Tuesday,
September 16th, 2014
Post
by Kim
Hi
again folks! Sorry for not writing for
almost two weeks, but Adam and I have been so busy moving our new home up that
taking the time to write was impossible.
Things are beginning to settle down now, so I finally get the chance to
share what’s been happening with us J Today I thought that I would give some of my
impressions about the people here in the United Arab Emirates.
As
I’ve mentioned earlier in one of my prior posts, the vast majority of the
people here in the Abu Dhabi Emirate are expats (maybe 80% expat / 20% Emirati). There are probably a little more Emirati in
Al Ain City than in Abu Dhabi City, but expats still make up the majority of
the population. Because of this, most of
our encounters have been with expats.
The
ADEC teacher community (which is made-up of mostly Americans, Canadians, Irish,
and South Africans) has been great and really supportive. Through Facebook groups, we’ve been
exchanging a lot of helpful and useful advice and information – from steps to
getting water and electricity in our flats… to where we can find beer and wine
(and a liquor license, of course) :) A big part of the ADEC teacher community
resides in the Hili Complex, where we live as well. We all live right next door
to each other, so we’ve been able to help each other out a lot. The other day, for example, Adam and I needed
a drill to hang up our curtains and pictures, so another ADEC family (who live
3 doors away) lent us theirs. I
homeschool the girls of this family by the way, and I absolutely love this new
job. They are very sweet, curious, and
vibrant kids – a pleasure to teach!
Here’s
a picture of an opening day NFL party at Hili Complex; Adam and I are on the
righthand side of the picture.
A
lot of the expats working in Abu Dhabi are actually from the Philippines, so people
here often mistake me for being Filipina (instead of Vietnamese). Here in the UAE, this has lead to some funny
instances, especially when I was being served at hotels or restaurants; (here
in the UAE, Filipinos are often in customer service and are rarely the clients
in swankier locations). Last week, when
Adam and I went to an Italian restaurant at the mall, a Filipina waitress came
over to our table and asked us whether we were ADEC teachers; she was asking us
this because, apparently, ADEC teachers get a 25% discount at the
restaurant. We confirmed that Adam was
an ADEC teacher, but that he didn’t have his paperwork on him to prove it; we
told her that it was fine though, and that we would get a discount next time we
would come to the restaurant. Despite
this, the waitress kept on insisting that we get the discount, going back and
forth between our table and the back of the restaurant to speak to her
manager. The funny thing was that every
time she was coming back to see us, she kept on looking and smiling at me,
rather than Adam (who was the ADEC teacher).
Finally, we got our 25% discount, without any proof of working for ADEC. This is one of several occasions where
Filipina women would pay particular attention to me, smiling at me and giving
me a better deal.
On
Facebook groups where you can buy second-hand furniture in Al Ain, Filipino
people would often address me as “Sister” and start typing in Tagalog. Because I have often been mistaken for a
Filipina, I feel this strange affinity with this community (aside from my
affinity with the ADEC teacher community).
Other
expats that we have met are quite nice as well.
We have encountered lots of Sri Lankans (our doorman for example),
Indians, Pakistanis, and Arab expats such as Jordanians, Tunisians, and Afghans. My impression of the Emirati people, on the
other hand, is that they are quite distant; this goes only for the Emiratis –
not the other Arabs like Jordanians, Tunisians, and Afghans whom I have found
quite kind and/or friendly. It’s almost
as if the Emiratis are an aristocracy whereas all other people/expats are their
servants – this goes for all expats (White Westerners included). For example, the other day when Adam and I
were eating at a restaurant, an Emirati couple sat at a table to have dinner at
a table and left their two Filipina nannies to wait outside the restaurant and
look after some of their kids. There
were no seats outside the restaurant.
Meanwhile, some of the kids were running in and out of the restaurant
(partly to join their parents) and ramming a stroller into things; the parents
did nothing to intervene – only the nannies stopped them. When the Emirati couple finished their meal,
the man walked out and began looking at his own reflection on the store window
to fix his headscarf. Not once did he
look at the nannies or at the children to check up on them. He then started walking away with his wife,
and the nannies had to scramble and strap the kids in their strollers and
follow them. The couple was far ahead
and did not even look back once to check that the nannies and the kids were
doing okay… I just guess that this is
what happens to some people when they have so much money.
At
another location, we saw an Emirati lady who would not even pick up her own grocery
bags; she was expecting someone else to do it for her.
This
is seems to be specific to Emirati culture, as the Arabs we have met from other
countries like Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia have been extremely warm and friendly.
It seems that the main difference is actually a socio-economic one rather than
a religious or cultural one. For example, the Afghan man who moved our
furniture gave us a lot of advice about where to shop to find the best deals
and even offered to help with any odd jobs that we might need.
Anyway,
so far we are so pleased with how things are going and the people we have met.
We always looked forward to seeing a new part of the world, but the people we
have come in contact with here have made this adventure truly special.
P.S. Please stay tuned to the blog; next post will
be about our new flat and the Hili Complex.
There will more pictures than in the last two posts :)
