La vida de Annie

By Annie

¡Mira quien esta aquí!

#2S and his lovely partner are visiting a different part of the island for 11 days, en route from Abu Dhabi to the UK, thus hopefully avoiding the compulsory quarantine in an unhealthy not-fit-for-purpose government appointed covid hotel on arrival, as the UAE is a red list country and Menorca is temporarily green (soon to be amber by the looks of it). I haven't seen him since January 2020 and have never met his girlfriend - both are teaching over in the Emirates. They are fully vaccinated and very careful, as the restrictions where they've come from are extremely strict (hurrah!), and wore masks the whole time, except for a couple of pictures in extras. Wanting to keep the meeting outdoors, and bearing in mind I've had no social contact for 18 months, I'd prebooked an hour's boat trip for us around the harbour in Mahon, with their Yellow Catamarans service - a couple of pictures in extras. The boat was only about a quarter full, as I'd chosen the last sailing (16:30) and masks and sanitising gel were required. Just to be on the even safer side we sat up top in the open air instead of in the closed cabin below, although this meant we had the full force of the sun on a day designated an unseasonally fierce heatwave. The breeze was nice though and the views lovely. Took a walk along the harbour later to introduce them to the bronze sirena of Mahon.
It was unbelievably good to see them, and I hope we can safely meet up again before they fly on Sunday. I told them that things in the UK were set to go to Hell in a handcart from the day after, and to be very careful as people will be acting even more irresponsibly than usual. The rules in the UAE mean they have to quarantine for a week on their return anyway, so they've accounted for this before starting the next school term. I was surprised that they found the climate here hot after coming from where they did, but it was explained that with temperatures in the 40s there you simply don't go out, to the extent of even driving in an air-conditioned car a short distance from your AC flat to the nearest AC shopping mall. They did appreciate the green-ness of the terrain too, although to my eye it's quite dull after the vibrant colours and flowers of Winter and Spring, but over there everything is just gritty sand.
I left them planning to watch the Match over pizzas with some friends, myself planning to eshew such nonsense in favour of a salmon salad wrap and  the latest episode of Evil.

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