Top 10 Myths about the United Arab Emirates

I absolutely love all of your brilliant questions, and questions that I receive through friends I've moved away from.
Here is a list of the top ten myths that circulate about the UAE.

1. All people in the UAE are super rich
It is true that the brilliant rules of the UAE allow a tax free income, but truly, out here in the UAE, you see people from all walks of life, making all sorts of money. Maids who work in the homes of locals or expats can notoriously make as little as 1000aed a month (about £169.00 at the current exchange rate of 5.9). It is even common to see locals from all sorts of the financial spectrum, some seeming to have a very healthy income, and those who have a modest one.
The workers from the sub-continent are sometimes paid a third of what a westerner could make. There is most certainly money to be made here, but you still have to live to a budget as you would in any country, you've also got to really try to stick to it as there are far too many places to spend it here!

2. The UAE operates Shariah Law
The UAE does not have Shariah Law completely. It does though, have a system that is loosely based upon it; true Shariah Law that is, not the 'interesting' varieties you see in Saudi Arabia and Iran. Laws are particularly strict here regarding certain offences such as drug dealing and drug use, drink driving, adultery and rape, but to be honest, as long as you're not participating in such criminal offences you've really got nothing to worry about.

3. Women are oppressed
This is one myth that is widespread and comes to the forefront of most people's minds when thinking about Arab or Muslim-majority countries. 
The UAE is widely considered one of the most forward thinking countries with regards to gender relations in the Arab and Muslim world. Unlike the UAE's neighbour, women here are allowed to drive. Women also make up half of the university population and are full participants in the work force. 
Emirati women wear abaya (voluminous black gown) and shayla (a head covering) but unlike Saudi Arabia or Iran it is not enforced but more of a national custom. You will even sometimes run in to Emirati ladies who do not wear the shayla or even the abaya.
Expat women are not expected or asked to wear abaya or shayla and are pretty much allowed to wear whatever it is they like provided that it is modest i.e. no overt displays of cleavage or short-shorts (unless it is in the appropriate place like a beach). Of course is also truly depends on where you are in the Emirates. Dubai is a lot less conservative than Abu Dhabi, and Abu Dhabi is less conservative than Sharjah. So, the best thing to do is to just adjust your clothing to wherever you're going in the Emirates so not to cause offence. 

4. Dubai is the capital of the UAE
This is usually the shocker to people. In fact, sometimes I'm even asked if Dubai is it's own country! Abu Dhabi is the official capital of the UAE. Dubai (the city) is much larger than Abu Dhabi city. 

5. The UAE is a no-alcohol zone
This is one of the greatest myths I've heard on my rounds. Alcohol is sold in hotels and in some stores in Abu Dhabi and Dubai (and other Emirates that have swanky hotels). Most other states allow the selling of alcohol, but like Abu Dhabi require a alcohol license (although, if truth be told, it is hardly enforced). Sharjah, I believe, is the only Emirate that is completely dry.
It is worth mentioning though, that during holy nights or special holidays within the Islamic Calendar hotels, bars and restaurants enforce dry nights.

6. Pork, what pork?
This seems like an obvious one but I do frequently get asked this question. Yes, pork and pig products are sold in the UAE. In Abu Dhabi Spinneys is one of the most well known establishments that sells pork. In fact, they even have a specific 'pork room' in the back of stores (quite like the back room in a video rental shop) which has a sign arching the door saying 'not for Muslims'. So if you're a non-Muslim, no problem at all, you'll be able to get your pork fix. Also, there are some restaurants that do have pork on the menu, but they're more upmarket restaurants. 

