CLEAN

I realize blogging about being an expat is not just about the technical side of life here, which I have been very detailed (hehe), but also the "other stuff."

Now that I am 5.5 months into my life here in Dubai, I finally am seeing the brighter side of life here... and time is FLYING... FLYING by. I feel I will blink and I will be back home and my time here will be over.

But in the meantime, here are my updates:

-Yes, I FINALLY FINALLY moved into my apt. I didn't realize what an impact it would have, BUT I feel sooooo much better! It's been a BIG time consuming process to furnish an apartment, but then again, I have time and am not trying to make it perfect right away. Just so it is presentable for my parents big arrival later this week (YEA!).

-Work has totally slowed down, which for me personally is good because I feel I have time to breathe and concentrate on other stuff, again, cleaning up and organizing my apt (hehe). For the organization, probably not so good, but eh, I'm salaried :-)
-I FINALLY took advantage of the amenities at my complex... went to the gym, lounged by the pool (which is big enough even for lap swimming! I hope to get to that soon!) and met a tenant that supposedly is going to introduce me to some beginning tennis players, so we'll see.
-The friend that I was staying with taught me how to cook a soup and stir-fry and how to make a lentil dish (dahl), soo.... that is a BIG change for me to be cooking!! Well, I should say "cooking" because it is like .2 dishes.

And finally.....

-CLEAN: What is CLEAN? Well, during one of my 2309482309428390423 emotional frenzies, I got on a kick about my diet. Yes, a big part of Dubai life is EATING and lots of it, but while I was staying with my friend, who happens to like buffet eating, we went to numerous buffets AND I took the liberty of eating the ample amount of chocolates, sweets, CHEESE (I looooove cheese) she had around the house. Worse thing is.... at night too. Wah wah. Needless to say, I was feeling TOTALLY blah and gross. My good friend Allison (thanks ABG!) told me about this 'detox' program called CLEAN, so I got this book (by Alexander Junger, M.D.), and yes, there are 2309842390423904293084 books out there about detoxes and healthy eating, but I just like the way he communicated (he's a cardiologist) and the program just makes sense. So I got spastic and was going to do the main 3-week program ASAP, but then calmed down and realized that it's best to follow his recommendations ... and that is to do a pre-clean and THEN do the 3-week "detox." So as many people know, eating is very much correlated with psychological and emotional well-being, so KNOWING that I was going to do this pre-detox, I found it okay to be a little Miss Piggy before I started.

So you might think the transition would be hard going from Little Miss Piggy to:
-NO dairy
-NO gluten, breads, carbs
-NO sweets
-NO alcoholic beverages
-NO coffee, caffeinated drinks, soft drinks. Pretty much just water.
-Having a 12-hour gap between your last meal and your first meal

What do you eat then right? Fruits, lots of veggies, fish... umm... more veggies. :-) Interestingly, no bananas, no tomatoes, no eggplant, peppers, oranges, grapes, strawberries, corn, pork beef, sausage, raw meats, soybean products (soy sauce), mayo, peanuts and peanut butter, fruit juices, ketchup, breath mints, blah blah blah.

I think it was so well needed, I just took to it and didn't have such a tough time transitioning. I thought the hardest part was going to be the sweets, but it was actually the dairy (again, have I mentioned that I loooooooooove cheese???). And I don't coffee or caffeinated drinks anyway, and here alcohol is not as accessible as it is at home so that hasn't  been an issue, so again, it was mostly the sweets and dairy (almond milk, coconut milk, and rice milk are okay though). So the 1st week I lost almost 3 lbs and the 2nd week I lost almost 3 lbs again. Now I know it sounds like a lot, but this is the weight I gained during these last few months (I think), so I am actually more or less back to my "normal" weight, BUT having no muscle mass says something too. And of course I am expecting to put at least a couple of them back, but hey, I'll take what I can get.

Yes, the weight loss is fine, BUT the BIGGEST difference I have seen is my face has TOTALLY cleared up and.... my mood and energy levels have been totally neutral and even. I just feel calm and relaxed. It made me think how much food affects are mental well-being (which the book talks about), and I feel my "bad eating" contributed to my 2304928340923894038 ups and downs. At home I eat relatively healthy so I guess I never really noticed this before. So this has all been an awakening to me. It has been easier to do this because I'm living on my own now so I don't have to go through the being rude not to accept food that is put in front of you think AND .... I am still in the process of meeting people so I don't have that influence of going out all the time to stuff yourself.

