Goodbye Sandpit…

So I owe everyone an explanation. I said end of June and here I am a month later. Would hate to be one of those bloggers that had just upped and left and hadn’t bothered with the telling.

Be warned… this could be a long one.

So… You’re a smart lot and you’ve probably worked it out from the title. Yes, I’m leaving Dubai. Very, very long story short, we’ve been idly contemplating change for a while; happened to have a Canadian residency lying around that needed deciding on; and of course happen to have an 11 month old that could do with a home since neither of us really wants to go live where we were born at this point… and things lined up. So we’re making one of the quickest moves in the history of the world… to Toronto. Why quick? Because it gets cold quite soon (well not according to them, but def to long term desert dwellers). And apparently there’s no quicker way to get depressed than to move somewhere when its cold and grey. And we wouldn’t want that now, would we? So we’re off in under 3 months from when we decided.

The past months have been a varying mix of absolute elation and sheer terror. And as the day dawns – literally, we leave in the morning – I find all that giving way to sadness. I didn’t actually think it would be so hard to say goodbye to the sandpit to be honest. Probably shouldn’t be surprised though. That’s what happens when a wandering soul finds a place very close to home I guess.

Oh, let the snobs criticize… to me its been home.

I came here 8 years ago with very little money and a ton of confidence that I could make it on my own in ‘shariah compliant sin city’. Didn’t tell anyone that I was taking a chance; just came here and took it. And guess what? It worked out. I’d say every one of my materialistic dreams came true (except that Range Rover Sport I was lusting after at one point. But hey we need to leave something up there right? I’m only 30- errr 20-something ;)). But more importantly, this is where I grew up! Found my future in more ways than one… properly found a sig other, grew into someone just shy of semi-important on the work front, had that baby! And met some of what I hope will stay the best friends of my life… Learned to drink loads (yes, its odd in an Islamic country, I know), put on make up (including while diving ;)), walk in heels, wheel and deal and many other significant life skills I don’t remember ever living without. All in truly flamboyant Dubai style. Loved every minute! Ok I lie, loved 6 out of every 10 minutes maybe. Seriously, that’s pretty good!

So today, its time to take my head out of the sandpit and go play in the real world. I’m pretty sure I’ll like it. Or who knows maybe I’ll be back here as soon as I possibly can. All I know is that as I say goodbye to the steady trickle of awesome people that came by and called today, I don’t think I’ll ever quite be done with this place! So for the moment, lets just say… till we meet again Dubai.

On sabbatical...

So I'm taking a few weeks off to go discover myself. Figure out a new life etc... Or maybe I lie ;) maybe I'm just goofing off for a bit. Anyone's guess!


But seriously... Lots going on. Atleast its the kinds of things that will make for good stories in the future.


Be back at the end of June folks, with loads more.


Till then, dare I say 'enjoy the summer'? No of course not, we live in the desert, that would mean nothing right? Keep your head down, enjoy the malls and try not to buy too much.


Laterssss.

Bad planning…

You know how some people manage to get everything they set out to get done, done? Those people who manage to look like they’re doing nothing but having fun but still stay right at the very bloody top of everything? All. The. Bloody. Time. The kind that make us normal folk look hopelessly inadequate?

Yeah those. My mum is one of those.

I'm  guessing as someone in the know, you know that American Idol is kinda top of discussions right now with most people.  Well, I’ve noticed mum knows an insane amount about the goings on with those kids. It figures. The papers here are full of all manner of detail right down to the colour of their socks .

So I say to her after a few conversations about them (as well as how Guiliana is having a surrogate, and, in case you think she’s a frivolous airhead, what was in the latest of Sheikh Mo’s plans)… ‘Mum… you’re clearly not doing enough babysitting.  Because if you were, how on earth do you have the time to read so much. I’ve had the same issue of ‘Aquarius’ on my bedside table for a couple of months and barely got past page 3.’ And we all know that thats the ultimate in intellectual reading and takes time! *rolling eyes*

‘Its all in the planning’, she said smugly, ‘I read the papers when baby has her first nap.’ Hmmmmm... maybe... she manages to spend a lot of time with baby, do loads for her, cook for her and the rest of us fab food, AND read all about that boy with the same name twice and how his father owns some kind of store.

I’m pretty sure she’s lying! I’m going to stalk her the next few days and find out how she’s adding hours to the day.

Because as someone who’s given up planning when she’s given up her job, I’m on a quest to figure this out. There’s got to be a way to have it all? Hasn’t there? I mean Supermum has been doing it for years :)!

