First impressions:

I've been in Dubai for 3 whole days now:

- Traffic is scary! Aggressive. Fast. Dodgy. If ya got a few inches to wedge your way into a space between yourself and the next guy, that’s plenty of room!

- Head’s up as a pedestrian! That stop sign on that street corner is merely a suggestion.

- For all the traffic day and night, the air is clean and fresh! When ya look out over the horizon there is a bit of a sandy haze but it doesn’t seem to be smog as you would see in other big cities.

- People are very friendly and helpful and accommodating. It is safe to walk around at all hours. Some men may stare but so far all have been respectful.

- Some people (women and men) are dressed surprisingly skimpy! Then you have the Muslim women in the long black covers head to toe. And there's everything in between. I'm not worried I will offend by the way I dress.

- Hot! And humid. And it’s not even the hot season yet!

- The Muslim call to prayer is broadcast via loudspeaker 5 times a day starting at 5 in the morning - a most reliable alarm clock! I think there’s a rooster somewhere in the neighbourhood too.

- Language does not seem to be a problem. Everything is translated into English and most everyone speaks it although some accents are a bit questionable.

- The Architecture and the building industry is every bit as crazy as I expected.