15 Differences between the UAE and North America

Saturday, November 1st, 2014

Post by Kim

With the push for modernity here in the UAE, sometimes the country just feels like another version of the USA.  You can find practically any modern convenience (e.g., malls, air conditioning, new cars) or chains here (e.g.,  restaurants from Chili’s to Papa John’s).  After living here for a couple of months though, there are a number of small differences – a lot of them quite mundane – that I’d like to share, especially to readers from the Western world who may wonder what it’s like to live here.  (Sorry for you readers in the UAE; the following might be a snooze fest considering that it’s old news for you).

15.  Juice

In my opinion, one the delights of being here are the juices that the restaurants offer here.  Typically, when you ask for any juice back in the United States or in Canada, you can expect some kind of syrup mixed with water or something made from concentrate.  Here in the UAE, what you get is the real deal; there is a wider variety and the fruits are actually juiced, almost no matter the type of cuisine/restaurant (e.g., whether Middle Eastern, Italian, French, American-style burger joint).  For example, we had:

Pomegranate juice (the muddled/fibrous stuff, not the clear stuff from the USA)

Orange and carrot juice

Iranian cocktails (with strawberry, banana, mango purees)

Avocado juice, pineapple juice, and lemonade with fresh mint are also very common.

14.  Water

In the UAE, practically everyone we know drinks bottled water and/or water from the cooler.  I researched the safety of drinking tap water on the Internet, but found nothing really conclusive.  Nevertheless, all I can say is that drinking bottled water is the norm here; restaurants don’t serve tap water (you have to pay for the bottle) and residents usually get their water delivered to their homes.  For example, in the Hili Complex (where Adam and I live), a man delivers water cooler jugs to your flat in exchange for vouchers that you buy from him.  You can leave the empty water jugs at the door with the vouchers, and later you receive the new full jugs there.

13.  Laundry

From what we have observed in many flats in the UAE, the laundry machine usually goes in the kitchen (as opposed to a closet or separate room of its own).

Furthermore, though dryers or washer/dryer combos can be purchased, the majority of people we know hang their clothes to dry.  Considering the heat outside, it’s a really good option.  Clothes often dry in around 30 minutes in the sun!

Personally, I choose to hang my clothes indoors because, on my first day of laundry in our new flat, I had the misfortune of getting sand all over our sheets; the wind had picked up prior to the 5-minute rain – the ONLY time it has rained here since we’ve moved here two months ago!

12.  Grocery Shopping

There is an abundance of food here in the UAE.  You can buy it from local markets.  You can also buy it from hypermarkets (or what you would call “superstore” in North America) like Lulu, Carrefour, and Geant.  For the most part, the hypermarkets here look like your regular superstore in North America, with isles and isles of products.  You can get almost everything that you get back home in those hypermarkets; the difference, though, lies in the variety of products.  Because Filipinos and Indians make up a large segment of the population, you find foods at the hypermarket that you would normally find only at Asian or specialty stores back in the USA or Canada.  Adam and I are often unfamiliar with many of the fruits and vegetables in the produce section:

Here are types of meat you would not normally see in your average American/Canadian supermarket:

And here are some Indian treats:

11.  Virtual Private Network

Due to government censorship of the Internet, some sites (such as Skype, Netflix, or websites that they consider sexually lewd) are not available unless you have a Virtual Private Network (VPN).  For those like me who didn’t previously know what a VPN is, it is a secure network connection that you download and that makes it look like you are located in a place of your choice (e.g., Canada, USA, Europe, etc.).  That way, you can bypass the censorship.

10.  Arabic Reading Conventions

In Arabic, you read and write from right to left as opposed to left to right.  This convention actually makes it convenient for English/Arabic documents, like entry visas and restaurant menus.  On the entry visa, for example, you have your English text on the left margin; the Arabic translation is written on the right margin.  If you open a restaurant menu from left to right, you would get appetizers, main entrees, desserts, and beverages in English, followed by the mirror image in Arabic (i.e., beverages, desserts, main entrees, and appetizers in Arabic).  Here is an example of where the English part would meet the Arabic part of a menu:

The right-to-left Arabic convention also made me do a double-take when I saw the follow ad at a nutrition supplement store at a mall:

9.  Female Dress

There is a variety of clothing for women here (both with Non-Muslim and Muslim, as I have learned from a person who made a comment in one of my earlier posts).  They do recommend though, that women cover at least their knees and shoulder in most public places.  The following is not a picture that we took ourselves (its actual source is <http://7daysindubai.com/please-dress-respect-public-places/>), but it is a pamphlet that Adam and I saw at the Dubai mall:

Here's another interesting picture from BBC News.  It's a common sort of sight in the UAE, especially in Dubai.

