Abu Dhabi FYI

1. If you don't like the answer, ask someone else. If it doesn't feel right, if you have that feeling of, "Wait...what do you mean..."ask someone else.

There are a lot of factors for this one: labor is poorly paid, the language barrier, people don't seek out confrontation, and things aren't communicated well. All that being said, if you don't like the answer, ask someone else. 

First Example:

The first drug store I went to, I asked for ibuprofen. I was told, "No have" by a guy in a white lab coat. After a few months, our supply of ibuprofen from home ran out. Rob went to the pharmacy and asked for, "Ibuprofen? Advil?" and was handed a bottle of 100 tablets of 200mg of Advil. 

Second Example: 

When we purchased our prepaid cell phone plans (much cheaper than postpaid), we were told we needed to come into a store every month to reload our accounts. The last time we went in, the cell phone guy said, "You know you can pay this from your phone, right?" Before Rob's brain exploded (this stuff is rough on him), I said very calmly, "We've been in every month since October and this is the first time we've been given this information." Turns out, the cell phone guy was actually the manager, aka the one person at the branch not working on commission. So, it didn't benefit him for us to come in every month, so he told us we didn't have to. That's all it took.

2. Men will talk to other men. This one was hard for me. I pay the bills. I manage our accounts back home. I need to know how things work on the UAE end, and still, I need to have Rob sitting next to me, sometimes re-asking the question I just asked, to get a straight answer.

3. Everything takes 2-3 times as long as you think it will: visits to the bank, grocery shopping, paying a bill, searching for a specific clothing item, etc. 

4. No one is looking out for you besides you. Whether it's figuring out how to pay your bills or how to drive on the freeway, no one is looking out for you, but you. Double check to make sure you understand how to pay your bills online and double, no triple check, your blind spot.

5. When you find something you like at the grocery store, buy seven at a time. Shelves are not consistently stocked with the same items, so when you find it, buy it in bulk.