I arrived at Abu Dhabi after sitting next to a guy on the plane who spent the entire journey hocking up greeners, spitting them into his hand, looking at them, then eating them again... I am NOT kidding, it was rancid... however loudly i turned up my ipod it was a tone that just cannot be cut out of ones hearing URGH...
I arrived in A.D. at midnight, the guy (Alan) I am working for had claimed to have arranged a driver to take me to the hotel...so out I skip from baggage collection looking for a handsome Arabian to whisk me away.. but no, alas there was no-one, absolutely no-one waiting for me... :(
So, my usual solution took precident, go outside, breath deeply and figure out what the hell to do... I walk out of the sliding doors from the cool air-conditioned airport and woosh.. my goodness its ROASTING (35 degrees) and its midnight.. I don't even want to think what tomorrow is going to be like..
So, I telephoned the guy that I'm working with (Alan), theres no answer... I leave it a while.. call him again.. no answer... its 1am now.. theres pretty much no-one left in the airport other than the cleaners... erm... mmmmm... right.. what now?!?!
Phone rings.. WOO HOO, very broken line but its the guy, hes going to call the hotel & find out whats happening (incidently I didn't even know the name of the hotel i was staying in as he booked it on my behalf..). 5 mins later two Arabian gentlemen come over 'Miss Candi?' .. erm.. 'yes?' ....'we have car for you' so i get shoved in the back of a car, bag chucked in the boot and off we go at no less than 120mph.. AGHHH, ok, thank goodness no other cars are on the road.. 10 mins later my phone rings.. its Alan,
Alan- 'erm, where are you? the hotel car is waiting for you outside airport gate 6?'..
Me - 'what do you mean?... i'm in the hotel car?'....
Alan - 'no, the car is waiting for you, i've got the driver on the other line..'...
Me - 'WHAT? who the hell am i in a car with then & where are we going?'
All i can see is blurred road signs as we are driving so damn quickly.. i think i just made out Dubai (60kms).. Mmmm pretty sure we are supposed to be travelling towards Abu Dhabi NOT Dubai.. Shite.. whats the name of the hotel i need to be heading for?!??!?!
Much broken english and sign language later.. we are turned around and heading in the right direction... my driver is from Jordan, he has 7 children, the oldest is an accountant, she works in a bank in Abu Dhabi, the next 3 are at uni in Jordan (very expensive apparently), studying sport, medicine & english, the last 3 are still at school.. in Jordan... (good aren't I... and i'm not lying about the above.. i spent most of the journey scared & as a result kept asking questions & acting friendly so if he was planning on dropping me off in the middle of the desert to die of heat exhaustion then maybe he would think i was nice enough to leave a bottle of water too..)....
The last and unforgettable question from Driver...
Driver - 'are you married?'....
Me - 'No'...
Driver - 'Why not? Whats wrong with you?' All my children over 18 are married.... you very old... you should be married...'
CONVERSATION ENDS...!
The rest of the drive is in silence,... we finally arrive at the hotel, have a debate with reception about who is paying for the taxi as the hotel was supposed to send one and i'm not organised enough to have changed any money... find room.. pass out...
wake up.. its 57 degrees... i'm currently hiding in hotel air-con.. went outside for 5mins.. nearly melted away like ice-cream.. I am SO English!! Must do some work now..
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