 

8.  Driving and Navigating

Differences in driving in the UAE as opposed to North America include: roundabouts, crazy behaviors from people White Nissan Patrols, interesting cargo in pick-up trucks, and the absence of addresses.  I think Adam has described this comedy pretty well in a prior post (“Driving in the United Arab Emirates”, October 25^th, 2014), so I won’t get further into it.

I would like to mention, though, that another aggravating aspect of the UAE is the absence of yellow pages.  Searching and locating particular stores (e.g., music instrument stores or picture/frame stores) on your own is very difficult.  Everything is so new here that when you do an Internet search to find a type of store, you don’t find anything (especially in Al Ain).  Most of the time, we find out from talking with other more seasoned expats or from asking fellow expats on Facebook groups.

7.  Sheiks

In the UAE, it’s essentially a monarchy system.  The country is ruled by the sheik – Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan -- who assumed his role after the death of his father and founder of the UAE as a nation, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

On buildings, billboards, and in most stores, you will find the pictures of the sheiks.  From the left to right here, you see a picture of: Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (current ruler), Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (previous ruler, father and founder of the UAE), and Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, son of current ruler).

6. Halal and Alcohol

Due to religious beliefs, there is no pork or alcohol in UAE stores and restaurants; foods that follow Islamic law are said to be "halal".  There are exceptions though; you can find pork and/or alcohol except in hotels and specially designated Western shops.  Here's a picture of the famous Spinneys in Al Ain, where they sell alcohol (on the far left, but they have no sign), and Abela, where they sell pork and other Western products (Picture source: <http://thedesertdiva.com/2012/08/02/life-in-al-ain-part-1-shopping/>).

We have seen, though, Muslim people who are either breaking the alcohol rule or who have different beliefs about consumption.  For instance, at a hotel restaurant, we have seen men in kandooras (Muslim robes and head coverings) drink Heineken; to my knowledge, this would be considered “haram” or sinful in their religion.  Fellow expats have also reported seeing Muslim people coming out of alcohol stores with bottles!

5. Calls for Prayers

Muslims are called on to pray five times per day: once at pre-dawn, then at midday, then in the afternoon, then at sunset, and finally at night.  The times for prayers vary everyday; they are based on the position of the sun and geography.  Outdoors and in the malls, you hear a man chanting on a loudspeaker, as a reminder for fellow Muslims to pray.  Here’s an example of a call to prayer at a mall in Al Ain:

There are specially designated rooms for prayers in any public building, and the rooms are segregated by sex.  Muslims pray in the direction of Mecca, a city in Saudi Arabia, where Mohammed was born and had his first revelation.  In some locations, like the Grand Millennium Hotel, you could see on the ceiling a sign (Qibla) pointing to Mecca.  I wish I could show you a picture, but somehow lost the one that I had.  Sorry!  Here's one that is similar, from a different source <http://vijainqatar.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/dubai/>.

Another artifact that I wished I had taken a picture of was a clock that Adam and I had bought at a local store when we first arrived in the UAE and stayed at the Grand Millennium Hotel.  This clock’s alarm had the “option” of turning on at the times for prayer.  We figured that we had the option of turning off this feature, but no matter what button we pressed, the clock kept chanting and waking us up at around 4 or 5am!  Needless to say, we left that clock behind at the hotel.

4.  Low costs

There are no sales taxes in the UAE, so the price that is listed is the price you pay at the cash register.  The only exception to this are items for tourists, like maybe a drink at the hotel.  Because of the absence of sales taxes, things generally come out cheaper here in the UAE than in North America.

