The Woes of Living in a 5-Star Hotel

Of course the title of this post is tongue-in-cheek. If you take me literally, please get off my blog!!! I have been living for the past 15 days in the Beach Rotana Hotel. I have a pool, fitness club, small beach area, spa, connection to a huge mall and hypermarket, housekeeping visits twice a day, taxis waiting right outside, and friends on every floor.
It is an awesome hotel, but of course we are all ready to move into our apartments. The first week I was here, there were things strewn everywhere from my 3 gargantuan suitcases. I couldn't locate anything, my clothes were all wrinkled, and I was tripping over random items everywhere. I was ready to move out!! After getting to tour our apartments, I realized I might really be spending a long time in the hotel, given the fact our apartments were nowhere near complete. We toured the apartments on August 12. Today is August 24 and we have not gotten any updates on construction progress or potential move-in dates.

In realizing I might be spending several more weeks here, I decided to change my mindset and make it work. I actually unpacked most of my clothes and got hangers and hung them in the closet. I bought a coffee pot since I will need one anyway for my apartment. The only thing they give you here is a water pitcher that you fill and plug in that boils the water. You then use instant coffee.. not for me!!!!

Also, the hotel provides a mini-fridge, but no microwave. I have been considering buying a microwave too, which I will need for my apartment. Eating out can get pricey. Of course you want to bring your leftovers home to stretch your dollar, but have no microwave to heat them up in. Sooooo, teachers think outside the box right??? Remember that pitcher I told you about???

Step 1: Fill pitcher with water, but leave room for displacement.

Step 2: Cut food in small pieces and place in hotel drinking glass.

Step 3: Place glass of food in the pitcher and let it boil for a while.

Step 4: Use tin foil to create a surface for bread. Let the hot steam heat the bread from below.

Voila! Leftovers are heated. So simple right?!!?!? Okay, so maybe just getting a microwave now is a better idea.

Making Minor Adjustments

I am adjusting well here. A lot of things are exactly like home. In fact, this was in the mall.

The hotel feels just like a hotel in the states. I love my hotel and how the staff cleans your room in the morning and then does a turn-down service at night. They always put Kingpin on my pillow waiting for me. My family knows the significance of having Kingpin over here with me.

 The hotel pool is much like those at home. I love the swim-up bar ours has.

 After getting out from the hotels and malls you hit a gray area. By this I mean you don't feel like you are at home anymore, but you are still within a comfort zone. Places like the Central Market Souk. I saw this on an episode of Build It Bigger (which you can download from itunes if you are interested). On the episode, they showed how each panel of wood was placed by hand, and how each tile of the mosaic floor was handmade. I saw it in person and it is beautiful.. The pictures definitely don't do it justice. However beautiful, you still are in your comfort zone of feeling like you are in a mall or a flea market. In fact, this place had very few Emirati people, mostly Westerners, so we felt as though it was a little touristy. Here you can buy jewelry, spices, knick-knacks, and some rugs and furniture.

  

As I said before, the woodwork is amazing and intricate. I am so glad I had seen the episode of Build It Bigger to truly appreciate what went into making this building!

 Also, within the category of "gray area", I would classify the views and skylines. I know I am definitely not in Illinois, Indiana, or Atlanta, but I still don't feel that 'foreign' looking at it. The weirdest part of they city skylines is that when I researched Abu Dhabi at home, all the pictures made it look like a huge mishmash of buildings in one location, but being here, you see skyscrapers in clusters everywhere. You might think you are looking at "downtown" but then you look miles in another direction and you see another cluster that could be "downtown". This is the area I see from the hotel stairwell.

For now, I can move on to the "big adjustments" section of this post. These are some things that I find to be quite different from the United States. 

First - If one more person says "Oh, it's the desert, it must be a dry heat", I might just choke them out. There is NO DRY ANYTHING here!! The moment you walk outside, you are wet from condensation from having been in air conditioning. Once the condensation subsides, you are soaking wet from your own sweat because it is around 115 degrees here daily, even hotter in the sun. You instantly have a river running down your front and your back. The minute you walk outside you get a lesson in glaucoma (aka severely fogged glasses). For many minutes your iphone or ipad is unusable due to having a wet screen. Many people have opted to leave their ipads indoors for fear of moisture damage. Here is an example. If you crack your door open to your balcony for just one minute, here is what your mirror looks like.

