Dipping my Toes in the Gulf

April 3, 2022

I survived the first week* in the office! All of my new colleagues are lovely and I’m really glad to be joining the team. My understanding is that my assigned section has been understaffed throughout nearly the entire duration of covid-19, and is finally getting back to ‘normal’ so my arrival has been a welcome development in that process!

*To be fair, my ‘week’ was only Thursday and a half day on Friday (big thanks to the UAE government to transitioning to a 4.5 day work week on Jan 1!).

View of Al Marina from The Corniche

After work on Friday, my office sponsor N and I drove to the Corniche, a gorgeous waterfront neighborhood on the coast of Abu Dhabi where the stunning National Palace is located and a number of lovely beaches are located. We picked up some fresh fruit juices at the corner store and strolled along the waterfront, enjoying the weather while we can before the summer heat sets in while she gave me the low-down of the office and her experiences thus far.

Yours truly warming up to the Corniche

After a couple of hours, we packed up and headed back to the Embassy following a quick swing by my place to pick up Sable - the community liaison office was hosting a “Yappy Hour” for diplomatic pups and their hopefully more diplomatic owners on the Embassy lawn! It was a great opportunity to meet people from outside my section, blow off some of the stress from moving, and give Sable a chance to run around and make some new friends! A great way to cap off a long week.

View of the Corniche from the back of a boat - can you believe those stunning waters?

On Saturday morning, my social sponsor, B, surprised me with an invite to join her and her husband on their friends’ boat. With the obvious answer being yes, I was graciously treated to an afternoon out on the water with some lovely new friends. Hoping to make that a regular outing! I’m always so much happier on the water, and Abu Dhabi is no exception. After mistakenly pulling up to an unmarked private island, we instead dropped anchor right off the coast of a sandy island where we spent the afternoon under the sun and enjoying some local hummus and California rose!

We were treated to an incredible sunset on the water on our boat ride back to the marina. Both due to the kindness of new friends and the gradual adjustment to the time change, I’m feeling more and more at home as days go by.

xoxo,

Aims