The ABCs of UAE

I've been thinking of a bunch of blog topics and I realized that I could easily do things from A-Z. Sorry I did use some of the same letters more than once :)

Abayas- basically long black flowy dresses that can be worn alone or over clothes. I don't own one because we are not required to wear them at my school; however, most teachers do wear them. Some of them are very basic, and others have beautiful lace or sequins on them.

Brunch buffets- this is THE thing to do in UAE on Fridays. Most of them are expensive (on average $100 a person) but that includes a TON of food and some include drinks from the bar. We have only been to one so far and that's because we won tickets from my favorite magazine.

Bidets- mini toilets that are used to clean your privates. Europe has them too, but definitely strange to Americans! Sometimes there is just a hose by the toilet. I still haven't figured out the logistics.

Carwashes- there are people everywhere who will hand wash your car for 25 dirhams (about $7). We got our first UAE carwash at the Emirates Palace parking deck, but now the cleaning guy in our apartment building does it for 100 dirhams a month (about $30) whenever it's dirty.

Camels- I absolutely love these creatures and it always makes me smile when I see them in the back of a truck.

Deserts and Desserts- obviously I live in a huge desert...but this place is full of desserts too. There are tons of sweets shops everywhere and candy galore...that's why all the kids' teeth are rotten. One difference is that sweets like cupcakes and cakes aren't as sweet as at  home.

Etisalat- this is one of the cell phone/cable/internet providers here. The other one is Du. I think more people go with Etisalat. There are post-paid plans like at home, but we do pre-paid. It's pretty easy...you can buy a card at any hypermarket and you just enter the code on your phone to load credits which are then deducted when you make calls or text. We also have a code that allows us to use unlimited facebook, twitter, and whatsapp for about $15 a month.

Fashion- I've mentioned before that we have tons of clothing stores here. Everything from the US (Aeropostale, GAP, American Eagle, Forever 21, H&M, etc) plus stores from Europe and Asia. I think it's kind of ironic because the women here wear abayas, but I guess they were "regular" clothes when they are at home. There are also all of the designer names here (Jimmy Choo, Valentino, Versace, etc)

GPS- pretty much a necessity here. We bought one the same day we got our car, but unfortunately it fell onto our hard tile floors and cracked the screen. We tried to make due with me reading a map, but it's nearly impossible. GPS is definitely the way to go (and we just got a new one yesterday).

Hospitals and hypermarkets- are everywhere! I swear in Abu Dhabi there are at least 20 hospitals! And guess what...it's cheap! Hypermarkets (Lulu's, Carrefour, Megamart, Geant, etc) are attached to every mall and then some are stand alone stores. You can get everything you need there (kind of like super Walmart).

Impatience- it's ironic that everyone tells you to be patient when you move here because if there's one thing that the locals are not, it's patient. They don't want to wait their turn in line and they DEFINITELY are impatient drivers. They ignore stop signs, cut you off in the parking lot, and even pass you very dangerously on whatever side of the road suits them.

Jobs- in the US most low level jobs are done by high schoolers. Here, fast food and "minimum wage" type jobs are done by Asians for the most part. Custodians, construction workers, etc. are usually from Pakistan or India. I will definitely be writing more about this later (i.e. after I leave the country)

Kandoras- white linen robes worn by men, sometimes with a head scarf of various colors, and other times with a baseball cap

Kisses- men do Eskimo kisses (rubbing the noses together) which makes me giggle and the women do air kisses on the side of the cheek. I have not received an air kiss, which I think means I am not "in", but I'm ok with that because it makes me nervous. I've seen single kisses and as many as 4 and I would have no idea when to stop.

License plates and luxury cars- the lower the number, the more important the person is. Seriously! So I forget if mine has 5 or 6 digits...but if you see a single digit, they are royalty! The lowest number I have seen in person is 145. And you don't need to be royal to have a luxury car...we see many "average" people with BMWs, Rolls Royces, Bentleys, etc.

Malls- I've already mentioned malls, but they are crazy big and in every city. Some cities like Dubai have at least 10 malls. Even in Al Ain there are 5.

Mosques- are also EVERYWHERE. For every mall there are probably 10 mosques. You will be driving in the middle of the desert and see one. I always wondered how they determine which one you go to...can you just pick? Because some are really nice and others aren't. They are actually building a mosque in my apartment complex.

