Paul’s First Days in the UAE

**Warning** I am not a seasoned blogger by any means, so my thoughts and perceptions will most likely be random and sporadic at best. Ideally my posts will be more focused as time goes on, but we'll see.

The flight out to the UAE was pretty relaxed; I tried to stay awake as much as possible during the 13 hr. non-stop flight. Watched Avatar, which was decent, and then a handful of mediocre movies.

I actually flew into Dubai, and then a driver took me over to Abu Dhabi (roughly an hour and half away). There are sections of road out here governed by security cameras and radars, and everyone goes pretty close to the speed limit, but when you get out those radar zones, Yikes – people are flying down that highway! Driving will definitely be interesting out here.

It is awesome to be with Josclyn again – it was pretty crazy not being able to see my wife for a couple weeks. It’s definitely going to be an adventure for us out here - there are many similarities to the USA, and many stark differences. Abu Dhabi seems like a very Westernized city. Pretty clean for the most part. Lots of malls and shopping centers. I find it pretty funny that in the mall at the majority of stores, they have American songs playing. I was asking an employee a question about an I-pod touch cover as he was nodding his head along to the latest Jason Derulo pop song.

I hope I fall into a regular sleep schedule sooner than later. I was able to get to bed around 2am last night, and got up at 6am when Jos got up. I’m going to try and stay up all day –no napping – so I can just crash tonight around 10pm or so (that is partially why I’m trying to blog)

My first job out here will be searching for a vehicle. J and I are in the market for a used car, and there should be plenty options, however getting in touch with dealers to look at cars during Ramadan will be tricky as businesses do not operate on regular hours. We are looking at Honda Accords, Nissan Altimas…etc.

Because it’s Ramadan, Josclyn will be getting off from work around 2:30/3:00pm, and later today we will be going over to check out the apartment we are hoping to lease, and to sign the necessary to paper work to get that ball rolling. We are currently staying in a hotel, which is really nice, nothing like having your bed made for you everyday ☺.

One last thought – watching TV out here is better then I thought, especially for sports. Soccer and Rugby seem to be on 24/7 and with the English Premier League starting up, that is awesome! I still need to find a local establishment to go and watch some Football games at on Saturday/Sunday. On the other hand, the news channels (BBC, Al Jazeera, and global CNN) paint a pretty sad portrait of America. I will give the stations more time, but at first take, it seems like the US is really scrutinized, almost like the go-to whipping boy for something to talk about. For example, I watched a special last night “The Secrets America keeps”… it was way out there. If you think someone like Glenn Beck is a conspiracy theorist (which may be true from time-to-time), then you should come out the UAE and watch some TV.