April. Springtime in the desert. Not much is in bloom around these parts. Just wind and sun and dust. The change in season is mostly marked by the heat rolling in heavier each day, and all we can do is wait it out.
Waiting is the theme these days. For the end of the work day, the weekend, the summer, our exodus to greener pastures. I don't like being one of those people who spends the week counting down to the weekend, but there it is.
It's not all a drag. Had a good time camping in Oman over spring break. Went camping in the mountains, and a night camping on the beach on the Gulf of Oman. Beautiful drive and mountain views, reminiscent of Highway 1 in California, winding mountain road hugging the coast. Quiet and isolated camping spot, and a mess of stars at night. It was good to get out of the city for a while, and spend some good time with Frances away from the frustrations of being here.
Sometimes I think it's idiotic to complain about being here. I think if we had been living in some sleepy suburb prior to the move, it would be a totally different experience. I mean, we have people who come to clean our apartment for us. We have a swimming pool and a gym at our disposal in the building. My job is ridiculously effort-free and the money is good enough to allow us some leisure and luxury, for once. Life is easy, which is not exactly the same as being good, but it certainly could be worse.
I'm killing time with mostly pointless pursuits, which is my own failing. Video games fill hours, but not the void. I've started taking an online class in teaching literacy, which at least gives me something with which to occupy my brain at work each week, but it's not the most rigorous of courses. I'm so far unimpressed with the quality of online education. Rather than the connected web of academic discussion, you have a bunch of frayed lines, one way communications that ultimately lead nowhere. I'm hoping, as always, to use my time a little more effectively, but this has not historically been one of my strongest suits. Something to work on.
Recommence my study of Spanish? Make that documentary about exploitative working conditions in UAE that Frances keeps talking about? Start a Wesley Willis tribute band called Banoffee Pie? We're running out of episodes of Dexter, so I need to get going on something.
Seven months here, and we're still debating whether or not to stick it out next year. It comes down to money versus happiness, which usually I'd call a no-brainer, but it's an amount of money that could really change things for us moving forward, and that's hard to ignore. If we stay, it will be a matter of trying to recoup some happiness, one way or another.
Springtime in Abu Dhabi. If we're going to tease out a new bloom, it will likely be within.
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