Mansions- some of the houses here are ridiculous. They are all made of cement and have huge cement walls around them with beautiful gates. One day I hope to be invited inside of one.

Nannies- most locals (and lots of expats) have one...and some have one per kid! They are usually from Asia. They wear outfits similar to nursing scrubs. Sometimes they are like nannies to the local
mothers because they carry their bags through the stores. I personally think they usually look very unhappy which makes me sad.

Oud- this is the name of the perfumes/scents here. Most malls have several stores or kiosks that sell it (sometimes right next to each other!). They usually have someone outside the store who wants to spray you with something.

Park(s)- there are quite a few parks in the cities and some of them are very nice with playgrounds, fountains, bike rentals, even snack bars. Some parks are just for ladies (woot woot!)

Park(ing)- as mentioned with impatience...if you get tired of driving around looking for a parking space, just park on the median, in the no parking spaces, on the sidewalk...wherever you want really.

Quiet- well other than at my school, for the most part this is a very quiet society!

Roundabouts- you will see your life flash before your eyes most times that you are in one

Radio- in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, there are stations that play top 40 hits...but in Al Ain there are not

Speed cameras- you don't really see police anywhere, but the speed cameras are hidden and will take your picture. I know one took our picture last night, so I'm nervous to see what the fine is.

Stray cats- are also everywhere...we have at least 4 in our complex

Time Out- my favorite magazine here because it tells you what's going on in Abu Dhabi and Dubai te next week and always has helpful articles; they also have awesome contests!

Understanding- pretty difficult to do when people don't speak the same language as me

Victoria's Secret- so far I have not seen one that sells undergarments...they only have body products like lotions and perfumes. It's not that fancy panties and bras aren't sold here...there are several stores that do...I just haven't seen a VS that does. Maybe in Dubai.

Westerners- the term for people from Europe and the US

Xpatriates (I know this is spelled wrong LOL)- people who have moved here to work (i.e. me)

Yas- an island on the eastern end of Abu Dhabi that has Yas Waterworld (amazing water park!), Ferrari World (home of the world's fastest roller coaster), IKEA, Formula 1 racing, Du Arena, and soon will have a HUGE mall

Zoos- are very nice and inexpensive here (there's one in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Al Ain)

There's so much more to tell you...this was just a hodge podge of information :)

These are a few of my favorite things

When you're homesick and in a completely different culture than you're used to, it can be really easy to focus on the negatives. I'd like to dedicate this post to the things I like about the UAE

• There are TONS of things to do! There are obvious things like going to the beach, riding camels, and dune bashing (basically riding in a Jeep on the sand dunes). You can ride to the top of the world's tallest building, go skiing indoors, sail around The Palm (a man made group of islands that looks like a palm tree from above), or ride on the world's fastest roller coaster. These are just a few of the things you can do in UAE. The possibilities are endless!
• There are so many different types of food. You name it, they probably have it...and in the bigger cities, it will be delivered.
• It's tax free! It's so nice to go to the store and know exactly how much it's going to cost, because you don't have to calculate tax.
• Most people LOVE kids here. Seriously...I've had people give my kids toys, candy, a cup of whipped cream (from the Starbucks crew)...and not in a creepy way. The workers remember my kids' names and greet them by name. It's so sweet!
• The malls are pretty ridiculous. I love to shop, and I even enjoy window shopping...and this is the place to do it. I find it very intriguing to see what's available here...there's way more than what's in the US because they have stores from Asia, India, and Europe here too.
• I have more time to spend with my family. I get out of work by 2 or 3 and I have the rest of the evening with my family. That never happened at home.
• Their dedication to religion. Now understand this...I am a Christian. I do not have the same beliefs as the people here...but I admire their dedication to their religion. The call to prayer is projected throughout the city 5 times a day. Everywhere you look there are mosques...even in the malls there are prayer rooms! If you are at the park during the call to prayer, you will see large groups of men gather and pray to the east together. When's the last time you saw Christians in America doing something like that? And at the same time, there are a few Christian churches here and we are allowed to worship.
• There is a lot of national pride. You see the flag everywhere and lots of decorations in their national colors. The sheikh (who is the leader of the country) is pictured everywhere. I mean literally EVERYWHERE. Every business has a portrait of him prominently displayed. I personally am glad that we don't have the POTUS's face plastered everywhere, but it's nice to see some pride.
• It is very safe here (well other than the crazy drivers). You really don't see police anywhere unless there's an accident...however, there are security guards EVERYWHERE. The malls have a ton. Honestly they're mostly there to tell people not to take strollers on the escalators (which I do all the time when they aren't looking LOL) and they can give you directions.
• Medical stuff is super cheap. Even when we didn't have insurance for my husband and he had to go to the ER for stitches it cost us less than $300!!! I saw the bill and the tetanus shot was $4. I swear at home that alone would have been over $100.
• Taxis are cheap. We relied on them for over a month and thank God it was less than $10 a ride most places we wanted to go. If we were in the US we would've been broke just on transportation.
• Everyone here has a water dispenser. I love it! I will definitely be looking into getting one when we get home because they are so convenient.

