Adjusting to this Small World

Greetings,

Well folks, I have finished my first week in Dubai.  Most of my time was spent at work in a training session, but there was no shortage of noteworthy events.  First off, I have been in a hotel all week.  It is called the Millennium Airport Hotel.  

It is a nice enough place, but it happens to have a nightclub located above the rooms.  WTH! I didn’t complain about it on Friday because it was a weekend and people tend to party on the weekends, right?

Normally Saturday would have been another night where I thought, people party on the weekend, but here Sunday is a workday!  I actually had to call down to the front desk and complain about the noise.  The person on the line said, “Oh yeah that must be the club, I will tell them to turn it down.” WTH. Now is it me or did someone not think through putting a nightclub in the same area where business travellers sleep. SMH. 

My room faced the courtyard, which was beautiful and contained a bar, restaurant, pool, and a pool bar.  It also included a lounge that was positioned right under my window.  This was a prime spot for me to witness the all-night partying of locals and expats that goes on in Dubai.  It really is a playground.  Thursday night I witnessed a good ole fashion brawl.  LOL, yes, within a week’s time I have witnessed my first fight.

I heard the familiar, “hey, hey, hey,” that usually accompanies the breaking up of a fight.  LOL. By the time I got to the window, fists were flying and chairs were falling.  It made me feel a little nostalgic considering the fact that it was an actual fistfight and no gunshots were fired. Maybe that is only the case in the gun-obsessed USA. 

Clearly it was just the collision of too much to drink and a minor disagreement.  This was unusual to me, because the Emirati always seem so calm and reserved in their flowing white kanduras (traditional long robe worn by men).  I guess everyone has an equal opportunity to lose their temper and open up a can of whoop ass from time to time. J

I also had the good fortune of connecting with Master Pu this week.  Those of you who are new to my blogs, Master Pu is my long time mentor and former IBM manager who doesn’t allow me to use his real name.  He was in town for business and you know we had to make time to get together and cut up.  He mentioned that he wanted me to meet a woman who was also working in Dubai who could show me the ropes.  It just so happens that she worked for Emirates, which was the company that owned Mercator prior to the Warburg Pincus acquisition.   

Anywho, I thought that was a good idea considering that fact that I was just getting starting in Dubai.  I had been very surprised to find that I didn’t encounter any Americans working at the office when I arrived.  There are Brits, Indians, Sri Lankans, Pakistanis and Emirati as far as I’ve seen so far.  There is one woman who I wasn’t sure about.  She looked American, but I wasn’t positive.  I had been passing her all week saying hello without having a chance to properly introduce myself. 

Well, after scheduling dinner with Master Pu, I bumped into her and had the opportunity to introduce myself.  Come to find out, she was the woman Master Pu was talking about and she happened to be the godmother of one of his children.  WTH!  Talk about a small world!  We were both thrilled to finally know each other and amazed that we’ve known Mr. and Mrs. Pu (LOL that sounds so funny) for over 15 years.  Too funny, right?

Anyway, Master Pu and I decided to have dinner and drinks in the Jumeriah Beach area.  It’s a very trending area of Dubai where people go to be seen, party and shop.  There were people and fancy cars everywhere.  I had once dreamed about getting a Range Rover in the color Luxor and I actually saw my dream car outside the place where we had dinner.   Range Rovers, Porsche Cayenne’s and Lexus’s are a dime a dozen here and the driving is terrible.  SMH.

Getting Master Pu back to the airport after spending hours eating and drinking was an interesting experience.  Dubai, a lot like Kenya, doesn’t have good street addresses.  Also, when you are looking for a particular hotel like the Hilton, you have to know exactly which one and which part of town, because there are always multiples.  We didn’t realize that and ended up at the wrong JW Marriot.  The city is also growing so fast that cab drivers may not always know where a building is located because it is so new. 

Case in point, I moved out of the hotel and into a temporary serviced apartment.  It is in a brand new Hyatt Place in a part of town called Diera.  Not every cab driver knows where it is so getting into a cab where expecting to get home is hit or miss.  SMH.  The apartment is nice, but it’s too far away from the main attractions.  It still reminds me of hotel living and it won’t be conducive to having guests, which I expect many during my tenure.  It’s still interesting to me that no one wanted to come visit me in Kenya (except my girl Lara), but everyone wants to come to Dubai.

The heat hasn’t been that much of an issue so far.  I’ve been getting to work at 7:30am and a colleague of mine who is unbelievably kind, has been taking me back to the hotel.  There was only one day where I had to catch a cab back to the hotel.  It was hot as hell, but I had an umbrella and cabs are extremely accessible.  I am naturally a night owl, so this will work out perfectly for me.  The air conditioning works superbly so there is no danger of anyone getting hurt. LOL.

So, the verdict is, SO FAR SO GOOD.  I’m meeting very interesting people from around the world and I’m starting to understand the city a little better.  I’m still using a lot of my Americanism, but I’m getting better at stopping and asking people if they understand it. J  It makes me think of when Master Pu tried to explain ‘bootleg ‘ to the team in Kenya.  Hilarious!  

I’ve learned to stay out of the heat and the good thing is, I’m not the only one.  Now that I’m in temporary housing, I can take my time and find the right part of town to live in permanently.  I’m still not feeling the idea of driving here, but everyone says I will have to.  SMH.  I will cross that bridge when I get to it.  All in all, I’m adjusting well.  Check in again next week.

Adjusting well,

Della Rochelle

Copyright © 2014 by Della R. Williams