It is late evening on a Saturday (much like Sunday evening back home because tomorrow is work) and I'm hanging outside on the covered balcony. It is a unique sight in the desert-it's thunder-n-lightening with a bit of rain. I've got Dire Straits and the Trio on and my laptop out. Peaceful is all I can say.
No one's life is idylic, certainly not all the time, but this is a moment of pleasure and contentment. I now know where I will be heading off to next-Brussels, Belgium. I know it will be a nice posting and I'm sure I will have visitors which makes me happy (knowing I won't be lonesome because many will want to visit) and knowing it is less than a full day of travel to get home. At the same time, as I look to the future, all the constants that I cling to in my daily life will be changing regardless if I want them to or not. Other dear friends are departing post just like I am, some heading for adventures I wish I could share.
I have been moved within the Embassy to another position. If you don't already know Embassies are generally understaffed, some more than others. This one is certainly in need of a little "depth of bench." So the position I currently hold is up for immediate filling, but I'm not scheduled to leave before Sept. My new post wants me by August and there is supposed to be time in between for training and home leave in the US. I don't know when, what will happen.
Uncertainty is a constant for all of life I suppose.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Hatta Pools
One of my goals is to experience wherever I am, you know, be where you are. I'm lucky enough to have friends who enjoy offroading and exploring, which is good because we regularly get lost together, LOL.
Got a call in the morning asking if I wanted to go to Hatta Pools, leaving in 15 minutes. First I said no, then changed my mind and off we go!! The town of Hatta is in the Hajjar Mountains, just over the border from UAE into Oman. It's one of the highest elevations on the Arabian Pennisula and has water year round. We drove for a few hours seeing new, but similar countryside which I still enjoy. We laughed as we played our ipods on speakers that it was funny to hear Lynyrd Skynyrd as our background music, when the landscape does not match!
We passed thru an area that seemed like a tourist area filled with campers and all terrain vehicles playing wildly in the dunes-we must return for fun there! After finding the tiny town of Hatta, winding thru unmarked streets and following the strangest of directions we finally found "where the pavement ends." There we turned onto a well worn dirt road and slowly made our way to the next land mark. With each turn the road got more rugged. Topping a hill we broke out into the most beautiful golden orange vista of rugged mountains ringing a deep valley. After stopping to take video we proceeded to the bottom of the valley and hiked the rest of the way down to the Hatta Pools.
The water has carved out rock (that looks like concrete) and created a miniature grand canyon.
Got a call in the morning asking if I wanted to go to Hatta Pools, leaving in 15 minutes. First I said no, then changed my mind and off we go!! The town of Hatta is in the Hajjar Mountains, just over the border from UAE into Oman. It's one of the highest elevations on the Arabian Pennisula and has water year round. We drove for a few hours seeing new, but similar countryside which I still enjoy. We laughed as we played our ipods on speakers that it was funny to hear Lynyrd Skynyrd as our background music, when the landscape does not match!
We passed thru an area that seemed like a tourist area filled with campers and all terrain vehicles playing wildly in the dunes-we must return for fun there! After finding the tiny town of Hatta, winding thru unmarked streets and following the strangest of directions we finally found "where the pavement ends." There we turned onto a well worn dirt road and slowly made our way to the next land mark. With each turn the road got more rugged. Topping a hill we broke out into the most beautiful golden orange vista of rugged mountains ringing a deep valley. After stopping to take video we proceeded to the bottom of the valley and hiked the rest of the way down to the Hatta Pools.
The water has carved out rock (that looks like concrete) and created a miniature grand canyon.
There were quite a few other people there, including some young Arab men in their dishdashes and their many four-wheel drive vehicles. They were having a great time trying to get up and over the rugged terrain, yelling encouragement and challenges to each other (even in a foreign language you still understand).
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