WHAT A MORNING !!!

I FEEL LIKE HIM !!!!!!!!!!!

Today is the fIrst day of the week in Dubai. (Our Sunday is their Monay) Hannes left for work early an I started with what will be my normal life in Dubai.Yes I did the washing. ironing, dishes,cleaning ect.

Luckily Luckily the flat is very small and easy to handle. After all my house wife duties I put on my kozzie and went to the pool for a tan......... I could stay our for exactly 35 minutes as the temp outside today is in the upper 40 degrees. The pool water is like bath water. Speaking of bath water, the water in the bathroom (cold one) is warm. So when puttng in bath water you have to be very careful with the hot water as the cold water does not cool down the bath. All bathrooms are also equiped with a hand shower near the loo. I think this is vey clever and clean. (Helps a lot with cleaning the the bath too..... You see I already have some short cuts n the cleaning dept. All windows and doors ae double glazed and tinted. This helps with the noise and heat. The noise is something to get used to. The construction is 24/7. Even the cranes operate at night....... Then the traffic is another factor...... A friend of ours had an accident in Oman yesterday. Luckily not injured, just bruised and shaken. She did not see the vehicle crossing (maybe because the drive here on the right hand side.) So I will stay in the taxi's a whie longer. I am fairly good with direction BUT to get the right turnoff from the highway is another story. (These are 8 lane highways....)

Getting the oven to work...Oh boy..... It is gas and electric. Again all instructions are in Arabic. Even the pictures did not help much. I struggled for 3 days but now I can use the rotiserie and set the oven to bake.

This afternoon after Hannes gets home from work we plan to go to the Emiates mall as there is 100 and 1 small things we need. Although the appartment is furnished it still neds stuff like a coffee machine, placemats, bedlinen, towels,toilet brush ect. My list seem never ending and I am really doing the minimalistic thing as to pack the stuff away is a major issue. Hannes spent the whole of yesterday building cupboards. Here is a shop called IKEA. It is like Mr Price home BUT this one is on triple dose steroids. You see the item on the showroomfloor, write down the storage isle number and then go and fetch it YOURSELF. All is in boxes ready for you to assemble at home yourself. You load it on the trolley, pay at the till and then cart it home in the taxi. Then schlep it up in the lift to your appartment. Hannes's toolbox contins a hammer and a srew driver. Well we now have a server in the dining area, a 6 drawer cabinet in the computer area and I have a clothes cupboard in our bedroom. IKEA is very cheap (so is the furniture!!!) but it is fairly sturdy and will do the job. I now have enough storage space but nly for the waht is needed and not any extra..........

The appartment is very small but clean, neat and nice. The outside is very very very dusty but that is the whole of Dubai. The verandahs are small. At the lounge area it is about 5 body boards. The one at the spare bedroom will not even take one body board. The kitchen is a passage.......the size of 4 cupboard doors in lenghth. The fridge is HUGE.

We ave had sme small things broken in the flat, like a eak under the kitchen sink. You fill in a requisite at the reception and the next day the handy man arrives and fixes. That is nice....Also not at any x-tra charge.....

I am still at a loss for Hanness birthday but will setlle that one tomorrow afternoon as in the morning I am going with Hannes to work to meet his colleages, and then I am going on my first expedition to KARAMA. This apparently is the bargain area. Not is a mall ,it is small stalls and shops. So it will be very hot.......... Will post some photo's tomorrow after this expedition.

All for now