Still Pinching Myself!

Two weeks in Dubai already, really!?

Yes!

On reflection, it seems the first week I spent out here in Dubai went quite slowly. As this second week seems to have accelerated by at a speed, I’ve not been ready for!

I finished my last post with a statement “I am a Swimming Teacher and Assistant Venue Lead with Speedo Swim Squads and I live in Dubai!!!”. This statement appears now to be untrue and it should actually read “I am a Swimming Teacher and Assistant Venue Lead with Speedo Swim Squads!!!”. Yes, that’s right I am not an assistant I have been given my own venue and the first week has gone swimmingly (apologies for the pun, I could not resist!).

What does that mean?

Well, basically I am the head teacher at one of Speedo’s venues. So I coordinate the lessons as well as teach them. Spreadsheets have been my life this week. I can’t say that I’ve been overjoyed with having to create so many. But, they are now all complete at least.

I’ve had the best time teaching though! I’ve done some star floats, blown bubbles, jumped in, done a little of all four strokes… it has been wonderful! Fairly sure the kids have enjoyed it as well, but what does that matter, right? I’m having a blast!

Getting from A to B… is it as easy as 1,2,3?

I’ve been driving in Dubai for just shy of two weeks now. To begin with, it was was absolutely terrifying. Now, however I am finding it slightly easier. Everything is still very much back to front, I keep getting in the car on the righthand side and searching for the handbrake to my left. However, I haven’t had an accident yet so I’ll take it as a win!

Where has it taken me?

In short, here, there and everywhere! My little Kia is getting me from A to B quite nicely and together we already covered a fair few kilometres.

From getting lost in the Dubai Mall car park, to spending 3 hours viewing apartments. The Dubai Mall by the way is HUGE! I have been mesmerised by the aquarium, ice rink, oh and the waterfall that are INSIDE the shopping mall. Not to mention the dancing fountains that live outside and go off every half hour, dancing along to different tunes.

Apartment hunting was, overall, disappointing, I have seen so many and none that I’ve fallen in love with. It’s also super complicated to rent out here. Lots of hoops to jump through! So I’m taking a month out in a hotel apartment. This will

• A) give myself more time to look
• B) get all my documents in line, my visa and emirate ID.

Turns out you can do very little here without those two things! But I am pretty relaxed about it all. The hotel apartment has all I need for the same monthly cost as a flat, so it will do for now.

On a more exciting note however, I have reached out to Girl Guiding here. Guiding has been part of my life for as long as swimming and I’m as equally passionate about it. So I look forward to getting stuck in. I’ve admired the Burj Khalifa from up close as well as from afar whilst at the beach! Discovering beautiful beaches has been easy as they are everywhere. Jumeirah beach is perfect and my favourite so far! The sand is white; the sea is warm; and with view of the ocean in one direction and Burj Khalifa in another, it doesn’t get much better.

Am I still swimming?

Ha, so! If you saw my post on Tuesday evening, you may have guessed that I had been for a dip myself. I trialled a masters club over here and it was, well, not quite what I expected. Lots of 25m swims with a variety of drills that I tend to use with my swimmers. It was much more like a lesson than a session, so regardless of the comments I received such as “wow, you must swim lots” and “excellent drill work, well done” I don’t think I’ll be going back to that particular club. But I do have another session lined up elsewhere on Sunday evening, so I am hoping that will be better for me! For the time being though, my swimming will be done at the beach in the very clear, very warm ocean.

You can think of me tomorrow, as I sit on the sand in front of the Burj, soaking up the glorious sunshine!