My New Clothes dryer for my birthday

I have never been so happy as to get a 'dryer' for my birthday. We gave Alicia my LG Front Loading Washer and Dryer when we stopped in New Jersey. The temporary housing we were provided came only with a Washer. Our friend below us has a Washer/Dryer Combo, but since we are supposedly temporary in this building I just got the Washer, I had to resort to setting my clothes out on the ironing board for the past 3 weeks, but my honey was kind enough to get me the top of the line Dryer








Notice all the features, it is feather light, has no ink on it to stain my clothers, has locking hinges and I can hang my pants off the END...how sweet. And think of all the energy I am saving the Govt. of Abu Dhabi. I am sure glad he (Art) did not waste money on that new fangled Dryer..At least I don't have to resort to washing and drying out by the old Cement Pond (ala Beverly Hillbillies)... but Arts friend Harry Houck would be proud of me using Solar to dry my clothes.. In this heat, they dry in minutes... Happy Eid to all (now look that one up)...Marta and Art

5.2 KM walk today

We took a 5 km walk today down to the EAST end of the Corniche, we live on the West end. The Dhow Harbor is filled with these working Dhows, they fish the local waters with nets

The Emerates Palace Hotel, one of a handful of 7 Star hotels in the world, Rooms go up to $17,000 per night during festivals, only 302 rooms in the huge hotel complex. I took this shot from about 3 Km away, We will take some night shots soon as it is spec tacular when lit. Some suites have their own private beach area. Rhiana will play on New Years Eve

This is about the average size of boats in the Marina Mall area, the large ones are moored somewhere else I guess. Some that belong to the Royal family have heli pads on them

At Heritage Village, this is a depiction of a bedoin tent, note the A/C unit. Today when people camp in the desert, they take these units and diesel generators to power them. People camp in the Winter, when the nigts cool down to the 70's

Marta gets a transportation allowance. It showed up today (ha ha ha). Another exhibit at Heritage village

We did the 5 Km walk today to try to see the entire Corniche, we failed by about 200 yards, the beating sun drained us and it was only in the 80's. and a little bit humid. It took us 2 hours and we took a taxi back to our Apt. I finally dipped my toes into the Arabian sea, so now I have been in 3 oceans, the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arabian Sea (not an ocean ?)..

Art and I watched a Hanna Montana marathon today...strange but true, along with som computer work. I am putting together and Issues list from the 100 or so emails I have received and my meetings with all my staff over the past week or so. We seem to have our fair share of things to work out and I see quite a challenge ahead for me. We have process and systems issues, not in any particualar order that will take months to fully grasp. We are undergoing a major system upgrade in about 2 weeks to the Financial systems and the Clinical systems are changing from Meditech to Cerner the first weekend in December. All this change is sure to make my life more challenging at the Hospital. I miss all my friends and co-workers back at St Agnes. Take care and email me some time, my email address is 'uae.delatorre@gmail.com'

View from our Balcony

Night view from our balcony of the Marina Mall beyond the

Same view during the day, this day the High Speed Formula 1 Power boat races


We have made it 2 whole weeks here an Abu Dhabi. Every day is different. Art has not become adjusted to the time yet and he stays awake until 2 each morning and gets up after noon. This is not like him, but there is not much for him to do. He does clean and cook dinner or we go out. Last night we went out for drinks with my old boss from Fresno. Matthew Abraham the former CEO from St Agnes was here on business so we met up with him for a few hours to catch up on the latest news. The weather is beautiful, in the 70's. I must take advantage of it as it gets over 130 in the summer. We still go out on forays in the evenings, everything is an adventure, sometimes Art has the cab just let us out and we wander back home late in the evening. It seems safe, even one night in the "Electra" section. Nothing but shops selling 'electric' appliances and TV's and such. All lit up by neon lights and thousands of people milling about. Not the cleanest section of town, but we ate there anyway at a local 'chill out zone' . They seem to do a lot of 'relaxing' here and the names of some places are very odd, The Chill Zone, Chilaxation, Chill Out, Relax In. Many of these turn out to be places where one can smoke tobacco from a water pipe hookaah. A Fragrant sweet smell. but I can't get used to all the smoking, I keep asking for Non Smoking sections and they just nod their heads NO luck here mam. Every one is very courteous, calling me Mam, Madam, sometimes sounding like 'mom' with their accents from all over the world. Very different from the USA, they are all so polite.

