So, yah...methinks I'm suffering from a wee bit of jet-lag. Yesterday, at about 4 p.m., I decided to take a quick nap. FIVE HOURS LATER I woke up. C said he'd tried to wake me but I would only open half of one eye at once, and kept mumbling away about how I wished he'd hurry up and wash my slippers (?).
Things are improving, though - this afternoon's nap was only 1.5 hours!
Our plans today involved some paperwork at the staff building, looking at a second-hand vehicle that C had located on-line, and some more furniture shopping (we have yet to break the seal and actually purchase something - still surviving with one chair, one desk and the long-suffering, multi-purpose ironing board that I keep accidentally smearing with my snacks, much to C's distress).
Keeping in mind those three items on our to-do list, here's what actually occurred:
1. We make the 40 min. drive out to the staff building. C had received notice that the computer kiosks, which are the first stop for any and all paperwork-processing, were to be out of service for 2 days. This was supposed to be the day they were working again, but when we arrive, signage indicates that everything will be down for another 5 days. So no paperwork.
2. We then have coffee and a snack. During Ramadan, most restaurants are closed during daylight hours, but some are allowed to remain open - as long as the eating area is blocked off so that no fasting folks have to watch people like yours truly stuffing their faces. So we have our nosh in a little cordoned-off tent area. My sandwich includes halloumi cheese, which is like the mozza of the Middle East, and is seriously yummo.
3. We then contact the owner of the vehicle (an '04 Nissan Pathfinder) and agree to meet at the Emirates Engineering building where he works. Although we can SEE the Engineering building, it takes another 30 minutes to actually get there. That's because you can't turn left off most of the major roads in Dubai.
No really. You can't.
What you can do is make a U-turn at a designated intersection every 5 km or so. Or wait for an exit that will take you on a long, winding intestine of service roads/detour-loops and finally toot you out on the road facing the opposite way.
The first day that we went out driving, I just thought everyone was making a lot of illegal U-turns. Needless to say, this moratorium on left-hand turns, combined with being completely lost, coupled with endless detours due to endless construction, makes for some occasional delays.
4. We finally make it to the Engineering building and speak to Mr. Car-for-Sale-Man on the cell. We agree to meet on a certain floor of the parkade.
5. We park and wait. And wait. And wait. It is 40 degrees so we take turns standing in the AC'd stairwell like big, sweaty babies.
6. Several more phone calls to Mr. Man. Intense confusion about our location.
7. Mr. Man finally finds us and turns out to be a simply lovely guy whose immaculately-maintained vehicle we will most likely buy. Originally from Bangalore, he's been living in Dubai for 15 years and even offers to take us furniture-shopping over the weekend to help us locate all the best spots!
8. After agreeing to meet again after C's upcoming work trip, we hit the road for furniture shopping, on our own for now. At a critical moment, we miss a turn and get stuck on a bridge leading to the oldest, busiest section of town, which incidentally was designed for skinny camels, I suspect, and not SUV's.
9. We make it back to our side of the Creek and finally find the wonderful street full of wonderful furniture shops that we were looking for. They are all closed. We'd forgotten about the expanded split shifts due to Ramadan: places are open from 10-2 and 8-midnight.
10. We take the hint and go home for one more night with our chair, desk and ironing board.
But just so I don't give the impression that all these growing-pains are getting us down, here are a few more lovely things about Dubai that we experienced today:
1. seeing the haze lift late afternoon, allowing the sun to light up all the glittering glass buildings - particularly the stunning Burj al Arab mega-skyscraper that is so very tall, and getting taller right before our eyes
2. paying 30 cents/hour street parking
3. eating the biggest, plushest dried apricots I've ever tasted
4. hearing dozens of different accents and languages in the streets and shops
5. getting our very first letter - a thoughtful hand-written note from Ms. Rae-Lynne & Chad!
Oh, and I forgot to address my teasers from the other day - the No Hair Fall Out and the Stellar Food Court Meal. I will try to do so next post. Wish me luck tomorrow - C is off on a 2-day road-trip to Hong Kong, and I'm about to fly solo! (No driving yet - haven't done the extensive paperwork due to, you guessed it, those kiosks!)
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