What next? Well, I just completed week 2. This week I am going to introduce a little bit of some 'normal' foods that I have been avoiding because my parents are coming for 5 days and there is NO way I am not going to enjoy Dubai eating life, which is a big part of life here and they will be experiencing it! Then after they leave, I will get back on it... relatively strict until later in the month (in preparation for my birthday! haha), then let loose over that weekend, and then basically start incorporating smart, healthy eating using the "include" foods and "exclude" foods the program suggests. I actually feel so good with this "pre-clean" I am not even sure I want to do the actual 3-week detox! It is basically a shake in the morning, a solid meal for lunch, and a soup in the evening. My other hesitation is I know nothing about cooking and even to make some of the recipes say for the lunch I am overwhelmed.

For more information about the program (I sound like an advert, right?): www.thecleanprogram.com.

Housing in Dubai 101

Almost exactly 5 months later, I can finally say.... da da dum, I MOVED INTO AN APARTMENT!!!

Is it unusual that it took so long? Yes. Why did it take so long? Even I don't know. Can it be done quickly? Yes (a recent patient did all of the below in 2 weeks. Hmph).

From my experience, here is my synopsis of the housing process in Dubai:

1. 1st off, you need LOTS... and I mean, LOTS, of patience.

2. The hunt - The important things to decide BEFORE you even start the hunt is yes, the obvious of price range and location, location, location, but also villa or apartment and furnished or unfurnished. As Dubai is extremely transient, there is plenty of both. As I am new to Dubai, I am still learning the city to know where is a "good" place to live, and where isn't. That took up some part of my lengthy delay in getting an apartment (and yes, pretty much all of these points will somehow lead to why I took so long to get an apt!).

3. The find - Dubai is quite interesting for real estate. There are Real Estate Agencies, but it's not nearly as organized, efficient, and professional as it is back at home. Most people here, including myself, look independently through websites like their version of Craigslist, it's called "Dubizzle.com" (seriously) and expatwoman.com. So YOU look up the apt, YOU call the number listed, then YOU meet the "realtor" at the apartment to see it, they pretty much just open the door, YOU look around and if you start to ask any questions, they are generally confused and don't know. If YOU decide to take it, that "realtor" usually gets 5% of the yearly rent and then you deal with the management for the contract, etc. Hmm... maybe I should change careers and become a realtor... I feel I can be pretty good at opening doors! Okay, I'm exaggerating (but not too much)....at home it seems like they DO a lot more.
[Behind the scenes: During the boom in Dubai  there was absolutely, and NO JOKE, NO control of the real estate industry. As you can imagine, the realtors got crazy greedy and out of control. However,  since the crash, not only have they toned a bit, but the gov't regulated obscene prices]. 
Anyhoo, yes, there are some out there that will actually look up housing for you, but it's more YOU pushing them then vice versa. The other thing is that now since the crash there are A LOT of vacancies. BUT they will make it sound like whatever you are wanting to rent is the hottest ticket in town and if you don't take it NOW, someone else will grab it. YES that does happen, really, things happen VERY quick here, but from my experience, they just use those old tricks to get the commission.

4. $$$$. So you confirmed the apartment. There IS a legal system of having and signing a contract, actually fairly straightforward. THEN comes the $$ part. 1st you need to pay (usually) a 5% deposit for the apt (this is off the yearly total). Then, as I just mentioned, 5% commission. So my "realtor," who opened the door for me, got 1/2 of that 5% and the other half went... I don't even know where but supposedly to the management for doing... nothing. Next, I think this is unique to Dubai, comes the "checks" part. So basically you have the yearly total of the apt, right? Instead of paying month by month, like most Western countries do, here you pay AHEAD 2-3-4 months. You will always hear the renter and the rentee talking about "how many checks?" And this means, how many months is paid ahead. So mine was 4 checks. So right then and there I paid for March, April, May. The catch is that when you sign the contract, you actually pre-write ALL the checks for that entire year and date it from the 1st of the 3 months, for example, and then they just cash it in on that date. So that March, April, May check was cashed in right away, then they have my other checks paid 3 months ahead dated June 1st, September 1st, December 1st, and they cash it in on that date. So because they have it and it is ready to go, ALWAYS make sure you have money in then because if you don't, it is BIG BIG trouble here (jail and deportation usually).

5. Electricity - The electricity, water, A/C is all run by DEWA. So once you get your official contract (after your check cleared), you bring that, your visa and employment visa (See? Nothing without that), to the government run DEWA office and set up your electricity. Then again, you put down a 1200dh deposit which should be returned to you when you leave. Now, I heard sooo many "bad" stories about DEWA messing things up and basically don't have electricity, but I actually had a very easy and straightforward experience, shockingly enough considering that it is run by locals. You have to do the usual like take a ticket and wait in lines, and then another ticket for another line, but all and all, for me it took like 15-20 minutes and they said it would be set up in 4 -24 hours and it actually was! Phew! But if you get them on a 'bad' or busy day, that process could take hours.

