Living in the Middle East, I get a lot of questions from family and friends back home. I decided to try blogging to give those back home a glimpse of what I see daily. So let us begin 6 months into this journey with a few observations that have stuck with me since we moved to Abu Dhabi in Sept. 2006.
-Abu Dhabi is so far east that the muslims here face west to pray to Mecca
-It is not uncommon to see the men hold hands with each other when they walk
-Gulf Arab men rub noses when they greet each other (was not expecting that)
-You are fined for having a dirty car, but it is perfectly acceptable to let your kids hang out of the windows when you drive
-There are no addresses here. Directions are given using landmarks and the streets have several different names. Ordering pizza can get very interesting.
-Only 25% of the population here are nationals, the rest are expatriates, mostly male workers from the sub-continent
-There are twice as many males as females in the UAE
-Shops close from 1-4 in the afternoon for siesta
-Weekends are Friday and Saturday. Church is on Friday. This is probably the hardest thing to get used to.
-They don't do Daylight Savings Time
-Not wearing white after Labor Day is not a rule here
No comments:
Post a Comment