I think that's about the end of my list for now. I'm sure I've left something off, but these are the first things that came to my head.

Praising God

I know in my last post I probably sounded really negative and discouraged, but I have to tell you that God really showed me that He is in control. We were able to jump through a bunch of hoops yesterday. All of these steps take most people several days or even a week, but we accomplished a lot!

My husband has been to the emergency room 3 times since we got here. The first time was because he cut his head open at the pool at the hotel we stayed at when we first got here. The two most recent times were because he had mysterious abdominal pain (which we still haven't fixed yet) and because we didn't have insurance yet we've had to pay for everything in cash. Thank God medical stuff is super cheap here (compared to the US) but still...

Well on Wednesday, I got a text from my husband that our son was crying because his knee hurt really badly and he wouldn't move it or put weight on it. My principal let me go home early so I could figure out what was going on. I didn't see any visible signs of an emergency, so we decided not to go to the hospital. Instead, we stopped by the ADEC office to ask about insurance and were told that my family had to have entry visas and their applications completed for their Emirates IDs. Luckily, I stopped by the visa counter and asked if my packet was ready and it was (even though he'd originally told me to come back on the 16th). I took it directly over the the immigration office and dropped it off and was told to come back the next day.

The whole rest of the day, my son sat in the stroller and cried any time we had to move him or made him stand up flamingo style to pee. I feel terrible that we didn't take him to the hospital, but I figured if we could somehow get our insurance cards the next day, it would save us money.

On Thursday (which is really like Friday in the US because our weekend is Friday and Saturday in UAE), I got up early and went to immigration to pick up the entry visas. It actually wasn't ready yet, but I smiled and told the man that I was told to come that day, but not what time. *I also wore an ultra conservative outfit that day* He sent me over to the counter and a man in a military looking uniform printed it right then. Miracle #1

I went over to the ADEC office to double check that if I got the steps done that I would be able to get an insurance card that day. I was told yes...but I had to be back by 3! I ran home and picked up my family so we could do a border run which involves driving to the border of Oman, paying money, filling out some paperwork, and driving back into UAE to get a stamp which "activates" the entry visa. (I'm not sure, but I think sometime in the near future we may have to do this again to activate their residence visas...but that's a few weeks away...I think I have some other hoops to jump through before that).

Since it was lunch time and my son was complaining about needing to use the bathroom, we stopped at the mall. We also needed to get new passport photos of the kids because we'd heard that many people were told that the background wasn't white enough on the ones they brought from home. The passport photo place wasn't actually in the mall...so we had to drive around a bit to find it...and praise God we got there when we did because they (like many businesses) closed from 1-4 and it was 12:45! Miracle #2

At this point we knew we were pushed for time. We now needed to complete applications for their Emirates IDs which I was told could be done at a typing center. I thought we could do it at the typing center I saw by the immigration building, so that's where we went. The tiny room was packed full of Pakistani men and a few women. The ticket machine was broken, so there was no telling how long it would take. After about 10 minutes I asked a worker if I was in the right place and he said no. At first I was upset, but that ended up being a blessing. We were getting frustrated, but we drove over to the Emirates ID building and asked where to go; a nice security guard walked out and showed me. (Note: I don't know why no one just said it's in the post office building!) So we drove over there and there were actually two typing centers. One was packed but the other only had one man in there. After about 5 minutes, the lady took our documents and completed the applications. It took quite a while because things had to be scanned and copied, but finally we were handed our applications (after we handed over 340 dirhams per application!). Then we had to drive back to the Emirates ID place to get them stamped. For our kids, that's all that had to be done. But for my husband, he had to get his retinas scanned and fingerprints taken. It was already after 2:30 and there were 6 people ahead of him in line!

