After 6 weeks, 5 countries (Turkey, UK, USA, UAE, and Oman), 14 cities, nine time zones, I'm trying to settle down in a new city, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. But the rhythms and patterns of life are so different here, so after five days I'm still feeling somewhat disoriented.
Work week begins Sunday AM -- actually Saturday night US time -- and ends Thursday pm (Thursday am US time). Friday & Saturday are weekend. Late September feels like the hottest part of July where I come from in North Carolina -- with lows of 88 and highs of 105 degrees. Just five days ago, I left a chilly fall day in Missouri, so I feel like I'm traveling back in time to summer's blazing sun.
I'm told that October through March, the weather in the UAE is wonderful. "Your best summer will be your winter in Abu Dhabi," the tourism bureau proclaims.
The feeling of time traveling is certainly enhanced by Internet technology, when I Skype, chat, text and email with friends and family back home. I left the states on a Tuesday afternoon, arrived in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night (though my body clock told me it was Wednesday morning). I was fresh and wide awake as local people were winding down for the evening. Then at 5 pm, I'd crash and sleep until 2:30 am local time. I was up well into three nights. On night five, I fell asleep at midnight local time (4 pm EST, "my time" in the US) -- and rose at 6 AM Monday (10 pm Sunday EST), so I guess I'm adjusting. Alex had the same difficult sleep adjustment after he arrived, he said.
To avoid the hottest part of the day, everyone seems to rise early here. Alex catches the bus to school at 6:45 am, and returns home at 3:45 pm. Lucia usually leaves for class before 7 -- her first class is at 8 am -- and she says most colleagues leave work by 4 pm.
As a stranger in a strange land, I yearn for the familiar. All the street signs are in both English and Arabic. Old-timers tell me there's really no need to learn Arabic, as nearly everyone speaks at least some English.
I was thrilled to see Hardees, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and KFC, though I realize they certainly don't generally represent the best of America. I felt at home when I saw Best Buy and computer prices similar to what they'd be in the states.
This place isn't all that different temperature- and landscape-wise from Phoenix, Arizona, where the daily temperatures are similar, I tell myself. But the culture, heavily influenced by Britain, India, Pakistan, the Phillipines, Arabia, Islam, and America, is just plain strange.
I was thrilled to see "St. Andrews Anglican/Episcopal Church," to attend and follow a familiar worship service and familiar-seeming coffee hour with fellow Americans and Brits. The service was held at 6 pm Sunday night rather than Sunday morning because Sunday is a work day here. Christian worship services are also held on Friday mornings.
Abu Dhabi is a land of expats -- 80 percent of the residents are from other countries. Only 20 percent are "natives" of the United Arab Emirates, a country that was founded only 40 years ago, in 1971, about the same time air conditioning was widely adopted in hot climates. Without AC, this country could not exist.
I had feared Abu Dhabi would be a "playground for the super-rich," as it is sometimes portrayed in the media -- wealthy people with servants ("the help") who are paid a pittance and segregated in unspeakable conditions. While that might be part of the story here, there seem to be plenty of middle class people, confident and aspiring immigrants from developing nations. Certainly, the home we have here would classify as middle class in the US, not grand. I don't think it will give Alex a distorted view of reality. Churches and community outreach organizations seem to be heavily involved with the poor, and we plan to get involved as well.
I had feared that in a country without freedom of the press as we know it in America, good journalism would be impossible here. I had envisioned a state-run propaganda newspaper reminiscent of the Soviet Union's Pravda. But the state-owned English-langage newspaper, The National, does some really good reporting, including investigations, and was singled out by The New York Times for honest coverage and good journalistic standards.
My sense of disorientation will probably continue until we've furnished the house, met our neighbors, developed some sense of community and friendships, established routines and some job security. That will take months. But we seem to be on our way.
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