Well, 4 people have spoken. I’ll keep looking for things to write about as long as it’s not annoying for readers to wait in between posts. If I’m not going to do something well, I’d rather not do it at all, but today I had a friend reference a post that I wrote 3 years ago so I took that as a sign that there’s still value in doing this.
I had mentioned to her that moving to Abu Dhabi felt like living in California and she said I was just hanging out in the “fancy” parts of town and there was plenty of crazy happening over the bridge in the outer parts of Abu Dhabi. I guess I’ll have to check out some of those off island areas eventually, if I can find my way there.
I left our coffee date and headed up to the port area so I could buy some dirt for my garden. I have yard space, but it’s essentially just sand, so I’ll still need to plant in my pots while I attempt to create a good balance of dirt and sand in the ground — it’s all part of the gardening experiment. I made it there with only one major wrong turn. That’s something to celebrate since Google Maps seems to hate me, always telling me to turn right and then changing its mind at the last second, or telling me to turn left and then promptly requests, “Now make a U-turn.” I hate it, but I’d be even more lost without it.
I got my dirt from the plant souk, which is a block of stalls, all selling potted plants, ceramic pots, potting soil and other garden and greenery related items. I had been there once before with a friend so I went back to stall number 40 and said, “Remember me? I’d like some dirt.” It’s always better to have a contact or a prior relationship when trying to make a deal.
I finished my shopping quickly and he loaded my 10 bags of potting soil and several tomato, chile, eggplant and mint transplants. I have seeds, but these will give a few things a head start. Feeling pleased with myself, I headed home and promptly went the wrong way. My app that has a Take Me Home button wasn’t working and I couldn’t pull over anywhere to find my house on Google Maps. So in my attempt to “wing it” I made several wrong turns and ended up somewhere parallel to where I needed to be.
I headed down the street when a car started heading at me, flashing his lights, driving the wrong way. I thought to myself, “Kate was right! There are some crazy drivers on other parts of the island.” And then another car came around the corner straight at me and I realized I was the crazy driver going the wrong way down a one way street. I quickly pulled into a parking lot (thankful there was one right ahead so I could get off the road) and got my bearings.