Another contributing factor to low costs here in the UAE is, as Adam mentioned earlier in our blog, that gas is very inexpensive here (about a dollar a gallon).  Also, because the UAE is very centrally located in relation to most continents in the world (e.g., Europe, Africa, Asia), airfare is relatively inexpensive from here.  For instance, one can easily fly to South East Asia from here for around 600 US dollars, round trip.

3. Weekends

In the UAE (and other predominantly Muslim countries), weekends are on Friday and Saturday, as opposed to Saturday and Sunday.  Friday (instead of Sunday) is the holy day here, so Muslims attend mosques on that day.  Because there is work on Sundays, Christians here attend church on Fridays as well.

I am still trying to get used to the difference in weekends here.  When I’m getting to get back to work again, I keep thinking it’s Sunday as opposed to Saturday.  Or whenever it’s the end of the workweek, I keep thinking that it’s Friday, as opposed to Thursday.  I suppose that, here, the correct term should be TGIT (Thank God It’s Thursday) instead of TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday)!

Picture source: <http://www.keepcalmandposters.com/poster/keep-calm-and-thank-god-its-thursday-11>

2. Paperwork

One of the main things that expats rant about here is the paperwork that is required here in the UAE.  Soooooo many steps are required to get the sponsor’s residence visa, then to get the spouse’s residence visa.  Adam and I have been living here for over two months, and I am still in the process of obtaining my residence visa!  Emiratis love getting every document stamped, translated, and attested.  They also love making you resubmit the same document multiple times, at various steps of the residency application process.  They are also very nitpicky about details – electronic copies of documents must be in jpeg, copies must be in color, the seals on the copies of the documents must show completely (even though they can see the original in front of them with the stamp), etc.  Multiple trips to departments are often needed, because you find out that your copy is not up to par, or that you are missing X, Y, and/or Z.

What makes matters worse is that, oftentimes, you are not informed of what you need to do next.  You essentially hear everything through the grapevine; most often, expats know what to do only because fellow expats are telling them in person, through Facebook groups and or through blogs.  Here’s an excellent blog post (entitled “The Residency Visa Run Around”) from a previous UAE expat, which describes in detail the frustrating and confusing process of sponsoring your spouse: <http://audrarayeabroad.com/2013/11/>.

1.  Insha’Allah

A term that you HAVE to know if you live in the UAE is: “Insha’Allah”.  Essentially, Insha’Allah means “God willing”, and it is accompanied with any statement concerning getting something done.  For example, when you ask an Emirati bureaucrat when you should expect to receive your Emirates ID, they’ll tell you something like: “In one week, Insha’Allah”.  You know that this is code for “I really don't know” or “Probably much longer than one week.”  This is especially problematic for people with Type A Personalities, who are organized and efficient.  In the UAE, you just have to learn to go with the flow.

Picture source: <http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-and-insha-allah-4/>

The UAE Is Not Simply a Tossed Salad

Friday, October 31^st, 2014

Post by Kim

A few days ago, Adam and I had an interesting discussion about the population of the UAE.  It’s not just simply a tossed salad.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the idea of a “tossed salad”, here’s a little preface.  For many people, the United States of America is considered a “melting pot”; that is, a place where people come from all parts of the world and assimilate into American culture.  The goal for the immigrant from abroad is to come out the same as an “average American”.

While growing up in Montreal, I remember Canadians describing their society as a “tossed salad”, where newcomers aim to integrate into the majority culture, as opposed to assimilating into society. This allows immigrants to retain more of the cultural values and practices from their homeland.  By keeping your traditions, you get a population that is more of a “mosaic” or “tossed salad” than a well-blended melting pot.

I think that some may disagree on whether the USA and Canada are melting pots versus tossed salads.  However, Adam and I are certain that the UAE is a tossed salad.  As I’ve mentioned before in my blog, this country is made up of people from all around the world:  Emiratis, Filipinos, Indians, Pakistanis, Tunisians, Omanis, Americans, Canadians, Irish, Australians, etc.  And certainly, there is no pressure to conform to a “majority culture”, because there isn’t really one.  Though this country’s official religion is Islam, certainly the Emiratis do not expect expats to convert to and practice their religion.  (All they want us to do is respect some of their views, such as appropriate clothing for women).  Everyone is free to attend their place of worship.