6. Internet - This is run by the local Du or Etisalat. Some places like my building make you chose one or the other. This again is government owned, and hence it is always unknown on how things will go, but again you bring your contract, passport copy and resident visa copy. After the ticket and line, then ticket and line, again, I got lucky, and maybe 30 minutes later got it set up. Here most all the packages are unlimited, but they do it by megabyte, so 1, 2, 6, 8, 16mb... so speed. I got the 8mb and it is $80USD a month, which I think is fairly comparable to home? I had a little run around with them coming to installing it, but again, it was relatively straightforward.

7. Technicalities - I happen to notice a few creepy crawlies, aka. small cockroaches, when I was first milling in/out of the apt. It HAS been unoccupied for awhile, so I figured it was a rare occurrence. Until pretty much every subsequent day following I noticed just a couple here and there. Well, unfortunately, with things like this, one or two could mean a whole family hiding somewhere. Soo.... that is the LAST thing I want to deal with and unfortunately my management doesn't pay for fumigation, but I am getting my apt fumigated. ALWAYS CHECK FOR THIS!!! Especially before moving in!!!

8. FURNITURE! So there is an easy way to do this and the hard way. I chose the hard way because I am being cheapy because I'm pretty sure I won't be here for too long and it doesn't make sense to me to invest in all these new things when I will be leaving and then have to deal with getting rid of it. So the "hard" way is basically buying things individually 2nd hand - garage sales, flea markets, and dubizzle and expatwoman (the websites for re-selling). It's time-consuming, tedious, and takes a lot of patience. BUT you can find great deals. The "easy" way is to go to IKEA (yes, they have one) and other furniture shops, pick your stuff out, and have them deliver it to you. This probably has been the biggest reason why I have been delayed in moving in, just doing the research, the back and forth to the person you are buying it from, arranging a moving truck, blah blah. As of this moment, I literally just got a bed and lamp, and this weekend am getting a sofa bed (for visitors!), desk and office chair, coffee table... and who knows what else will come up in the meantime?? :-) Things here happen very very quickly!!!

9. Have I mentioned patience?

10. That's it (I think!!)! Welcome to your new home!!!

Annnddd.... THIS is why I came to Dubai

If you're one of the 203483204823400328 people that have asked me, "umm.... why Dubai?" You probably heard a whole hodgepodge fill of answers.... everything ranging from I always envisioned myself doing something BIG during the year of the age of my favorite number. You know 27 y/o, he he :-) .... to wanting a change in life. Some may say a 3rd decade of life crisis, but whatever it is, I'm here! Honestly, one of the REAL reasons I came to Dubai is professional growth. In Chicago... or the States for that matter, the sportsmedicine field is TOTALLY oversaturated. It's a competitive market and to get involved in BIG events for a company is huge, and for an individual to participate, it's another cut throat process that takes years to get to. In my field, athletic trainers do most of the on-field stuff, you will rarely see a physical therapist running out if someone injured his knee, for example. We do more behind the scenes stuff, and again, to work for a professional team takes a LOT of work and connections. It's not even a matter of your skills, it's a combo of luck, connections, and being at the right place at the right time.

So here I am in Dubai, where sportsmedicine is completely UN-saturated and NOT involved. In fact, just being here almost 5 months, I can pretty much name all the doctors and PT clinics that are involved in sportsmedicine. In Chicago for example, after living there my whole life and working in the field, I could probably name 1%.

Anyhoo, to get to the point, my center, the Dubai Bone and Joint Center, got the rights to be the medical help for the Dubai 2012 Tennis Open! I don't know the technicalities, but it didn't seem to be that hard. So we had a couple of doctors and nurses to be the medical help, and then me and 2 of my colleagues were to help in the PT department. My colleagues and I had NO idea of what to expect... we went over some taping techniques together, and that was about it. I asked my good friend Willlllllllll, a semi-pro tennis player (hehe), some common tennis injuries, but after he replied, "pretty much everywhere," which did NOT narrow things down whatsoever, I just hoped that my education, experience, and skills would prevail. But really, tennis is one of those sports where injuries happen everywhere - shoulder, elbow, wrist, back, neck, hips, knees, ankle. What surprised me the most out of the experience was most of the injuries we saw were low back and feet, particularly toes. As my brief stint of playing tennis last summer has completely washed away, when I was actually closely watching it, I realized how much trunk and back rotation/extension there is, AND how much time is spent on the toes. Ah ha!

Anyway, back to the tournament.... basically the ATP (Association of Tennis Players.. or is it Professionals?) has their own PT's that they employee. Between them, at least 1 comes on tour with them. So basically, the tennis players are familiar and know these PT's. The one that came to Dubai has been working with them for 7 years. Our role was to be his back-up, basically, if he gets tide up, to help anyone that walks in. BUT, to keep in mind that these are professional players, are super particular, and to not take offense if they don't want to see us because they don't know us and don't want to risk anything. I was more than okay with that. So after spectating the woman's semi-finals and finals, it was the men's turn and then the real action began.

