Walking Like an Indian

One of the less-known facts about Abu Dhabi is the abundant and rich cultures from South and Southeast Asian countries like Philippines, Pakistan, Bangalore, Sri Lanka, and, one of my favorite, India! Besides authenticity, one of the best parts is how much more affordable it is compared to say Europe or Toronto, where you'd pay much more for the exotic experience.

I went to the Christmas dinner last December (organized by the Canadian Business Council) fashioning a $40 salwar - that's a typical South Indian dress. Upon hearing this, one of my Indian colleagues was only too happy to drag me to her home and lend me a deck of tikkas to accessorize - that's the twinkling bits between my eye brows. I love how pretty and festive it turned out! Here is a photo of Hallie (left), Meg (right) and I from the event. Great fun!


Of course Indian food is another favorite part. Indian Thali is, essentially, the equivalent of Japanese bento box: a collection of small servings of soup, salad, curry, sweets surrounding bread and papadum (that's a crunchy wafer-thin fried bread slice!) served in a big metal plate. Soooo amazigly delicious, all for $4! Chhappan Bhog and Anjappar are two of the best Indian eateries within walking distance from our home and my work place - which makes me a regular naturally and the friendly staffs at Anjappar would only be too happy to offer me an extra papadum! :) Here is a photo of Q presenting the thali meal with a content foodie's smile.

We <3 it walking like an Indian!

Surgery done - Q back home

And I'm back... from hospital, that is.

Thank you all who sent very sweet messages to me or to Shu. Always good to know so many people care and will reach out to us!

The update, I went into surgery on Sunday already, and after spending one night in hospital, they have discharged me. So I'm back home, in a brand new above-the-knee-cast, ready for people to sign :)

Coming out of surgery was ok, I did feel the occassional discomfort with the wound, but nothing more than is expected. The first cast they put on after the surgery had a lump below the knee, which was uncomfortable, so they replaced it with a new one. After that, I could go home!

And now, time to recover! This cast will stay on for 2 weeks, after which have a new appointment with the doctor who will replace the cast with a new, shorter one.

That's all folks!

Not 19 any more...

Finally an update from me... it's been quite a while. And yes, I'm quite behind blogging about my past trips, Minsk (Belarus) in November, Kerala (India) in December and Cape Town/Garden Route (South Africa) just two weeks ago! But first, I thought I'd fill you in on a more recent event... (and seeing the result of that, I will have plenty of time to blog about my recent trips!)


So, what's up? Last Tuesday, for the first time in a long, long while, I played a game of squash. I love squash, I love running around the court trying to get every ball my opponent plays at me. I used to play quite a lot, on and off, in The Netherlands, but for the past 2, probably 3 years, I had not played. A friend of mine said he played here every now and again, and my interest was sparked! We decided to play a game.

Here's the 'result':
No, didn't break my leg. Yes, that is a full leg-length cast (gips) you see on me. Quite fresh in that picture, the doctor had only put it on only 5 minutes before that.
What happened? I hear you ask :)
I ruptured my achilles tendon (achillesspees gescheurd, for all the Dutchies reading this :), completely, like 9cm apart. Ouch, yes, well, at least when it happened, now it's sorta ok. The doctor thinks it's serious enough to operate as soon as possible, and most likely this will be tomorrow already! (it all happened on Tuesday, so all is not as quick as I just made it look... Tuesday we went to First Aid in the hospital, had an X-ray, saw the orthopaedic surgeon. He wanted to have more info and ordered an MRI, but since that requires pre-approval from my insurance company, I had to wait until today. MRI was done, later the same day saw the surgeon again, and that's where we are now.

What then?
First, surgery tomorrow, then a above-the-knee cast for 2 weeks, 2 weeks of a below-the-knee cast with my foot angled slightly more upright, 2 weeks new below-the-knee cast, again slightly more upright. Then onto a brace for 6 weeks on which I should be able to walk again. Of course, only then will physiotherapy start, so full recovery in 3+ months from now. Hello May!


Upon hearing the story from Shu, a friend of ours spoke these wise words:
"Tell Q he's already had his 19th birthday."


=)