It is always hard to leave my family when I go away on business trips. I made Oliver and Ocean take a picture while I was getting into my Yandex. I spent Saturday morning with Nadia, taking her to her swimming club and then Ollie and I went grocery shopping. I also checked in at school to make sure everything was going smoothly with the PTO Garage Sale. Expats who are leaving Uzbekistan in June always appreciate the opportunity to sell some of their stuff they are not shipping on to their next post.
I am on an accreditation visit of a school in Abu Dhabi. This is my first time in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. My previous two visits have been to Dubai and Hatta. My first impression of the richer and more traditional emirate of Abu Dhabi is that it is much quieter than Dubai. I am staying out in the suburbs (Khalifa City) but it is much easier to get around with less traffic and tourists. It is less densely populated and makes it a much more pleasant ambiance. The prices are much more reasonable here than in Dubai. In speaking with the taxi driver, he moved from Dubai to Abu Dhabi because the cost-of-living was less and it was less hectic. You can really feel the difference.
The only time I saw Emiratis was in the Yas Mall. So far most of the hotel workers, taxi drivers, retail sales people are all foreigners. I am doing a little survey to see where they are from. So far it is India number one, Pakistan number two, and Phillipines number three. I also talked to an Ethiopian and Frenchman (Apple Store). The Yas Mall was a much more peaceful experience than the Dubai Mall. They love their shopping malls in the Gulf Region and Abu Dhabi is no exception. I completed my shopping list from my family in less than 20 minutes, so a good night.
On my first night I ran around the Marriot Al Forsan where I am staying. Crazy to see the artificial water skiing lakes. The hotel is next to the Al Forsan Sports Center that also has go-carts, shooting range, paddle ball courts, horse riding, etc. There is also Al Forsan gated community right next door. There are hundreds of gated communities with pretty big townhouses or detached homes with small gardens.
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