You read the subject line correctly... I am officially going to attempt to climb one of the 7 great summits in the world! Okay, fine, according to true mountaineering people, it is one of the "easiest' of the climbs (it's still hard), but hey, it's a life goal and dream, and THIS is one of the reasons I came to Dubai.
So how does one that lives practically 50 m above sea level prepare for such a feat? Good question! Pretty much everyone I talked to that has done it and everything I read said that even the fittest of the fit sometimes don't make it, it's how your body adjusts to altitude. Hmm... how does my body adjust to altitude? Good question #2! I really don't know! Yes, I've gone skiing and sometimes have had a little bit of nausea from quick turnovers (coming from Chicago and landing in the evening to Colorado and then skiing the next day), but always very mild symptoms and it's a fraction of the height of this Summit. What to do except hope for the best! Really, I'm telling everyone (and myself) I'm ATTEMPTING to do the climb. If I make it, it will be amazing. If I don't, I still think the attempt and the experience will be amazing. I actually have never camped before, never slept in a tent, and never done hiking/trekking of this rigor, so it will be quite a challenge all the way around. So again, even if I don't make it to the top, it will be an accomplishment just to do those things. :-)
This is what I AM doing though:
-Training: I can comfortably say I have a decent baseline of fitness - since about May, I've consistently been running 3x/week (endurance), swimming 2-3x/week, doing pilates 1-2x/week, hot bikram yoga 1x/week and strength training 2x/week. I honestly don't have time for much else with a 50 hour work week. BUT conveniently and coincidentally, Ramadan started earlier this month and now I DO have more time to train. So oopsy, some training programs call for at least 3 months of preparation and training, Ellen's Kilimanjaro Training is just about going to be 4 weeks. Alas, in addition to the above, I added stair climbing to the mix. Besides Ramadan hours (working 20 hours less a week), I am especially grateful that Dubai is ALL about tall buildings. My friend lives in a building practically next door that has 80 floors, and yes, I've gone up and elevator 1/2 down, then up again, then same. Quite a good workout and my new camelback has come in handy for that! Again, almost by chance, a regular patient of mine went on an on about these intense spin classes. She had mentioned it before and I kinda brushed it off, but this one day she particular went on a tangent about it AND I had a recent conversation with 2 people that had climbed and said that spinning classes really helped. Sigh... here comes another addiction! So now I am going to FlyWheel Dubai 3x/week - it is 45 minutes of intense, and i mean INTENSE, like dripping with sweat like you just got of a shower and shaky legs afterwards, intense. I've had spin classes before, but this is at another level - it has this rating system that has you (if you want) compete with your other spin-mates, so that competitive twist makes it more challenging (today I almost almost won in the class. Darn "Anna" for taking the lead at the very end. Hmph). It also has REALLY high impact and fun music that has different music set to the workout - slow beats for climbs, fast rhythms for fast RPM's. Really, it's intense!!! Soooo..... although it is still a couple of weeks away, by just adding those 2 things (and some treadmill incline walking and running when I do run and some extra butt workouts), I am feeling fairly strong.
-Drugs: Okay, sounds funny, but I am all set with malaria medications (malarone), altitude sickness tablets (diamox), stomach illness medications, and antibiotics (I already have yellow fever). And.... again, back to the convenience of Dubai, except for the antibiotics, I got all of those things at Emirates Hospital. The malarone was a killer on the budget, 37 dh ($10 USD) PER tablet. Ouch!!!!, but obviously worth it. Oh, and another thing I got at Emirates Hospital is 100% deet. Then of course have the usual aspirin.
-Gear: Thanks to my friend Lal, he's "renting" me a backpack, head torch, thermal vest, and liner gloves. The only things I bought of necessity are hiking boots (obviously a must), a camelback, smartwool inner-wear liners, compression socks (which will come in handy for running later) and special hiking socks. I brought ski gloves, neck gator, my down jacket, a rain jacket, rain pants from home BUT am renting a bunch of stuff from out there (trekking poles, parka jacket and more rain gear, etc etc. They provide tents, etc). This is great because I don't want to spend money buying all this winter stuff when I live in a summery place and have all my winter stuff at home in storage. So I'm happy that is an option and can pack a little lighter :-)
I think that's about it for that!
FYI, here is my itinerary for this big o (expensive!) trip to Tanzania come August 2013:
4 days - Dar Es Saleem (visiting a couple of friends)
7 days - Kilimanjaro hike (Macheme route), including a night before and after in Arusha
7 days - Safari time! Serengeti (the great migration!), Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire National Park!
