The Abu Bloggy

Hello friends and family, and welcome back to the written record of my shenanigans abroad. I realize that it has been quite some time since my last post, and for that I apologize. Some of my harsher critics (cough mom and dad cough) have been on my case to finish blogging the last month and a half of my first trip abroad, which I will attempt to do now: I went lots of places with some different people and we maybe took a few pictures. I'll have to tell you about it some time!

MOVING ON! I am now sitting in my (queen-size) bed in my (17th floor studio) apartment in Abu Dhabi. Wait Alex, what's that, you say? You've graduated NYU and accepted a position at NYU-Abu Dhabi for the next ten months working in their campus writing center as a Global Academic Fellow? And this was a totally unprecedented move until late May and now all of a sudden there you are, humbly bragging about your sweet digs?

I'm glad you asked, kind reader. Indeed, I have done all of those things! If you knew me during senior year, you knew that I oscillated between various opportunities/desires/career goals, and it's somewhat poetic that the path I eventually chose was one I didn't even knew existed until about two months before graduation. The position itself provides an amazing number of benefits: it's a challenging yet rewarding job that will keep me working with students in the academic realm. In addition, I get to continue my travels, eat more amazing food, find more incredible monuments to drink wine near, and further expand my perspective of the world and its inhabitants.

I hope to update more regularly than I did in London, as I will have a more regular day-to-day schedule (and will also be visiting the pub much less frequently). It may be a picture, a song of the day, a full recap of my life, or just a brief insight, but hopefully you will find it entertaining. If not, I kindly suggest you go watch YouTube videos of cats. Let's be real, that's what I will be doing in a few short minutes as well.

The flight over here was incredible, 13 hours in business class (thanks, NYU-AD), allowing for unlimited delicious food options, a few glasses of champagne, and some quality in-flight entertainment (despite not having seen Fasts One-Four, I found Fast Five fairly accessible). As mentioned above, I have an amazing studio apartment on the 17th floor (Nic Evans, eat your heart out) - and yes, I will be posting pictures of this. We did a walking tour of a nearby mall last night, and jet lag prevented me from getting great sleep, but we were up again today to hit up Ikea when it opened. Loyal readers may remember my fondness for this Swedish furniture Candyland from last year, and suffice it to say that my love still abides, even when the cafe isn't open because of Ramadan (I'll be back for you, meatballs). We saw more of the city, including the Ferrari-themed amusement park, several islands, and the most beautiful water I may have ever seen in the Arabian Gulf. Tonight we are having a traditional Iftar dinner, which occurs at sundown when practicing Muslims break their daily fast and eat a meal in celebration of Ramadan.


One final note: the humidity is truly unprecedented - as my friend Neal said, it feels as though it's constantly raining, it's just also hot enough that the rain evaporates as it falls. My friends, you have not known back sweat until you have spent 10 minutes outside in Middle Eastern heat. And this observation comes after less than 24 hours here. Stay tuned folks - it's gonna be a hot one.


Song of the Day - "Home (RAC Mix)" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Home (RAC Mix) by grantmar