Greetings from Abu Dhabi!

Hi every one! This is our first post from Abu Dhabi. We're in an Internet Cafe at the Abu Dhabi Mall. We were at Starbucks earlier and Darcy had her first Starbucks coffee since leaving home. Anyway Darcy and I departed from Edmonton at 2:00 pm MST on June 1 and arrived in Abu Dhabi at 11:30 pm on June 2. I spent May 30 with my Dad doing errands that included returning the rental car and sending off one box to be shipped to Abu Dhabi. I used a shipper (Can-Tran) after being told by Northwest and KLM that they don't ship household goods as freight. They have a strict policy of only allowing two checked bags per person. I got a call today saying that our box arrived at the Abu Dhabi Airport so we'll go tomorrow to claim it at Customs. We'll have an Arab representative from the Petroleum Institute to insure that everything goes smoothly.

It was a long but fairly uneventful journey that took us from Edmonton to Minneapolis to Amsterdam, Bahrain and finally Abu Dhabi. I was here briefly just over three months ago so I recognize some of the surroundings. We are staying at the five star Beach Rotana Hotel and we have a spacious suite. It consists of a kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom - all courtesy of my new employer.

Darcy and I have gone out a few times with people from my new workplace. We've gone to Western style restaurants which most expats tend to frequent. I worked out this morning for the first time in a couple of weeks and it felt good. Temp is hot (40 celcius or 104 farenheit). Humidity isn't a factor - yet. Our hotel is connected to the Abu Dhabi Mall so we can window shop and get some ideas on what to buy once I start work. I'm awaiting my security clearance to pass so we have about another week before we can start apartment hunting. We did go looking one day with an agent and we liked one apartment. But I doubt that it will still be available once we start officially looking. The apartment was near the water and close to a park. The building was a highrise and the apartment was a three bedroom with two and a half baths. Lots of room for guests - hint, hint...Anyway the city has much hustle and bustle with many different cultures and languages spoken and various clothes worn. The UAE attracts people from all over Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa. It's a wealthy country with lots to offer. I bought my first cell phone, oops I mean mobile, yesterday. It's a Motorola V360 with Bluetooth. Very nice and cost me 800 Dirhams or about $250 USD. This will be the first of many items that Darcy and I will be purchasing over the next few months. We can't wait for the housing allowance to come!

Darcy has been nursing a cold so she is resting much of the time. She will likely post the next entry. My hour limit is almost up so I better sign off.