The week FLEW by and was probably the busiest week I've had yet in Dubai, overwhelming and exhausting, but yet FUN and AMAZING! Basically, the days that I was working, yes, there was some sitting around time and time that I was watching him work (which, in itself was great because he is an AMAZING therapist with really great hands-on skills), I really got to treat the players, eeek! The early days were the most busy because that's when you have all the qualification rounds, so some of it was stretching and sports massage, and others were "my back hurts," and that translates to "my back hurts. Fix it now... I have a game tonight." Which was a little different for me, BUT I managed to handle it. That's what made this experience so great was it really made me expand my critical thinking skills because in regular rehab you have all the time in the world to assess, examine, treat... re-assess, examine, treat. Here, and the PT Chris really emphasized this, it is speedy quick differential diagnosis, treat, and.... most often they come back after practicing or a game and will tell you if it worked or not. Lots of pressure, huh? So professionally, I learned some techniques from him, and also feel like I improved my manual skills. Later in the week when I got more comf there and the players recognized me, it seemed more smooth to work with them either by myself, or start, and then have Chris take over.

Personally, wow! To be in the same small treatment room having conversations with Roger Federer, Andy Murrey, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Juan Martin del Potro, Mardy Fish, Brdych (Czech), Bubka, Lacko, and much much more... words can't even describe it. At first it's like, la de la, these are normal people, then it's like "OMG! This is Roger Federer I'm talking to!" Who, by the way, is the most calm person I've ever met. He was in/out a lot of the clinic throughout the week and super super low key. I was working on his Swiss companion, and they were chit-chatting, and then the official comes in and is like "Roger! You're game is NOW! Let's GO!" And he was like "oh? Okay! Welp, I gotta play a game, see ya later!" And like la de la. It was soo funny. He's seems a little money oriented, but hey, to be "old" in his 30's continually ranked top in the world is something to speak for. Andy Murrey is a bit dull and dry, but I did hear him laugh a little when he was talking about the elevator going up and down the Burj Kalifa. It was also funny to be in the room listening to "locker room talk," i.e. talking politics of tennis, talking trash about the woman's tennis (wow! If anything I've learned, NO ONE likes the woman's tennis. Especially the ATP staff and players. Dang!), and of course typical guy stuff about woman. I also got to bond with a few up-and-coming players and it was fun just asking them about life on the road and life as a professional athlete. Most... okay, ALL, pretty much hate all the traveling you have to do, but love the game. I learned a bit about the "inside" world of tennis, i.e. how tournaments such as Dubai PAY these top athletes up to a MILLION USD to just SHOW UP! THEN, if they win, like Federer, he got an additional almost 1/2 a million for winning, 2nd place is $200,000, and so forth. Wow.

Here are some snaps from the week:

Roger Federer

Andy Murrey in action

Federer again! On a side note, he actually has an apartment here and LOVES Dubai, and Dubai loves him! This was his 5th time winning the tournament! 

Above is Tsonga from France... hi-lar. Quite funny to watch, I was sitting close to the serving area, and when he was on my side, he kept on yelling in French to his racket and... was quite a showman. Fun to watch! :-)

 Juan Martin del Potro.... from Argentina. I saw him a lot in the clinic, quite a good looking BIG guy (especially compared to the lean and thin ones like Novak). I had met this British couple, and the wife was obsessed with him so it was funny while he was being treated, I was sending her goofy texts about seeing him half-naked, etc. And also his trainer would come in and bring him food and then he wouldn't eat too much and leave it, and then Chris and I would finish it off, so she thought it was so funny we were technically sharing saliva.  Hhahaaha (or guess you had to be there?)

The PT Chris and our very own Dr. Marie, who is a pediatric neuro doctor. How she ended up on court, who knows? Even she said, "I had no idea what I was doing. I've never even touched an athlete before!" Fortunately, Juan Martin didn't need anything. Ahhhh... Dubai :-) 

Semi-finals. Federer vs. Juan Martin del Potro, great match! 

Myself with this funny British couple I met Day 1, we became BFF's throughout the tournament and they were super nice and hooked me up with some tickets too! She was a huge del Potro fan. 

My PT colleagues and I with Chris (the tall guy in the blue shirt!)

For the finals, I snuck into the VIP sitting area with my VIP badge. Got a great view of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.... who pretty much owns Dubai. He's the one in the green. 

The finals! Andy Murrey vs Roger Federer!

 Federer wins!

Federer with his cool ship-like trophy!

Celebration! 

