Life's Journey- Abu Dhabi
It's a really dusty day in Abu Dhabi today, i can even tell imagine the beautiful blue sky cos its all covered by a storm of dust! Its over 40 degrees and windy! I am glad for wind cos it makes it easier to sit outside in this humid island! I sit in the garden, just outside our block, well shaded from the sun by the tall towers competing to reach the sky!. A small fountain rumbles as the water sprinkles up, down and sideways! I have been watching the waters and enjoying the peaceful sounds for like 20 minutes. I then suddenly remembered i haven't blogged for a while! That's how you differentiate writers from small time bloggers. Writers dream it, and live it, bloggers suddenly remember they had a blog.
The Corniche, Abudhabi
I love the sun, by that, i mean to see it and enjoy it well under the shade. All the light skinned people are lying by the pool 3/4's naked tanning up, while the courageous dark skinned are 3/4's naked but under the shade. The cowards are indoors and only come out at night like thieves. It is hot!, well over 40 degrees. I have been trying to explain to white people that i tan at a faster rate than them! The mathematicians should come experiment and research so they can come up with a formula and more complex maths problems to solve. For instance, 1) There are 10 shades of tan, Liz and Tuula sit in the sun for 30 mins, Liz tans from shade 1 to 10 in half an hour, Tuula tans from shade 1 to 2 within the same time, a) Calculate both ladies tanning rate per hr, b) how much longer would Tuula have to sit in the sun to achieve Liz's tan? (10marks) That's not even complex maths, so easy! Someone right there just thought Abu Dhabi is affecting me negatively, don't worry, I am ok, brain is still intact.
Education is taking up UAE, even though there's still a big gap, i can tell they are way ahead in comparison to other middle east places, most of my clients speak English compared to my previous clients. The arrogance of the people is much less, i cannot begin to explain how many times we used security as we tried to explain sense to someone a million times till they got arrogant and aggressive. I haven't yet had that experience in my 3 months. I have seen them angry but it takes a shorter while and i have experienced them being real patient and talking things out. They haven't been walking upfront while others queue, they have simply queued. We don't have to make different queues either if we don't want to mix up, there's an option, your choice..
The life of going out, eating out and being generally respected and respectful is way easier here. The best thing about social life is that I find it in my 'normal'. I mean, as much as the culture and the law has some limitations, I find them respectful enough in as much as they also demand some respect, which I feel is quite fair. The notion of open mindedness is well in play here. We came here free and of conscious mind that this is Middle East so we have to respect their culture, they know that they need us here for their country to thrive in education, economics and growing as a nation so they give back respect to our cultures.
We can go out in public places and choose where we want to sit. Most places are not divided into female and male sections, we can all sit together for meals . They know their boundaries and places they wont go if it affects their beliefs and way of life but they have allowed us to have those places. In respect we are not allowed to walk around drunk and act all stupid and lousy in public! which I think is quite a good way of life wherever you live in the world. Freedom of people walking around drunk and insulting others in public transport is not a way of fun or civilization like we see in most civilized countries. The sense of peace in the streets here is amazing, I would rather see that than see all the drunk teenagers listening to loud music in street corners dressed like they are on duty calls. If you get drunk, catch a taxi and go sleep it off. If you want to dance loudly and lousy, do it in our house then sleep it off. By the way, this saves a lot of people the so called 'next day embarrassment. That is a perfect rule! See..i grew up..!
Work...oh what can I say about work..hmmmm..not much difference from Saudi, maybe even a little better? Noo, Omg I I did not just say that! My Saudi people, I hear your laughs so lets all laugh together:)! I will leave you with this one.. At least I don't have to fly out of the country to get a glass of wine.hahaha. and also this is a new hospital so they are just trying to get established. I do hear work is much the same in the established hospitals around. Fun..eeh?
Accommodation is for all too. We got the singles and the families and kids all around the compounds, Free for all. Gone are the days I only saw the ladies in the lifts and gyms. I know many who get more motivated to work out in the gym when they say more muscles! you would have no motivation problems here. Catch you later:-)
I love the sun, by that, i mean to see it and enjoy it well under the shade. All the light skinned people are lying by the pool 3/4's naked tanning up, while the courageous dark skinned are 3/4's naked but under the shade. The cowards are indoors and only come out at night like thieves. It is hot!, well over 40 degrees. I have been trying to explain to white people that i tan at a faster rate than them! The mathematicians should come experiment and research so they can come up with a formula and more complex maths problems to solve. For instance, 1) There are 10 shades of tan, Liz and Tuula sit in the sun for 30 mins, Liz tans from shade 1 to 10 in half an hour, Tuula tans from shade 1 to 2 within the same time, a) Calculate both ladies tanning rate per hr, b) how much longer would Tuula have to sit in the sun to achieve Liz's tan? (10marks) That's not even complex maths, so easy! Someone right there just thought Abu Dhabi is affecting me negatively, don't worry, I am ok, brain is still intact.
