I've been living in Dubai Marina for a year now, on the Marina waterway and 2 blocks from the beach (the part that is not being built on). I like living here better than working here, which has been the biggest surprise for me. Actually I work in Abu Dhabi, which is probably like the Dubai of 20 years ago except it is relentlessly boring, unlike Dubai, which has always had designs of fame and fortune long before the palm-shaped islands and the glam British and Russian gals flocked here to hurl themselves at the indigenous population. (The hookers have always been here, but many gals who seek to be WAG's of the rich and famous are basically doing the same thing, just more legit.) The commute to AD is tolerable from Dubai Marina so long as you don't encounter accidents, which can cause anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour of delay every week or two.
The government clients here generally consist of Emirati managers (some barely out of college) and either western or western-trained middle managers or Indian / Pakistani staff who have some technical skills, and consultants like myself who basically do all the work in exchange for low-bid prices and getting sh*tted on periodically by the Emiratis or those others who think they have the Emirati-granted wasta to do it. There are some exceptions, but as the Emirati moves up in the food chain, something definitely happens to their personalities and egos. Those that remain calm and decent will get ramrodded by those who are trying to climb the ladder and impress the sheikhs at the top. Enough venting for now, I have too much work to do over Eid weekend, and my wife doesn't get back till next week. No, I haven't brought back any hookers to the apartment, the guards and staff all know me and my wife and there are cameras everywhere in my apartment building.
I went back to the States in July for a month - got to bring the Porsche out of storage and enjoy it as well as some of my old Porsche Club friends. I lived in the DC area (my wife is from New England), and really, Dubai is really on a different planet compared to the non-NY areas of the East Coast. I would never accuse the Washington area of being laid back, but compared to Dubai, seeing trees and 2 lane roads and quiet neighborhoods (even if some of the houses are ratty) and even a freeway with only 3 lanes in each direction makes the US look like some Normal Rockwell painting compared to the Brave New World of Dubai. And New England, especially Connecticut, with hills and lakes and Sunday lobster bakes, family get togethers, minor league baseball games, hot dogs and the smaller restaurants and bars? Well, everything seems to be on half speed (and less) compared to Dubai.
And then there was the rain. Every. Single. Day. It was hot and humid, not quite like Dubai, but we always had to squeeze time in to enjoy things outside before the rain hit. Luckily, our Sundays were nice.
I'm not sure what has hit the US, but I think Obama has lost control of the US rudder. (1) He can't come up with an appropriate solution to the Snowdon revelations (why can't the guy stand a fair trial in the states instead of staying in......RUSSIA, that bastion of liberty and freedom??????) (2) He seems to be content in inflaming long dormant (especially those over 40) racist passions after the Zimmerman show trial, perhaps because he has long lost the support of the average US citizen. (3) Obamacare has turned into this overly complex thing which no one can figure out. They would have been better off just moving to a complete national health care system a la Britain or Canada....or just leaving well enough alone. (4) Everyone seems pleased with letting the political discourse in the US deteriorate to PeeWee Herman ("I know you are but what am I?") and Sam Kinison levels. When my friend says she now trusts Fox News more than CNN or newspapers to actually report news, what does that say about American society?
The beauty of being in Dubai is that, while the news reporting locally is practically all fawning Sheikh-loving press releases, (except when it comes to reporting about those miscreant expats kissing in the streets or being involved in car accidents), the cable/satellite channels provide literally all but the Israeli news channels. CNN, Fox, MSNBC, BBC, Al Jazeera, Russia Today, SkyNews, plus all other Arab, Indian and Filipino news channels are here, and you can see Meet the Press, Stephanopolos, Face the Nation, and all three US nightly news casts at some time or another (usually middle of the night). So you can choose who you want to believe, and at least networks like BBC still pride themselves on reporting the news and keeping opinion shows to just that, not making it 24 hours of bleached-blonde (male and female) talking heads.
Well no one in the US wants to hire American-born medical assistants now, which keeps my wife out of the job market in the states, so she is here in Dubai with me (as is our little Beagle, affectionately known as Shithead), where she can't really work either. See here, masses of young women are flown in from the Philippines and plopped into ant-farm housing to work as medical assistants 200 hours in exchange for just enough money to send home and the rest to enjoy a weekly dinner at KFC. The good news is she has met some like-minded Americans and Brits, so thanks to all the frequent expat-woman coffees all over the Marina, she has an active social life. Enough happy hours and dinners abound so that the husbands get pulled in and they have a half-plugged-in social life as well.
Just a view of things for now. I should continue trying this blogging thing I've gotten bored with ExpatForum, and Facebook with old friends and grade school classmates just seems to be the same thing over and over again. I have increasingly been following guys like RooshV on Facebook lately as well as his blog. I'm not quite sure why - he is a blogger from the manosphere (a serial skirt chaser, usually of young Eastern European girls) and I'm married. I'm going to have to explore that.
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