Sunset Over the Gulf

Desert sunsets are strange and beautiful. This picture was taken from the window of our temporary apartment.

Doubtless I'll have more to say soon. We should be moving to our more permanent location within the next couple of weeks, and there's a trip to Greece before then. (I have to leave the country so they can process my residency visa--apparently it can't be done while I'm within the country's borders. So Greece it is. Tea in yet another time zone.)

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

So far, this exchange has happened countless times:

"So, Tara, what do you think of Abu Dhabi so far?"

And my reply is always, "It's... hot. It's nice. It's really, really hot."

Admittedly, I feel a bit pathetic about this. I'd like to be able to comment on other things, but so far my first impressions have been entirely taken up by the heat. I knew it was going to be hot. I even knew it wasn't going to be a dry heat, in spite of the desert climate. (Proximity to the gulf adds a great deal of moisture to the air.)

Even knowing all this, I still couldn't anticipate just how hot it was going to be. A hot day in Vancouver is in the high 20s. I thought New York summers were hot and humid, with days in the mid-30s, but they've got nothing on Abu Dhabi. It's the kind of heat you need to experience to understand. We've been hovering around 40-45C since we arrived, with humidity pushing the temperature up to the mid-50s some days. Even in the evenings--the only time we've really dared leave the safety and comfort of the air conditioned indoors--the temperature rarely falls more than a few degrees, remaining in the mid-30s with humidity keeping the temperature up around 40.

It's a kind of heat that feels dangerous, honestly. Obviously I'm taking a lot of precautions in terms of staying hydrated and limiting time outdoors, but it's amazing how quickly the heat can sneak up on you, even in the evenings when the sun is down. I am very slowly acclimating. I no longer turn beet-red when I step outdoors, or break into an instant pouring sweat. And luckily, cabs are plentiful and cheap here, so should you find yourself going from zero to heat stroke, you can always jump in a blessedly air-conditioned vehicle and take yourself home again.

(This, too, has happened countless times.)

Learning the Ropes: Tara vs. Sleeves

When I first told people where I was moving, I had to answer a lot of questions. (And offer a lot of reassurance, because, let’s face it, to many North Americans The Middle East is a vast unknown. And there are a lot of misunderstandings, misnomers, and stereotypes flying around concerning it.)

Abu Dhabi is predominantly Muslim. It’s not, however, as conservative as say, Saudi Arabia. I’ve seen women out alone on the streets (though more often I see them in pairs or small groups). They’re allowed to drive. Not everyone wears robes or headcoverings. Many do.

I am still adjusting to the question of appropriate attire. The literature we were given is a bit vague (irritatingly vague, in my opinion). Again, I’ve seen a huge range of attire, from girls in shorts and tank-tops (who, admittedly, look very out of place) to women in full burqa. As a non-Muslim Western woman, I’m not expected to wear headcoverings or anything. But I am, according to the vague wording of the informational pamphlet, encouraged to dress ‘respectfully’. Of course, this sentence is paired with “generally, lightweight summer clothing is appropriate year round.”

Ladies, I don’t know what your lightweight summer clothing looks like, but you know? I’ve got virtually nothing with a sleeve. Certainly nothing with a full sleeve. Maybe a couple of t-shirts, but I’m not a t-shirt sort of girl, for the most part. (They suggest sleeves are better than no sleeves. What constitutes a sleeve? Does a cap-sleeve count? How about a thick strap?)

I went to the mall (malls are a big thing here, what with it being hotter than the surface of the sun outside, and everyone running from air-conditioned spot to air-conditioned spot. Again, see: trouble with appropriate attire) and was bombarded by every store you’d expect to see on a UK high street: Oasis, Monsoon, Next, M&S, etc etc. And you know what? The clothing is all the same clothing you’d find in the UK, complete with… you know, things without sleeves. All kinds of things without sleeves! So I find myself confused. The stores exist here? People must buy the things in them? And presumably wear them?

I did, however, go out wearing what I consider to be a pretty conservative (if, yes, perhaps-a-little-form-fitting) dress, and I felt out of place. I think that one’s getting shelved. I really do want to be respectful of the new environment I find myself in. 

But when it’s somewhere between 40-50C with heat and humidity, I am not sure what, exactly, to do with the word sleeves. So far I've been making do with a combination of light cardigans (though, really, none light enough) and shawls, and I'm trying to learn where the overlap is between what's respectful, what I own, and what I personally feel comfortable wearing. I think it's a process. We'll see how it goes.

Welcome and Hello

About a year and a half ago, Carl came to me with a proposition. That proposition involved a list of pros and cons, and a move. To Abu Dhabi. After a lot of deliberating, the pros outweighed the cons, and here we are.

Looking back, I realize I've had a lot of unusual opportunities in my life, and I wish I'd done a better job of documenting them. Since you can't change history, though, you have to start somewhere. Maybe every once in a while I'll end up talking about some of those past experiences (especially those involving travel), but for now: Welcome to Abu Dhabi.

This blog won't necessarily be about tea. But T is one of my nicknames, at least to my dad and my little sister; everyone who knows me knows how fond I am of the beverage; and nine times out of ten you can imagine a cup of steaming goodness perched at my elbow whilst I'm writing. Right now it's vanilla rooibos. And I'm in UTC/GMT +4 hours. The title makes sense to me!