Obviously with all this heat you try your best to jump from building to cab to building BUT here is where comes the next major difference between Abu Dhabi and the United States. In Abu Dhabi, they have yet to adopt a formal address system. For instance, in the States you might hop in the cab and say "Please take me to 555 Georgia Avenue". The cab takes off, pulls up, you hop out, and walk inside.

Here: You have to tell them "We want to go to XYZ Business, on Al Falah Street behind the DHL building". If they can get you there, they will drop you off there behind the DHL building, but you might wander the streets for 20-30 minutes trying to find XYZ Business.. all while sweating. You must have patience here. 

Today we attempted to find a hair salon (or as they label them here, Hair Saloon), and wandered the streets for 45 minutes in the heat and never did find it. Not only that, my friend Candle bought a small beautiful cheesecake for her friend's birthday. We were going to quickly find the salon so she could make an appointment, then she was going to deliver the cake to her friend at another hotel. Clearly, from the picture below, you can tell the cake did not make it. If you can't tell, the cake is a blob of cream cheese at the bottom of the box. I still think it was a cute gesture. 

Another big difference here is the service industry. People here often wait on you, not just adequately, but above and beyond. When you go in a furniture store, they RUN to the back of the store to bring you a drink and a "sweet" (use of quotations to be discussed shortly). If you have a question they don't know the answer to, many will tell you what you WANT to hear, but many will RUN to go find the answer. If your size shoe is not in stock, they RUN to find you something else. We also noticed how meticulous the service workers are. We were actually debating whether or not they were actually meticulous, or were American standards just mediocre. For example. The middle of the mall had a huge Ramadan display. When Ramadan ended, the display was taken down, and we saw numerous workers cleaning the area, with supervisors pointing out every tiny imperfection or gunk on the floor for the workers to clean. In the states, I think generally they would have mopped it down with some dirty water and called it a day. Also, on the service side of things, every place delivers here, even KFC.

Now I will explain the "sweets". They call them sweets, but they are definitely not sweet. Most are dates, or nuts, or dates rolled in nuts. Most are not palatable (not to me anyway).  I kindly took a bite of mine, and when the owner of the store wasn't looking, wrapped the rest and stashed it in my purse. Apparently he thought I enjoyed it, as he later offered my friend and I the whole box to take home. Of course we pulled out the old standby excuse - "Oh no.. It was so good, but we cannot eat too much because we are watching our weight".

Another difference is the love and admiration of Sheikh Zayed, who is known as the father of this country. He is remembered for his kindness and generosity. There are billboards and posters everywhere with his picture on them.

Also among the things that are very different here is the driving. Basically anything goes. A lot of speeding, honking, swerving, and tailgating at high speeds. Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way, which makes crossing any street potentially dangerous. I will be getting a car here soon. Driving here makes Atlanta feel like Amish Country. Luckily once you get out of the inner-city, it is a lot of straight highway driving, which helps me to feel more at ease. 

Here are just a few more pictures to share in this addition of my blog:

My moving/birthday gift to myself. From the Ramadan/Eid Shopping Festival.

At the souk we ate at a rooftop Lebanese Cafe. They have air conditioning units they pull up to your table. I had Kofta Egyptian. Kofta means they use ground meat that they form around the skewer before cooking. Egyptian was the style of spices added to the meat. It came with a dipping sauce that was good. It was about the closest thing here to ranch dressing. NOTE TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY: If you ever feel the need to send me a care package, send me some HIDDEN VALLEY RANCH!!!!  Sidenote: We have noticed that when people see we are American, they bring ketchup. Even at the Indian restaurants.. Still haven't figured out what they think I want to dip in ketchup, but funny nonetheless!