7. There are no churches. In fact, bringing or reading your Bible is a criminal offence
I have on occasion received questions a long these lines from frantic Christians. So please, don't worry your pretty little mind!
You can find churches out here in Abu Dhabi and in Dubai (I'm not sure about the other states as it'll all be dependent on whether there are large Christian communities in those areas that have a church). The royal family often gives gifts, funding or land to churches here. They're a monarchy that greatly encourages religious freedom as set out by their Islamic teachings and Shariah Law.
Having a Bible is also fine - so don't worry about that. You can wear crosses around your neck too. If you are worried about something it should be the proselytising law, where you could end up in hot water for preaching to those of another faith in order to convert them. The law stipulates though, that this does not mean talking about ones faith, or debating or discussing, but more like putting pressure upon, or trying to force somebody to your faith. Of course, this law also applies to Muslims who are trying to convert non-Muslims to Islam too. 

8. The Emiratis are the ruling class
Well, yes and no. The locals are most certainly the ruling class in that they are well taken care of by their government i.e. they can receive benefits, housing aid, free schooling, it is also mandatory that all companies reserve jobs for the locals.
But according to the law - on paper, everybody is equal before the law and all peoples are encouraged to report injustices or criminal activity even if the perpetrator is a local or an expat. 

9. Desert, desert everywhere
I was quite amazed to find that we were not actually moving to a desert. Abu Dhabi is surprisingly green, as is Al-Ain. The desert that surrounds Abu Dhabi city and Dubai is yellowish with lots of little plants growing all over. You've really got to drive out a little bit to find real desert.

10. If you move to the UAE, you must learn to speak Arabic
It's a really nice gesture to learn to speak Arabic if you're holidaying here, or living here, but to be quite honest there really is no need. The people who work in the shops, hotels, restaurants are usually Philippinos, Indians and Arabs - and they will all be more than proficient in English. We moved here thinking that we were going to be able to return to the UK fluent.... that has not happened. Not even slightly. 
It seems the only way we will be able to improve our Arabic here is to actually take a class (which they do have here!).


So that's my top ten myths about the UAE. Please feel free to add your own in the comment section. As usual, questions and comments are always welcome!

Have a good evening! 

Chamas, Grand Designs and Abayah Sweats!

Haha! We finally did it! We got in to Chamas. Y'know, that cute Brazilian restaurant we so shamefully left last time because Camel Man wasn't wearing black trousers... Yeah. That place! I plan on doing an in depth review of the restaurant in another post, and so I'll just give you a titchy snippet!

Well, yesterday was my b-bi-birth... yeah, that day. I'm now officially a year older. As upsetting as it is, it at least ensures that I am still alive, and so that is one good thing about birthdays I guess! Camel Man took baby-Zanga and I to Chamas. It was awesome! As I ate each piece of delicious, well barbecued meat, all I was thinking was how I wish my family were here to join in with all the deliciousness! But lo! It was not meant to be.

So, yes, the day of my birth was spent waiting on Ikea to bring the rest of the things we ordered. They were right on time. They built the wardrobes, and put together the TV unit. And they look brilliant. I even took the time to stick the vases I bought from Home Centre on to the book shelf to make it look a little more homely, and a little less hospitaly. I love them.

The wardrobes are pretty decent too. Because we decided not to have our room in the master-bedroom, it meant that we did not have as much space in the smaller room. So we decided for sliding doors for the wardrobe rather than hinged doors. It means that a lot less space is needed!

Last night we also decided to go buy a telly. After a week of walking around wistfully looking at these mahoosive TV's, we decided to go for a 40" LED Samsung telly, plus a Samsung Home Entertainment System. So, slowly but surely, this house is becoming a home! haha! (I've already set up the Wii and waiting for my sister to visit so we can FINALLY finish off Super Mario Bros)

Today, well, the sofas arrived... and I think, maybe... we didn't take our measurements down too well. Sucks for us BUT it doesn't look awful. Just slightly cosier than we had initially planned!

We also welcomed our new dinner table and chairs to our humble home. Oh goodness. I never believed I would love a piece of furniture like I love this dining table. It's a square, 8 seater, with white upholstery... probably not the best choice with baby-Zanga about, but live and let live right?

