SURPRISE.................. SURPRISE

MY 50TH BIRTHDAY CAKE...

I have just had the mot fantastic birthday of all.....For my birthday Hannes broke tradition COMPLETELY and surprised me with a 5 day holiday to one of the Maldivian islands. He was so good at keeping all the arrangement secret that I only found out the day we were leaving. He even packed my suitcase.

I was blown away, and also flown away...............

Now all of you know me and my birthday tradition has ALWAYS been that Hannes gives me some serious bling...I tend to look like a fully lit Christmas tree with all my bling AND I wear them all, anywhere and anytime. I am not sorry for missing some bling this year , as it has been one of my dreams to see the Maldives.

The flight was not that long and I just closed my eyes and slept the whole way.

Arriving in Maldives takes some adjustment. Firstly, we now live in very very hot part of the world, BUT we do not have humidity. That makes the heat bearable....Maldives however is 15degreesC cooloer than Dubai But the humidity is very high. The airport is typical on an Island. very clean but basic. To get from the airport to hotel is either a speed boat ride or a sea plane transfer. We had a very smart and fast huge speedboat.

This was the first sight I had of the hotel on approach to the KANDOOMA ISLAND

On arrival by speedboat, this is what you see.....It resembles very large coconuts. My excitement was very very big....I could not wait to get off the boat and put my toes into the white sand... Yo are greeted at the door with ice-cold towels and fruit cocktails. At this stage I was still very "un-tanned"   Boy did I rectify that problem quickly....

VIEW FROM HOTEL LOBBY TO BOAT HOUSE.

This is not a postcard it is exactly as it is.....picture perfect. Words cannot describe....

BIRTHDAY DRINKS ON THE ROOFTOP

Editing these foto's are absolutely NOT working so do your own thing with what the photo's mean....I am just going to speak from the heart......

It was a fantastic holiday AND I had to come to one conclusion. I am so very fortunate to be able to share all this with my first husband......and still enjoy his company.

I am not the straightest pencil in the box and tend to live in very vivid colours.......BUT the 2 of us still really enjoy each others company and can have so much fun.

Maldives was always a very big wish for me and here it all came true. Needless to say I did not want to leave at all BUT that is just typical me. Every single place we go to on holiday I am always looking for ways to extend the stay....

The food was good and the people very very friendly. We did not venture off our island at all as it was never needed.

We did snorkeling from our doorstep beach and went on the snorkeling excursions to other small islands as well.

All in all we just had a very lad back and relaxing holiday. Every day we went for massages and ate ourselves into a stupor.

The 5 days flew past in a wink.....

THANK YOU HANNES FOR BEING SO VERY SPECIAL...I LOVE YOU LOTS.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME PERSONALLY WITH ALL THIS GOINGS ON IN OUR LIVES.

It is no easy to be an expat....It is not for sissies at all. I really love being here and enjoy my life (even if it has turned onto its head at times). The big but comes in with what we have to compromise and what you have to give up.

Family and friends are ALWAYS the biggest hassles. I tend to miss them more here than what I did living in SA, and also seeing them very seldom. It is just the expanse of the oceans that divide us that ou really feel. I think there s something in the aircraft filters that tackles you brain to make you miss them more.

Friends you make in the new country are very special BUT you have to be very careful as they also tend to move away from time to time. IT took a year for us to get settled into a social group here and his group is just about only south Africans. It s not planned or orchestrated it just tends to happen. I now have very special friends here and we all will eventually meet up back in SA again.

I have to wonder how this will change me. What will I be when I get back to my SA family and friends again. Surly I cannot be the same as before...or will I ????

All of you know how much I hate exercise................I HAVE JOINED A GYM HERE....Now this story is funny (or at least i thought so)  here goes.

The Carlton Ritz Hotel is just across the road form us. I went there one day all "Marina Mary" attitude and asked to join there sport and hotel facilities....BIG was my surprise on the costs....I can buy a car in SA for that money and it needs and will only be membership for a year.  Just remember I can also get 15% discount of all food and beverage at the hotel to.....Holy cow I can never eat or drink enough to get my money's worth...VERY FUNNY.   I left with exactly the same attitude as I left.....That did not deflate or deter my attitude one bit. ( For all who know me you will understand the gut spa and attitude I try to convey here. It is also the funny part)

The Movenpick hotel is just as near and off I went there to enquire.   Happiness.....I am now a fully fledged member of Movenpick and can gym 24/7 ( yeah right...just up my alley...is this maybe funny...)

I go every day ,OK I skip some days...., But I can gym, sauna, steam bath, have 5 star hotel bathroom facilities, 15% discount on spa and beauty treatment etc.

My membership card is GOLD......only bleddie gold card I have now..............

So I am now a gym bunny and not vegetating on the couch....Very proud of myself.

Another story that comes to mind on expat living here is the driving on the right..........I remeber the first time a took the car and went grocery shopping. All went well until all groceries were packed in the bot and me ready to leave. As I got into the car I realised I have no steering wheel in front of me...Confusion and embarrassment deluxe.  I had got into the wrong side of the car....Not to let anybody else realise I have just been a super "doos" I just sat there for 10 minutes and the calmly got out the car and walked around to the left side and voila. have steering wheel now and drove away.

The sad side is my kids.....I miss them badly and when they do visit it takes so very long to reconnect again. Maybe it is normal life that they grow up and move out of your daily life, BUT this just makes it feel so very final, and as if you have hastened the process.

Of our friends here have finished their contracts and are heading back to SA..It seems you are always saying goodbye..........

Hannes and I however are still very happy to stay here for a god couple of years depending on contract holding and the money side and as it is the middle east we have to always question the stability of the region.

I am lucky to have lots of visitors which make the longings easier. I have just had Ettiene ( a friend from SA)stay for about a month and he is now coming back to Dubai as he secured himself a job here. Barbara will be here in a weeks time.

It is very very hot here now and the days average 48C. This is not a joke.....and thank heaven for air con.

OK all for this one.

Miss and love you all very very much

L