3 days - Zanzibar! 2 days of scuba diving, a 1/2 day to visit Stone Town and the rest with some well-needed R&R on the beach.
So with some travel time, 3 weeks exactly!!
Soo... wish me luck! Don't know if I will do another update before I go, but I definitely will when I get back!!!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Summer #2 and 15th month update
Ah haa... so some time has passed. I realized my blogs have mostly been travel updates, so just wanted to tune in to My Life as an Expat being 15 months in.... almost hitting the 2 years mark. Wow! Where does the time go?
But 1st off, thanks to Ramadan (Ramadan Kareem everyone!), I now am working 20 hours less a week and I have to say it's soooooooooooo sooooooooooooooooooo nice. Not having to drink or eat during the day hasn't been that big of deal just knowing that I can see so much more daylight and have so many extra hours free. Niiiiiice! I really feel for people who are fasting because Ramadan this year falls smack in the middle of summer, and it must be really REALLY hard to not drink water ALL day in this heat. Respect to them. I don't know if it's because I'm more used to the heat, but this summer really doesn't seem too bad to be, it hasn't been as humid as before. BUT of course I can drink throughout the day (just hidden) so it makes it a wee bit easier.
So here are some updates:
Home life: REALLY loving my apartment! I REALLY hope they don't raise the rent next year. Eeek! It really feels like "home" to me. I'm keeping it basic and REALLY trying to not accrue too much extra stuff. I learned my lesson when I literally and figuratively broke my back cleaning up my old home to come out here. I don't want to make the same mistake! I live right in the downtown area and a majority of my friends live almost walking distance AND a lot of my activities are also close by. Really happy with it!!! Being so central is great and makes me even consider downtown life when I get back to Chicago :-)
Activity life: I will be going into more detail of this in my next blog (hehe), keeping fairly busy with sport and exercise. With most of my friends being from various sport groups I am involved in, it's easy to get more and more involved in different activities. Some days I am even doing 2 sports and really have to think about what I am doing each day. I enjoy it, feel in good shape, and it definitely keeps me busy.
Dubai life: Ahh.... the one word people sometimes describe Dubai is convenient. Not to say everything is easy, because it's not, but it is a convenient place to live. Just the other day my car battery died, and all it took was a phone call and next thing you know the battery people came to my work, changed it, and it was done! I didn't even skip a beat with work. I think it's easy for people to feel lazy too because they have delivery for everything, food of course, tools (Ace delivers here), pharmacy, you name it! Now that I look back, I feel my 1st year was so/so, not bad, not excellent, just... okay. Now I feel much more comfortable and adjusted and even considering prolonging my initial "2-3" years. Most everyone says that when they come, but really, this place kinds sucks you in. We'll see!!! As usual, things are always changing here, internally and externally (always construction!), so always new and interesting things popping up.
Expat life: Although yes, this has become a bit of "home" for me, I of COURSE totally miss my parents and family, my friends, and the city. Summer's are always hard because the summers in Chicago is aaaaahhh-mazing. I definitely go through moments when I feel REALLY homesick (more than when i was traveling)... even for silly stuff, but then life goes on and you become more and more adapted to this "new" life, which is now not seeming so "new."
Social life: It's been good! I don't have nearly as many friends as I did back home, but the friends I do have are good people and I'm happy to have them in my life. Although mostly British (there are a lot of Brits here), it's nice to add some diversity to the mix. Like me, they are not into clubbing and the high end stuff that Dubai is famous for, and are into the low-key gatherings. Such as this weekend we are going to the Spice Market (local nut shopping!) in the old part of Dubai and then Heritage Village for some local eats. And then the next night getting together for light food and drinks at this cool restaurant/Cafe with a group of people.
Work life: And this is where the mostly positive things come to an end. Wah wah. If anything has given me high blood pressure, it is this. It's too long of a story to explain here, but let's just say I am now "keeping my options open." Some things have been total crap, to put it nicely, and other things are "that is so Dubai," which is the negative side of Dubai life. It's definitely been a BIG BIG learning lesson for me, I've prematurely aged and now have more grey hairs, but still trying to just stay calm and positive. Thank gaaawwwwddddd that I looooove what I do, otherwise I would probably be home back in America. So that gets me through the day, at least I am independent with my work and have good relationships with my co-workers (well, most of them). I'm just now going through a particular unfair and unjust situation that I need all the positive support I can get... 'in shallah' I get through it... my poor heart! I know I'm being vague, but I'm sooo disheartened and upset about the whole thing, don't have energy to write it all out. All and all, as a colleague told me, things here in Dubai can be about lessons, and although it's not clear what this lesson is because I did nothing wrong but somehow got the short end of the stick, I'm sure one day it will come to me :-)
Travel life: Ah ha! You know I can't go too long without a travel plan! To be talked about in my next blog....
