After a long trip and catching up on sleep, I am feeling much more like myself. The culture is very different here. The hotel staff has been fabulous and made us feel like "Rock Stars" on our arrival. They literally rolled out a red carpet for us. Gave us ice cold towels to cleanse and refresh our faces, gave us refreshing drinks, and helped us get to room quickly because we were tired. For breakfast, we are treated to an unbelievable buffet with food from arround the world. I actually ate "bacon" for breakfast! Hydration is very important here, so I'm drinking lots of water. Going through diet coke withdrawal. I am offically a diet coke-aholic and withdrawal has been hard. I've only had two since leaving the USA on Tuesday. That's miraculous for those who know about my addiction!
Yesterday I went to the mall to buy a SIM card and minutes so I could call my family. Riding in the shuttle to the mall was a little scary. Drivers are very impatient here and honk horns frequently. Cars dash in and out like in ATL. I was impressed with the amount of security. Felt totally safe. Ramadan, a religious month in UAE, is going on now. Locals don't eat (fast) between sunrise and sunset. Big parties and buffets happen after the sun goes down. Many restaurants and businesses are closed during the day and open after sunset with extended hours and special buffets. At the mall, I was looking for the "food court" to take back lunch to the hotel and....all restaurants were closed. Thought it would be no problem to find a sandwich at the hotel and all restaurants were closed. Ended up finding a gift shop open and found a "Bounty" bar and Pringles. "Bounty" bar is like a Mounds...chocolate and coconut. Asked where the cokes were and sales lady said we only have "water". Guess this is my "intevention" to get off Diet Coke.
My hotel room is very nice and comfortable and beginning to sleep on Abu Dhabi time. Think by tonight I'll be on schedule. My first meeting in Sunday at 9:00 am...which is 1:00am in Georgia. My work days will be Sunday-Thursday. Friday and Saturday are the weekend. Think this will take some getting used to. Sunday I will learning about my housing, start working on getting my work visa, setting up my bank account, and we will have guest speakers about cell service, car rental, and furniture companies. By Monday or Tuesday, I should be able to see my apartment. Will post more about that later.
So far I'm seeing new things, learning about a new culture, and loving it all! :)
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