Four Weeks of Whirlwind

Midnight Monday, June 27, will mark the end of four weeks since we arrived in Dubai.  It has been a whirlwind of learning our way around town, adjusting to local driving practices and courtesies (or lack thereof), gawking at the incredible architecture and scope of construction (not all of which has screeched to a halt), finding grocery stores, figuring currency and metric conversions, trying new foods, coping with technology challenges, acquiring local cell phones, actually figuring out how to use them, attempting to open a bank account, looking for a place to live, visiting churches, touring incredible hotels, and attending too many all-you-can eat and drink Arabic Friday brunch buffets. 

Friday brunch is a national sport (certainly among the ex-pats), exceeded in popularity only by shopping.  The one this week at the Jumeirah Al Qasr hotel was over the top.  The quantity and variety of food was amazing, but I've figured out it's the all-you-can drink aspect that draws the crowds.  We chose the coffee, tea, and soft drinks option, but for an extra 100 dirhams per person (US$27.23), one can have all the booze one wants.  At the Al Qasr, there were at least five tended bars strategically located between the tables and the buffets; one exclusively for gin drinks (Bombay Saphire only), one for vodka (labels in Russian), one for sake, one for Scotch, one for champaign, and one for Mojitos (that's six!!).  Perhaps that explains the behavior of some groups of what I assume to be very proper British ex-pats otherwise.

Regarding shopping, we have done some looking, especially when thought we were going to have to take an unfurnished apartment.  We've visited at least five malls within a 15 minute drive of our hotel, each of which would swallow up Northpark and have room left for a couple of Wal-Marts. 

The actual work aspect of my assignment is ramping up, but for the first three weeks, our top priority job was to find a place to live.  We finally accomplished that last week; only waiting now for the landlord's signature on the lease agreement.  It is a furnished apartment, so thankfully the furniture shopping was moot, and it is located in a very desirable part of town.  Pictures to follow in a future post.