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 :)

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!