Ramadan #7/Last Days in Dubai!!

Ahh, my final Ramadan. Am kinda sad about this!! Also can't believe this is my 7th! When I first came, I remember how was beside myself with the shortened hours and couldn't get enough of it. Also as at that time it was more in the fall, the weather was nice and just is sooo sooo amazing to have so much freeeeee time.

This one was obviously different as those extra hours weren't relaxed or easy, was a LOT of running around. Thank gawd it was taper time for Comrades, because that extra time was well used as well with Project Exit Dubai.

Clinic was decent, more so because my schedule was winding down as I'm leaving, but actually more full with old timer patients, which was cute that many wanted to squeeze themselves in and many genuinely sad. We develop close bonds with patients and truly some good friendships have come out of it!

I REALLY REALLY REALLY will miss Ramadans! Where else in the world would one get paid for FULL HOURS (48!) and ONLY work 30? My gawd,  dream! And really, couldn't have happened at a better time as I NEEDED every extra minute. I had sooo soo many nice Ramadans and nice memories , especially as most were during the summer/early fall, when general Dubai is slower and as the winter season is just soo crazy with all these run things, I just looved looved the down time to just relax! Catch-up on random stuffs (like movies! Pic organizing) and NOT nazi training. Just awesome. Last year was probably the best when I only worked 4-hour shifts, so 24 hrs/A WEEK, AND GOT FULL TIME PAY! That's when I worked 6-11pm (ha! Still makes me laugh how they thought that would even be successful), which of course was slow, so literally had the whole day to relax, take naps, and even sometimes I was so relaxed, I almost forgot I had to go into "work."
This time unfortunately I didn't do my annual fast, I before tried to do at least a day or two of fasting, buuut just.... well, it just didn't happen.

Anyhooo.... I guess I'll say last MONTHS of Dubai, which was a lot of farewell gatherings and just catch-ups.

Below will include random pics....

Friends (i.e. NEW family)& Life:

Paula (sniff sniff, one of my VERY early patients, I think I first saw her as a patient that first winter in 2011, and we've been friends since then. Thanks to her (and he he, some other EK friends, I've gotten my awesome Emirates discounts on flights). Then there is Kay, ahhh, Kay! Literally my FIRST friend in Dubai. We randomly met at the post office when I was there in the spring of 2016, when it was just a thought to live in Dubai, and kept in touch. She was one of my first temporary homes when I first came, and.... I called her my Dubai mom. She has lived in Dubai for 20+ years, so she REALLY helped me TREMENDOUSLY when I first came, she was my garage sale buddy (how I literally furnished my apt), and we had our little Thursday night dinners at Kitchen 6 (our fave restaurants) VERY regularly. Loved her Irish sense of humor, her NOT beating around the busy to tell me how things REALLY are here, and our dinner dates! Will definitely miss her! 

Lol, my "favorite" face, haha. Anil and I were at the Opera, we both loove classical music and tried to go to opera or a concert when we could. Umm.. okay, it's not the most elegant face to be at the opera, buuuut this pic is funny to me, he he. 

Kay and I at our fave Kitchen 6. Mind you, with all my talk of leaving Dubai, she, after 25 years actually left Dubai 2 months after I did. So we were really each other's support in Project Exit Dubai and it was nice to talk to someone about all the feelings and sentiments that we go through leaving this place. 

Amihan, me, Fatos, and Busra with her cutie baby. Soo... Fatos was a patient of mine, and we just connected and became friends. She was my #1 marketer as she worked in the same building as I did and then Amihan came to see me, then Busra! So Fatos and Busra are Turkish, and I have a special connection with Turkish, but Fatos is a special person. She invited us to a homemade delicious breakfast... gosh, 3-4 hours ago, and.... we kept the tradition until those months before I left! I looved these gatherings because it is nice to hang out with non-runners sometimes, lol, and.... they are all LOVELY ladies and we had so much fun with Fatos's Turkey coffee cup readings (predictions, etc). Okay, I won't say many actually happened, but as these things are, was a good laugh and a lot of wishful thinking. 