Not like you care about my tan anyway!. Let me tell you what you care to know. How is it going? We moved to Abu Dhabi just over 3 months ago! We were excited about it, it was more of another adventure in the Middle East! That's what we lie to people when we don't want to say its about some extra cash :-). I miss facing challenges but i am making peace with life being too easy and enjoying it! I will not chase challenges and that's ok too, just trying to enjoy it and make the best of it. So, why again in the Middle East, whats different from Last Year?
If you read through my Saudi journey blogs then am sure you can follow up. I am writing this from my perspective and probably someone who has moved to Middle East the first time and to Abu Dhabi might find it a little tight, but i have experience to compare life between countries in the deserts.
Moving around Abu Dhabi, brings a completely different sense to Saudi, watching the Emiratis all cheerful and smiley! The women with their stylish and colorful abayas, others leave them open exposing their expensive jeans, their fabulous high heels peeping beneath the abaya, they look happy. When you wear something cos its your style and you planned it out, it boosts your confidence and you can see it when these ladies walk, shoulders high and carrying big smiles around. Its not as easy case for some of them but the law doesn't really abide them oh how to dress it out.
I was having a conversation with one of my clients who told me its not as easy with the families, some families will not allow their ladies to walk around exposing any other clothing, but this brings in the case of culture. I don't think there should be any law forcing people to cover up or uncover, it simply should be an individuals choice and am glad to see a whole lot of generation here follow their own path. Culture is defined by the individuals in it and that we shall find all the way to the plains of Mt Kenya.
Moving around Abu Dhabi, brings a completely different sense to Saudi, watching the Emiratis all cheerful and smiley! The women with their stylish and colorful abayas, others leave them open exposing their expensive jeans, their fabulous high heels peeping beneath the abaya, they look happy. When you wear something cos its your style and you planned it out, it boosts your confidence and you can see it when these ladies walk, shoulders high and carrying big smiles around. Its not as easy case for some of them but the law doesn't really abide them oh how to dress it out.
I was having a conversation with one of my clients who told me its not as easy with the families, some families will not allow their ladies to walk around exposing any other clothing, but this brings in the case of culture. I don't think there should be any law forcing people to cover up or uncover, it simply should be an individuals choice and am glad to see a whole lot of generation here follow their own path. Culture is defined by the individuals in it and that we shall find all the way to the plains of Mt Kenya.
Education is taking up UAE, even though there's still a big gap, i can tell they are way ahead in comparison to other middle east places, most of my clients speak English compared to my previous clients. The arrogance of the people is much less, i cannot begin to explain how many times we used security as we tried to explain sense to someone a million times till they got arrogant and aggressive. I haven't yet had that experience in my 3 months. I have seen them angry but it takes a shorter while and i have experienced them being real patient and talking things out. They haven't been walking upfront while others queue, they have simply queued. We don't have to make different queues either if we don't want to mix up, there's an option, your choice..
The life of going out, eating out and being generally respected and respectful is way easier here. The best thing about social life is that I find it in my 'normal'. I mean, as much as the culture and the law has some limitations, I find them respectful enough in as much as they also demand some respect, which I feel is quite fair. The notion of open mindedness is well in play here. We came here free and of conscious mind that this is Middle East so we have to respect their culture, they know that they need us here for their country to thrive in education, economics and growing as a nation so they give back respect to our cultures.
We can go out in public places and choose where we want to sit. Most places are not divided into female and male sections, we can all sit together for meals . They know their boundaries and places they wont go if it affects their beliefs and way of life but they have allowed us to have those places. In respect we are not allowed to walk around drunk and act all stupid and lousy in public! which I think is quite a good way of life wherever you live in the world. Freedom of people walking around drunk and insulting others in public transport is not a way of fun or civilization like we see in most civilized countries. The sense of peace in the streets here is amazing, I would rather see that than see all the drunk teenagers listening to loud music in street corners dressed like they are on duty calls. If you get drunk, catch a taxi and go sleep it off. If you want to dance loudly and lousy, do it in our house then sleep it off. By the way, this saves a lot of people the so called 'next day embarrassment. That is a perfect rule! See..i grew up..!
Work...oh what can I say about work..hmmmm..not much difference from Saudi, maybe even a little better? Noo, Omg I I did not just say that! My Saudi people, I hear your laughs so lets all laugh together:)! I will leave you with this one.. At least I don't have to fly out of the country to get a glass of wine.hahaha. and also this is a new hospital so they are just trying to get established. I do hear work is much the same in the established hospitals around. Fun..eeh?
Accommodation is for all too. We got the singles and the families and kids all around the compounds, Free for all. Gone are the days I only saw the ladies in the lifts and gyms. I know many who get more motivated to work out in the gym when they say more muscles! you would have no motivation problems here. Catch you later:-)
again well written !
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