Abu Dhabi: Sightseeing, an Office Visit, & a Medical "Exam"

On Wednesday we made the 50-mile drive from the Dubai Marina to Abu Dhabi. Most of the capitol city looked like this: Stucco buildings with stores on the ground floor. However, some of it looked like this:

A little less clean! We went to Joe's office villas which are just outside of Abu Dhabi on the Dubai side, and those are very clean :)

Here are some sights we saw while driving (note: these pictures were taken with my iPhone while in motion, so please excuse the haphazard photography)

This "fish bowl" building is called HQ by Aldar developments. It's an office complex near Al Raha Beach in Abu Dhabi. Joe said he can see this building from his office.

Here is the best picture I could capture of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. It's the largest mosque in Abu Dhabi and the 8th largest mosque in the world. It's named after the UAE's first President, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who is also buried there. (Sheikh is an honoristic term that means elder or scholar)

The main road from Dubai to Abu Dhabi is also called Sheikh Zayed ("shake z'eye'-ed"). I took lots of pictures of mosques along the way.

I think the next two pictures are of homes along Sheikh Zayed Rd. I just thought they were pretty :)

These buildings reminded me of the Edgewater Resort in Destin.

The highway bridge ramps have colorful tiling:

The last picture is my worst attempt...this is the Capital Gate building peeking out from behind that palm tree. It holds the Guiness World Record for The World's Furthest Leaning Manmade Tower. It looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.

The whole reason that we went to Abu Dhabi was to have my medical exam done to complete the visa process at the Sheikh Khalifa Medical Center. This consisted of a short interview ("Do you have any medical problems? Ok next room for blood please"), a blood draw to test for HIV and probably hepatitis, and a chest xray. I went to the women's waiting area to check in and Joe took Colin to the men's waiting area. (They don't condone gender mingling in public places). The lady told me it was 250 dh or I could pay an extra 100 dh for "fast track." After peering over at the huge room full of women next door, I decided to spring the extra money (less than $30).

They literally rushed me right to the front, I checked in, had my retina scan, and went for my thorough medical interview. Then they put me in front of another room full of women to have my blood drawn and then whisked me over to xray. The receptionist there ushered me into this teeeny changing room and said (over and over) "Only your bra, please. Leave your shirt." I opened the door, went inside, and upon closing the door found a bare-chested woman smiling back at me. Embarassed, I apologized and tried to get back out the door, but she closed the door in front of me and said "No problem! You woman, like me! You not man!" while laughing.

I let her get dressed before I changed, making sure to lock the door when she left. On the back of the door was the funniest sign I have seen in this country so far. It was a stick woman wearing a bra and underwear. There was a huge circle with a line through the underwear and the word NO with about 7 underlines written beside it. Next to each side of the stick lady's bosom were about 4 arrows pointing up and away from her and the words BRA ONLY written in the margins. I was thoroughly amused with this, but Colin had my iPhone so he could watch Elmo, so I couldn't get a picture.

After the xray was done, I went back to the lobby and heard them call #342 back for the retina scan. I would have been #396. Thank goodness for fast track!!