Brinda, me, and Meng Lee. Brinda introduced me to Meng Lee as she figured out we were both going to the same hot yoga classes. I was more friends with Brinda, who is an AMAZING, kind and generous person. We had our Mary's Foot spa and healthy breakfast catch-ups, and also both have a passion for... plain hot water with fresh ginger! She's super into ayurveda, nutrition, wellness, and all the super things I am too. Overall a GREAT person! She sadly left Dubai to live in the MALDIVES (so we aren't too sad for her!), but had popping into town a few times my last few months and bless her, even re-arranged her travel schedule to overlap with me as then I was leaving. She is one of those GREAT people. 

Me and Caterina! She also left Dubai (do you see a pattern here?), but fortunately, comes once a month as a visiting doctor. She worked at DBAJ for my first 3 years and one of my super friends at DBAJ, she's an AWESOME podiatrist and got her masters and PhD in NYC. She moved back to Spain yet kept Dubai contacts and thankfully comes to Dubai (through another hospital (for some extra cash), so I got to see her a few times before I left. Again, a GREAT person and she may look familiar as she is the friend I went to Seychelles with last December (2017)! 

Me and the swimmer Irish girls! Ruth, Helen, me (not Irish, lol), Caroline and Niamh. I know Helen better (she's also a runner) and I had got to talking to both Niamh and Ruth at Dubai Masters Swim Club, which I was a regular, and they used to do their Irish nights out, and they were sweet enough to invite me along, so we would try and do some catch-ups every couple of months or so. REALLY great ladies and I always had a good laugh when I hung out with them. Irish are really one of my fave people, and... well, it was just nice to talk about something other than running, even if it was the other sport of swimming! 

My super friend Laura! This pic is funny as ... I don't even know where we are both looking, lol. She also was leaving Dubai, I think just a week or so before I did. She's a SUB 3-HOUR MARATHONER!!!! AMAZING athlete! And person! Unfortunately, she went through some health issues, which I helped her with, and we just became good friends. She's now living in Switzerland (another, "let's not feel sorry for her") and working as a teacher. Again, a SUPER person! 

Bye bye car! UNLIKE most ALL of Dubai people, when I came to Dubai, all I wanted was a car to take me from Point A to Point B, and as I am NOT a showy person and had planned on being in Dubai for just 2-3 years (Ha! that's what we all say), this was a perfect 2nd hand car. But of course, as it is not the fancy schmancy Dubai cars, I got a lot of jokes about my "rolls royce," (nice teasing!), but I didn't care! It worked like a gem, I hardly had any issues, and as my life literally was within a 5km radius, it had excellent mileage because of my minimal use. AND, as I sold it to my super EK friend Paula (pictured above), I just loved the thought it is in good hands. 

Temp home #1 - This beautiful villa was where I transited before and after my Temp home #2

Temp Home #2 - not a bad view, huh? Notice the feet! lol.

Actually, this was a BEAUTIFUL apartment and at a PERFECT location (as I was close to the metro and World Trade Center) and... just loved my 3-months there. It also had a FAB gym and it was 1km to the DCS car park lot where we all met to run. Yay! 

Hmm... realize there are soo many other friends and things I did, but i think I was in such a state of frenzy while leaving, I wasn't as proactive with pics. Whoops! And also I knew I would be coming back before i left for good, so maybe that was why I was a bit lazy?

DBAJ send-offs:

Sigh, as can be imagined, MAJOR meltdowns and tears. When I left, I didn't say bye to a lot of people just because I knew I was going to start balling again. I was too too sad to go, buuut, what to do? Life has to move on. Bye physio dream team! 

At my desk with my fave little DBAJ man

Anil, me, Duaa, Vijay, Mildred, and Siona (Marika missing as she was on maternity leave). They were sweet and gave me these flowers after I had another little meltdown about leaving. I think this was my last day. Awwww. 

One of my goodbye gift, awwwwww

My co-worker Chloe who came to visit me when before i left. Her baby is so cute! 