And although, yes, this may be hard to believe, I was professional when the athletes got down to their underwear. I even stayed professional and didn't ask for any pictures (No, not in their underwear) or autographs. I really really had perfect opportunities, but felt weird... and again, was in a professional environment. My buddy, Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, had his own PT so I didn't see him in the PT clinic, BUT proceeded to stalk him fully. The 1st day I literally was just wandering around because there was a sandstorm and they were holding up the practices, I just saw him walking by, with only like 2 people with him. Now WHY was did I NOT have my camera with me and WHY was did my stupid phone NOT even have a photo icon on it? Almost died! Daaaaaaaaaaaamn it! The 2nd day he won his game and I followed him off this little spectator aisle where he signs autographs and takes pictures, and because I have this VIP ID badge, caught him after that and got some kinda close pictures. The 3rd day, I somehow made my way to this Players Dinner, and again, got in with my badge. Walked in... and there he was! Again, with no one around him. Thank gaaaawd the PT Chris was there, he knows him, and HE went up to him and said Hi and then I said in my broken Serbian, "can I have a picture with you?" and "I'm from Chicago!" He laughed and said okay and we took a picture.... then I realized that I had the flash turned off from the match I just had come from. D'oh!!! Noooo! So my .2 sec opportunity was there and he was gone. Oh well.. something is better than nothing! After that it was again some stalking after his matches, but I was happy with at least the picture!

 (Semi finals above, where Novak LOST to Andy Murrey. Hmph). 

So my days were all day at the Tennis and/or working all day at my clinic, and then coming to the tennis to half and half watch the matches and stalk the tennis players in the PT clinic. Later in the week the work slowed down, and then had some late nights showing the PT Chris around Dubai. Phew! I was TOTALLY exhausted and never have watched so much tennis in my life! I literally went 9 days in a ROW, but that included some of woman's, most of the BIG men's game, semi's and finals. Darn it that Novak lost to Andy Murrey in the semi's! Quite the shock. Was it all the stalking I did? ha hah. It was super fun to watch, and although the weather is getting warmer here and my days are numbered, I am re-inspired to play "again." I just need to get back in shape first. Which, by the way, during all this transitioning and couchsurfing, I've fallen off the bandwagon, BUT will get back on when I move into my own place (another blog! Will be happening soon! :-) )

HOPEFULLY next year we will be involved again. Our feedback was that we were a bit shy and could be more forward in asking the players for help, BUT overall, he was pleased and it got better as the days went bay. Next year, IF we get this gig again, I hope too to be more confident AND to not be as shy and at least get some autographs or pictures! hehehe!

So YES! THIS is why I came to Dubai! NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER in 23982394329 years would I EVER... and mean EVER get this opportunity in the States! N-E-V-E-R!!!!!!!!!!! That makes ALL the 203482304823432048329433982349382 struggles I've had here to adjust sooo worth it!!! Yea!

The Act of Kindness

In our crazy world today, I won't say "rare," but it's not too common to have those 'acts of kindness' by people. Sometimes when you hear on TV or the radio someone doing a good deed, you think, "awww... that's so nice," when really, it should be normal thing. I always remember my travels to 3rd world countries when people without even shoes offering me a little treat, or food, when I was on a local bus or train. I remember thinking, "wow, there really are good people out there" and "that would never happen back home." :-) 

Well, here in Dubai, I've had the fortune of coming across few of them. Yes, this is a place that people really look after themselves, no doubt about that, BUT you can get lucky, as I have.

1st, it was the couple I stayed with for um.... not one, not two, but a little more than 3 months (not to mention 6 weeks in the spring of 2011). I can talk about their generosity and kindness all day.

Then comes Kay and family. It's actually kind of a funny story. When I came in mid-April of last year, I remember, it was a Wednesday, the 1st thing on my agenda was to send a package back home to the US for my good friends birthday a couple of weeks later. Note to any traveler: Going to the post office anywhere can give you a glimpse of life in that country. The post office is obviously run by the government, hence locals work there (in the case of Dubai, that says a lot! That's a topic for another day), and ... we'll you'll see:

So I grab a ticket, which by the way, ANYWHERE you go in Dubai, there is a ticket stand, wait my turn, put my stuff on the counter and say.... as I have in all countries around the world, "I need to send this to United States." The guy looks at me, and in slllloooooooow motion (people as I learned, generally move sloooowly here), grabs a form, tells me to fill it out. So I do. Then I have to wait in line again. I go to the same counter, and give him the filled out form. He looks at it, kinda shuffles some things around, and then says "ooohh! United States? We no send packages there!" And I said, "umm... I just told you I was sending a package to the States and it didn't seem to be a problem." And he, in his bad English, kinda mumbles something (and this is coming from being a mumbler myself), tells something to someone behind him, and another person joins, and they are all talking in Arabic about... who knows what (who's having what for dinner?). I'm just standing there and finally, after about 10 minutes, he says, "Sorry madam. We no send packages to the United States. Try the main post office." Uh oh... here we go. I tried to get out of him a 'why not' and he tried to say something about the politics that was going on that time (April 2011... when there was all this upheaval in the Middle East, Tunisia, Libya, etc), and basically the States were cracking down and were really restricting people from sending things and because it was a smaller post office, they didn't get involved in that. 

