Sorry I haven’t been in touch for a couple of weeks. I don't have a flash excuse as I hadn’t been kidnapped by a white slavery ring. If I had, we all know they’d be phoning the police after a couple of hours offering big money to hand me back. So in answer to the questions, I’m still alive, healthy and for the moment financially solvent.
Today could be the last day of Ramadan, it all depends on the gents on the Moon Committee announcing that the New Moon has been sighted but it could just as likely happen tomorrow night or Monday. Once the announcement is made everyone has a couple of days holiday though the government shuts down for a full week. Bakers has already told us that we can have Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off, it just gets too confusing otherwise. Most of the people in the office have taken the whole week off and a few are going overseas. One of the great things about Dubai is that it's so central for travelling. One girl has gone to Syria, one of the guys has gone to Jordan to visit his family then is heading to Petra and the Dead Sea, and another has headed to London for the week.
It really is a small world. One of the lawyers here at Bakers did 6 weeks on the Death Star as an intern.
Last week I went go-kart racing for the first time ever, it was so much fun though it took me a full lap to realise that the kart had brakes. Many would now hope that I'll eventually learn that big cars have brakes too.
I’ve been to a few iftars during Ramadan. The first was at a small Lebanese family style restaurant with great food, then another at the Mina Seyahi which had a huge A&P show size tent with smaller tents set up inside. Last week we went to the Shangri-La hotel which has iftar by the roof top pool (life’s so tough…) It was a gorgeous setting, a nice group of people, mezze and smoking shisha. If it was possible to eat, chat and smoke shisha on a professional basis I would take the job in a heartbeat! I had the bright idea that next Ramadan I could give up coffee for the month. I mentioned it to a few people but it seems that even though I may only have been here for 3 months, my addiction to the bean has already been noticed and my suggestion has been greeted with universal laughter and "as if"!
Life will return to normal once Ramadan is over. The coffee will flow freely and the place downstairs will again sell scones to the needy masses, ie, me!
Eid Mubarak!