Hahah, Siona likes to make faces too, this is during a Physio CME course we took, he he. 

My farewell party:

Don't mind that obnoxious hand on the TV - how random! But there it is - our team with some old friends that had since left: Duaa, Alaa, Mildred, me, Rica, then Ate Jannette, Donna, Marika, Siona, and Vijay

There is a tradition, especially when any of us leaves, for super Donna to put together this collage... which I ended up doing for some of my own friends when they were leaving. Love love loooove it, so thoughtful, and what a trip down memory lane!!! 

Duaa presenting me also with a book with sweet messages and ... funny pics (not just of me, as below, but also of me and one of them). Duaa, as you see, loooves that pic! Lol 

Above: My fave Rica (preggo with #2!)

Below: Lovely Mildred

Above: 2018 - The Dream Team! Marika, Rica, Donna, Jannette, Vijay, ME, Duaa, Siona, Alaa and Mildred

Below: 2011 - yup, a MAJOR blast from the past, but look, we are all there, but just a LOT younger (and boy, I really fell apart, hahah) - Donna, Rica, Mildred, Marika, me, and Anil

DCS/Sport Farewell Party:

And...saving the best for last as it was too too funny, had a Running/Athletic farewell party at an Irish bar, and this was .... too awesome!!! Super fun to get the gang together in non-athletic gear and also, gasp, we didn't have a run the next day so it was all-in for having fun and actually drinking! Gasp! The timing couldn't have been better as that next weekend was Comrades, so hence this luxurious day off on a weekend. And GUESS WHAT? Too too nice and a BIG o surprise, but as I won't be at the DCS Year-End Social, they awarded me with RUNNER OF THE YEAR!!! Am too too touched and this was such a surprise and.... gosh, am too humbled!!!! We had a BLAST that night, too many "nazdrovje's" and vodka shots. A super turnout and just a lot of fun, haven't had that much fun out and being out in ages! I think stayed out till 2am??? hahaha. I sound like an old lady, but when you get up at 4am, anything after 10pm is late! That next day was true suffering, I have to say. Had the vomit bag and pounding headache and all, and really thought I was doing to die. It didn't help that it was one of my "home transition" days to move from one place to another, so it was soo slow moving and just awful (how do people do this regularly???), buuuuuuuuuut all was good as it was worth it for the fun we had (and note to self: Once a year MAX of doing this is good enough for me, or even NEVER again to drink that much). I guess it doesn't help that I was bragging of my Russian roots and it had been a joke anyway the "nazdrovje" (cheers) for awhile, so of course everyone was buying me shots and doing the "NAZDROVJE!" as I was the host of the night, haha.

Above and below: Me receiving the Runner of the Year award, presenting to me by club president Neil G (aww), and just soo touched! I had to give a little spontaneous obviously unprepared speech, and mumbled something cohesive, I think, and was just too... surprised and humbled! 

Such a great turn out! Felt so special they all came out for me, awwwww. 

Whoop, there it is! My award :-) 

 And so it begins, a lot of "happy" pictures, lol....

Ying, Shabri, Louise, Laura, and Pruthu

Pruthu and I  - what a gem of a guy

Nic, Pruthu and Tim

Shabri, Ram, and Ying

Top: Nic, Shabri, Laura, Louise, Pruthu, ME, Chandra, Tim

Bottom: Ying and Sujeet

Louise, Nic, and Laura

Laura and her hubby John, John in the middle, Tim in back, Pruthu, and Louise

Helen, Louise, and Laura

Chandru, Vicki and I

Jill and I - she's too sweet. The first year or so when I was running, we had this SMALL group, we called ourselves the "wee hour group" as there were just 5-6 of us that STARTED running at 5am. Jill was one of the KEY people at the beginning alongside Ram (Brinda and Nathalie also there), and little by little, that group TOTALLY changed when we started doing all these ultra things. So sadly Jill got injured and stopped running with us, and life happened to the "wee hours group," and then it became the "Cookoo Comrades group" (this is our whatsapp group) with all these Comrades crazies, BUT really, it all started with Jill in that 'early' group, and ... we almost got teary reminiscing about it. She was too sweet and made me a little mug with one of our "wee hours" pictures. 