I left the kids there with him and literally ran (in a maxi skirt and black cardigan in the 100 degree weather!) 300 yards to the ADEC office. I went in to the customer service desk (no wait!) and tried to hand her my papers...but realized I needed copies of things...so I ran upstairs and back down. At this point it was 2:55...and Robert's phone was dead. His last text had said he had 3% battery and there were still 3 people in front of him. And guess what...I didn't have his visa! For some reason I was freaking out that we'd left it at the typing center. I tried to give the rest of the documents to the woman and asked if I could at least get cards for my children. It was 2:58...she handed me the stuff and said "come back later". I felt so defeated...we'd done all that work for nothing. (Not really, because it had to be done...but I wanted the insurance card that day!) I turned around to walk away and I heard my son saying "where's mommy?" in the lobby...I ran out and told my husband to come quickly. He actually had his visa, so I took the paperwork back and handed it to the lady. She took it...but I felt like she was annoyed.

I thought that since I'd turned it in to her that I could go upstairs and get the cards from the insurance guy. He actually wasn't in his office when I got up there, so we waited about 5 minutes. When he came in he looked in the computer and said it hadn't been entered yet so he couldn't do anything. He said to go down and check to see if she could put it in.

I headed downstairs (and saw the doors were closed) and talked to the man at reception and he asked the security guy if there was anyone still in there. He said yes, so I was told to go in. The woman was actually still at her desk (Miracle #3 because most people are out of there right on time, especially on a Thursday!) so I told her that the insurance guy said I could get my insurance cards that day if the information had been entered. Again, I think she was annoyed but it was hard to tell because her face was fully covered...but she said something to a man and he got the paperwork and told me to give him 15-20 minutes and wait in the reception area. At the same time, the woman started talking to another woman in Arabic and I felt like she was talking about me...but I was so happy that I didn't care!

A few minutes later I went upstairs to tell my husband the good news and someone had already brought up the paperwork...and by 3:50, we had our insurance cards.

So, miracles all around. Praise God!

I also called the post office and my Emirates ID was delivered from Abu Dhabi, so I was able to pick it up...I'm an official resident of the UAE!

Jumping through hoops

I had a really bad day at school today. Possibly the worst so far. But rather than blog about work when I am so upset, I am going to rant about something different.

People don't realize how many hoops you have to jump through to teach overseas. I've already blogged about the things we had to do before we came here. That was expensive and time consuming enough. But now that we're here, nothing is as easy as it should be. And everything costs money. ADEC doesn't do a good job of guiding you through this process...and the recruiting company that helped us get hired...well they've been absent since I got on the plane. They only sent out a few emails over the summer and those weren't even very helpful. All of the teachers have been relying on Facebook for our information.

When we first got here, we were helped with getting our medical exam and our fingerprints done for our Emirates ID. But now that it's time to sponsor our families, we are on our own. Even things like knowing when to pick up our passports and IDs, how to get utlitilies hooked up, logging in to the ADEC website...all of these things you pretty much have to find out from another teacher who has done it already.

Several of the things we have to do require us to upload things to a portal and then turn in hard copies. They always want a color copy of your passport. They all want passport photos...and apparently several people have been told that the white wasn't bright enough so they had to retake them. Really? It's fine for a passport from the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, but not for an ID here? Then I saw something today where I am going to need a photo with a specific light blue background. Seriously. And today I was also told (past the due date) that I need to provide hard copies and a flash drive with scanned copies of a bunch of documents. What are they going to do with thousands of flash drives? Probably sit them in a box somewhere.

When I went to EMT (English Medium Teacher, which is what all of the English speaking teachers are called even if we don't teach English) Support, I was reminded that we were advised not to bring our families with us. We should've left them at home and brought them over after we'd completed our visa process. In some ways I wish that I had listened, but I know I could not have made it through this without them here. One thing is for sure, it would make it a lot easier to up and leave if I decided to. Now every decision I make is based on the fact that we have sold everything we own, have not had a chance to save money yet, and we have nothing to go back to.

