Living in a Hotel

Firstly a massive apology for those of you that need a blogging fix every day.  The internet here has, for whatever reason, been utterly useless.  It's OK this morning but who knows what we should expect as we continue this happy journey !

I know some of you will say “I know what it’s like to live in a hotel”, and some of you may have lived in one for a couple of weeks, maybe even a month, or even been back to stay in the same one over and over again.  But I doubt any of you have lived in one for 6 weeks, or, as it will be, nearly 5 months.  This is my hotels (in case you’ve forgotten……)

It puts a different perspective on things really.  You start to learn people’s (and I mean staff really) names, not because you want them to look after you better but because you see them every day and they become your friends.  This is especially true here because all the staff live on site in a separate block out behind the hotel (you can see it on the right of the hotel in the picture above) and I don’t know, but I’m guessing, that they don’t leave the site very often, if at all.

The Assistant Manager didn’t know anything about camel racing when I asked him about the signs up in the city and by the track (I took a picture of one of the signs and e-mailed it to him to prove I wasn’t making it up !)

Those of you who’s Arabic is better than mine will instantly recognise that the circus is coming to town on the 26^th (yippee!).

Anyway, back to the plot – the staff here are predominantly Sri Lankan and Indian or Pakistani with bits of Filipino, Bangladeshi and the odd Arab thrown in (you can imagine how much fun I’ve had as a Brit whilst the cricket world cup has been on…….and nobody has the slightest interest in England’s rugby successes…..).  It seems that most, if not all, of the waiting staff in the restaurant and the bar are Sri Lankan, and mostly girls.  They are all pretty and have a ready willingness to smile, and in a warm way.  They recognise us as people that are around all the time and I hope we come across as grateful and cheerful.  It helps our little world go around I think, and makes life bearable for us all.

The guys in the gym and around the pool are generally from the Indian subcontinent – they all look the same and are all helpful and friendly in a “didn’t we just beat you at cricket” sort of way – which is nice…….

The management are Egyptian (I think) and tend to be a little formal. The rest of the staff, cleaners, maintenance etc. seem to be a mix and tend to keep themselves to themselves although they are equally friendly when you do meet them.  My favourites are the restaurant staff because I suppose we interact with them at least twice a day and have therefore got to know their names and they have got to know what we like with our breakfast (tea, coffee etc.).  It sort of brought it home to me when I was chatting to a couple of Physiotherapists from Al Ain who were staying in the hotel for one night to celebrate one of their birthdays, and some of the staff passed us and said hello and when I said hello back and used their names and a little chat etc.  After they had gone one of the physios said that their faces lit up when they were talking to me – so before you reach for your sick bags, the Sri Lankans are like that anyway but it does make you feel wanted !

Before I remind you all what my home looks like I’d just like to point out the bad bits

-         the internet is appalling here, there are some nights, like last night (and the night before), where you can barely get on and even the simplest of websites either won’t open or take an age.  Uploading photos is right out !

-         As lovely as the food is, once you’ve done a week or so it starts to repeat itself and the same things start to come around again.

-         The bar (which is the only bar within about a 50km radius (as far as I am aware, and believe me, I’m aware), is so expensive that it makes your eyes water just looking at the wine list

-         If you forget to leave your privacy sign on the door they will come and close your curtains at 5, and once when I opened them again, they came back whilst I was at dinner and closed them again !

-         I have no privacy unless it’s in a small, but very well furnished, compartment – I don’t even have to go outside it to go to the toilet.  Imagine coming back from work and having to spend most of your time in your bedroom…….for 5 months

-         I even have to tell them when I’m going to be here and when I’m not (although that’s a bit like being at home I guess)

-         They serve bloody Nescafe in sachets in the room ffs !  This is supposed to be a 4* hotel and all they can run to is Nescafe !

Anyway, here are some pictures to remind you of the horrors of living here, and the hardships I am having to endure………

Tomorrow I think I am going to give you a tour of the “city” so hang onto your hats !