Deepak and I

Louise, Laura, Sujeet and Deepak

NAZDROVJE!

Shabri and Ying

Me and Chandra

YOFO - my fellow 1978 buddy Nic

Chandra, Manooj, and Ying

I think most of the Cookoos here! 

Top: Shabri, Nic, John, Chandra, Manooj, Sujeet, me and Tim

Middle: Laura, Louise, and Ying

Bottom: Ram and Pruthu

Louise, Nic and Laura

Ying, Sujeet, Manooj, Ram, Pruthu and Shabri

Me with "Team India" (and John, lol):

Micheal, Sujeet, Deepak, Manooj, me, John, Sujeet, Pruthu, and Jay

Nazdrovje #293482093423094

So cute: Duncan and Lyn-Si are married, but because they have a small child, they literally took turns to come out for this, awwww :-) 

Me with... the swimmers! Ian, Rog, and Paula. 

We used to have Eat & Drink nights after our swim practice, and... such nice memories and REALLY lovely people! 

Me and super Janice, a phenomenal athlete

Louise, Tim, Omar, ME, Nic, and Deepak

Me with this LOVELY LOVELY family, soo soo cute they all came out! MAJOR hearts to them - Adam, Kevin and Paula

Me with Chandru and Manooj

Besties! Louise and Laura

Super couple Brian and Margaret - can't even say how amazing these guys are! 

Vicki and I

Omar and I 

Sujeet, Manooj, Nic, Tim, Shabri and I

Ying, Manooj, Sujeeeeeeeeeet, and Nic

Manooj, Simon (Ying's hubby), Ying, ME, Ram and Shabri

THEN, it was... my last runs! As you see, really a process to say goodbye, lol.

My last EARLY morning run, when Ram "knighted" me with my Runner of the Year award (too cute!):

Coming on in! 

Me with Shabri in the background

Sujeet and I

Chandra and I

Chandra, Sujeet, Louise, Nic, ME, Deepak, Vicki, Manooj, and Ram

And... yes, this will end soon, I promise... me and my LAST DCS Friday run, sniff sniff...

Yes, Pruthu made a video, lol 

Top: Deepak, Rajesh, Marek, Nic and Laura in the way back, Margaret, Louise, Tim's head, Brian, ? behind him, Vicky, ?, and Paula

front: Ying, Pruthu, ME, Shabri, and Bhard

Mel, Neil, Shabri, Nic, and John

Neil, Nic, ME, Tim, Michael, Neabh, and Orla

Awww, our petrol stops, sniff sniff.

Pratik, Deepak, ME, Rajesh, and Pruthu

Chris, (forgot his name??), Pratik, Deepak, ME, Ying, Rajesh, and Pruthu

Shabri, ME, and Nic

Bhard and I

Too many people here, but I'm in the middle on Murphy's Bench! The infamous bench that is a tradition in our club to sit on it for good luck, we walk to the end of the street, and then run the remaining 2km home. 

 

A close-up! 

 Awww #2 - Creek Classic! We always do this before a marathon or... just a nice occasion, like my farewell. Kinda odd to take an 'abra' during a run, but it's tradition (and nice to give the legs a rest sometimes!) 

 At our famous "DCS car park" meet-up;

Me with these phenomenal athletes - Sam, Neil, and Jacques (top ranked Mauritius athlete)

Laura, Ram, ME, Rajesh, and Louise

And a post-run... farewell at Cafe Nero

As you see, DCS had a HUGE HUGE HUGE impact on my Dubai life!! 

Wellll...... 

Overall, darn it, I had so much packing and sorting to do, despite the 2934832904 pics above, sadly didn’t have time for ALL the catch ups I wanted, but managed to do what I could. Likewise with some Dubai things, buuut what to do? Can't do it all, right?

And there you have, it Last Days in Dubai! Awwwww .