All my coworkers who have been here at least a year already have told me that it will get better. They swear that in December (or February, it just depends on who you talk to) that it will be easier. Right now I'm in the middle of the hoop jumping...well actually I should compare it to something different...it's like I'm trying to navigate across the Atlantic Ocean in the dark with no map...in a canoe.

Prayers appreciated.

It'll drive you crazy

Lots of things are different about driving here. Apparently if you are American, you can just get your driver's license translated and pay 200 dirhams to get a UAE license. Once I do this, I will confirm that it's that easy to do as almost nothing is as easy as it should be here. I am thankful that they drive on the right side of the road here...because driving here is already crazy enought without having to get my brain and body to work together to drive a car on the left side!
I'm not sure what the locals have to do to get a license...but I've heard it's pretty easy. I can blog about that if I find out the process.
So, cars are pretty much the same style as at home, and unlike in other countries they are in pretty good condition for the most part. It's funny how they have different model names here, but some are the same. For example, the Nissan Sunny here is similar to the Sentra. They do have the Altima. And then there's the ever-popular-with-the-locals Patrol (an SUV). I have seen Fords, Dodges, Kias, VWs, and we have a Hyundai Accent. There are lots of Toyotas...I dare say that's the most popular brand, but that may be because every taxi is a Toyota Camry, and there are TONS of taxis here. Of course there are also a plethora of BMWs, Mercedes, and Lexus cars...and I have seen Bentleys and Maseratis. As far as color, I would say 90% of cars are white (including ours). I suppose it's because it's so hot here and they think the color keeps the car cooler.
In Al Ain, there are roundabouts EVERYWHERE. There are easily 25+ in the city...and although they can be terrifying and you often have near collisions, I must admit that I'd rather take a roundabout than sit at a stop light here. Maybe it's my imagination, but it seems like the lights take FOREVER to change!
The craziest thing about driving here is that no one seems to follow any sort of traffic rules. You really don't see police here unless there's an accident, so no one is worried about getting pulled over for speeding. I don't even know if the police cars have radars in them...but my guess is no. There are speed cameras set up all around town, but most people know where they are and slam on the brakes just in time. Trust me...I have seen cars fly down the road at 150 kph! If you are driving in the far left lane, you better be watching for someone flashing their lights in your mirror because that means MOVE. They also don't follow any sort of rules about the right of way, one way, no parking lanes, etc. Even scarier is that there are no car seat laws, so you will see people holding their children (or even letting them hang out the window) in the front seat.
For the most part, traffic isn't too bad in Al Ain. I haven't really even seen bad traffic in Abu Dhabi...it's Dubai that probably has the worst traffic jams.

Things I miss

A few weeks ago I was having a really bad day at work and I sat there and made a list of things I miss from home. I have tried not to focus on those things, but instead look at the positives. However, I have had a few people ask me, so I thought I'd post it here for everyone to see. My sister-in-law was actually surprised by some of them.
1. people- this sounds so obvious...I mean, I could list each person by name...but I'm especially having a hard time with my extended family. Skyping and texting just isn't the same and I realize now that we didn't spend enough time together when we had the chance.
2. being able to have a conversation with anyone and everyone- although quite a few people here speak English, there are many who don't or who speak very broken English and it's very hard to understand the cable guy and some of my coworkers
3. food- even though there is excellent food here, I miss Chickfila, Taco Bell, and McAlister's Deli. I have not been able to find crackers I really like either.
4. super reliable internet- we finally have it in our apartment which is great, but most places don't offer free wifi...even at Starbucks you have to buy something (which I have no problem with, but it gets expensive). We haven't decided to get a data package on our phones and I'm not sure if we will. We also have prepaid minutes so we don't call and text as much as we would at home.
5. driving myself around- we were relying on taxis, but we finally got a car...but I'm not allowed to drive until I get my UAE license. Robert is allowed to though because he doesn't have a residency visa yet (weird, I know)
6. knowing where I am- we got a GPS as soon as we got a car, so that helps a lot...but this city is very sprawled out and there are tons of roundabouts, so it's very easy to feel lost. Maybe when I start driving it will feel more familiar.
7. diversity- I kind of already talked about this in another post, but even though most of the people here are expats, they all have the same color skin and hair. It makes it very hard to learn names at school because they literally all look the same...and they basically have the same names. I have like 5 Abdullas and 4 Mohammads and 3 Saeeds in each class!
8. teenagers- I taught high school for the past 7 years and before that I taught middle school...and there's something nice about being able to joke around with an awkward teenager and watch them grow into a mature adult
9. music- I always had the radio on in the car at home...but here we haven't found any stations in English here :( I feel so out of the loop!
10. Key Club- at my old school I was the advisor for a very large community service group...and I REALLY miss it!
11. playing outside- it's so hot here...hopefully it will cool down soon!
12. pets (especially dogs)- there are stray cats here, but you really don't see dogs
13. grass- there are grassy areas here and there, but for the most part sand is EVERYWHERE
14. football Fridays- one of the reasons I left my old job was because I had to work so many hours after school...but I really miss Friday night football games
15. my washing machine and dryer- the washing machine we have here is TINY...and we have NO dryer
16. having control over my class- this can be a whole post in itself

