Shopping....Orientation

12 Sept

After a good nights sleep, I woke up around 6:30 am to get ready for breakfast in the dining area. I was also meeting my friend and her husband to get acquainted. The breakfast area was a fancy one. There was a beautiful section of yogurts, fruits, and breads. A section for cereals and meats and another with two chefs ready to make any type of egg or pancake you like. My mouth was watering with all of the options. I really love variety so I was in heaven. I asked for an everything omelet with pancakes had some pastries and freshly squeezed orange juice and a coffee! I met up with my friend and her husband while I was being a greedy person. We sat down talked about our flight our expectations and what is to happen next. We decided after the orientation we'd take a taxi to the mall. I desperately needed some more appropriate clothes to wear. 

So, we decide to split the cab fare and head to the mall. The drive was very calm and comfortable. The cab driver was of Pakistani decent. He was very quiet and only answered when spoken to. I was already mesmerized by the buildings and their architecture. It seemed like every building made was carefully thought about in amazing detail. I could tell the people in this country has some serious taste! After a short drive, we arrive at Marina Mall. I stared at the huge structure in amazement. I quickly remembered why everything was so brand new. The emirate is fairly young in terms of  modernization. I was told they just started building twenty years ago so from camels, huts and dirt....they decided to catch up to the rest of the world. In exchange for their camels they got cars, huts for fancy homes and sand dunes into large fancy buildings.

 I separate from my new friends to buy clothes because all I have is one long dress to wear with one black scarf. 

 The mall is super beautiful. It reminded me of Aventura Mall but ten times better. The stores were super fancy but with Walmart prices! The emirates currency AED 3.68 to my american USD 1.00. They also charge no taxes! 

 I had a great time peacefully shopping for my clothes. The store  workers were very nice and helpful. I stared at the women and young emirate ladies. All of the women possessed such an arrogance to their walk. They all wore super long black abayas. It's a long robe worn over their regular clothes. I stayed thinking how their appearance reminded me of fancy grim reapers walking around the mall.

I met up with my friends at the food court feeling very happy and satisfied after my little shopping spree. I had enough clothes to last me a week. I just needed some things to blend in a little better. I was surprised to see the food court had lots of American restaurants. They had Burger King, KFC and McDonald's all of the major chains. I decided to go for my all time favorite kind of food Pasta! I went to Sbarro and ordered a simple pasta with alfredo sauce.  Sadly to say, it was horrible. It tasted very different then the one back home. It had a floury taste and  its like the pasta was sitting there a while. My Pepsi drink was interesting as well. I think it had less acid in there so it had a flat but interesting taste. Nonetheless, I was happy to be there and experience fast food in another country. We went back to the hotel and waited on news for when orientation would begin.

Continuation to the end of a Journey...

Okay, so it's been nearly nine months since the return of my trip from the United Arab Emirates. I came back home to the United States a month after my arrival to the UAE. I had a two year teaching contract but decided not to stay for reasons I will give later on in my blog. Now, I have the chance to write all about what happened during my thirty days in a totally different country, culture and environment.



11 Sep late in the evening, I arrive with the other passengers who were mostly teachers from the U.S., Australia and New Zealand  to Abu Dhabi International Airport in Abu Dhabi, UAE. I was filled with a happy rush of excitement and adventure of landing somewhere I never thought I'd get to visit let alone live.

 The Abu Dhabi airport was amazing. I already had a great impression of the country just walking through the airport. The stores were filled with fancy shops and had such a clean and elegant atmosphere. I felt like I was coming to the right place. I took pictures of the signs, passengers and a woman at a kiosk. As you can see from the photo she was not very happy. One of the passengers walking next to me told me it's rude to take peoples photos in UAE. You MUST ask for permission first. I felt bad and said sorry to her but I got more rude stares from her. I was already learning proper etiquette the hard way within the hour of arriving to this country. While heading to baggage claim, we all noticed a swarm of what looked to be men of Indian backgrounds holding signs of passenger's names. We got a strong slap of musk that was emitting from the men. I was in shock at how strong their smell was and just held my breath until we passed them. I made it to baggage claim and stood patiently for my luggage to pass by so that I can  grab them. I wasn't looking forward to handling my luggage because I had a hard time pulling it around at the other airports. To my surprise, we were given huge luggage carts as teachaway knew we'd have a lot of belongings. As I waited for my luggage, some teachers looked extremely aggravated and tired. They started to complain about the long wait and really wanted to get to their hotel. As the luggage started to pass by on the conveyor belt, I realized that I actually packed light! There were boxes my height!! Teachers brought with them several sleeping pillows, tons of teaching  material and luggage that could barely close with just the zippers. I really felt like I had extremely under packed but knew I could buy a lot things in the country. A few of the teachers luggage got lost so the air was filled with teachers complaining on how this could happen to them in a foreign country. I felt really bad for them but was relieved when I found all of my luggage. I followed the others who followed the rep from teach away who was leading us to the waiting  area for our bus that would take us to the hotel we'd be staying until our apartments were ready. The rep told us that our bus arrived and that we could head out to it.The minute we stepped outside we were all hit with a heat out of this world! I describe it as summer time in Miami times three. The air was dry yet humid. I could feel the sweat dripping down my back almost instantly. The bus was semi air conditioned and I felt crammed but the ride to the hotel was fairly decent. The rep from teachaway was great. He introduced himself and told us what we'd expect upon arrival to the hotel.

Once we got to the hotel, I was excited this was the place I was going to stay! The hotel was definitely a four star. The furniture and artwork was so modern and my taste. I could definitely get used to this kind of lifestyle. I was so impressed that teachaway set us up in such a nice place. We checked in and was told that tomorrow we should get a message on our televisions of what we should do next. Once, I got into my room I jumped on one of my beds and rolled on it in happiness. I walked around my room to get acquainted with it. The bathrooms were sparkling clean and filled with the latest appliances. My view was of the construction site of another hotel that was being built. I was not bothered at all by it. Who could complain being in another country who was about to relax and sleep in such a nice room?! Certainly not me. I let my husband  know that I made it safely using magic jack connected to my netbook. The hotel provided free wi-fi so I was very happy. I noticed already that I was blocked from using certain websites but I was warned that would happen. After telling him I was safe, I took a nice relaxing shower watched some channels on the television then fell sound asleep.

Stay tuned, for my second day in Abu Dhabi!!