We took a trip to Abu Dhabi mall a little later that evening as I had read on Under Your Abayah that Arabesque had their new collection out. Well, I made it to Abu Dhabi Mall and was distracted by a shop called Abu Haleeqa Stores, it sold a variety of things, but the abayah section was up to date, brilliant and held such a variety of abayahs I was thrilled. So thrilled that I committed to an abayah without having checked how much that was in pounds... lets just say, I was so shocked I suddenly felt all hot, and started getting what I call... 'abayah sweats'. You know, that moment when you realise you've spent FAR TOO MUCH on a piece of clothing, food, car, technology? Yes, one of those feverish moments when you think 'holy moley, what was I thinking!?' So as I walked around for half-an-hour as the tailor adjusted the length of the abayah I kept swinging between excitement and nervousness! Of course the customer service was brilliant, which made the idea of going back and saying 'no, no, please, please don't cut that fabric' (all slow-motion of course)impossible.

But at the end of it I walked out with a gorgeous abayah and matching shayla! The funny thing was... that in all my excitement I completely forgot to check out Arabesque. So hopefully, God willing, I'll be taking another trip this week especially to check out their abayahs!

Fog, Baskin Robbins and a fabulous bed!

Baby-Zanga has decided that she likes to wake up at 6 in the morning for some milk. I, of course, am not impressed, but get up anyway and go and make her some 'num-na' before she screams the whole apartment block down! She sips at it and then falls back asleep... I lay awake feeling grumpy!

This morning though, I woke up to find a thick blanket (more like a quilt cover) of fog outside my window. It was eerie! Apparently it is quite normal to experience fog a few times a month. In fact, Camel Man was telling me that over here they have such thing as 'fog days'. Kinda like how we have 'snow days' in the UK, where children do not have to go to school, or are able to go in late. It seems that the school does not want to risk any sort of horrendous, fog-related accident by a parent or their children.


Last night we decided to take a trip over to Baskin Robbins - which is about 20 minutes walk away (though nobody walks here in Abu Dhabi it seems. Far too hot!) I have to say, I have no idea how I lived my life without know Baskin Robbins. Baskin Robbins - I salute you. This is controversial, I know, but Ben & Jerry's... you are like the most over-rated ice cream I have ever eaten! In fact, I remember one day (as a teen) that it was the coolest thing ever to eat 'Ben & Jerry's' and then I tried it - and was very disappointed. I was not disappointed by Baskin Robbins. So there.


On a lighter note, Ikea has actually reached my 'Wall of Awesomeness'. Not only did they deliver our bed, head board and kitchen top table on time, but also sent two very efficient workers to fix it all together. Congrats and a huzzah for you! We are thrilled with the results and even more thrilled to actually be sleeping in a bed tonight (we had been sleeping on a matress parked on the floor). So, little by little our house is becoming a home. The best part about the bed isn't actually the bed itself, but rather the head board which we bought seperately. Inside the headboard are two side table things on wheels, with glass tops that you can wheel out when you want them out, or put away when you need the space. You can pull them out a little... or pull them out a lot! I heart them very much.


I also went to the right mall for abayah shopping. We didn't get much time in there unfortunately, but definately plan on going there again to hopefully find something that makes me go 'woooow.' The cuts that I tried on today were not to my liking - but then again, I rushed it all. So we shall see if I am able to find anything that calls to me (for anybody interested, the mall was the Madinat Zayed Shopping & Gold Centre).

Abayah fail.

Well silly me. After walking and walking and walking around Al Mushrif Mall this afternoon, I was told by a helpful lady at 'BHS Kids' that there isn't a shop in the store yet that sells abayahs and that I should take to the streets.

Thank you helpful 'BHS Kids' lady!

Home Centre, an x-ray and lots and lots of meat...

The last three days have been exhausting!