The UAE's version of the “tossed salad” is quite different, though, from Canada's.  As I’ve mentioned before in my blog, the vast majority of people in the UAE here are expats (e.g., from South and Southeast Asian and from the Western World), not citizens of the UAE.  People are here only if they are tourists, if they have a job here, or if they are related to someone with a job here.  Citizenship cannot easily be obtained unless you are already an Emirati by birth.  This means that, if you quit or if your work contract is up, you have to leave the country.  So, there is a high turn around here in the UAE.  Expats cannot come here and settle permanently, unlike newcomers in Canada or in the USA.

So, essentially, the UAE is an EVERCHANGING tossed salad.  Beside the Emirati citizens, no one truly remains here.

Discovering the Traditional Culture of the UAE

Monday, October 27th, 2014
Post by Kim

Over the weekend, the mother of my homeschool girls informed us of the National Traditional Handicrafts Festival at the Al Qattara Fort in Al Ain.  I was particularly excited to go see this event with them because, as I have previously mentioned, my sense of UAE history and traditions has been muddled with the modern buildings and conveniences of the country.

We went to the festival on Saturday night and found forts and lots of little outdoor handcraft shops, with walls made out of mud and roofs consisting of tree trunks and dried leaves.

We walked around to look at clothes, music boxes, weaves, pottery, and other miscellaneous items.

 

 

Oh and let’s not forget the animals!  Falcons and horses…

At one of the shops, a lady offered us a platter of some date treats (i.e., dates, coconut, and nuts rolled into balls); they were really delicious, so Adam and I had to buy a tin full of them!

At another shop, the girls had henna done on their hands – beautiful flowery ink patterns that usually last for weeks.

 

 

No matter where you were in the Al Qattara area, you could hear the men’s rhythmic chanting and tribal folk music.  As you can see in the following picture and video, they used tambourines, sticks and swords for their music/dance performance.

 

The rhythm was kind of catchy; here’s one of the girls dancing as she was reading a sign.  How cute!

In another area of the festival, there was a man making bricks out of mud.  To think about how this country has changed in around five decades is amazing!

It’s kind of a funny thing to say, but seeing something old and traditional in this country was quite refreshing – a nice contrast to the opulence and modernity that you often see here.  At the festival, we learned that Al Ain is actually a UNESCO cultural site.  In the Hili area – where we have been living the entire time – there are archaeological sites that show evidence of sedentary lifestyle since the Neolithic period!  So, contrary to my previous statement in the post “The Elusive Souq and Mysterious Emirati” (October 6^th, 2014), it seems that there ARE a number of location of historical significance in the UAE; you just have to look for them in the midst of the more “obvious” tourist attractions.  Discovering a country is a process.

Water Park in Desert Country

Monday, October 27^th, 2014

Post by Kim

 

This weekend, Adam and I put on our tourist hats yet again.  Due to a clerical error that was made at the Grand Millennium Hotel in our first week at the UAE, Adam got a free ticket to Yas Waterworld – Abu Dhabi city’s premier water park.  The ticket was going to expire at the end of this month, so Adam and I decided to make use of this freebie and let out our inner child.

I wasn’t quite sure what I would see in terms of female swimwear in the park, especially if there were more traditional Muslim women there.  It turns out that there a wide range of swimwear – from string bikinis to sleeved swimwear with head coverings.  Here’s an example of the more conservative suits women might wear.

I personally opted for a one-piece swimming suite, because I didn’t want to take the risk of a string pulling off my bikini in one the rides!  Anyway, here we are, at various sections of the park.

 

It’s been a long time since we’ve been to a water park, and we were impressed by this one.  It features some adrenaline-rushing rides.  Our personal favorite ride was the Dawwama ride, in which 6 people sit in a raft.  The raft rapidly moves down a tube, and then gets ejected into a 20-metre red and blue funnel; you can see this funnel in one of the pictures above.  Adam and I ended up going backwards in the entire ride, and we were quite disoriented.  Oscillating back and forth in the forth in funnel was particularly fun!

Another ride of note was the Liwaloop, which was like a pneumatic tube.  Imagine yourself being in a tube at around 80 degree incline, then dropping when the base suddenly slips out from under you!  The ride went so fast that there wasn’t much time to process much what was going on.

