In which I steal a book from the library

Well, technically it isn't stealing, as I am going to put the book back.  However, on the 3rd floor of our little beehive/accomodation there is a library for studying and such. It is about 60 feet long with just one row of bookshelves running down it. In the book shelves there are light reading materials, as well as magazines and on one side of them there are tables for studying and on the other there are lots of comfortable green (why green???) chairs for sitting/studying/reading. The library also happens to sit directly above the gym, so at most hours of the day you can feel the beat of the thumping music through the floor, as well as the sound of treadmills running and barbells being dropped. Not the best atmosphere for a relaxing read, I believe. So instead of reading there, I just go up about once a week, take a book, and then return it when I am finished. The sign at the door requests that no books be taken out, but they don't have to worry about me. I will not forget to bring it back! Currently I am reading John Grisham's "The Broker", which is really good so far. He is one of the few other that truly grabs me in the first paragraph of a book every single time. I believe this is the only book of his I haven't read (at least I am not recognizing it so far), so I am pretty excited about reading it. It also makes me a little sad, because he recently died, which means the world lost an amazing author. I will just savor this read then, I guess.

My weekend has been pretty nice thus far. I wasn't feeling so hot by the end of the week due to tiredness and a bit of an upset stomach, so after my friend from Tunisia gave me Panadrol (sp?) and I slept in, I definitely felt better. On Friday I was invited to head out at 6 am to Dubai with some friends from class, but declined in favor of sleeping in and talking with both my parents and boyfriend (not at the same time, though that is totally possible with skype!). I love the internet on the "weekends" (Friday and Saturday) because so few people are up when I am that I usually have a really nice connection, which is not the case during the work week. There are days when it is a constant fight to get to talk for 5 minutes without the connection failing. Woot, adventures! Anyway, I then headed to Abu Dhabi on the 10 am bus and proceeded to have an amazing midday adventure spent totally by myself, which sounds lonely, yes, but is really  nice.

You see, I spend 8 hours a day (at least) with the same people. Then, when we get done with work we go back to the accomodation and I spend even more time with them eating, studying, explaining, working out, translating through accents, and accomodating cultural differences. Sometimes it is just incredibly nice to be completely alone to let my brain recharge. And after that 5 or 6 hours, I feel ready to jump into everything again. Just need a bit of a break once in a awhile.

But yes, I wandered around the Abu Dhabi mall for 5 hours trying on clothes, buying necessities (fingernail clippers!!!), looking for canned pumpkin (no luck yet, but I'm not giving up), and just observing the interesting-ness that is Abu Dhabi.  There are women completely veiled so even their eyes cannot be seen, walking with their husbands (of course....) past families in traditional Indian dress. There are people walking around in shorts and tanktops, and others who look like they are heading to important functions (or they could just be rich as this is an oil city/country). None of the checkers in the stores here are Emirati. They are all immigrants from other countries around the Gulf Coast or western Asia just trying to make some kind of life (the laws here make sure they don't get to keep a lot of what they make, sadly) for them selves. You can tell which westerners work here, and which are here vacationing. The vacationers are usually wearing shorts and are sunburnt. :)

I did have one incredible meal at the mall. I ordered a beef fajita sandwhich and a glass of strawberry pineapple juice. The sandwhich tasted nothing like the sandwhich in the US, but whatever sauces the meat was cooked in were AMAZING and it was tangy and tender and...mmmm.  After eating in MLC for the week I feel like I forget what real food tastes like. And the juice? It was freshly squeezed/blended at the counter in front of me. Absolutely delicious. That alone is probably my favorite part about both Malaysia and the UAE. When I order juice in a restaurant it definitely doesn't come out of a box! Sidenote: when I have a house of my own someday, there WILL be a juicer in it.

Well, this has been quite long, and I'm sure there are many important things going on in your day, so I will let you go. However I hope that whoever is reading this has an amazing weekend! I can't wait to see you at Christmas!

OH!!! And I have less than 2 WEEKS until I get to see Adam in Abu Dhabi :) :) :) :)

Love you guys.

Becca