The Run Around

Well, I've just gotten home from Ikea.. and all I can say is that place is ridiculous. I don't know if the one back home is as big, but this one came across as HUGE! After collecting some household goods, and hailing a cab, which thankfully is done by que number, John is sleeping nicely on the couch. He bought a TV today and I think that stressed him out... we've never actually purchased a TV for ourselves before...and it showed. We had the salesman running ragged trying to compare everything. I think that even though he chose a very good set, he is having buyers remorse. Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see.

Anyhow, we spent the morning running around at headquarters getting everything taken care of. It's an amazingly organised place, but it's confusing if you don't know how it works. John took me to see where I get my drivers lic. where I can send Fedex, I registered at the medical clinic, and we went to the bank. We took care of our accomodation confirmation of inventory and arranged for cable internet (which I wall have by Sunday!!) Then we went to apply for my visa, where I had to have a blood sample taken (ouch). Then we sat at Costa coffe for a snack before heading to Festival City to do some shopping for the aforementioned TV and home goods.

Yesturday was a busy day as well... but I must say I was very delirous. John arranged for a service to meet me at the airport since he was in class, this was extremely helpful. Once I arrived here at the tower, the security desk gave me the keys that John left and I went up to get a first look at where we will be living for the foreseeable future. I haven't taken photos yet, but, once I get cable internet, I will take some and post them. It's a perfect set up and the view is incredible. It feels like we are in NYC at night with all the lights, and during the day, when it's clear you can see the Burj Al Arab... between two building under construction. Even so, Business Bay is going up right behind us, and in several months, most everything I would ever need will be in walking distance. Although, right now if I wanted, I could call the local supermarket and have a banana deliverd. Free.

After checking out each room, I unpacked enough to shower and relax before John came home. Thankfully, he had an early day. Once he got here we wasted no time and went directly to the Mall of the Emirates. Now, I will mention malls quite a bit... and yes, while we Americans think that if you go to the mall that often, you must have a shopping addiction. However, I feel it's important you should know that the malls also house the equivelant of Wal Mart Supercenter, just bigger. Carrefore is a HUGE store that has everthing, includig a full on fish market. You can find anything from A to Z from so many countries. And in some cases you will find American products at lower prices then you can find them for in America. There are several stores simlar to Carrefore, but we haven't had time to check them out. We came home directly after that... with groceries, taxi timing is crucial.

Even though I had the best possible sanario for avoiding jet lag, I wasn't able to escape a nap. Apparently, I fell asleep for two hours on the couch after putting groceries away. I do remember wandering through Carrfore in an overstimulated haze. So, my nap was validated.

And finally, after setting up the printer and printing out all the stuff we needed for today, we called it a night. I can proudly say that I fell alseep as soon as the light went out and a full 8 hours of rest ensued. Finally, I can rest! I missed John so very much and he must have missed me a lot too... when he came in, he squeezed every last drop of air out of me.