Lost Purse

This is the beach Walkway in front of our home, called the Corniche

Our 2 Apt. is behind the 3 building from the left, we have a peak of the ocean, (see below)

In front of our building, the Corniche road is lined with Apts, Oil Co. offices, Car dealers and Mosques

This is the view from our balcony, we have this peak of the marina, the huge modern new Marina Mall (Art was facinated that they wash the white tent structure daily) and beyond that the Arabian Sea. High Speed boat races were held right below this past weekend (loud)

I did the most stupid dreadful thing a person can do in a foreign country (short of getting arrested) and that was I lost my purse on Sunday, my first day of orientation. I thought I could sleep a bit later, but when I got to the bus shuttle stop, there was no bus..but I saw it on the far side of the block so I ran down there, it drove right past me back to where I started so I ran back there. It turned and I could see it passing between buildings, and finally caught it, out of breath. The driver must have thought I was just waving frantically to him to greet him....I have to sign in on the shuttle bus all the time, Name, Badge Number Date, Time, Destination, First born child....and I set my purse down on the floor to do this as my arms were full with Orientation binders, etc. I went to Orientation, then my office and at lunch looked for my wallet ....NO PURSE...I called Art, is it at home...NO....is it in the orientation meeting room NO....wallet, passport, visa, all letters of Officialdom, credit cards, $$$, all gone........................................................................I was overwhelmed and frustated to beat all.

Well it turned out the bus driver found it and kept is securely by his side as he made his rounds all day, waiting for me to come back...I ride the shuttle all day long but this day only in the morning. He called his supervisor, who called my office and my Patient Accounts manager ran down to the transport department and there was my purse with all the contents fully intact...The driver was so apologetic that I had lost my purse...I thanked him profusely, I did not know if it was OK to reward him, he was beaming with pride. We do have an equivalent "Sunshine Card" , but I want to recognize him for his honesty and integrity. My CFO says that in this country there is almost no theft as the punishment is so severe (jail automatically immediately until trial) no bail. And surely deportation.....People leave there cars running with the keys in them everywhere in the summer to keep the AC on. I am blessed to have gotten all my stuff back.

Shopping Trip

Just a sample of what we bought today at the Market. Art and I go shopping about every other day. Remember, we don't have a car and we take taxi's everywhere, about 10 dH to get around town is just less then $3 US. We keep finding markets all around the neighborhood, some quite small and others quite large. Food is more expensive here overall...there are a few bargains and the choices are all international When we go to the produce, the signs above the produce show Name of produce and Country of Orgin.. We see almost every African, Indian, and Australian Continents produce being represented. We eat Saudi Potatoes and Thai Fruits and South African Oranges, New Zealand Beef to name a few. We don't eat pork...there is a Non Muslim walled off section of Spinneys market to purchase pork products, but one feels guilty going in there...so we try to respect the culture. We find ourselves starting to say "God Willing" after every sentence when something is to happen in the future.

A Mexican in Abu Dhabi

Art was very happy to find Mexican food at our local Market. It took him less then 2 hours of being in Country to find it. Tortillas, Spanish rice. Our first meal at our new home was tacos we made.

Low Battery, just got Internet access

Hi All
Life is complicated here in Abu Dhabi. Getting Internet is like getting top secret security, we needed 'signed and 'officially stamped' letters from my work. Then this Apt. does not let 'transients' get internet access. So I had to go around all first line staff in every departmet here at the hospital. Finally I got the right stamps on my papers (like the letters of transit in Casablanca, you can't do anything in Abu Dhabi unless you have stamped papers).

Now we have power problems as our converter keeps blowing fuses so I have limited power on my Laptop.

All these problems will be worked out. In the UAE we just wait and God Willing it will be.

We are off to a bank now at 6 pm on a Sunday (a work day in the UAE). I finally got my 'papers' to allow me to open a bank account. In the UAE you must have permission from your employer to open a bank account. The letter has my monthly salary on it for all to see. More later.

First Abu Dhabi Update

Hello, it has been 1 week, 7 days since we got on the plane for the UAE and we finally have time to update our blog....we left the camera at our Apt. so I can't upload any pictures right now, will do later in a few days

We flew into Abu Dhabi over the Saudi Arabian Desert and looking out over the desolate sand, was our first inclination that we were really in a foreign country...miles and miles of 'nothing' but sand. It was dark as we landed and suddenly the lights of Abu Dhabi lit up the ground...we got through passport control right after they made me take an Eye Scan to make sure I was not some foreign spy or something.

Someone (KAREEM) met us and had a driver take us to our hotel apt. It is a 2 bedroom apt, with full kitchen, Clean and adequate. IT WAS 10 pm and there was no Toilet paper...so we went down to security, Robi, told us there was a market 2 blocks away..we got TP and som other necessities. \more of that later.,\

We are on the 19th floor of a 20 storey tower, we have an ocean view to our right and a construction view to our left. Will post pictures later. We are on the beach, out front is a restaurant, then the Corniche. the Corniche extends all along the beach, it is a wide walkway and park all along the city.. We walk the 3 kilometers to the Marina MALL where 1.2 million dollar jewelry and gaga gaga clothing is proudly displayed..there are just a few shoppers, the floors are so clean you can eat off them. really, really clean...did i say clean...they are clean...ok so clean that about every 50 feet there is a cleaning guy cleaning...it is huge..we have only been on 1 or 2 floors and there are 3 floors, and we get lost a lot.

