From Shamal to Chinook

In the Middle East, whenever the shamal winds blow, they tend to herald some change in weather.  Well, we have had these shamal winds blow us all the way back home again, to Calgary, Alberta.  Here it's all about the chinook winds, purported to make the winters milder and easier to bare .

Thank you chinook!

I have been on the fence about whether to continue my blog under the pseudonym of "Anu Dhabi"--as I am no longer a resident of Abu Dhabi.  I realize that after almost 12 years of living there, Abu Dhabi will always be a big part of ALL of our stories.  It was more than just a place where we lived; though it could never be our homeland, it was our home.  Despite its facade, we managed to grow our family there.  When we left Edmonton, there was just myself, P, little A and Phinn.  Over the years we added two more children, a few more pets (Chewbacca, Jingle and Zuzu Binx), and deeply mourned the loss of our beloved Phinn.  I joined the Parent Team, and worked my way up to (Madam) Vice Chair.  I managed to acquire "Junior Cat Lady" status, with some mentoring from my friend Lisa, as we loved, fed and cared for so many little strays in our neighbourhood (a special thanks to our amazing friends from Villa 4 who are carrying on with the love and feeding of Goblin', Hershey, Squishy, Spy and Sir Creamsicle Swirl--and our little Jonesy who was too feral to travel with us).  We have had so many amazing experiences over the years.  As our family grew, Khalifa City A also grew up around us, going from just Al Raha Gardens, a strip of Pink Shops and Etihad Plaza, to a fully functioning stand-alone suburb (with all the nurseries anyone could dream of!).  We mastered the Etihad Guest program and had the opportunity to travel to so many exotic places and see some amazing sights.  This experience has exposed us to a different world-view, which opened our eyes to how North American-centric our world had been.  Through the years, through laughter and tears (and beers), we have made friendships that we hope will withstand the time and distances between us.

I have needed to update this blog for a very long time--if only to wrap up the 'stories' for each of our children.  I can only imagine what occupied my time so much, that I didn't manage to sit down and write for over two years (and it isn't all to be blamed on 2020).  As I am writing, I find myself feeling very emotional and sad--as writing it down implies a finality and some kind of closure, for which I am most certainly not ready.  The experience of writing itself, is helping me to be able to process and work through some of my yet unaddressed feelings of sadness and loss--having left the country where I essentially "grew up" as a wife and a mother (who had a full-time helper).

I have discovered that 'attachment' is my Achilles' heel.  Which is not to say I am a hoarder (unless it is a really good deal--or it's toilet paper...which I know that I have to keep stocked up in Alberta in these special times). I feel like the anti-Kondo--when it comes to the people, places and things that I have loved--I cannot just thank them for the joy they brought me, and then let them go (or can I?).  I experience the loss quite deeply, emotionally--and it is something I  have to continue to work on dealing with (rather than denying).  A friend of mine once told me--"you cannot live in other people's pockets" as a well intentioned idiom, for not getting overly attached.  Yet, I am finding that with the majority of my friends being so far away, that I DO in fact, live in their pockets (in all the WhatsApp messages we exchange on our phones)--and it is a great place to be...

So--let's get to catching up these stories...

Pickle ended his last year at RIS, working with the most amazing soul--Ms. Jenni.  When I grow up, I want to be like Ms. Jenni.  It seems that Jenni had always been in my orbit--but not having children the same age, we had never quite connected.  When the need arose to find a new ILSA for Pickle, Jenni's name came up in conversation with a friend.  After a meeting with the head of school, (who as usual was supportive, but unhelpful), I came across Jenni having a coffee in the Raptor's Nest.  I interrupted, introduced myself, shared my story with her and offered her the job on the spot.   Jenni has such an amazingly kind and sweet soul--and I knew right away, how lucky we would be to have her accept the role--which she did.  She started grade four with Pickle, and he was so instantly connected to her.  I sent him to school every day knowing that she had his back, 100%, and all of her actions were guided by his best interests.   She was a huge part of his world, as he got along very well with her two sons--and formed his first real friendships with them.  To this day, he speaks of them on an almost daily basis.  He continued on with his swimming (and will eventually come back to it here as well).  He was blessed to have Ms. Deb to teach him, for all those years, and actually started being able to swim!  He has also become quite adept at building things (currently basements) in Minecraft.  Despite missing Ms. Jenni and the boys, he really enjoyed the school shut-down in March.  I took over his instruction (putting my degree to good use) and ensured that he continued working and growing.  He absolutely loved doing his work (when the school provided some) independently on the device (obviously with a few hiccups here and there).  

