week one, sorta

Week one, sorta.

Work is great! I love the people I work with. They are sweet men and women (mostly women) who keep their cool, don’t take their stress out on other people, and are supportive of newbies like me. I’m quite happy with my job. In a couple of days, the curators are coming so we’re preparing for a bunch of meetings. That’s why it’s week one, sorta. Cause I have to work some over the weekend. Gotta work whatchyo mama gave you, right? I’m aiming to make waves up in here.

So this evening, I was invited by a friend to hang out with her friends at a fancy bar in Dubai. Now I’ve been reading about these fancy bars, and from what I learned, shit is expensive. Like $15 a drink kind of expensive. So we did a little pre-partying at home and headed out. It was fun! Women in general were pretty nice to each other. Men new when to take the hint. Music was pretty fun (YAY majorlazer!!) and the drinks were also tasty! And I lucked out…both bartenders hooked me up super fat with free tasters and shots and etc. It was a great time.

Here’s what life is like thus far: I live in a hotel. The breakfast buffet is free, so I eat like a piglet in the morning. The waiters and waitresses are primarily Filipino, but the main guy is Sri Lankan, I think. I’m just learning about the race/class hierarchy in this town. In general people are pretty nice. I try to be as gracious and generous with my tipping as possible without seeming like I have a problem.

Walking down the street isn’t the most pleasant experience, but as a woman, it has NOTHING on Cairo, where you had to be more defensive walking down the street. Here it just stinks a little, and the humidity rocks the house down. Only once was I kind of offended by a passerby. And today I dealt with a jerk ass in a market while trying to buy a couple of apples. Otherwise it’s just fine.

Things are generally expensive, but you know, if you want the more affordable options, they are there. For example, we ordered lunch at work the other day and it cost the equivalent of 10buckeroonis. Yesterday I went to dinner with a friend to a shaabi (local) place, and it cost less than that for 2 dinners! So I’m excited to find all these treasures…

And speaking of! It’s really exciting to be in a place where diversity has been a reality for hundreds of years. If you look at a map of the United Arab Emirates, you’ll see that we’re surrounded by a number of places – South Asia, Iran, Central Asia, the Arabian/Persian Gulf, and East Africa. Are you kidding? There’s been so much mixing here, with the ports and all, it’s no wonder that the UAE is as open to other cultures as it is. Now I realize I just got here, but so far…I’m enamored.

Stay tuned!!