Happy Thanksgiving all!!!

Greetings all and Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s a bit of a bummer to know that you’re all feasting on fabulous dinners and desserts, while I’m eating rice cakes and lettuce, but, last night, I did get to go to a really fancy Thanksgiving day function put on by the Canadian Club, and the Canadian Business Council here in Abu Dhabi. Basically they are really fancy clubs with really fancy people, and so the event was, as expected, really really fancy. We all got dressed up (I left most of my dresses at home, so I was not looking as fabulous as I should have), and we schmoozed. We enjoyed wine, champagne, juice, and various pop’s in the hallways as we waited for the doors to open. Served by waiters with cloths draped over their arms. Suave. Then, when we got in, the ballroom looked wonderful. The layout of food was divine. So, first they sang O Canada…as it should be. Next, we were all given a speal about the rich and famous people of the council, and we were all thinking “common already, get to the food!” Thirdly, we ate. And boy did we eat! There were about 500 of us Canadians all eating Turkey (which they had to bring in from somewhere as they don’t really have Turkey here…) and stuffing (weird though, shaped like a hockey puck (totally traditional), and then a ton of salads, and the mashed potatoes were fabulous…
The best part of this short and uneventful story though is the pie. There was pecan pie, lemon mirangue, and pumpkin, as well as some tart dessert, and then some rich and fluffy chocolate mousse in shot glasses (which is clearly the best and maybe only way to eat chocolate mousse). Anyway, here’s the verdict…because I did try some of almost everything…like a wee small piggy. The pecan pie was decent, but more pecans than pie, which made for a crunchy event. The lemon pie was actually the best in the pie category, not being as white and fluffy on top as ours, but certainly had the best flavor and was the most like home. The third runner up for the evening, in pie division, was the pumpkin. Fairly disappointing. It was only about 2 or 3 cm thick, and was very dark, like a huge pumpkin tart all cut into pieces instead of a delicious and full pie, and there was no whipping cream. I know. It’s terrible. Anyway, I never ended up tasting the little fruity tart, but was told that it was excellent, and perhaps I should have forwent the pecan for some… oops. And last but certainly not least, was the mousse. By this time I was so full that I could have burst! But, I had to sample the mousse, which is becoming one of my favorite treats. It was very nice. No complaints, and better than one from a Dr. oetker box. I do have to say, that after all of the sampling, the best dessert of the evening, was the marshmallow. It was a garnish on the pumpkin pie which I stole, and it was the best thing!!! So sweet and full of refined sugar!! I’ve not seen one here yet, as they are hidden away in the secret “pork room” at only one of the grocery stores in the city because of their gelatinous content. It’s all very strange.

Anyway, I’m sure your food was better than mine, but let me tell you, mine cost more!!! I’m glad the school bought us tickets.

So, what else is new? Alicia and I went to the only young adults event at our new church. It was really nice. The young adults actually vary from about 20 to 40sih, and is led by a couple of missionaries who are in their early 60s’, which creates a really neat dynamic. The group is made up of a whole bunch of ethnicities, though there weren’t any other Canadians but us that day, quite a few Americans though. It was really nice. The hosts cook dinner in their home (for all 25 people), and then we have a bible study after. Truly enjoyable, but driving there is tricky, and because it’s on a weekend evening and we car share with so many, we might not be able to be regular attendees. We shall see.

Our new routine though for Friday is to go to church in the morning, grab a quick lunch at a mall food court, and then go to the beach for several hours in the afternoon. I have to say that living half hour from a warm beach, and lying in the sand with a book, are better ways to spend October than those you are trying up in Canada. Someone said that in Edmonton right now there are like 5cm of snow?!!! Ridiculous! So far, the best thing about this country is the “no winter” factor.

Otherwise, things are starting to rub me the wrong way here. Number one, I’m sick again. Yes, two weeks ago I was sick, and then I got better and slept a lot last week, and this week I’m sick again. I’m getting puffy, and stuffy, my throat is raw (that’s the source this time around). I’ll wait out the week and rest... I hope it goes away without med’s though. I really hate this whole “new bugs” thing. My body can’t handle it. Maybe November will be sick free because I’ve been sick twice this month. Anyway, I wake up every morning right now sounding like the oldest and wisest of men.

Also, I’m getting a wee tiny bit fed up with the school itself. Plenty of things were promised to us during interviews that haven’t come to pass, but also, they are restricting our materials to the point of hindering our jobs. In Kindy, we get 500 sheets of paper a month, but if you’re photocopying crafts, parent letters, writing paper, tracing letters, number sheets, activities for kids who are done early, not to mention the monthly calendar, and things to be shared between all 4 teachers, 500 is simply not enough. So that’s frustrating. And a few other things are frustrating along the same lines, however, I still really really like the people who work at the school. And the kids are great. I’ve met almost all of my parents now too, and I have some fantastic parents, and all of them are concerned about their children. Woo hoo! So, that’ll be helpful throughout the year.

We made turkey crafts to celebrate Thanksgiving!! They had to create patterns out of the feathers. Yellow and Red tissue paper. It was pretty much amazing.
The only other thing that I have to chat about is that this week they have the International film festival of Abu Dhabi going on. I saw a premier of “The Informant” with Matt Damon – and a surprisingly all star cast. The girl who plays his wife is a New Zealand actress who plays “Rose” on two and half men. I really like her work for the most part, and she came in person to represent the premier. Which, btw, was held in the palace, and was awesome! I also saw Oprah’s pick, which is a movie called “Precious” about a black girl who has just about the worst life you could ever fathom. In fact, it’s not even fathomable. But, it was based on reality, so there are people out there who live that way…I cried a lot in that one. The world is cruel. We also saw the first in a trilogy called Red Riding. The trilogy is basically three independent films, by three different directors, that are all about crime in England and corruption in the law enforcement. Ours was set in 1974, but there is a second set in 1980, and then one later…maybe early 90’s? I forget. It was also very well done, great sound, decent plot, but completely worthy of a film festival in that it was as disheartening and morbid as it could be. At the end it’s like you wanted to hate life. And there was no good guy. Very odd. On Saturday we will see Micheal Moores newest film, “Capitalism ___” I forget the title, but you can guess what it’s about, and the one sided spin that will be placed on the once ideals of Adam Smith. We could have seen the premier of that one too, but instead we picked the one in the regular theatre…why? I don’t know. My mistake though. Hopefully it’s good. I also wanted to see Food Inc. which is playing at the festival and I wanted to see for the whole summer, and it sold out before I could get tickets. Bummer. Anyway, it’ll be there too, and there is a new Disney/anime movie called “poncho” or “Ponyo” or something, that is supposed to be really great, but again, no bad or good guy, so it’s hard to call it a clear children’s film.

I feel all lucky to be a part of the culture here. There are some great concerts happening, for which I cannot afford tickets, the killers, and then the F1 races with Beyonce, Kings of Leon, Aerosmith, and someone else. Too bad, but I hear that there will be free concerts on the beach coming in November, and also, that the New York philharmonic will be coming and will offer some free shows too. There is always something cool going on in this city.

That, friends, wraps up the thanksgiving edition. I know it’s long, take it in strides.

As per usual, cheers, and I love you.

Talia