Magoo had a great year in grade 3--right off the bat she was thrilled to have Ms. Penny as her teacher.  Magoo loves unicorns, rainbows and baking.  She joined the cheer squad this year, and her ability to pick-up (and remember) choreography positioned her as the (unofficial) junior cheer squad team leader.  She was gorgeous in all her cheer glory, and her timing, spirit and commitment was unparalleled among her squad-mates.  In addition to choir, she also continued on with ballet, and was scheduled to take her RAD grade one exam--before all ECP's were halted.  Despite being in different classes, Magoo and Sho-sho (aka "Shy-shy & Sho-sho) carried on being besties, and enjoyed some after-school time together in the musical "We are Monsters".  We managed to have their first sleepovers--and I cannot imagine a better friend for Magoo to experience this with.  Right before the restrictions ramped up in AD, we were able to squeeze in a small (but very special) birthday celebration for her 9th.  We had swimming,  a sleepover and a lot of fun (just in the nick of time!). Magoo has been really very blessed, to have met her best friend on the first day of EY1, and I hope that with all the technology we have today, these girls will be able to live out their dreams of reuniting in Paris, with Magoo as Fashion Designer, and Sho-sho as her  model.  Witnessing the goodbye between these two friends was a devastating and heartbreaking experience.  All I could do was hold and cuddle little Magoo...and cry myself.   

Little A--well, "Not-so-little-A" anymore, enjoyed 2/3 of her second year of Middle School (grade 7).  She enjoyed it right up until March--when everyone went on-line.  While school was on-going, she carried on with the junior chorus group, singing at major school events (including a trip to Dubai).  She suffers from frequent bouts of rhythmic arm flagellations (which appear to accompany 30 second song bits).  She can often be witnessed making said arm and hand movements without music (and everywhere, including just standing around in line ups)--thank you Tiktok!  Ballet continues to be one of her passions, and she was preparing for the RAD Grade 5 exam this year (which was postponed).  She joined the school production of Shrek, but it seems this was the one thing ALL THE STUDENTS were delighted to have to put on pause...there seemed to be a lot of discontent around the production this year.  Though we for some reason categorize Magoo as the BRAIN, NSLA pulls her academic weight as well.  She is very studious and earned Honours standing (which the school made more challenging to achieve this year).  She is also well on her way to becoming a cat lady, after successfully campaigning to save ZuZu Binx (from a life in a Sheikha's palace), by adopting her ourselves.  She has surpassed me in height (but not brains...that's TBD)--and every day we still see a little bit of the sweet Little A she used to be.  Increasingly though, we notice she bares a  striking resemblance to the infamous Grumpy Cat (RIP).  Sigh!  We managed to host her an outdoor swimming party, with a very elite group of friends, which also served as a little 'farewell' for her.  NSLA hasn't been as lucky as Magoo, in the friendship department...every time she made a close friend, the friend moved far away.  I think she countered this by maintaining 'school friendships'--tending to keep people at a distance (before it was the 'government mandated' thing to do).  I thought this would actually make the news of our move easier on her, but I didn't realize how far she had rooted in the red sand of AD...I guess it was more fertile than I knew.  Maybe NSLA will be like me--I had some amazing friendships growing up, but it is only the friendships I made as an adult that have endured.  I never would have predicted that I would have to fly over 11 000 KM, and live for a few years in the Middle East, before making some of the best friendships of my life.  I know that there is someone waiting for her, here in Canada, to be her lifelong friend.

As for P, he continued to plug away at his job.  I would say that easily the highlight of his year (in addition to scoring a job that would repatriate us) would be attending the Superbowl LIV.  I am not a fan of American (or European) Football, but I have been assured that this is a very famous American football player.  That is also very likely to be a Superbowl Ring on his finger...His team, the 49ers did not win, but hopefully they will get 'em next time, babe!