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!!

More of Ibn Battuta

On Tuesday we went back to Ibn Battuta for lunch and to look around.
Colin was growing weary of the stroller so he walked around with his Dada.

The most ornate Starbucks I've ever seen.

Debenhams is sort of like Macy's.

I'll have to say, I didn't expect to see Wranglers here.

And if you'd like a pink camel, let us know. I'm not sure if they'll have enough for everyone ;)

Shopping!!

On Sunday, all 3 of us slept until 2pm. Oops! After "breakfast" we packed up Colin and headed to Ikea in the Festival City area of Dubai. I was so excited because, well, who doesn't love Ikea?!? Everyone in Dubai appears to love Ikea. The sheer volume of people in that place was quite impressive. Now I understand why Joe would be so stressed out every time he shopped there.


Moving around inside of a store is really tricky here in the Middle East. Their method of crowd control is quite different than it is in the US. As a generalization, people at home will let you pass by, then go back to what they were doing. Here, people seem kind of oblivious to their fellow shoppers. I got stuck in the middle of a family speaking Arabic and showing each other placemats. I was seriously right in the middle of them and no one would let me out! I had to accidentally undo the velco of my pop-up hamper that was accidentally aimed in their direction and then apologize profusely while I shuffled between two startled women.

The good thing is that we bought a wardrobe, changing table, toy shelf, chair covers, and some other small things, so it was well worth the trip. Colin thought so, too, since I bribed him with ice cream.

Then we came home and had a nice KFC dinner with Pete & Simone, the couple that Joe met when he moved here in March. They are a lovely pair. We won't get to see them for the next two weeks because they are headed to New Zealand to visit with Pete's family.




This morning the Ikea delivery people brought our furniture and put it together for us. Everyone delivers here, it's grand! Colin's room is now pretty much finished, so I thought I'd post some pictures. My cousins (the Haviland Jacksons) sent some great Thomas the Train appliques for the wall so I put those up this morning. I think they turned out pretty great.


This is the other side of the room, with a cheap but efficient changing station, a panda-themed trash bin that I bought by accident at Geant, and the black-out curtains that help Colin sleep 'til 2pm.

Of note, the closets here are really awesome.

For lunch today, we went down to The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence in the Marina which is about a block from our apartment. Pete & Simone live in JBR which is oceanfront. We had lunch at El Chico. Who would have thought that you can get sensational Mexican food in the Middle East? (If you look closely, you can see our reflections in the doors) The Walk is really beautiful, and is full of great restaurants and stores.
Tonight we went shopping at Carrefour, another French hypermarket. This one is better than Geant, but a little further away. It's inside the Mall of the Emirates. Having a grocery store inside the mall means that you walk through the mall with your cart full of food. Strange concept, right? You put a dirham into the cart when you pick it up, and when you put it back, you get your dirham back. It's the same concept as Aldi. We stood in line for at least 20-30 minutes to check out, so Colin needed a snack.

While in line I spotted this display of dates, any way you want them. Very popular here, and used to break your fast for Ramadan each night.I'm not sure if this picture does it justice, but the checkout lines here are a serious bottleneck. People pack in like sardines.

I was super happy to find a Carter's in the Emirates mall! AND they are having a sale! Wonder if they take American coupons?!?

(Dish) Dashing in the UAE

Those who harass believing men and believing women undeservedly, bear (on themselves) a calumny and a grievous sin. O Prophet! Enjoin your wives, your daughters, and the wives of true believers that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad) That is most convenient, that they may be distinguished and not be harassed. [...] (Qur'an 33:58–59)

Since arriving less than a week ago, I've seen all kinds of traditional Muslim attire. From my research, I've learned that the dress is largely regional, with colors and scarving chosen according to traditions in the country. However, you really do see it all here.
The Muslim women I've seen usually wear this or something similar. The robe is called an abaya and is floor-length, black, and flowing. The head scarf or veil has many names, but I mostly see it called a shela or niqab. Here, most women that wear shelas have a slit for their eyes like the one pictured above. I have seen a few women with veils over their entire face like this. It's odd to see someone walking around like this, but they tend to avoid eye contact in this culture anyway.Men's attire is pretty simple. The ankle-length cloak is called a kandura or a dish dash, as the expats like to call it. They typically wear white in the summer to reflect the sun and grays or browns in the cooler months. The men's head scarves are called guthras and are usually white or red & white checkered in the UAE. They can be worn loosely or tied in a turban. The black rope that secures the guthra is called an egal or igal. Historically they actually used these to tie down their camels.

The gold-painted, stiff mask called a batula or briqa is mainly worn by the older UAE nationals, as it has gone out of style with the younger population. It's usually worn in place of the face veil and was reserved for married women only. I have seen a few of these, and was surprised that some are thin enough to only cover her nose, with her mouth exposed.
Lots of women wear headscarves like this that only cover their neck, hair, and ears. There are lots of definitions for this word, but I think this is called a hijab. Hijab is also used as an umbrella term for the Muslim woman's modest dress. I have seen these scarves with and without abayas. Sometimes I've seen a women in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with a scarf. If you look at the sleeve and skirt of this abaya, you'll see intricate beading and embroidery which is very common.
Lots of women wear black gloves with their abayas, and you see lots of henna here. I also see women with bare hands.

