Catching Up

Firstly apologies for not having Martin's blog link properly set up - it is now. For those of you who don't know who Martin is - he was my principal at Paremata School and is currently working in this part of the world.
Secondly sorry for not having blogged all week - it's been a busy full on one. Last weekend I had a friend's two wee girls to stay - lots of fun but was knackered at the end of it. The funny for me was when we were in the taxi and Anja - the 3 year old - took the money out of my hand, gave it to the driver and thanked him in arabic. She continued to do this for each and every ride afterwards.
The highlight of this week was that I finally got my passport back with my residency in it - for 3 years. Now on Sunday I get to go to Dubai for my driver's licence. As our sponsor is based in Dubai we have to do admin things there like that - DL, car registrations and the like. So once I have my DL I can have my car so hopefully this time next week I'll be driving around and independant.
The other night a friend and I went up Jabal Hafeet - it's a large mountain made out of sand and is lit all the way up. Hard to explain but amazing to experience. Heaps of people were up the top - there's a huge car park, cafeteria and seats everywhere - just incredible. Also up the top were lots of cats everywhere - they depend on the visitors to feed them. Attached is a pic of Al Ain from the top - next time we'll stop at a car park partway up and get a pic of all of Al Ain - it's actually a lot bigger and more spread out than I realised.
Last day we had a company dinner at the Hotel Rotana - the invite said bbq - well not at all like what we do in NZ - but it was a huge buffet meal that was absolutely divine. It was so good to catch up with everyone - if people aren't in your building or school, you tend to not get to see them much - however when I get my car it'll be easier.
Only another 6 weeks until I head to London - very excited about that!