As it was Day 1 for me, I had no phone or anything. I put on my girly charm (haha), and ask him to use his phone to call a taxi, which he does. Then came the word that would be all to familiar with me later when I would come to move here, "coming." Ahhh... "coming" - when people say that, that doesn't mean they are coming. It doesn't even  mean they are on their way, it's just a phrase that means, "I heard what you had to say and this is the only way I can respond." Although I had just come back from traveling the world and have dealt with these kind of things, I figured "coming" meant 15-20 minutes? So I'm waiting... and waiting.... an hour passes. I go to the guy again and have them call the taxi again, "coming, madam. Coming." The 2nd hour passes. Nothing. I have him call that "main post office" and have them check to see not only make sure I can send it from there but also how late they were open, "yes yes, madam. Coming and it's open." Again, I found a lot in Asia, people RARELY say "no" or "I don't know." They will give an answer... just to give an answer. Middle East is no different. 

As you can imagine, I was getting a wee bit frustrated. Little did I come to realize, it was Thursday evening at this point, which is kinda like a Friday evening at home, and basically, it's impossible to get a taxi then. Impossible. But again, naive little me kept on waiting thinking, "they must be on their way." 

Then Kay walks in, you could just tell she was a pro. She knew how to talk to them, got what she had to get done... sees me, obviously looked frustrated, and says something like "how are things going?" And I gave her my little spheal how I wanted to send something to the States, they told me I couldn't, I'm trying to go to the main post office, it's my first day in Dubai, blah blah. 1st thing she says is "you will never find a taxi on a Thursday night" and 2nd, "are you sure it's open?" Well, luckily, during my 23049823043098 visits to the counter to ask him if he can call again and again the taxi service, I did know they were open, but for like another 1/2 an hour, which literally was like 3 hours after I got there. So she tells me to go with her because she has to catch a taxi as well, and she will help me. It was like an angel waltzed in. Phew! So like magic, we hail one and she ends up going with me because she could tell I was totally lost and confused. She not only goes with me to the main post office, we make the taxi wait for us, we run in, but she soothes me when we find out that anything over 8 ounces is NOT permitted to the States. At all. The ONLY way for a package to be sent is through a courier service. Ahh...... so you know there is a point when things are going wrong that you kinda don't care anymore? After literally spending practically the whole day at the post office when they could have told me this right away SHOULD have gotten me really upset, but I just didn't even care anymore.

What came out of all that is a friendship.

Kay had given me her phone number and I called her to thank her and after a week or so, she checked in on me, and invited me to this Easter party she hosts (she runs a daycare). So I went... at that time, I wasn't working and had nothing else to do, and we ended up hanging out and it was fun. Kay's almost my mom's age, and after a year of travel, it was nice to have a 'mother figure' around.

Fast forward almost a year now, Kay and I kept in touch, when I came back for "good", we went to a few dinners and enjoyed each other's company. Then she just happen to call me to check in during my week o desperation, when I would become homeless. She offered her place right away, she lives in a villa and has multiple bedrooms for her 3 sons. I was keeping it as a backup however, it ended up becoming my only option. 

So here I am now, with Kay and her family. They have treated me sooooo sooooo nicely! When I first arrived, they made a 'family' dinner to welcome me, they tidied up the room where I am staying with so much that it almost looked like it is a hotel. Then it was her helping staff - who are Sri Lankan - they have cooked traditional Sri Lankan meals. BTW, they asked me to look at my pictures from there (hehehe, they are in for a treat! I don't think they realize I have like 0234823048329 of them! hahah!), and it's just been have been soooo sooo nice!

And again, it reminds me that there are good people in the world today.

To Kay and family, and all the nice people out there who have helped me along the way, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!!

My Life in a Car

Life is all about transitions: School <-> work, unemployed <-> employed, single <-> involved, no kids -> kids, moving to new places, etc.

Here is a BIG transition for me:

Going from a 4-bedroom house in a suburb of Chicago (this is me the day I was leaving for Dubai, sniff sniff):

To....

No joke, I am officially living out of my car (which I just bought 2 days ago, BTW).

The pro's:

• Everything is right there, all I have to do is shuffle a little and I find what I am looking for. 
• Everything is literally riding along with me. No forgetting stuff because it is all there =>
• Convenience!