A new & controversial trend in the Muslim world is this "camel hump" hijab. I laughed a little when I was researching this because all I could think about was a giant BumpIt under the scarf. I've seen lots of younger women wearing this style. The controversy stems from the traditional purpose of the hijab, which is to de-emphasize the woman's hair. Some call this style haram, or forbidden according to the Koran.
Fortunately, I don't have to wear any of this. Dubai is full of expats and western clothing, so I can wear a sleeveless shirt or long shorts. In Abu Dhabi, expat women dress more conservatively - no shoulders or knees showing. I was so curious about the different kinds of traditional dress here, so I started researching and decided to just share it with all of you. However, this is just a few hours of internet research, so I can only hope that I'm telling you correctly!

Arriving and Eid

I never thought we'd actually make it!
I have so much I want to write, but I guess there's plenty of time for that. Here are some (long-winded) highlights: Colin did as well as can be expected on our 13.5 hour plane flight. He moved from his car seat to our laps to perching in front of the emergency exit door. This was a popular place for figety toddlers. I happened to meet a nice lady from NJ whose son is 6 days younger than Colin, but we failed to meet up again to exchange contact information. She was so nice and offered to help me get oriented. Maybe I'll run into her again! We also met a couple at baggage claim from Atlanta. They seem to be about our ages, and moved to Dubai in January this year. They were impressed with how well Colin did on the plane! He only slept for about 4 hours the whole flight, so we had our hands full! We used the in-flight games to entertain Colin a lot, and they had map and flight information available which was neat. One of the screens was the Mecca screen. At one point I thought a man was praying to Mecca at the emergency exit, but it turns out he was just stretching his back - haha. The flight was huge, full, and dark for most of the trip. We got three meals and they left snacks and water out for us the whole time. The flight attendants slept in this tiny little box. It was like watching clowns come out of a clown car. I couldn't believe how they fit that many in one place. Anyway, I digress. Once we (FINALLY) landed, customs went over without a hitch and we loaded our 8 million bags into a minivan taxi, finally made it to the apartment, ordered a pizza, gave Colin a bath, and went to bed. We watched Employee of the Month with Arabic subtitles which is weird.
Colin slept from midnight until I woke him up at 10:30am, and only woke up crying once. This morning he ate his breakfast in our bed and watched one of his movies. Then, we went shopping at Baby Center at the Oasis Centre. Joe calls this location the "Mecca" of baby products in Dubai. It's basically Babies R Us but doesn't carry the same brands and specialty items. The good thing is the playroom! Colin really enjoyed it.
We got lots of important baby things, most noteably, a high chair. The brand Juniors is popular here, but I can't seem to find it on the Internet. We also got Colin a rocking horse which he loves :)
Here's our car, a Nissan Sunny. It's pretty much a Sentra. We have a designated spot in the parking garage of the apartment. To get there, you type in -2 (negative 2) at the elevator (lift) and then the correct elevator letter (A, B, or C) shows up so you'll know which one to go to. Kind of nice! To get to our floor, you just press our floor number and it does the same thing to take you there. This sign in the parking garage makes me laugh: If you're going to run...run HERE. (My iPhone takes crappy pics in dark places)

After nap we went shopping at Geant, the local hypermarket. Basically, that means the Wal-Mart of the UAE. Except the stuff isn't as nice. Yep, I said Wal-Mart is nice compared to this place.

We bought grapes from the U.S.A. (DH = dirham = AED = approximately 27 US cents)

Want spices? This is how you get them.
Geant is in the nearby mall Ibn Battuta ("ee-ben ba-toota"). That's the fountain at one of the entrances. The mall is incredibly ornamental and was INCREDIBLY busy because of Eid. You can click on the link for more details, but it's the end of Ramadan, so these people are hungry and in the mood to shop. Joe said he's never seen so much traffic here.
We had McDonald's for dinner (I'm amused with the Arabic writing on everything) and now we're at home watching the UGA game on slingbox.

I'm very happy here, and very happy to be with Joe again. I'll post about his vacation eventually! We appreciate everyone's support and prayers, and hope to see everyone soon. Many more updates to come!

We...have...TICKETS!

At last! We have Joe's ticket to get him here, and we have THREE, that's right, THREE tickets to Dubai! There was some confusion about Colin getting a ticket since he isn't two years old yet, but we're thanking the Lord that we don't have to hold that little booger for 15 hours! Three tickets also means 6 checked bags instead of just 4, so we'll be able to bring move with us. We haven't quite figured out the dynamics of two adults, one toddler, one stroller, three carry-ons, and 6 suitcases...but I still have a few weeks to brainstorm :)

And here's a random picture of our little cutie eating chips at Mexican. Not too much longer 'til we can go to Mexican with DADDY again!