disposable clothes

surprisingly enough, i've always been frugal. yes, i know some of you might find that hard to believe. but when i was a tween, i only had one pair each of jordache and gloria vanderbilt jeans (if even that many; i'm old and have had some drinks since then) -- designer jeans were not in our family budget. so now, i'm always in search of a bargain. and while here in the heat of the desert, i need loose fitting clothes (which considering my girth are getting harder to find) -- clothes which are breathable and don't show sweat marks. yeah; i'm a sweaty hog -- yesterday when i was waiting for the bus, i could feel the sweat dripping down my leg. grossed out yet? yeah; i thought so. ANYWAY, there's an 'h&m' here in the mall closest to our apartment. its a shop based in europe and very popular the world over (i think there's one in northpark in dallas). i go there to buy stuff i don't really care about, but that will keep me cool (and fairly fashionable) while i'm here. this is a really long story for a bullsh*t finale, but i don't care.

bought a shirt last week which after one wearing and washing, got a hole in it. so i took it back today and changed it for something else. i figure this is a good way to get new disposable clothes every other week. wear them twice till they fall apart, then exchange them for something else.

here in the uae, there is no such thing as the 'eeoc' or non-discrimination laws. a client of hubby's employer asked to see the passport of a candidate that was to be placed in a management position for a massive upcoming project. once they saw that the person was black, they refused to let him be part of the team. so far, that's the most appalling example i've seen. but in the employment classifieds here and on-line job postings, the wording is usually: "young, filipino (only) female needed for secretarial position", or "exclusively looking for lebanese and european candidates only". crazy!

friday night jeff and i went to the 'fun pub' at the al diar regency hotel. our teacher friends had told us this place was a skeevy karaoke bar and it did not disappoint. the place was not any bigger than our living room and was complete with disco balls, sweaty brits and asian ladies of the evening. we were treated to the sounds of 'radio gaga' as well as some choice korean tunes. here's a couple of pics (i tried to upload a video jeff shot, but it crashed the blog).

jeff is departing for doha tomorrow by himself. i figure i've been there seen all that already, so i'm staying put in order to continue my zumba madness (which has not made a dent in my muffin top).

unfortunately, jeff is going to start travelling a lot more so we're going to re-assess my being here (all alone for 80% of the time). i like being alone, truly. but not so much of the time. i'm starting to have stimulating conversations with inanimate objects. and sometimes they talk back.

gotta run; the washer is dancing across the kitchen.

later.