The con's:

• I'm living out of my car.

To recap, I was comfortably, almost too comfortably, staying with these family friends. Suddenly last week, my friend's mom had to make an urgent trip here... and it was my time to go. I stuffed my car with all the things that I had at their place to make room for the mom, and off I went. As per my previous blogs, I DO have a place, but it won't be ready for a week or so. Eek. So now I am pretty much bouncing around friends places, literally couchsurfing, with a traveling suitcase of things I need... and a car full of my crap. 

On one hand, I'm actually fairly impressed with myself that I accomplished a longtime goal: Downsizing. I was spoiled with my life in Chicago because I had this big o house almost to myself, so I liberally stuffed it with .... "stuff." I always had the idea of getting rid of things, but then again, I had the space for it, so nothing ever happened. After a summer of backbreaking (literally and figuratively) massive work of selling stuff, garage sales, giving away stuff, endless cleaning and detoxing of things, I left to Dubai with a couple of suitcases and one room of storage in Chicago. In the almost 4 months I've been here, I'm happy to say I don't have any more than what I came with. I purposely didn't buy anything because I didn't have a place to put it. That has been a great fortune because everything has fit in a car!

Ahh..... how life is unpredictable and how things change.

Lesson #21: One word: Downsize!

I Got a Car!!!

You may not pay attention to this, but if you see the dates of this blog and the previous one, you will see it is the SAME day, February 11th, 2012. This was a BIG day for me because not only did I get an apartment, BUT I also FINALLY got my car!!!! Woo hoo!!!

2 months ago I happen to have one a colleague from work as a patient, and really randomly the topic of cars came up and she told me that another colleague was selling his. She gave me some info, definitely sounded up my alley as far as color (heheh, the most important!), size, mileage, and year. Helloo? The last few years in Chicago I drove a 1994 Geo Chevrolet Prizm, so pretty much anything over the year 2000 was a major upgrade for me. This is a 2006 Nissan Tidda. I took a look at it, and basically after some little negotiations, was like "I'll take it!" I know NOTHING about cars, and I was under so much stress with everything else, that was just something I DID not have to worry about. A rash sudden decision? Maybe, but honestly, I was and still am totally comfortable with it. I just need a car that takes me from Point A and Point B. And yes, Dubai is a place for showing off, but I'm not one of those people and this car is perfect for me. So this "deal" may have been back in December and he told me it won't be available until mid to late January. Fine. As long as I knew it was going to be in the near future, I would continue with my taxi's and metro'ing.

So January kinda comes and goes. February creeps up on us, and finally, as things in Dubai goes, when you're not aggressive with something, nothing happens. I confronted him and said "I need this... NOW!" And did a little sob story how I'm going broke taking taxi's, I'm not even experiencing life in Dubai because I can't get around (which is true), and blah blah. So it was the kick in the butt he needed, and we decided to go through the process that next weekend, which was last weekend. Buuuut I needed to get car insurance first and that set us back a week. Fine. I was a bit anxious because things in Dubai are typically backwards and everything seems like 023480328439 times more complicated than it really is, BUT thanks again to advice from patients, I got a few names of some good companies, called around, got the best quote for what I wanted and needed, and once I decided, it took all of 1/2 an hour to take care of (in case you are in Dubai, I got RSA (Royal Sun Alliance)):

Insurance: Check.

Next, transfer of car.

Uh oh.... again, the insurance seemed fairly easy, so I was doubtful about how this would go. So this morning, he picked me up, we went to their version of the DMV, got the car inspected (basically making sure there are no problems with the car. If there were, then he would of course have to pay for all the repairs), bought some stupid triangle reflective thing they require, give them a copy of my passport, visa, license, and insurance confirmation, pay a fee (of course), they did the transfer, and wah-la! Got my "vehicle license" card, and that was pretty much it! It may have took a little over an hour to do all that?? The last thing standing is this thing called Salik which is their version of the "toll." You buy this sticker and basically like an I-Pass (for you Chicago people), you keep driving and it scans your card, basically deducting it and you just pay for it on credit. Fairly straightforward.

So here are the fees for buying a 2nd hand car (this is for Feb 2012!) in care you're wondering how things go in Dubai:

• Car insurance (and this can obviously vary. I went through an international company with a good reputation, comprehensive coverage): 1591 dh for the year ($433 USD). There is cheaper, but it was fine for me. 
• "Passing" the vehicle test (the buyer making sure the seller has a good car and nothing wrong with it): 120 dh ($33 USD)
• A triangle reflector for emergency: 30 dh ($8 USD)
• Vehicle registration: 330 dh ($90 USD)
• Salik (the toll system): 100 dh ($27 USD)

TOTAL: $591 USD

Have I mentioned that you really can't survive Dubai without money in your pocket??

