Week Two: Q Swims!

So, from our past posts you've already learned that 1) we moved to Abu Dhabi for Jenn's new job, 2) that starting a real life here requires obtaining a work visa and an Emirates ID, and 3) its quite warm, even in the "cooler" months. All of this adds up to Q and I spending our days together until we can place him in a school. We start our weekdays (Sunday through Thursday since Friday is a holy day) by having breakfast all together as a family, after which Jenn is off to work. Q and I then (try to) spend a couple of hours doing "school" inside (practicing reading and writing fundamentals, counting, reading stories, etc).

Then, at 10 AM, or just before one of us cries, we head out for our morning adventure, which may be walking around the city, finding new playgrounds, or (and I never thought this would be a passtime) exploring the various malls of Abu Dhabi. I can say with confidence that I have spent more time in a mall since arriving here than my pre-Abu Dhabi cumulative lifetime mall total, but that's another post. Anyway, we then have some post-adventure lunch and a nap.

After nap, Q and I head up to the hotel pool so he can wear down his recently charged batteries in the water. He has always liked the water, and we were regulars at the pools in DC, but Q has been reluctant to put his head underwater for the last two summers. In the last week, however, Q went from keeping his hair mostly dry to spending about as much time submerged as above water. He has even done a few solo swims! Most of the rest of this post was just filler around that sentence.

Once we are both pruny and shivering (don't mock, it really does feel cold when the wind blows), we hang out by the pool and read more stories. This week we've been reading from a discount kindle purchase called "Fairly Tales Every Child Should Know" which was apparently translated into English sometime in the 17th century. Common theme so far: murderously envious stepmothers. I do a bit of paraphrasing as I read, but it's hard to get around so many attempted killings without undermining the plot. Let's just say Disney left more to the imagination than the original authors.

It's dark by the time Jenn returns, but she and Q often jump back in for one last night swim before supper and before the pool closes, magically turning the entire roof deck into a no-kids-allowed kind of place (they really want it to be a vibrant single's scene, but it just isn't). We often end our evenings with a short walk and espresso in an effort to try to stay awake until we can get Q in bed, ready to start over again in the morning.

Alright, enough for now. Will report back when Q's 25m freestyle time is under 30s.