We have walked parts of the city. it is clean outside...no homeless people \9all deported)...everyone must work or they are deported. any crime and you are deported....like cleanliness, if you misbehave, you are deported...so very little crime.

Will write more later, we are in the Bosses apt. alone as he went bowling and we needed computer access, ours is not up yet and we have no phone yet.\

Take care All.
\
\marta and art

Last USA Post

We are off in a few minutes, waiting for Peggy to take us to the Bus Station for our ride to Boston, then on to Germany, then the UAE. We finished everything up here in North Conway early yesterday, then took De La Torre Naps all afternoon. After the Patriots won their Football game we got up and took a walk into town.

Art took me to "Decades" a local restaurant where he has been sending guests lately. It was deserted on a Sunday Evening, only us and a couple at the bar. The economy is bad here. One of the inns about 6 miles from us just walked away from their business the last week of October. We used to send guests there for dinner, the Bernerhof Inn, good German Food. Anyone want a large Inn with a small Motel down the road ? It will mostl likely auction off in about 6 months.

I am excited and ready to start work. Being off work for almost 3 weeks is very unusual for me and I will have a lot to do when I arrive in country. Art is somewhat intimidated and worried about his business, he set up automatic payments for the majority of his bills and also "Direct Deposit" for his employees. He can't get much more prepared but there is always something he thinks of most every hour of the day and off he goes to do it. Running your own business is a tireless 18 hour a day job and he enjoys his beer's in the few off hours he gets.

Well my friends and family, my next post will be from either the German Airport where we have a 4 hour layover or Abu Dhabi on Tuesday Night....we arrive very late, will be met and driven over to temporary quarters...and that's all I know for certain, so many unknowns, but hey it makes life interesting....we don't have time to be bored !!! Take care and love to all !

Last Friday in the USA

I finally received my tickets for the UAE. We leave Monday from Boston Logan Airport, via Frankfurt then on to Abu Dhabi. We are so busy all day for the past several days and I am sure this weekend also. Finding space for all my stuff here is proving more difficult then I thought. It is the quiet time here in North Conway. Cold, in the 30's during the day and 20's at night. We had a little bit of snow yesterday, Art raked leaves from all the lawns and worked on his Inn bookeeping. I packed and unpacked...then decided to buy a fourth large suit case, I am allowed 4 bags, up to 70 pounds each, Art will get a carryon size only as he is only staying 4 weeks to begin with.

My work Visa arrived also, so now I am officially allowed to enter the country. Last night for dinner Art took me to the Stonehurst Manor. A large old inn up on a hill. It has a lovely sitting area with a huge old fireplace and a small bar. They have Thursday nights specials 2 entrees for the price of one. It was full of the local townspeople and the food was great. Our waitress was a good friend of Art's employee so we had a good time. Art had a pork chop because in 4 days no more PORK in the Muslim country we are going to.

No pictures as we are too busy to take any. Take care my friends, Marta

The Eastman Inn

We are home (for a few days anyway). It is good to be together again. We are staying in room 3 a Premium room with a Fireplace and a bathroom that connects to Art's office so it is convenient for him. It is chilly, the sky's are clear, it is in the 30's tonight, no rain or snow forcast for a few days...giving us time to pack for Abu Dhabi. Art will be leaving back to California to attend his brothers funeral. Dan passed away yesterday afternoon after a short bout with Lung Cancer. I was so proud that Dan went back to school 4 years ago at the age of 58 ! He worked for about 2 years in Medical Records in Phoenix and was well loved by all the staff there. He will be missed.

Arrived in North Conway, NH

We arrived last night to the Eastman Inn in North Conway at around 9 pm, we hurried accross the street to the Muddy Moose for a late dinner where I met all of Art's friends at the pub. I will have to watch him as some of the waitresses were pretty cute and a bit too friendly with him !!!. Anyway we had 6 guests last night so we crept in quietly, Art set up the 32 in Flat Screen TV in room 3. We had breakfast with the guests this morning (Monday) and some of them were Arts "Return" guest that he has built a relationship with. It was fun eating with the guests. Right now we are unpacking and storing. The packers unloaded the truck this morning and we returned it to Glen NH. Now I am putting things away. Art was right, there is no place left in the Inn for my furniture. We closed room 6 to make it a staging storage area for now !. Well that's it for a few days, we will be unpacking and getting ready to move to the UAE next week. All I am taking is 5 suitcases of clother. I will have to buy all my furniture over there *(Used I hope from people leaving). I will post some pics later tomorrow.