If you’d like to have a better sense of what the rides look like, you can watch a video of the rides on the Yas Waterworld website: <http://yaswaterworld.com/en/attraction/water-park/rides/adrenaline-rush>.

Another feature of note at the water park was a family-oriented show about pearl diving.  Here’s a little interesting historical fact: prior to the oil boom, the UAE was renowned for its pearl industry.  In this show, some characters went looking for pearls, and there was a mesmerizing underwater-synchronized swimming segment.

To summarize, Adam and I had yet another great day.  Adam enjoyed Yas Waterworld because he likes extreme rides; I liked it because, unlike in most amusement parks, I didn’t suffer from motion sickness :P  The weather was great for going to the park too; whether we were dry or just came out of the water, we were always comfortable temperature-wise.  It’s been cooling off in the UAE... down to around 35 degrees Celsius!  This may seem hot to you folks in North America, but it's really not that bad.  I guess we're getting more and more accustomed to this country.

Driving in the United Arab Emirates

Saturday, October 25^th, 2014

Post by Adam

There are a few things that you should know about driving in the United Arab Emirates. First, different areas of the country have really different urban planning. In Abu Dhabi, everything is on an east-west, north-south grid, sort of like Manhattan or Toronto. This is very easy.  Things start to get a little less clear is in Al Ain, where Kim and I live. In Al Ain, everything is on a grid, only almost all of the intersections are roundabouts.  Here are satellite photos of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, respectively; you can also see how Al Ain is an oasis town, since it has more green spaces.

 

 

I’m sure many of you out there have driven in roundabouts, and I, for one, am a big fan of them. They really cut down on waiting in traffic. That being said, Emiratis can be a crazy bunch, who don’t necessarily follow the proper procedure. Imagine driving along at a good clip and reaching a traffic jam at a roundabout. You think to yourself, “Gee, I hope no one got in an accident”, only to find two ginormous white Nissan Patrols (the Emirati national vehicle) parked with two kandoora-clad gentlemen chatting as if they were in a Starbucks! They will just park in the middle of an intersection and sit there, no matter how busy the traffic is.

Perhaps even more dangerous than Emiratis when they are parked, Emiratis drive like maniacs! They drive more or less as fast as they want, and they have large SUVs, which makes them even more intimidating. One thing that they love to do is drive really fast behind you, flash their lights at you, and just assume that you will get over in time. They WILL NOT slow down, so move over or die! Here’s a video as evidence. Note: I drive pretty fast (140 when the limit is 120).

 Even when there are designated parking spots, the Emiratis have their own special way of doing things. For example:

In the UAE, the more "important" you are, the smaller the number on your license plate. This Nissan Patrol has five digits, so he must not be that important. We’ve heard of someone seeing the license plate number 5. That must have been the Sheik!

One of the benefits of driving in the UAE is the wonderful opportunity to see all manner of cargo in the back of trucks—date palms, camels, Indian workers, sheep—you name it, I’ve seen it!

Another thing that is less than enjoyable is trying to navigate in a country with no system of addresses. Unless you area a compendium of locations in the UAE, there is a high probability that you will drive around town for an hour or more looking for a store or bureaucratic office. Here is a conversation between a poor, witless Westerner and a local:

“Hello Sir, Asalam alaykum. Could you tell me where the post office is?”

“Town Center.”

“Yes, could you tell me where in Town Center?”

“By the commercial bank.”

“And where is the commercial bank?”

“Commercial bank is near the souq.”

“And the souq is where?”

“By the post office.”

You kindly thank the man, and continue driving for another hour looking for the post office, only to give up, go home, and try again tomorrow.  That’s right, in order to know where a place is, you must know all of the locations around it. And, let’s be honest, if you know Homes R Us is at Jabal roundabout, you know the bookshop is too. One shouldn’t complain too much, though, gas comes out to about a dollar a gallon, so you can afford to waste it here driving around looking for stuff. Plus, gas stations here are full service!

Also, don’t think you are going to be clever and buy a GPS. First of all, two-thirds of this country is less than 2 years old, so your GPS is outdated before you even turn it on. Second, there are no street addresses, so if you want to find a place, you must drive around (see above), find the place, then peg it as a new location, at which point you already know where it is and no longer need a GPS. Third, if you are unlucky like us, you buy a GPS that is in Arabic. It has an English interface, but you will need to spend an hour pushing random buttons to find it.