Lesson # 20: DO NOT come to Dubai without a fair amount of money in your pocket! 

So here it is! Watch out Dubai, here I come!!!

When It Rains, It Pours

Yes, it may sound odd to talk about rain and pouring rain in a desert, even more so that I haven't seen rain since I've been here, buuuut it was the only way to describe the last couple of weeks for me. I have to admit for some reason, it was the hardest for me since I've been here. It was a combination of the time that was passing and I felt like I wasn't going anywhere... mostly talking about finding an apartment. Then it was waiting for a co-worker to "be ready" to sell me his car, and blah blah blah, a bunch of things were adding up.

So after I got back from Germany, I finally picked up my game with the apt hunting. BUT, it wasn't as straightforward as I would have hoped. One is that I was confused about what I 'really' wanted - location, cost, amenities. I probably made the mistake of pretty much talking to every patient about it... and hence receiving like 203843208324 different versions of "what's best." One would said, "hey, check out this area! It's great!" And then the next would be like, "bah! No way! Don't go there at all!" So of course the best way to see it is by going to check out yourself, right? Well, I was a little set back again not having a car, but managed to mosey around a little bit. The problem I faced though is that I have been TOTALLY spoiled to where I have stayed the last couple of months, Jumeirah area, which is right ON the beach (sweeet!) and then the heart of downtown (niiiiiice!). The "cheaper" areas are the areas that are a little more crowded, umm.... let's just say a little more 'diverse,' and I dunno.. I kept on finding things that I didn't like (again, having 'the best' to compare it to). Then I was toying with the idea of having a roommate, you know, split costs = more savings = more money for fun stuff like traveling.

So needless to say, I was TOTALLY running around in circles and totally getting more and more confused and as I am doing all these big decisions by myself, it made it harder to pretty much decide anything! :-)

THEN, at the time it didn't seem like it, but it later became a blessing in disguise. The friends I was staying with was having family coming in... like 3 days later, and basically that meant I had to evacuate. ASAP. So I went from a period of confusion and frustration to.... utter panic. I was officially going to be homeless in like .2 days. Eek!!! Being that I know .0002 people (literally, like a handful), these aren't BFF's that I feel totally comfortable being like "Uhhh.... sooo... do you mind if I crash at your place?" Long story short, a doctor at our clinic just happened to be leaving out of town for almost a week, and I kinda, in a roundabout way, worked my magic to stay at his plae while he was gone. Fortunately, he's super cool and actually alluded to me staying there himself. So I have SOME sort of cushion... until later this week. Then it's a matter of befriended the few friends I have to stay with them. LUCKILY, Dubai is a place where things change almost immediately and almost EVERYONE either had gone through a sudden urgent crisis or knows or has helped someone who has. So no one really thought my situation was a big deal, phew!

Why is it a blessing in disguise? It REALLY REALLY picked up my apartment hunting game. If this hasn't happened, who knows how much longer I would have stalled? Loooooong story short, I had seen one complex that I REALLY REALLY REALLY liked.... buuuut it was a little over the budget I had initially planned. Again, I was still in that confusion state of what's best for me. So I pow-wow'd apt hunting and for some reason, I was always comparing what I was seeing to this nice initial complex. Then, after like my 32048302480348023480923480238th panic attack of the week (literally, again, this week was probably the hardest since I've been here), I had a good conversation with my parents and some good friends and they made me realize my goals and values of coming to Dubai, anddddddd... I TOOK IT! When I went back and saw it again, I just had that feeling, "this is it!" When I first saw it I had a good vibe and intuition about it, and then when I saw it again, I was like "what was I thinking? This is sooooo it!" Yes, it is a little over the budget I set for myself, BUT EVERYTHING else is great - the location (close to work, close to downtown, close to Dubai Mall), the amenities (a fab-u-lous pool, good work-out facility, tennis courts, squash courts), the community (it has a grocery store, coffee shops, restaurants in the complex), and the actual apt itself has sunlight, big window, a little balcony, decent size... and I just felt comfy there. I felt good that I at least did see some other stuff, but sometimes you just have to go with your instincts and what feels right. And this is it!

After that was done, I felt literally like a stone was lifted off my shoulder. I didn't realize how much it was literally weighing me down, but I got through it! The ONLY little setback is that they said that technically my contract starts March 1st because they have to do some maintenance on it, BUT "most likely" will be available a little earlier, so I have to couchsurf a little bit, which is going to be a hassle, but at least there is an end in sight! Phew!

Here are some pics of Al Marooj Complex and my new 1-bedroom apt:

And this is how I feel now... after feeling the opposite these last couple of weeks! hahahahah!