Focusing hard…

Ever noticed how getting someone’s attention in full is practically an impossibility? There was a time, not so long ago, when you had to make intelligent conversation for the most part (not withstanding the occasional drunken ramble – and aren’t those awesome? I’ve been told about everything from the sizes of people underclothes to clandestine affair details to secret religious beliefs over the years. Deliciously juicy… but I’m rambling ;)). Because, back then, people listened to you. And judged you wholeheartedly if you were a. boring b. stupid or god forbid c. a windbag. Oh the tags were endless if you look back and recall a little.

Today though, thanks to the modern miracle of technology, we’ve been set free haven’t we? We’re always got half an eye on a screen and most of a ear out for a beguiling ‘ping’ telling us someone out there loves us more that the people we’re with. Gosh, what if I miss that inane comment someone made about someone else on still someone else’s status update. Or worse still, missed actual direct contact with my fourteenth cousin eight times removed on my mum’s side as she sends me an IM saying she’s rolled out of bed and plans to brush her teeth in a few minutes. I mean what would I do without that info?

People can actually live quite happily without talking to anyone today. Whole decision making convos are typed out in something vaguely resembling English. Where letters god never intended to be put next to each other are forced to coexist in harmony. And are so excited about it, they pull out industrial quantities of punctuation to accompany them!!! I mean I even saw a chick miss The Hulk manhandle a lesser god, while she checked out a text which probably told her about how she’d win a bar of peanut brittle if she was the thirty second gazzilionth person to walk into XYZ uber-fashion on the third Sunday after World-lets-all-own-a-smart-phone-day.

Sarcasm aside, I think its super liberating. Now we get to be as unfocussed as we like on things. The commitment to commitment can die a peaceful death and we can just flit around being the masters of halfhearted multitasking. Awesome!!

Thumbs up…

Nostalgia comes in many forms I’ve discovered. And the latest ‘avatar’ of my nostalgia is a fizzy, brown beverage!

Last week, I was doing a grocery run. Only this time, it was a social occasion because I had gone with - in addition to buggy, baby et al – my folks as well, who are visiting. Once we’d plodded through the aisles making things more of an event than anything else really! Stopping every so often to discuss the merits and demerits of a biscuit or a jellybean (we went with gourmet berry BTW, which I’d recommend). And getting some scary stares from efficient looking lunch time shoppers because we were verging on blocking the aisles during some particularly intense huddles… Overall, we got done without major incident and got to check out. In front of us was an Indian couple with the Indian Cola – Thums Up!

I shamelessly accosted the lady and asked her where she found it. The question, of course created an immediate bonding situation. She beamed at high voltage and pointed me surreptitiously to the place she found it. I ran towards it with arms outstretched and fetched not one but two six-packs. *sigh* so good! And you don’t easily find it in Dubai

Now to understand the fuss, I think you need to be brown or a strong brown-o-phile. A friend of mine who’s not brown said he suspects the manufacturers add ‘masala’ (that’s curry powder to the rest of you) to the mix and that’s why quite so many of us buzz around it like bees :P.

No clue what they put in it… all I know is that to me it tastes of home. And days when you didn’t get to have a ‘soft-drink’ that often and when you did it was usually a celebration, small or big. When you had to buy one, pay a deposit almost as much as the drink for the bottle, and then return it to get your money back. Memories of school canteens where if you had hit jackpot on the day for some reason, you could traipse up to the seller and ask for either a Thums Up or a Gold Spot (that’s the orange drink). They would get it for you from the refrigerator in the back and open the cap before handing it over. None of this twist to open stuff from self-serve coolers on those special days!

A couple of months ago, I’d gone home and on one of the smaller streets, we saw a tiny little grocer. We pulled over and asked for a Gold Spot. He just looked at us really oddly and gave us a Mirinda. Clearly no one sent us the memo on the fact that they’d stopped production years ago! Is it the same? Nope! I remember the ad for Gold Spot – it had a baseline ‘the zing thing’.  Now I don’t know whether its because I’m in the field or not, but I trust ads. When someone tells me something is ‘the zing thing’, I believe them! And now apparently ‘the zing thing’ is dead.

So, before the death of more nostalgia-drivers, I’m hitting the Thums Up. And remembering the taste of home. Because though I keep going further and further from home, you can never take the ‘brown’ out of the girl. No sir!

Damn right…

So, for a vegetarian, I put a ridiculous amount of effort into making sure the meat eaters in the family get the works. I’ve done some pretty adventurous stuff. Pounded out meat, massaged marinade into things; cut, chopped and kneaded; fried, broiled, baked, sautéed and curried…. Stuck three quarters of my arms up a turkey’s behind… And my personal best: peeled and deveined a shrimp (not just the one BTW, kilos of the stuff).

