The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

My 3-month anniversary in UAE is coming up soon. Some reflections so far:

Top Five Good things about Dubai:

5: Petty crime is rare as is random violence. I feel pretty safe almost anywhere I go. Outside of Dubai is a bit less comfortable though, where the more traditional beliefs are the way of life. It can be a little unnerving when it is ALL men around the public places. I myself have not experienced anything dangerous but I've heard stories.

4: I am more up on the news in Canada than I was when I lived there! I make a point of checking the CBC website every day.

3: When the hot season is over, I think the weather will be nothing less than phenomenal!

2: Chivalry is not dead. Men will almost always hold the door open or, when leaving an elevator, the females always exit first. And forget about doing anything yourself! If there is even a hint that it may require some effort and there is a man in the vicinty, he will more than likely jump up to assist! It is quite nice.

1: Never a dull moment! Lovin' the adventure.

Top Five Not-So-Good things about Dubai:

5: The sun goes down at 7pm-ish. By the time I leave the office, the daylight is gone.

4: Work days are also longer than Canada - 9 hours. That extra hour makes the day seem a lot longer and I feel like I work way more than I did before.

3: People have no qualms about butting into the queue. Just tonight at the gas station, I stopped to buy bottled water and some wealthy lookin' white dude steps right up to the front, waving his money at the clerk all the while talking on his mobile. I'd say it gives us white ex-pats a bad stereotype but people of all walks of life do it.

2: There is an inverse relationship between outside temperature and inside temperature -- the hotter the forecast, the more likely I will need my sweater. Air conditioning is a God-sent but goes a little overboard in compensating for the heat! Indoors gets down-right chilly!

1: Traffic. Especially traffic in and out of International City (the neighbourhood where I live.) There is only one way out so you can imagine the chaos at rush hour! But the chaos of leaving doesn't compare to the out-right mayhem of entering! Until recently, the only entry was a long and winding route behind the Dragonmart mall that funnelled three lanes of traffic down to one lane right at a speed bump ... very congested. Now there is a second, shorter route however this one runs right through the middle of a gas station! Don't know who thought that would be a good idea but it takes mayhem to a whole new level!

Top Five Quirky things about Dubai:

5: Time is a strange concept to the Emiratis. For meetings or appointments, they may show up late (or not at all), they answer their phone in the middle of a conversation. I believe it is attributed to their heritage. After all, only one generation ago, most Emiratis were tribes living in small villages or in the dessert or out at sea where time has no meaning.

4: There is a shortage of coins so anytime you buy something and pay with bills, if the change will require more than 2 dirham coins, the clerk will almost always ask if you have any change. If they don't have the right change in coinage, you may or may not get back the exact amount. Given that 1 dirham is about 30-odd cents, it really doesn't matter much. Sometimes you get more, sometimes you get less, it all comes out in the wash.

3: The wash-machine I have is a very small front-load model. One bath-towel by itself is one load. Even still, when it gets to the spin cycle, the big wet heavy towel is almost more than the machine can handle, the machine starts to vibrate and clang and jump around, sometimes bounces it's way right out into the kitchen!!! I call it the "mosh-machine" :-)

2: Some men gawk. An alien from Mars would probably get less stares than a tall blonde white woman. Driving along side a bus load of workers, there will be a row of curious faces all glued up against the windows.

1: Rarely do the UAE nationals mix with ex-pats. On the other hand, the Indian and Pakistani populations are vast and sociable and I work closely with a few Lebanese and Iraqis. I have learned as much or more about the cultures in India, Pakistan, Lebanon and Iraq than I have about the indigious peoples of UAE.

Top Five things I miss about home:

5: My dryer. I don't have one here, only the aforementioned "mosh-machine". My high-tech dryer consists of a wire rack and a towel where I lay out my laundry to air-dry. A couple of problems with this: things do not get soft and fresh, they are crunchy and musty (it is quite humid here now so things are slow to dry.) I rarely (if ever!) used my iron at home, I simply threw an article of clothing in the dryer for 5 minutes on high heat and ... voila! ... wrinkle free. Here I have to pull out the ironing board. Ugh!

4:My chiropractor. I needed an adjustment in a big way. But I went to see a chiropractor this morning who did a great job of cracking my bones. I think he's a keeper :-) He was trained in Canada and uses a lot of the same techniques as my last chiropractor (who was excellent -- Dr Cain, Fish Creek Chiropractic Clinic).

3: My hairdresser ... every 6 to 8 weeks.

2: My nephew and nieces. My nephew turned 10 on the weekend. I called a couple of times, he was out doing birthday stuff but I had a nice little chat with each of the girls. When we were about to hang up, my 7 year old niece said, "Bye Aunty. See you when I'm 9!"

1: My Sweetie. He's also a keeper :-) The distance creates some challenges but that's to be expected. We chat frequently on Yahoo and email. He is tentatively planning on coming for an extended visit this fall.