After dinner they brought us free dessert. The waitress, who spoke very little English, told us it was milk and rice. The consistency was very similar to rice pudding. I could tell it also had honey on the top. The flavor tasted like one of those gelatinous air fresheners from dollar tree (flower scented).

Another Day in Pictures and Video

I don't have a ton to report since last time. I have to say that here at the hotel and out and about in the malls, I really don't feel like I am in a foreign country. In fact, yesterday at the mall I wanted to have someone take a picture of me, but realized that barely anything at the mall was picture worthy. The picture would look like I was standing at a mall in Georgia.We have stayed basically in the mainstream areas, but tomorrow I plan to venture out to some local areas and maybe find a souk or something so I can get a better feel for the local culture.

I will say the weather here is interesting. Fairly hot, but not as bad as I expected. HUMIDITY is like being slapped in the face with a hot, wet towel. When you walk out of a building you are soon soaked in condensation. Often to the point even your ipad or iphone is hardly usable because the screen is wet and foggy. When riding in the cab to the Marina Mall, I looked out on the Corniche (a long strip of beach) and thought it kinda of resembled Miami or somewhere like that. Pretty sand, big umbrellas, even beach volleyball courts. The only difference is there is NOT ONE single person out there during the day. This is definitely a night area, especially during Ramadan because most shops and restaurants don't open until after sundown (7:30 or later). The mall stays open until about 1:00am here and there are still tons of people shopping and eating at that time, and children are everywhere! This has been a big change for me since I am usually up at the crack of dawn but in bed by 10:30 or 11:00. I was lucky to not experience any jetlag.. The only change is my sleep schedule due to this new lifestyle. Anyway, in the coming days I hope to hit some local spots and have more interesting pics, but please enjoy the pictures from my last two days:

A sneak peak of my apartment complex. The complex and the building are not finished yet. I decided to wait to post interior pictures until I work my decorating magic.

Didn't do too much today, but here are some pictures and video:

Here are some parts of the Ramadan Festivities at the Abu Dhabi Mall, which is connected to the hotel. 

Stuffed Camels:

Video of bread making:

 

Video of chair making:

 

Natasha and I also went to the co-op which is similar to Walmart. 

 

We found great deals on rugs.

 Huge rug is 670DHS = $182USD

I just thought this picture of Natasha was funny. Should I help her? No. I will take a picture of her struggling.

Many types of electronics are very cheap here. This is a 51" Samsung HD and 3D TV. 

3099DHS = $843USD

Last but not least, the public restroom. Instead of a bidet, it has a spray tube. As stated before, I think I will stick to the American way on this one. 

720 Arabian Nights: Day 1 Picture Tour

Day 1 was great. Awesome hotel buffet for breakfast. Yes, there was an omelet bar, in case you were wondering.
Next I went to orientation with a knot in my stomach. Finding out about housing and placement. Before arriving I already knew there were three regions: Abu Dhabi City, Al Ain, or the Western Region. Abu Dhabi City was what I wanted so badly. I would be fine with Al Ain too, which is a smaller city about 1.5 hours away. What I was nervous about was the Western Region. We have heard horror stories from there, not to mention it is in the middle of nowhere desert. I knew there was always a chance I would be placed there. The evening prior, a list was posted downstairs of people going to the Western Region. I held my breath and looked. I didn't see my name. I check again. Didn't see it that time, or a third time either! This was good news, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. So, now at orientation we do find out that I am placed in Abu Dhabi City! I was so happy! I did feel bad because a girl we had been hanging out with was assigned to the Western Region. Not only that, Delma Island. It is a two hour drive from Abu Dhabi City, then an hour and a half ferry ride to the island, which only has four restaurants and no real stores. AND they share apartments with a roommate. That's why I was scared. I did not want to be somewhere like that!
Anyway, we found out ALL teachers in Abu Dhabi City will be in the same complex, called Al Rayyana. We will be getting keys and tours the following day. It isn't a sky rise looking over the gulf like I had hoped, but I am sure it will be fine.
Here are some pictures from my first day:
This is the view when I arrived in my hotel room.