What with the apartment not furnished yet, we have been trudging and trudging from shop to shop to get an idea of prices, styles and sizes! So far it has not proved particularly fruitful, and although this sounds quite frustrating - I'm actually quite enjoying myself. It all feels so creative, matching colours and patterns to make sure I create a space that I enjoy being in. It is great fun! I've not decided how exactly I want everything to be - I am the word 'indecisive' incarnate. I can't quite decide if I'd like a dark brown wood and teal living room, or to have a dark brown wood and orange dining room, or this and this and that! There is just tooo many possibilities!


To reside in the UAE one must take a series of medical tests to make sure you're fit and healthy. They're particularly interested in making sure that you do not carry the HIV/AIDS virus (but they also [sometimes] check for leprosy, hepatitus B, Tubercolosis, pregnancy and certain STD's). If one fails all or any of the tests then ones visa is denied and the person is deported. So yesterday I had one of those medical tests. I had blood stolen and an x-ray taken of my chest. I find out tomorrow if I'm being deported or not (i.e. I get the test results back).


Today we went for our first food shop. We went to a mahooooosive Tesco like store with absolutely everything in it.... and I do mean everything. Clothes, DSLRs, childrens car seats, salmon, lemon grass, mahoosive flat screen TVs, fresh curry and pizza stands - I mean... everything! I felt quite emotional as I walked through the aisles. There were pieces of home EVERYWHERE. Even something as simple as 'Hovis Bread Flour' brought a tear to my eye. I just couldn't believe it. I even took a special photograph for my sister, to prove that we really do have EVERYTHING out here.


The weather has been quite warm. Well, warm is a bit of an understatement. 37C's is boiling! And the humidity! Well, what can I say? It's like having a blow drier blow hot air right in to your face! It is the most amazing and all-consuming heat I have ever felt. Ever (..and I've experienced 52C heat before)! It is 1.57am right now - and it is 28C. It is quite amazing.


Well tonight we suffered the most embarassing epic fail of our time here so far (I've not even been here for a week yet, so I imagine there will be many more fails in the future).

We decided we would be adventurous and go and try this Brazillian restaurant with a huge obsession with meat. Apparently, you go, sit down, and are given this board with green and red on it. There is no menu. Oh no. You just turn your card to green and staff come out with these spits of all sorts of meat and offal and just come over - and cut it on to your plate. When you've eaten that and want some more, you turn your card to green again - and when you're pale after experiencing a variety of meats... you turn it red! Everything is barbecued. Anyone who knows Mr. Camel Man and I will know that we LURVE our meat and so we were super excited to be going.

The restaurant (Chamas) is located inside the Intercontinental Hotel - we pulled up, handed our keys to the valet and had baby-Zanga in tow. We were looking happy, hungry and sure of ourselves.

We passed through the entrance of the restaurant. We were greeted by a healthy buzz and by a live Brazilian band all singing away in Portuguese. We made our merry way downstairs and we were all smiles... until the Hostess came to greet us. She smiled and told us that we really should have made a reservation and that we simply could not dine until Mr. Camel Man put some trousers on! We gasped and then errupted in to laughter. He had decided to wear below the knee shorts to dinner, oh, and flip flops. What added to our shame was that the Hostess offered Mr. Camel Man some black trousers - hahaha! Which he firmly declined and so we swallowed the embarassment of walking back up the stairs (in front of the whole dining hall), pass the funky band, and through the bar which hosted all the fashionable people. We, evidently, were not worthy of said dining establishment! We failed miserably. LOL. All in all though it was an experience we do not plan to repeat - and if we again try to visit this restaurant or any of its bretheren we will certainly make sure that Mr. Camel Man is wearing trousers!

We were hungry and so we took a trip to Marina Mall to get some grub. Holy moly - that is one humungous mall! We decided on Fuddruckers for our dinner - which we didn't eat until past ten o'clock! And yeah, it wasn't too bad. Hopefully though, God willing, I'll be spending a good few hours in the Marina Mall or in Al-Mushrif tomorrow. I really need to get myself some new abayahs!