Twelfth week of home school, only four weeks to go and the year is done. Kids can't wait. Me, I'm more apprehensive about the upcoming summer holidays.
Discussions, or should I say speculations, are running wild in many forums on the internet, about what is thought to happen in the next few weeks and how the UAE is going to "get back to normal".
With the summer holidays coming up, many are trying to make plans for their travel. As per usual nobody wants to be here during the hot, hot summer months. This year especially, after the long period of quarantine we've had, people are even more eager to get a break, enjoy some nature and fresh air and be somewhere where their kids can be outside. I too hope to be able to travel, but I do think it's naive to make plans now, in the situation we are still in at the moment. Considering the many changes almost daily, plans will then inevitably have to change, and I rather wait and see what happens, than speculate, guess and hope.
I must admit, I am actually also getting more and more anxious about spending time in Sweden at the moment. Even IF we will be able to get there (and most importantly, get back to the UAE without too much hassle), what would we actually do? We shouldn't visit my parents, as they are risk group both of them, and we have no house of our own to spend our time in. We can't really visit our friends as that would mean too much traveling all over the country and I sure haven't spent the last many months being isolated here just to go to Sweden and pick up the virus - or worse, bring it back here, into a community that have lived under such strict regulations for so long.
Ah well, I have four more weeks to figure this all out, at least.
In the meantime while my longing for greenery, bicycle trips, milder temperatures, lösgodis (Swedish pick-n-mix), fresh air and endless, light Swedish summer evenings gets a bit rough as per usual this time of the year; I try to comfort and remind myself that I am always here in the UAE in June anyway. Normally with a lot more to do, and the already booked summer holiday trip to look forward to sure, but one day or another - it will happen this year too. It might not be during the summer, but the lösgodis will always be there!
Since most days are pretty much the same around here I have decided to use the blog to write more about how I am feeling, and what I am thinking about each day through this. I hope it will be "fun" to re-experience at some stage. My mental state is experiencing more of a roller coaster than my life at the moment, that's for sure!
But I can let you know that today was a big day as Lucas made us dinner! Chicken Cacciatore, which went down really well!
Day 91, Monday 8 June
Today I left the house for a bit to see my friend Frida. To be honest I am bored of having to go to dreary cafés to be able to meet up, but you do what you gotta do. Hanging out with a friend and having a natter for a few hours was exactly what I needed!
In the news today New Zealand now moves to level 1 after having eradicated Corona in the country with 17 days of no new cases and no active cases. This means they can now live completely normal, no limits or social distancing in place, although their border measures remain. At the moment only nine countries in the world have no active cases.
It feels like we live on a completely different planet than our friends and family in Sweden and NZ. Going to bed we still don't know whether or not the current travel ban between Abu Dhabi and the other emirates will end tomorrow as previously stated, or be extended as the common belief seems to be. Ah well, we will see tomorrow, we are not really needing to go anywhere anyway, but it affects other things too so it's interesting of course.
Day 92, Tuesday 10 June
Yup, woke up to the news of the travel ban being extended for another week. Apparently the official notice came just before midnight, nothing like leaving it to the last minute!
Actually that's a lie, I woke up to the sound of the fire alarm starting to tell me it was about to run out of battery, at 2 am! Why does that always happen in the middle of the night?! Bring on my morning coffee.
Corona cleaning today. One man down as Nathan is at work this week (at the training center), but we still got it done. Rewarded ourselves with home made pasta for dinner as we received the new KitchenAid pasta attachment the other day. As our home made pasta has been such a success, we thought it would be a good investment to get a proper tool to make it.
It worked a treat, so much easier than having to crank that machine. Today we made spaghetti for our Spaghetti Carbonara.
Day 93, Wednesday 11 June
Halle-lu-jah! Finally an all over really good day! It's been a while since I've been able to completely snap out of this funk I'm in, but today, today was just a happy day!
I woke up after having slept really well. Got a real good workout in this morning, even though I was under time pressure since I was meeting Linda for lunch at the mall.
We spent a few hours together chatting away while enjoying a super fresh and yummy burger for lunch at my favourite burger shack, Burgerfuel, and during coffee after too.
The shops have now finally been allowed to open their fitting rooms, so I went straight to get those bras I desperately needed! I got assisted by a very knowledgeable and helpful shop lady, and walked away with three perfectly fitted new garments. Awesome!
I also tried a few other things that I had been having my eye on around the shops, but ended up buying just a pair of off-white jeans on super sale.
Finished off by getting the groceries and then I got home refreshed after a whole afternoon to myself, to a happy family! A happy, happy day!
Day 94, Thursday 12 June
Thursday-blursday. Today has been one of those days at home like most the others.
As something different I watched a lecture online from the NYU on the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, to refresh the knowledge a little bit; and I also followed the Swedish press conference about the upcoming 'Sommar i P1'-season.
Linnea baked a double batch of cinnamon buns and we had Mexican for dinner - and into the weekend we go!
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