 This is the same view in the daytime:

Restrooms here are a little interesting. I have a bidet type thing in my hotel room, but I haven't ventured to use it. In public restrooms like at the mall and airport, each stall has a sprayer on a hose, which I also haven't used. I can't even wrap my mind around how you use it and don't get yourself all wet. I think I will stick to the American way on this topic.

Hotel infinity pool:

 Hotel gym has all this cardio equipment plus another side with weights:

 Me behind the hotel by the pool and canal:

For those of you who were scared that this is a "totally foreign" country, check out the food court at the mall. Of course I went for the Tandoor Inn, which had amazing Butter Chicken!

 Also at the mall, a selection of SEC scarves. Not sure why anyone would want a knit scarf in 115 degree weather. Or one from the SEC for that matter. BUT it does show how much American influence is here!

I really like the fact I get to see what Ramadan is like. Here is a store front wishing people a blessed Ramadan. There are also lights decorating the city for Ramadan.

This is Carrefour, like Super Walmart: 

Also at Carrefour, they have beans, lentils, spices, and items like that in bulk.

And of course, where would we be without Coca-Cola?!!?

Getting To My New Home

What a long trip! Thank goodness next time I do it, I will  be able to select my own itinerary. I knew when I saw my schedule, it was going to take me a while to get to Abu Dhabi, but I had no idea! I was scheduled to leave at 6:50pm on August 9, my birthday. My first layover would be Chicago, for about two hours. Then I would be flying to Amman, Jordan where I would have an hour and half layover, then continue to Abu Dhabi. Let's just say I never saw Jordan.
Our flight out of Atlanta (on an American Airlines puddle-jumper) was delayed for over two hours. By the time we got to Chicago and ran to our next gate, which was a six mile hike followed by a train train ride away in the International terminal, our flight on Royal Jordanian had already left. As we approached the ticket counter for Royal Jordanian, something happened that left our group of 13 standing there in awe. It was 9:59pm as we approached the counter. The man saw our group coming and literally shut the lights out on us and said he could not help us and we needed to go visit American Airlines. WHHHAAAAT???
We had to catch the train and hike the 6 miles back to the domestic ticketing where, get this, the people at American Airlines, who had apparently just clocked out, saw us coming and literally ran to get away before we approached them with any questions. We were not expecting them to go clock back in and restart computers - just tell us where we needed to go to speak to someone. They would not even make eye contact with us, or even stop when we called out "Excuse me..." to them. Totally unprofessional and a horrible example of "Americans". We eventually wandered to baggage claim where there was a baggage claim worker who worked her tail off to get someone to get us discount vouchers to a hotel.
Our hotel was about 35minutes from the airport. Our voucher was supposed to get us 50% off. We paid $71 out of pocket, but there was NO WAY this was a $142 room to begin with. Bug in my bed. Spider in my tub. Weak cell reception. No free continental breakfast, not even coffee was free. While I was stranded outside Chicago, I already felt as if I were in a foreign country.
Long story short, when we missed our flight we were rebooked automatically to leave at 6:10pm the next night, fly to London for a 1.5 hour layover, then get on British Airways to Abu Dhabi.
After spending way too long at a crappy hotel, we left and spent way too long at a crappy airport. Finally it was time to go! I boarded the flight to be seated next to a confused Indian lady, who spoke very little English, who thought her sister was going to sit next to her. I showed her my ticket for my seat and she started bawling. I sat down in my seat anyway. Teeheehee.. Ain't nobody got time for that!!! I would have switched a window seat for a window seat so they could sit together, but the other seat was the middle seat in a row of 5. Heck Naw! Eventually a man in that row switched the crying lady seats and sat next to me. He kept telling me "funny stories". They all started by him saying "Funny Story", followed by about 2 sentences. Turns out these were neither funny, nor were they actually stories. Example: Him: "Funny story. I bought my daughter a house. Not sure if she is going to stay there or sell it.". Me: Nervous laugh, divert eyes to look out the window.