I'm sure this list will change over time...truth be told, there were 2 other things on the list that I left off now because they have been fixed :)

Hurry up and wait

I've always heard people say that in the military everything is "hurry up and wait". Well let me tell you...the military has nothin' on teaching abroad when it comes to that!

One of the hardest parts of teaching overseas is all the paperwork that has to be submitted. The average person has no idea how many hoops people have to jump through to travel to, much less live and work in, a foreign country.

The most obvious thing you have to do is get a passport. My husband and I already had ours because we'd been on cruises in the past. Now we needed to get them for our children. In the city we lived in (a rather large one), we had to make an appointment and it was several weeks before we could even get in. Then once you've submitted the applications, it's another 4-6 weeks to get them back (if you're lucky!).

I also had to get fingerprints done. That is another separate blog post!

The thing that was the biggest pain and cost the most money was getting documents authenticated. Most people just have to do their highest college degree and their teaching certificate, but because I was bringing my family, I had to also do each of my kids' birth certificates and my marriage certificate. This required me to drive to my state capital and pay $10 per document (plus $40 additional because our original marriage certificate was with the passport applications so we needed a new real copy), then pay a company $150 to take them to the Department of State in DC ($8 per document) to get a stamp and then over the the UAE Embassy to pay $30 per document for another stamp. *People in foreign countries LOVE stamps* This process not only cost a lot, but it took 2 weeks to get my documents back! Even though it cost more to have a company do it, I would definitely use them again. Trust me...I actually had to get 2 additional documents done later and I did it myself...such a headache! Definitely worth $150 for them to do it!

Now that I'm here, I am realizing that I have more paperwork to do to make my family official and I am NOT looking forward to it. I will write more about that once I figure out what I have to do.

But after we got our paperwork turned in (in late June), we had a lot to do to get ready to move! And then we began the waiting process. See, when you work for ADEC, you don't get a definite moving date. It's not like with private schools when they say "here's your plane ticket (to fly in a month) and we will have your apartment waiting for you and you know what school you're going to be at". Oh no...it gets crazy. You are constantly checking your email and Facebook groups to see if there's any indication of when you will be leaving. You are busy getting rid of basically everything you own and trying to save money for the trip. You worry that maybe this isn't real...that you imagined the whole thing and have quit your job and sold your house for nothing.

We vacated our house at the end of July and then went to Florida to stay with my best friend for a few days. Then we drove up north to stay with family for a week. My husband thought we should go ahead and head back south in case we got our golden email...and thank God we did because the email came as we were driving! We had just 24 hours until our flight would leave! We literally said goodbye to my husband's family in the airport :(

What a whirlwind!

Culture Shock

I have so many different topics I want to write about, but since I am so far behind, I figured the easiest one to write about (at 1 am since I have insomnia right now) is culture shock.

Before coming here, I did a lot of research. Some of my family members were very concerned because we are Christians and we moved to a Muslim country. So many people told me this is one of the safest places in the world...and they are right (for the most part...more about that later.) But I must say this:
THE CULTURE SHOCK IS REAL
Nothing can prepare you for it. It does get easier...but there are things I don't think I'll ever get used to.