Why? Hmmmm… good question. No one makes me. My family for the most part are super supportive about my choice. Now. Oh don’t get me wrong; they’ve tried to mock the vegetarianism out of me over the years. I’ve been told everything from ‘you’re not saving any animals by going meat-free, we’re just eating your share’; to ‘you’re a shame upon the family name’. All in jest of course; don’t worry I wasn’t ill-treated at a kid or anything. Well, not EXACTTTTLLY ;).

I think one of my biggest mistakes was letting people convince me not to pursue a career in food. For a large part of my career, I enjoyed what I did instead though, I really did, so I forgot what a big deal food was to me. Of course on said career path you come upon some shyte jobs now and again. And you need something you love to get you through. I mean besides booze ;).

So I started to cook. I mean really cook. Not just the cook-because-you-have-to, everyday b*ll*cks. Although to be perfectly honest, I enjoy that too. And then I discovered that people’ll eat anything when they’re hungry; and I had a whole ton of single and foodless friends. So I experimented. Then I had some ‘good cook’ friends. So I competed. And pretty soon the only person I competed with was myself (no I’m not bragging, I just find that no one can push me as hard as I can push myself). And people liked my food as I may have mentioned *blushing bashfully like you brought that up and not me*. And what’s not to like about someone liking something about you :)? Approval has always motivated me, lets be honest.

So today I’ve raised that to a level I don’t want to step away from. I don’t taste any of the stuff of course, so I look closely at people while they taste my food. We’ve discussed previously how most people in my immediate family are much too polite to tell you things like ‘this sucks’. But involuntary expressions don’t lie! So I stalk those. And when I yell at them, they sometimes volunteer some constructive criticism. So overall, I’ve progressed on my experimentation. Because its fun, and it makes me happy, and I’ve learned stuff. And it puts food on the table. Literally.

Am I pleased with myself? Helllzzz yeah. Do I plan to continue it? For sure. And yes of course I do all this on the veggie food as well. Its a particular challenge to me to make veggie mains that rival their meaty counterparts. But lets face it, when you want large-scale approval; you get it for the meat. Expanding the target audience you ask? Damn right!!

Pooper scooper…

Two days late and a title like that? Really, I don’t even need to finish this blog… but I’m going to :p! Tch tch. How else would I get my self-indulgent moments of the week?

Yeah… so today is day 14 of baby with upset stomach. And of course that means the adults in my house (and there’s loads of us now because my folks are visiting) have, well… had a fair bit of cleaning to do. For Princess Poo Poo (and this is a different version than the Pooh Pooh-ing at my food one we talked about last week. Which by the way I’m trying hard not to connect to the upset tummy. Wouldn’t want to be the one that poisoned my kid. Thankfully, since she won’t have anything to do with my food, we can quite happily blame the jars ;). Just kidding, it’s a virus.)

And don’t worry I’m not going into gross detail. I know we’re close and everything, and although I’m happy to talk about colour and texture, I’m pretty sure you’re totally NOT keen. What’s on my mind is more the mood side of things. Most times when an adult has a tummy bug, ‘it’ is like a complete b*tch on wheels all the livelong day. Children apparently have a different modus operandi.  They are FAR too interested in the world and what goes on. Unless they’re severely dehydrated, they keep going!

For the most part of the last 2 weeks therefore people have looked at me oddly when I said the baby was sick. She looked well firstly. And secondly she is an extremely social baby (*clutching wood and refusing to let go*). This means that when she’s around people, she forgets what ails her. They say adrenalin fuels people on. In her case, its curiosity! So with the exception of a couple of the worst days, I took her out and risked even messy public clean ups in an effort to keep her entertained. So daytimes were taken care of largely. THE NIGHTS WERE A DIFFERENT STORY!

*Sigh* long story short, after days and days of it, I pretty much had a meltdown. Thank god for mommies. Mine took over, told me to go to sleep and that she’ll man the monitor and the night wake ups to whatever extent she could and wake me up immediately if there was an issue. Of course the little traitor was on her best behavior these past couple. Just woke up for a feed and an ‘undercarriage change’, as my husband calls it, as necessary! The worst is clearly reserved for me. The screaming for ages and not going back to sleep for 3 hours at night have my name written on them clearly. Too bloody bad she’s already old enough to recognize me ;).

So when I go back on duty, I’m waiting to see how it goes. Hopefully she really is better. And then I can finally spot gold on the crusade for STTN. Don’t know what that is? Rookie… its only the Holy Grail of parenthood! Sleep Through The (Goddamn) Night. Wish me luck people, we could use it!