Turkey talking

I mentioned last week that PD and I went to London for a few days at the beginning of the month. It was wonderful to see everyone and catch up but I wouldn’t call it a holiday. I did my usual planning with military precision – each waking hour was attributed to a particular person or activity – to ensure we didn’t miss out on seeing anyone. Given my 14-year expat status, I have learned that only by sticking to a rigid diary can you make sure you catch up with all those you really want to see. As a strategy it works, but boy, it sure is relentless.

When we got back to Dubai, I felt really flat and exhausted (no surprises there when I will insist on having a drink and about a million cigarettes each night – just to be sociable of course!). Part of this exhaustion was also tied to continually being asked the question, “So, how is it really?” and always answering, “Well…I don’t love it…”

Because this stock Q&A was performed on average at least twice a day, by replying the same each time, I really started to believe it. But there are things I love about Dubai, and when I got back, the weather was pretty high up on that list, L&S and our new friends, W&A were too. Plus the good old chestnut of being able to smoke pretty much anywhere (I’ll always put that one in). People have told me that the first visit back is always the hardest, when you question what you are doing and ponder the answer to exactly why it is so intense living in Dubai. There are lots of reasons for this, not least because it is one of the newest cities in the world, flooded with a melting pot of different cultures and trying really really hard to be the flashiest, fastest, richest, and glitziest. Who wouldn’t find THAT exhausting? But I’ve been asking that same question all along anyway, so no changes there.

Anyway, enough of these self indulgent self searching thoughts. Let’s talk about Christmas! Being in London was very Christmassy – with twinkly lights, pretty trees, frost on the ground and carols everywhere. Speaking of carols, PD and I had the pleasure of listening to the entire set 20 times over of the Salvation Army Brass Band, who were stationed under our hotel room window on Saturday in central London – that will teach us to party all night the evening before and try and get some shut eye in the afternoon!

We bought a white Christmas tree yesterday – I know, a risk, it could have back-fir-ed (ha!) but it didn’t – it looks rather lovely with all the decorations on it now. We were planning on buying a real one – I’d heard a rumour that Spinney’s Supermarket (the Dubai version of Waitrose but not really) on the Beach Road were selling ‘em. So PD and I got in the car and drove around aimlessly trying to find it. PD started getting cranky after an hour because he was hungry, which necessitated a panicked phonecall from me to L to find out exactly where this mythical Spinney’s was. It wasn’t that far away, we’d just been driving in completely the wrong direction. Anyway, when we arrived, there were only five real trees left. We then started getting the enviro-guilts because obviously they were air freighted (how do you think fir trees would survive, growing in the sand?). We then discovered the cost of a five foot real tree was in the region of 100 quid. Ah, thanks, but no. Other expats had clearly gone through the same thought process, which meant an artificial white tree was all that was left. The last turkey in the shop, as it were.

On the subject of turkeys, a similar situation. Very expensive to get a fresh gobbler from Waitrose – plus the added stress-out of cooking it in a small oven which looks lovely but cooks atrociously. So (and this is another thing to add to the ‘love’ list) we have ordered a fully cooked turkey with all the trimmings from a hotel. All you need to do is pick it up on the day and carve and serve it when you get home. Genius. And no, it’s not cheating – who do you think I am, Nigella?

Happy Christmas and a lovely new year to you all.

Flickster. xx

P.S. Uploaded some photos too – check ‘em out. x