Sand, Shopping, Sheikhs and Shawarma

This post is mostly dedicated to me, as I never thought, I would be able to come up with, a part 2 of Going the Distances. As the famous adage goes, "home is where heart is" but for an expat the saying, "home is where money is " sounds more befitting. 

When I first boarded the flight from Singapore to my new abode, I spent 9 hours of the long haul flight mentally programing myself to embrace the new land as my home. As an expat, I really didn't have much of a choice in this regard. 
My first "expat" moment happened when I was standing at the immigration line for my retina scan; I missed the "ladies only" sign and joined the queue for others i.e. men. Having spotted a lost female in the male line, the immigration officer yelled from his seat: "Ladies not standing in man line". The kerfuffle left me stunned and unable to react; so much so that I had only realized how hilarious his english was until I sat in the cab on my way home.  Its not that I missed the sign, I was never expecting it at the first place.

Fast forward to July 2013: United Arab Emirates has been my home since past 25 months. I landed in the month of December, and those who find UAE HOT in December then let me tell you its NOT! Please refrain yourself from giving me the usual excuses: "But I come from Delhi/Siberia and UAE winters are like joke to me". I spent 6 years of my life in South East Asia, and I have no shame in wearing my sweater in here in UAE. It was the season of Santa Claus and Christmas carols, the world's most commercialized festival was round the corner. While the place I left behind was in the midst of making the largest Christmas tree with disposable cups and waste glass bottles, the UAE took the Christmas tree to another level. Decked with diamonds, gold jewelry and gem-bedded watches, the UAE tree looked and felt grander than christmas tree itself. Wicked right?? 

But hold your horses. If you think this is OTT, trust me UAE is only place on earth which redefines OTT. In addition to adding a touch of grandeur to  Scandinavian-grown tree, people in UAE extend their grandeur to their plates or rather what lands up on their plates. Yes! They eat food which is served with edible gold and we Indians thought we had an unhealthy obsession with covering every inch of our body with gold! We definitely got to look up to the UAE for their out of the box/pocket thinking.

In my mind I had imagined a picturesque background of majestic sand dunes, Sheikhs riding camels with exotic Arabic tunes piercing the stillness of the landscape
Beeeeeeep!! Reality check. Forget camels, we are talking about Ferraris and Rolls Royce as the basic mode of transportation. For sand dunes and camels, now that is considered a luxury that you have to pay for. You don't live the king size here, you live the Sheikh size.
 My very first job here, was in the finance department of a  company that owned fashion retail brands. One thing I learnt and observed from my time here is that you don't just arrive in UAE and sell your brand to the Arabs here - You must define your brand the Emirati way. Elite brands have a specially designed hand held shopping carts after they discovered that the shopping style in their stores were similar to the styles in grocery stores. To the rest of the world, Dubai Shopping Festival is considered that awesome month of heavy sales. This is actually the period where the Emiratis take a break from shopping. While people from different parts of the world find pleasure in telling their friends and relatives about how they are looting (by paying of course) the shops in Dubai, the Emiratis are chilling. If you are still patiently reading this blog post, let me share a piece of helpful advice with you: there are 3 seasons of heavy sales here, each being better than the other. So, don't fall for the trap by booking ridiculously high air tickets and paying extortionate amounts in hotel check-in tariffs. Shopping equals to  euphoria in this region. Shop the Emirati style and you are bound to get hooked. 

The word shawarma is not just added to the title on the post to add alliteration ( I kid! I kid! It was indeed added for a good reason). Arabic cuisine  is one of the most scrumptious edible goodies my taste buds have experienced. The list of kebabs grilled in this nation is never ending. The kebabs here are not only piquant but also perfectly charcoaled. For the food lovers, this place gives you an opportunity to familiarize yourself with other middle eastern cuisine like Lebanese, Moroccan, Turkish, Greek etc. Unlike UAE shopping, one can experience two end of dining spectrum - elite and economical options. There is food to fit everyone's budget and agreeable to every palate. Once you get a residency visa in this country my suggestion will be to sign up for gym or may be more economical way is to drink copious amounts green tea. Sometimes, I feel the water here contains an amount of soluble fats (no idea if such fats exist or this is scientifically possible). People here suffer from wasting syndrome, its discomforting to watch them wasting an equivalent portion of their meals they consume. They either forget that half of their family did not accompany them or they are only aware of words like combo/set meal and not a la carte. 

Literally, this nation consumes you in every possible way. You start looking for a "Ladies Only" sign because its more convenient. Not only that, sometimes you complain about the lack of the above sign board. Without realizing, your wardrobe will showcase only branded goods and you forget the street shopping in your country which used to be of so much joy. Suddenly the charm of watching a Ferrari overtaking your car turns into a mere inconspicuous glance. You will forget the day you stopped converting Dirhams into your own currency but secretly wished for it to fall against the Dirham. How many times did you remind yourself that the food here is as mouth-watering as the food back in your homeland? The golden rule of being an expat is - One should always accept, adjust and be open but never too cozy. You never know when its time to pack your bags again

UAE is home for several nationalities, and it has practically adopted the Indian sub-continent. One has to keep in mind that embracing expats and protecting the locals are two independent aspects which are not worth comparing. In view of such diversity and recent crisis that has rocked the Middle East, It is quite admirable to be a witness to UAE's success in securing its political, social and cultural position in a very peaceful manner.  With all my heart (and my wardrobe's too), I hope that stays