To be continued....
But 1st off, thanks to Ramadan (Ramadan Kareem everyone!), I now am working 20 hours less a week and I have to say it's soooooooooooo sooooooooooooooooooo nice. Not having to drink or eat during the day hasn't been that big of deal just knowing that I can see so much more daylight and have so many extra hours free. Niiiiiice! I really feel for people who are fasting because Ramadan this year falls smack in the middle of summer, and it must be really REALLY hard to not drink water ALL day in this heat. Respect to them. I don't know if it's because I'm more used to the heat, but this summer really doesn't seem too bad to be, it hasn't been as humid as before. BUT of course I can drink throughout the day (just hidden) so it makes it a wee bit easier.
So here are some updates:
Home life: REALLY loving my apartment! I REALLY hope they don't raise the rent next year. Eeek! It really feels like "home" to me. I'm keeping it basic and REALLY trying to not accrue too much extra stuff. I learned my lesson when I literally and figuratively broke my back cleaning up my old home to come out here. I don't want to make the same mistake! I live right in the downtown area and a majority of my friends live almost walking distance AND a lot of my activities are also close by. Really happy with it!!! Being so central is great and makes me even consider downtown life when I get back to Chicago :-)
Activity life: I will be going into more detail of this in my next blog (hehe), keeping fairly busy with sport and exercise. With most of my friends being from various sport groups I am involved in, it's easy to get more and more involved in different activities. Some days I am even doing 2 sports and really have to think about what I am doing each day. I enjoy it, feel in good shape, and it definitely keeps me busy.
Dubai life: Ahh.... the one word people sometimes describe Dubai is convenient. Not to say everything is easy, because it's not, but it is a convenient place to live. Just the other day my car battery died, and all it took was a phone call and next thing you know the battery people came to my work, changed it, and it was done! I didn't even skip a beat with work. I think it's easy for people to feel lazy too because they have delivery for everything, food of course, tools (Ace delivers here), pharmacy, you name it! Now that I look back, I feel my 1st year was so/so, not bad, not excellent, just... okay. Now I feel much more comfortable and adjusted and even considering prolonging my initial "2-3" years. Most everyone says that when they come, but really, this place kinds sucks you in. We'll see!!! As usual, things are always changing here, internally and externally (always construction!), so always new and interesting things popping up.
Expat life: Although yes, this has become a bit of "home" for me, I of COURSE totally miss my parents and family, my friends, and the city. Summer's are always hard because the summers in Chicago is aaaaahhh-mazing. I definitely go through moments when I feel REALLY homesick (more than when i was traveling)... even for silly stuff, but then life goes on and you become more and more adapted to this "new" life, which is now not seeming so "new."
Social life: It's been good! I don't have nearly as many friends as I did back home, but the friends I do have are good people and I'm happy to have them in my life. Although mostly British (there are a lot of Brits here), it's nice to add some diversity to the mix. Like me, they are not into clubbing and the high end stuff that Dubai is famous for, and are into the low-key gatherings. Such as this weekend we are going to the Spice Market (local nut shopping!) in the old part of Dubai and then Heritage Village for some local eats. And then the next night getting together for light food and drinks at this cool restaurant/Cafe with a group of people.
Work life: And this is where the mostly positive things come to an end. Wah wah. If anything has given me high blood pressure, it is this. It's too long of a story to explain here, but let's just say I am now "keeping my options open." Some things have been total crap, to put it nicely, and other things are "that is so Dubai," which is the negative side of Dubai life. It's definitely been a BIG BIG learning lesson for me, I've prematurely aged and now have more grey hairs, but still trying to just stay calm and positive. Thank gaaawwwwddddd that I looooove what I do, otherwise I would probably be home back in America. So that gets me through the day, at least I am independent with my work and have good relationships with my co-workers (well, most of them). I'm just now going through a particular unfair and unjust situation that I need all the positive support I can get... 'in shallah' I get through it... my poor heart! I know I'm being vague, but I'm sooo disheartened and upset about the whole thing, don't have energy to write it all out. All and all, as a colleague told me, things here in Dubai can be about lessons, and although it's not clear what this lesson is because I did nothing wrong but somehow got the short end of the stick, I'm sure one day it will come to me :-)
Travel life: Ah ha! You know I can't go too long without a travel plan! To be talked about in my next blog....
To be continued....
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