An interesting week

It seems like a funny week this week - only 4 days with going to the Grand Prix on Sunday but as John has to work this weekend with prep for the Board of Trustees meeting and the MIT people over it doesn't feel that short.
I did my second training session on Monday which went down well - especially the cakes representing the marketing mix! Glad that everyone likes cakes and there were enough for John to take to work as well. I still haven't got a desk or an internet connection at the college so when I'm not in meetings I carry on working from home which isn't ideal for a social animal like me but it gets lots done and we have plenty of clean clothes as well! I should be getting that sorted out next week as the pressure is on to bring in the students. Next week I'm hoping to accompany the team on some school visits - they present in Arabic so I shan't know what's going on but it will be interesting to see how it works. I've put together a master marketing plan so there's plenty to do.
The other organisation are taking an age to sort out security clearance - I had to fill out a very detailed from including details of who my family and friends were so maybe that's the problem! It's all very frustrating as I'd like to get sorted as to what I'm doing and be able to get on with it. Still I am trying to end the struggle and dance with life and just enjoy being here in this amazing place. I did 'ladies who lunch' at The One with Daksha which was fun and went for coffee and home made biscuits with Angela and Bettina came for coffee so I can hardly complain about being lonely.
John got his liquor licence last week so we went to Spinney's to buy wine and gin which wasn't as scarily expensive as I'd feared despite 30% tax. However, we didn't buy Nuits St Georges, Chablis or Gevrais Chambertin as we might have done in Majestic.
John is very tired and stessed with so much going on over the next few days. The MIT people arrive on Friday and they have meetings and dinners planned around the big day on Sunday when they present the business plan to the Board of Trustees which is Chaired by the Crown Prince so you can imagine it's not a little worrying. Then on Monday they are doing a conference and dinner with MIT so more stress. The week after John goes to Doha for two days for an education conference where he is a speaker so no respite then. However, he'll sail through it all brilliantly but it's still a worry.
I shall try and go to the Hilton beach club on Saturday as I look out at this amazing blue sea and warm sunshine every day but can't swim as the public beach is still being renovated. I had planned the Shangri La, including a spa treatment but they wanted the best part of £200 which seemed excessive for a day's entertainment. When J goes to Doha I'm planning another girls soiree so I'm busy making plans for food and cake to feed people.
I enjoyed the video of the work pumpkin carving challenge - there were pumpkins here but it seems hard to believe it's November when it's 30 degrees and sunny. No fireworks today though and no-one has heard of the gunpowder plot funnily enough.
Next week is Manchester week in Abu Dhabi so we have a delegation from home and Man City are playing the UAE team. John managed to wangle me an invite to a reception at the British Embassy which should be great. He is also invited to a lunch to talk about ideas for possible links - now there I do have some ideas! Bring us the Halle, the Royal Exchange and all of the other great cultural things that go on. We have some amazing things but not much in the way of ballet or theatre. I have bought tickets for Lorin Mazel conducting the Vienna Philharmonic as part of the Abu Dhabi classics season which is just great. At 500 Dirhams for two of the cheapest tickets there's clearly an appetite for culture.
Anyway fingers crossed that all goes well for J over the next couple of weeks and maybe I'll get my future a bit better organised as well - but then again this is Abu Dhabi Insha'Allah.