En Route

Vrooooooooooom

I don't know how to drive a car. This is not some self-deprecating comment on my driving skills, it's just that I don't have a driver's license or driving experience to boast about and most folks react with complete disbelief when they find out. I don't blame them.

So not surprisingly one of my goals of this year is learning how to drive a car and although I've gotten away with being a car-less individual for most of my life it seems as I'm finally living in a place where that is just not an option. The UAE is all about automobiles. People have the fanciest, biggest and most expensive vehicles I have ever seen, often recklessly driving around at full speed. Sometimes the drivers don't even exit their cars when shopping: They honk loudly and wait for a Pakistani/Bangladeshi clerk to run out and take their order, whether it is for takeaway food or some other random item like a pair of slippers.  I know it is a hot climate and staying within the air-conditioned space of your gas guzzler is tempting, but really... (I call this lazy-ass rich person syndrome)
In Dubai there's a metro and buses but here in the lovely backwaters where I reside there's not a bus station in sight so I'm going to have to take the plunge and get in a four-wheeled machine for some lessons...Watch out camels, date trees and other inanimate obstacles. I'll try to swerve.

The ironic thing is that I am currently captaining the dive boat. It does seem somewhat backwards (knowing how to operate a boat before a car) but how I love flying across the waves, picking up divers and kicking them overboard into the blue. In the nicest way possible, of course.
And I have this feeling that it will take a long time before I'll learn how to read traffic signs and use indicators but my hope is that I will enjoy it just as much as I love being a boat wench.

Bummin' it

You know, sometimes life can suck a bit. As an average person with a whole lotta love in her life and horseshoes sticking out of her backside it is somewhat unusual to mention things such as these, especially on a public blog. But it is true.

If you have been reading any of the quirky posts you know what I am talking about. I'm a blessed individual living a great life. Seriously so.

It's not cause of my awesome super powers. I actually have...Nothing. That's about right. No iPhone, credit card, house, car or a driver's license. Nada. I don't even own a bed or a couch (although I have this fabulous retro hairdresser chair from the '70s complete with a hairdryer capsule thingy that still works when you plug 'er in. It lives with a pal for now)

I went to university; I worked in an art gallery; was a DJ with my own radio show for over a decade. And right now I have nothing. Not even a saving account. I live from paycheck to paycheck (I guess most dive instructors do - after all by keeping folks alive and kicking underwater minimum wage is the grand prize)
I don't really mind because life does not revolve around dollar bills although after spending 6 months in the UAE I do understand it is a big drive for folks around here.
Some people here buy cars with price tags that will make you blush but seem unable to tip the guy that fills their gas tank in the hot sun. They can spend enormous sums on gadgets and designer items but care not for an animal in desperate need of medical help on the side of the road. They just keep driving.

Like I said, I have horseshoes up my ass. I have something a little different, which is not money or a luxurious lifestyle. Instead I got this kick-ass community back home and amazing friends that fill me with joy and respect. But because of the grand love that I receive from them it has made life here in the Middle East seem strangely...Empty. The caring and kind conversations via internet and phone sure do put a spring in my step and keep me going but also remind me how far away I am from what I hold dear.

I have lived all over the world but this is the first place where I have found myself in such a disconnected society where the quality of life differs vastly from how I would rate and view it. It has been a great learning experience, and it makes me even more thankful for what I got.

And yes, this is a Pug using me as a pillow.

Island home siesta time