When I first stepped off the plane into the airport, it felt surreal being surrounded by women in abayas and men in kandoras. I mean literally there were people in all black or all white everywhere! I remember it being very busy...and that was at 10 at night!

I also remember the first moment that we stepped out of the nice air conditioned building and the heat just slapped us in the face. Abu Dhabi is SO HOT AND HUMID. You feel disgusting after being outside for a few minutes. One of the things I really miss is being outside. At home we played in our yard, went to the playground, walked at the greenway...we spent a lot of time outside. I worked at sports events outside pretty much every day in the fall and most of the spring. Here, we take taxis to somewhere just a mile away. Playgrounds are located inside malls...and you have to pay to use them. (One of the reasons is that there is an attendant who is there to watch your child play so you can go shop.)

During my research, I read that 80% of the population here is "expats" which is short for expatriates. Basically, people who moved here from somewhere else to work. Being the naive person I am, I thought that meant that 80% of the people here would look like people in America. UM, NO. I didn't realize that most of the expats here are from countries such as Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, Philippines, India, etc. So when you are blonde haired and blue eyed like my son, you really stick out. But I've also learned that when you see another blondie, you can't assume they are American because they very well might be from Ireland, England, South Africa, New Zealand, or Australia. I really love all the cultures here...I am even getting pretty good at discerning which accents belong to which country. Side Note: I am not the only one who has trouble identifying the different cultures. Today in an elevator a man from Pakistan said "oh are you from England?" HA...no sir...I don't sound anything like a British person!!!

Architecture here is very distinct. I have not seen one building that looks like something in America. Actually, I take that back...the malls look similar...especially on the outside. But malls here are UH-MA-ZING on the inside! They have so many of the same stores as in the US: American Eagle, Aeropostale, Carters, Osh Kosh, Tommy Hilfiger, H&M...but so many other stores too! That's one of the best things about this place...the shopping cannot be outdone. One difference is that the malls all have a "hypermarket" which is like Super Walmart attached to it. Some of the ones I've seen are LuLu's, Carrefour, Megamart, and Geant. They sell clothes, household items, appliances, and of course, food.

Speaking of food, that's one thing that there is PLENTY of here. The malls have huge food courts with a variety of choices. There are fast food places from the US like Hardees, McDonalds, Wendys, Burger King, Subway, KFC, Popeyes, Papa John's, Pizza Hut, and Church's Chicken. There are sit down places like Applebees, Fuddruckers, TGIFriday's, Chilis, Cheesecake Factory, PF Chang's and I've even seen Texas Roadhouse. Of course there are local places too. In any food court you will most likely have a choice of American, Asian, Iranian...whatever you want! Finding food here is not an issue...but don't always expect it to be just like at home. For example, at KFC you do not get a biscuit with your food, you get an uncut hamburger bun. Most places have beef bacon because Muslims don't eat pork. Some things just don't taste the same, but that may not be a bad thing!

Driving is another huge shock. I have to admit that I have not driven here yet and I've been here 6 weeks. Although I miss it, I am not in a hurry to drive here because PEOPLE ARE CRAZY HERE. They speed, pass you on the shoulder, cut you off, run red lights, back up in the middle of the street, stop in the middle of the street...you name the traffic violation and they do it. They also love round abouts here but there are no rules to driving in one. Since I haven't been driving, that means that I've mostly been riding in taxis which is another strange thing for me. Today we actually got a car, so at least we can go where we want...but that means that I have to learn where things are. That is a little difficult to do because things don't have addresses here.

You read that correctly...they don't use addresses here!!!!! Most people use a PO Box...but even if you don't want to pay for one, you can use the generic PO Box 88888 and put your city and phone number and they will text you when your mail gets here. But if you need to tell someone where you are, you just give the a landmark. A roundabout is a great landmark. So is a mall. But I can tell you that it is extremely frustrating to have a taxi driver drop you off somewhere and then you wander around in the 100 degree heat trying to figure out where a business is and then call the business several times and try to decipher what the person with limited English is trying to tell you.

I know that I have a lot more to post on this topic, but I can do separate entries on some of them. If you have questions, let me know...I'd love to answer them!