Yes, our journey is progressing. We are already making new memories in Egypt which I will blog about later. This entry will be about our time in Abu Dhabi and Dubai with Mike and Mattie. If I had to describe these cities in a single sentence, I would describe Abu Dhabi as the UAE version of New York City and Dubai as the UAE version of Las Vegas, just without the gambling and show girls.
It was SSSOOO good to see Mike and Mattie! And it was really nice to meet several of their friends as we just engaged in the comings and goings of their life. We attended the parenting class they teach at their church, a football party, park and beach outings, a girl’s night out with Mattie’s English club, and a tour of Mike’s construction site. I have a few snapshots of fun outings included below. One of us at Heritage Village with the Persian Gulf and Abu Dhabi skyline in the background, one of Sallie trying her hand at a potter's wheel, and one of the Emerates Palace Hotel.
Speaking of construction, if there is one word to describe Abu Dhabi and Dubai, it is CONSTRUCTION. We have never seen so much construction all going on at once. Maynard had a chance to visit Mike’s construction site while we were there and he was so amazed at the work Mike is involved with. It is MASSIVE! He is responsible for all the roads and power infrastructure to the entire island. Plus he is responsible for project managing the construction of eight of the buildings going up on the island… six of those are over 60 stories tall! The island is being built from the ground up… that means it started with no construction and Mike’s project plan includes a fully populated island. Needless to say, Maynard was more than a little impressed with what he saw.
Here is an interesting fact about the population of the area. There are more construction and infrastructure laborers in Abu Dhabi than there are Emiratis. I’m not kidding about this. My memory may not be totally correct, but the ratio of Emiratis to ex-pat laborers in Abu Dhabi is something like 250K Emiratis to about 550K ex-pats. The other surprise is that Americans are a minority in the ex-pat community. There are so many nationalities that it reminded us of the melting pot environment of the early US. Here the difference is that the UAE environment seems to encourage the ex-pats to remain ex-pats rather than melt together into the Emiratis culture. I guess that is more like a partitioned lunch tray than a melting pot. :-)
Now let’s talk about driving. Driving seems to be emerging as a common theme as we move from country to country. Do you remember how in Turkey they don’t clog traffic by always stopping at red left turn lights? Well, in Abu Dhabi they are very observant of those turn lights. In fact, if you run a red light, they take a photo of your license and when you register your car you get to pay for not only your annual registration, but also for every ticket you have received during the year. OUCH! But back to driving…. the fun driving fact in the UAE is that you can turn left from any lane you are in! Yes, even if you are in the far right lane! You can imagine the interesting sudden stopping that causes when someone on your RIGHT turns left right in front of you. Let me just say that we were very glad that Mattie and Mike did all of the driving. :-)
The other fun fact about driving in Abu Dhabi is that if you drive you had better be prepared to hunt for parking. And you had better be creative. Parking in a turn lane is not only completely acceptable, but often a necessity! As long as car can still get by to make the turn it is fair game.
Here is an interesting fact about the population of the area. There are more construction and infrastructure laborers in Abu Dhabi than there are Emiratis. I’m not kidding about this. My memory may not be totally correct, but the ratio of Emiratis to ex-pat laborers in Abu Dhabi is something like 250K Emiratis to about 550K ex-pats. The other surprise is that Americans are a minority in the ex-pat community. There are so many nationalities that it reminded us of the melting pot environment of the early US. Here the difference is that the UAE environment seems to encourage the ex-pats to remain ex-pats rather than melt together into the Emiratis culture. I guess that is more like a partitioned lunch tray than a melting pot. :-)
Now let’s talk about driving. Driving seems to be emerging as a common theme as we move from country to country. Do you remember how in Turkey they don’t clog traffic by always stopping at red left turn lights? Well, in Abu Dhabi they are very observant of those turn lights. In fact, if you run a red light, they take a photo of your license and when you register your car you get to pay for not only your annual registration, but also for every ticket you have received during the year. OUCH! But back to driving…. the fun driving fact in the UAE is that you can turn left from any lane you are in! Yes, even if you are in the far right lane! You can imagine the interesting sudden stopping that causes when someone on your RIGHT turns left right in front of you. Let me just say that we were very glad that Mattie and Mike did all of the driving. :-)
The other fun fact about driving in Abu Dhabi is that if you drive you had better be prepared to hunt for parking. And you had better be creative. Parking in a turn lane is not only completely acceptable, but often a necessity! As long as car can still get by to make the turn it is fair game.
Mattie was a great tour guide while Mike was working. One of the most surreal things she took us to do was swim in the Persian Gulf, or as the Emiratis say, the Arabian Gulf. We found it so amazing to realize we were swimming in the very waters that have been so contended in current events of recent years. The water was great. We had a chance to meet one of Mattie’s friends who is married to an Emirati at the beach. I love the picture we took together since it shows both ends of the cultural spectrum. We loved chatting with this friend. She was so funny and easy to talk to.
It was such a great time. I know this seems long but in comparison to the experience, it truly is very short. How can you fully describe the experience of reconnecting with dear friends half way across the globe? It just is not possible. Now we are building a whole new set of memories in Egypt. Stay tuned for next week’s installment of the Belson Big Adventure Times!
Love,
Mary Poppins and Frankenstein
- ask Mike and Mattie :-)
Thought I would also thow in a few pictures from our visit of the aquarium at the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai.
3 comments:
Awesome stuff
Dan O.
We loved having you guys!!! Been kind of slow this week....Glad we have all those fun memories. Can't wait to hear about Egypt!
Glad to hear you're still enjoying yourselves!
Love and miss you,
Kelly
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