It has been a long school week my friends. The kids were antsy to go on holiday and so were the teachers. Honestly, I’m not sure which group was worse! I ran into Bernie, the guy who hired me, towards the end of the week. He asked if I had any Eid plans. I told him I was going to sleep and he laughed. The best part? I am SO sleeping this week. It is so far quite delightful.
On Tuesday night one of the ladies had organized yoga in an apartment here at the Dunes. She had met a woman from California who is a yoga instructor and who offered to come here once a week for 3 kd a person. SOLD! I get to do yoga AND I don’t have to leave the complex! I hope she comes back every week. For real! It was very relaxing.
On Friday the 4th after my weekly Skype chat with the sister I went back to the Sahara Golf Club with Rick, Maddy and Lindsay. We met a lady there who was a member. We were going to try out the member brunch. She said it would be 6 kd. Ok, fine. Friends, it was good, but it was 10 kd, plus drinks. That was a roughly $40 brunch. I will not be back. Nuh-uh!
After that the four of us went to Lulu’s, the fruit market and the ghetto K-mart to get the weekly shopping out of the way. I really didn’t need a whole lot because the week before I had not eaten all day when I went to the grocery store (you know, when I was hungover). I did follow my list the previous week, but got a few extra things. I also didn’t take lunch all week because I had lunch duty, so there was no time to eat and I ended up with quite a bit of extra food in my tiny fridge.
Saturday we decided to go to the Hilton to check it out. Rick, Lindsay and I arrived late so we didn’t go with the whole group of teachers that had a tour. Lindsay had called on Friday and set up a free trial day for us. We spent pretty much the entire day there. We walked along the beach and checked out the outdoor facilities. One of the rules at the family pool even included one about nannies not leaving their charges there unattended. For real. We collected sea shells, then went and laid out on the beach chairs. It was heavenly. The place was practically deserted! We heard that the chalets (beach houses) and the hotel was booked for the rest of the week. Guess how much a chalet costs? Roughly $5,000 for a night. It’s a 5 night minimum. Yeah.
The chalets.
Laying on the beach looking at the Arabian Gulf (apparently it's the Arabian Gulf here and not the Persian Gulf - whatever) is an acceptable time to have sand on my feet. Walking to the bus for school is NOT.
My peeps.
The Gulf. I heart this kind of a view!
And yes, it was kind of chilly out. Even though it's in the 70s it is a bit chilly due to the proximity of the Gulf. Not to worry, I am still wearing sandals every day!
We ate lunch at a cute little pizza place on the property, then stopped at the Starbucks for coffee. It was delicious!
Maddy left to go play Frisbee, but Lindsay, Rick and I worked out for a little bit. Lindsay and Rick are both PE teachers. Rick said we were going to work on our backs. Lindsay showed me some exercises to do with free weights. Rick showed me an exercise to do to keep my chest up. As he said, ‘the girls won’t always be that perky dear.’ He cracks me up! The two of them had me utterly exhausted. I am not a work-out with weights kind of a girl. Who am I kidding, I am not a work-out at all type of girl! Lindsay has offered to show me other exercises to do in the gym at school. It’s a very nice offer, and I might take her up on it, but not today. Today I am very sore.
After our workout, we went to check out the spa portion of the property. Glorious is the word that comes to mind. The spa pool was my version of heaven. It has jets along the outside border. It also has faucets in the middle with really hard water pressure that you can stand under. We spent about an hour in the spa pool moving around relaxing. Then we went and checked out the steam room. I had never been in one before, and I have to say, I really liked it. After that we checked out the ice room. I was very nervous about that part. It really wasn’t that cold. There was a bucket of ice at one end of the room. We just stood there for a minute then left. Rick went back in later and said a guy was rubbing the ice on his body. That does not sound like fun to me. I don’t think I’ll be doing that!
We also checked out the sauna before hopping back into the pool. I could live in that spa pool. That pool is worth the Hilton membership. We’ll see. I have a Christmas vacation to pay for first!
Today is a scheduled pajama day. Lindsay came over this morning around 8 because her maid was going to be there. She brought her French Press with her. (I have no idea if that is capitalized or not). We drank coffee and hung out. Rick and Maddy then came by. We discussed going to Sri Lanka for Spring break in April. There was also talk of renting a bungalow on the coast. It sounds like heaven!
Tonight we’re going over to the DeBaun’s for a ‘Staycationers Potluck.’ It should be fun!
**You will probably be hearing a lot about Rick, Maddy and Lindsay. We have formed a little family and hang out together a lot. It’s nice, because as we were discussing this morning, we are not friends out of necessity. By that we mean that we would have been friends if we had met back in the states. When you first arrive here, you form friendships out of necessity. It is nice to know that I have a group of people that I can spend time with without judgment. I find it very interesting that Rick and Lindsay are both PE teachers, and Maddy is an avid volleyball player who likes team sports. Then there’s me. I think the gods are trying to tell me to get off my butt and do something healthy and productive. GAH!
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