you come to visit, only come in the regions autumn/winter seasons between October & April. I feel far more positive about Dubai today with some sleep under my belt & only the normal tantrums. Wisdom learned - tantrums are so much easier to deal with in your own home, even the long lasting ones. But life is an adventure & I'm off to see what we can cross off our "want to do list."
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