Eight hours later we landed in London where it was 9am. Already messing with my clock because we left Chicago in the evening, and now it's morning and I did not sleep on the flight. We got our stuff and headed to get on a bus to the next terminal. When we got there we got in line where they checked our boarding passes and passports. When the guy scanned mine, he told me I had been automatically upgraded to premier economy. I had no idea what that meant, but SCORE!!! No one else in my group was upgraded. Maybe it was my blue eyes, or the way I said "Ello Gubnah" in my best accent to him. It may have been because I politely complained at check in about the treatment at the airport by the night crew. I don't know why, I just know it was a HUGE blessing.
So now in London, we go through another security checkpoint where nearly everyone in our group had something come up as suspicious, which meant a human check of our bags. I got through first and went to see where our gate was on the reader board. Next to our gate it said "Boarding". No way! We told the agents to search quickly because our flight to Abu Dhabi was already boarding! The agents took some more precious time.. and more precious time. I went and looked at the reader board again while some of my group continued to wait for their turn to have their bags searched.. The reader board now said "Gate Closing".. WHAAATTT?!?!?! I did what any normal person would do. I sprinted to the gate. It was like a two mile sprint. As I came down the home stretch I saw an employee standing in a clearly empty terminal. I started yelling for her to wait. As I approached the ticket counter, I once again, did as any normal person would do. I threw my body on top of the ticket counter and laid there huffing and puffing and trying to explain there were more people behind me and they can't let the plane leave. Trying to gain sympathy I huffed and puffed about being left overnight in Chicago and even played the "there are women and children" card. They held the plane!!! I was sweating like a sinner in church, and still hadn't caught my breath, but I boarded the plane. I found my premier economy seat - Turns out it was like a domestic business class! Wide seats, footstool recliner chair, and they handed me a lunch menu when I sat down! Not only that, my section was empty, including the seat next to me! It turned out to be a great flight, until I saw my friend Jennifer sitting in coach. It was soooo tiny and crowded. The girl in front of her had her seat reclined and the little TV was now like 4 inches from Jennifer's face. I told her to come sit by me. We weren't sure if anyone would fuss, but no one did! Seven hours and I landed in Abu Dhabi! All my luggage made it too! One duffle was partially unzipped with things sticking out of it - I believe I lost a slipper shoe out of it, but that was about all I noticed. We got our retinal scan, and visa stamps, and came to the hotel. Finally I arrived at my new home for the next three weeks or so, the Beach Rotana hotel. At this point I hadn't slept since Chicago, so my guess was about 30 hours ago. My friend, Candle, had arrived a day or two earlier and we were put in the same hotel! As soon as I could get internet, I sent her a message and she came to my room. It was about 11:00 at night, but I wasn't tired. We decided to go to the Abu Dhabi mall, which is connected to the hotel!
It is important to note that it is Ramadan here, meaning you do not eat or drink in public between sun up and sun down. Even the mall closes during that time. The mall re-opens around 7:00pm and doesn't close until 1am. 
Candle and I went with a couple other girls, one of which I had met at a meet and greet before we left. It was so nice to have so many familiar faces to greet me upon arrival! At the food court, it was mostly American food.. I was actually disappointed in this, but we went and ordered pizza, which was amazing! We ran into some more people we knew and sat down in a group of about 10 of us and ate. Then we went and shopped. Around 2am, I finally got back to my room. I got a whole 4 hours of sleep before meeting friends for breakfast and going to Orientation at 9am. I think I did myself a favor by not sleeping on the flights. When I finally went to bed at night, I slept fine and have felt fine ever since. I was ready for my first full day in Abu Dhabi!!

A Matter of Hours!

Just a quick post to keep everyone in the loop of my travels!

Thursday, August 9
Atlanta (5:50pm) to Chicago (7:10pm)

Thursday, August 9
Chicago (9:30pm) to Amman, Jordan (5:30pm August 10)

Friday, August 10
Amman, Jordan (8:05pm) to Abu Dhabi, UAE (12:15am August 11)

Tomorrow I will be attempting to port my phone number to google voice. If everything goes smoothly, people will be able to continue to use my normal phone number to call and text me! That will make life a lot easier!
That's all for now!