No time to get bored

How are things over there around more northerly latitudes? I guess that winter has now settled and you are swiftly entering into the festive mood.

Mulled wine, skiing holidays…snow, hail? Maybe.

Personally, every now and then I still catch myself marveling at the fact that we are already in mid October… no November oops it’ll be December in no time. The other day I noticed the first Christmas decorations for sale in the shops. Where has all the time gone? Not sure.

The strangest feeling of all is that while at the same time last year I was still exploring and everything felt new and unfamiliar this time round all the sudden it feels as if I am circling the same block again. It is not exactly the same at all but there are a number of recurring events throughout the year which I guess we have now caught up with (annual parties, balls, national festivals and celebrations).

Yes, although it bears no negative connotation, the novelty has worn off and we are no longer the new kids in town.

The unfamiliarity has been replaced by the still surreal feeling of realization that although we’ve very much grown used to it (and enjoy it very much) we are living in the Middle East and conducting some sort of surreal life that doesn’t have any resemblance to the old way of life back in Europe. Setting aside the obvious weather differences or even the different cultural background (which doesn’t disrupt the extremely western-oriented way of life we are leading in this country) I still stop every now and then and think that maybe I should pinch myself. I can’t cease thinking that maybe one day I am going to open my eyes and realize that I am late for work, it is dark and wintry outside and I have to drag myself out of the bed and into the tube across town to start another day in the office.

Luckily that hasn’t happened yet, so we are still living the dream.

I’ve been asked before whether it gets boring living in a country where the climate bears little variation and where it is virtually sunny all year round. My reaction is always the same: “no, why should it be?” Also variation is here, we range from 50c+ in the summer to the current pleasant temperatures. I have to say that tonight for the first time I actually felt a little bit chilly at home wearing just a little shoulder strap dress and flip-flops and this morning it felt “cool” when I stepped out of the house. Yes winter is upon us, which more or less means evening temperatures similar to a summer day in England and a beautifully comfortable and dry 28c or so during the day (although it can get a bit too breezy on the boat at the end of a dive). :D

Of course we are trying to make the most of what we can. The latest addition to the diversions in our life is a boat. We’ve recently purchased a boat in co-ownership with a couple of friends and we have taken it out for a christening outing to a beautiful bay not far from Muscat all together. Useless to say that we had a blast of a time!

In addition to that we are now in full party season. This means that we have already been to a number of balls with ambassadors, military attachés and other official figures so this week we should also appear back in the party pages of the local press.More parties and holidays scheduled for the next month and 1/2 too. Diaries are getting crammed!

On another note, the other day I was back in a business suit (after almost a year!). I was asked to provide some assistance with a delegation of people from my native land over here on business so I turned into an interpreter for 2 days accompanying a business man and a business woman on a series of meetings across town culminating, as always, into a dinner at one of the plush hotels in town where I ended standing up in front of a crowd of business people of all nationalities, the ambassador and other embassy officials translating one of the delegate’s speeches.

If I think that I once wanted to do this as a career I can consider myself very lucky that I have finally had the opportunity to try this out.

As a plus I got the chance to see the swanky suites of the hotel as that was the type of accommodation arranged by the company organizing the event and some of the meetings took place in the actual the suites. I never miss a photo opportunity! ;)

Anyway I think I have rambled a bit too much again. My fault for not updating the blog more often but it is getting increasingly hard to find the time.

Please do send us your news every now and then. We may not have time to reply immediately however we do enjoy receiving your updates.

In general all is good and as you can imagine we have no time to get bored.