Not to sound like an old man who is ornery because he had to wait 50 minutes for his pastrami sandwich, but this is not a very logical aspect of life in the UAE, and it feels good to rant about it from time to time! This is one of the many joys of getting to know a new country. In the heat of the moment it can be frustrating, but all in all it is not so bad. But if you should ever find yourself over here for a visit, let me give you some advice—take a cab! 

Perceptions of Safety at Home and Abroad

Friday, October 24^th, 2014

Post by Kim

When it comes to perceptions of safety at home versus abroad, the grass is NOT greener on the other side.  I remember when Adam and I were announcing our move to the UAE to friends and family over this past spring and summer, a common question that they asked was: “Is it safe there?”.  A lot of our fellow expats here in the UAE also had a similar experience prior to leaving their home country.  I suppose that, for many people, home feels safer abroad; it’s the fear of the unknown.

I’ve been meaning to write about the level of safety here in the UAE in this blog, but never really got around to it.  With a recent terrorist event in Canada, my home country, I just had to share some of my thoughts on the issue.  In my opinion, the UAE is very safe.  In fact, the crime rate is very low here; thus far, we’ve only heard about one theft incident, but never heard about any robbery or violent crimes towards expats.  This is certainly not the case in North America, where these types of crimes are daily occurrences.  In fact, here’s an interesting article rating countries that are safest to live in 2014:  <http://lifestyle9.com/top-10-safest-countries-to-live-in-the-world/3/>.  See which country ranks at #4!

If we were asked “Is it safe there?”, a question that would typically follow was “Kim, aren’t you worried to go there, as a woman?”.  Although the questions were vaguely posed, I knew that there were referring to female clothing and behaviors.  Back then, I answered “Not really.” and after two months of living here, my answer remains the same.  In the UAE, all female adults are allowed to drive and female non-Muslim expats are not expected to cover their heads (unless visiting a mosque).  Following recommendations, I wear clothing that covers my shoulders and knees and, honestly, this is not really different from what I would normally wear back in North America (e.g., t-shirt and pants).  My public behavior has not changed drastically, either.

When friends and relatives would ask us “Is it safe there?”, I knew that the word “Arab” in the name “United Arab Emirates” had evoked certain images in their minds: those of “Islamic” terrorists that you see in the news.  We would share with them what we knew (e.g., the modernity and Western-leaning tendencies of the UAE; the kindness of the many Muslim people that we met in Malawi), but felt that they were not completely convinced.  It seems that only since we’ve arrived here, showed them that we were alive, safe, and well that we might have convinced them.  One relative, who came to Abu Dhabi city for a business last week, was also wary of the safety of the country but quickly realized that it was very safe as he visited the country.

Then, something that Adam and I never would have anticipated, considering Canada’s reputation as a safe country: a shooting/terrorist incident occurred in Parliament Hill/War Memorial in Ottawa.  A number of my cousins work in government in Ottawa/Gatineau, so out of concern, we e-mailed them to make sure they were okay.  They informed us that they were currently in lockdown at their work, and that they did not know when they could return home.  Fortunately, hours later, they reported that they safely got back home.  One line in my cousin’s e-mail highlighted the irony of the situation:  “It’s a rather scary time…and we thought it would be more dangerous at the UAE where you are”.

Anyway, this whole incident led me to the following thought: places that people consider unsafe may not be as unsafe as you think, while places that are considered safe, even maybe quaint, may not be as safe as you think.  This reminds me of a funny situation back in Austria, when Adam and I were conversing with a Serbian acquaintance.  After Adam stated that he was an American, the Serbian asked him “Is it safe there?” (then referred to movie images of getting robbed in cars and other violent crimes); this, again, was totally ironic because buildings were getting destroyed by missiles in Serbia just a few years earlier!

The notion of safety at home and abroad is inextricably linked to stereotypes about races, cultures, and religions and how these are perpetuated in the media.  In one of my following blog posts, I will have to share with you my thoughts about the image of Arabs and Islam in the media.  Please keep on reading and feel free to comment!

Visitor, Party, and Zoo, Oh My!

Sunday, October 19^th, 2014

Post by Kim

Another great weekend!  Adam and I are actually feeling a little sleep deprived from coming back home late at night from all the events that we’ve attended.

On Thursday afternoon and night, Adam and I went to a local bar for our routine get-together with Adam’s colleagues; it was “Teacher’s Night”, so the drinks were heavily discounted.  Good fun!  Then, we went over to one of our good friend’s place in Hili, lounging and having a stimulating conversation with him.  Time flew and we came back home at around 1am in the morning.

Next morning, we woke up at 7am to go visit Sonh -- the spouse of one of my cousins -- who was in Abu Dhabi city on a business trip.  Sonh was staying at the Yas Viceroy, another of the many modern and luxurious hotels of the UAE.  Here are some pictures of parts of the hotel.  The panoramic photo is from Sonh’s room.  What a view!

 

 

 

It was great to see our relative and to share our experiences and impressions of the UAE.  Among the topics was whether the country may be the new “Land of Opportunity”, with so many people from all around the world gaining employment and a much better salary (and/or lifestyle) than in their former nation.  We also talked about how architects probably love to work in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.  The UAE is a burgeoning country and like other countries that are trying to prove that they are becoming wealthy and modern (e.g., China), it is constantly looking to break new architectural records – whether it is in the form of the tallest building in the world (Burj Khalifa) or largest mall by total area (Dubai mall).  This new country has so much money and so much “empty” space that architects really have much more freedom to make their designs a reality.

Anyway, back to our weekend.  After this short visit, Adam and I returned to Al Ain early in the afternoon to join other friends for a party in the desert, organized by the Rotana hotel.  Unfortunately, Sonh’s flight back to Canada was the next day, so he couldn’t join us.

The party consisted of a short bus ride to the sand dunes.  There, we lounged on large bean bags in the sand and watched the gorgeous sunset.

 

  

 

 

A traditional way that people relax and socialize in the Arab world is through smoking shisha.  For readers who may be unfamiliar with this, shisha is flavored tobacco that is filtered through water through a pipe.  In this particular case, the shisha had a grape and mint flavor.  The fumes smelled good!

There was also an above-ground pool in the desert, but unfortunately I don’t have a picture of it.  We also enjoyed BBQ -- all kinds of barbecued meats, fried rice, sausages, cooked carrots, potatoes, and red cabbage salad.  All very tasty!  Here are the cooks at work.

Our tickets also provided us with beer and wine.  Actually, I (not we) had some drinks; I was the designated driver the night before, so Adam took his turn in being alcohol-free :)

There was a DJ and live music at the party as well – a mix of Middle Eastern music, salsa, modern pop music, hip hop, rock, etc.  Here are some people slowly gathering in front of the stage, before the crowd eventually began dancing.

A blonde belly dancer also performed that night.  Here is a picture of her and a video segment of her dance.

 

 

Her dance was very good, but honestly, we were just as entertained by the little kids coming up to the main area and showing their kinesthetic interpretation of the music :)

A fun and entertaining party – followed by more chatting and lounging at our friends’ home in Al Ain.  Came back home at 2am.  We were quite tired but happy!  You’d figure that this should be enough for the weekend and we'd stop the outings there, but this wasn't the case.  The next day, we went out again with our friends to the Al Ain Zoo.

It was a beautiful zoo with lots of green spaces and panoramic views.

Here are some of the various animals that we saw:

Camels...  

 

Sheep...  

 

Emus...   

Gazelles...  

Iguanas...  

Tortoises...

Hippos...  

 

Rhinos...  

 

Giraffes...

 

Mongooses...or is it mongeese?

 

At the end of our visit, we were quite exhausted from the heat (around 37 degrees Celsius) and went to a restaurant at the Al Ain mall with delicious Indian food.

So, to summarize, we had yet another great weekend!  We’re a little sleep deprived but very glad about the good times spent with friends and various interesting sights.  I’m not sure whether this blog sounds a little too much like a tourist guide for you readers (as opposed to describing the day-to-day basis of living in the UAE).  So, in the upcoming days/weeks, Adam and I would like to describe a little more the small and mundane things that are different in the UAE, yet permeate our lives.  We’ll give you more details.  Stay tuned!