H has been in Dubai all alone now since I returned to the UK. He has had to battle day in and day out to get things accomplished. He has been telling me of a few of the "quirks" and difficulties he has been dealing with:
-Giving a "thumbs-up" to an Iranian is like giving them the finger...oops! Just don't do it! Maybe try the "AOK" hand gesture instead...
-The 3 Question Rule: H has said that people will fight you until you pretty much demand something at least three times.
Example: Our internet was supposed to be installed early Saturday morning (9-10am). The company promised they would be there between that time and even gave H their personal number to call if there was a problem. So he gets a call at 9:45am on Saturday saying "Sir, we will come this afternoon."
"No, you are supposed to be here in 15 minutes."
"Not possible sir, I am on the opposite side of Dubai. I will be there at 4pm"
"No, you have to be here this morning. Your company ensured me that it would be this morning."
"NO! Sir its not possible. I cannot be there now."
"No you need to come here this morning!"
"Okay sir, I will be there in 10 minutes..."
Haha! And the man was there in 10 minutes. So it was possible, he just didn't want to do it. Basically they will try to take advantage of you. You have to put your foot down, otherwise they will walk all over you. I think this will be difficult for me because I will always try to be polite. Which brings me to my next point: Taxi drivers...
-Taxis: We were always under the impression that the taxi drivers were pretty honorable, which is rare. Our tour guide a few years ago told us that they can't screw you or over charge you because if you complain they can lose their license to work. Now we are realizing you have to be careful with them. Some of H's colleagues have been in taxis where the journey is short but since they have been there for a while they know the way. Then the drivers seem to go a long way because they assume you have no idea and they want a larger fare. So now H has to say "Look, I'm a local, I know the way. So go the SHORTEST way possible." Sometimes they get annoyed but you have to make sure they don't "take you for a ride" (forgive the pun). H is a very generous tipper and very patient in these situations but even he is getting annoyed with some of the attitude they are giving.
Anyways, the plan is for me to return to the sand next week for good. I just got my visa today so I just need to finish up work and then I'm a permanent resident. I'm sure more stories will be coming soon!
**I've been corrected by H..Its not the Arabs who are offended by thumbs up, its the Iranians. And to all my lovely Americans out there, no they are not the same thing. ;)
Friday, June 17, 2011
Money makes the world go round
Post-dated June 5, 2011 (I'm catching up from being away and writing without internet):
Hubby (who I'll refer to as 'H' from now on) and I moved in to our place this weekend (finally!!). When moving here a good thing to remember or note is this: money makes this place go 'round! An unnamed but quite large and popular furniture store from around the world gave us a delivery date of June 7. We needed to be moved in by June 1...so a trek across town and some monetary persuasion later, "Yes sir, we will deliver tonight!" If only we'd known this days earlier. Basically the delivery guys have a side job delivering furniture after hours. Deal! At this point we were desperate!! So they came and brought us our couch, desk and bedframe. That night we slept on the couch since our mattress was coming on Saturday morning. It came and my last night in Dubai we got to sleep in our new bed! We are still waiting for our cargo, though. Hopefully that will come soon.
Hubby (who I'll refer to as 'H' from now on) and I moved in to our place this weekend (finally!!). When moving here a good thing to remember or note is this: money makes this place go 'round! An unnamed but quite large and popular furniture store from around the world gave us a delivery date of June 7. We needed to be moved in by June 1...so a trek across town and some monetary persuasion later, "Yes sir, we will deliver tonight!" If only we'd known this days earlier. Basically the delivery guys have a side job delivering furniture after hours. Deal! At this point we were desperate!! So they came and brought us our couch, desk and bedframe. That night we slept on the couch since our mattress was coming on Saturday morning. It came and my last night in Dubai we got to sleep in our new bed! We are still waiting for our cargo, though. Hopefully that will come soon.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Delivery Drama
Well, hopefully not entirely the appropriate title for this post but possibly!
Thankfully our kitchen appliances were delivered more or less on time. (Our oven was a day later than first expected but they did show up between the 3pm-5pm time quote so I can't complain.) Hubby's company told him to not be surprised if sometimes the deliveries say 5pm and they show up at 10pm or don't even show at all. I spoke to a girl yesterday whose bed was lost in the 2 hours of moving from one building to another. So I am preparing myself for this possibility. Enter cargo delivery...
I think with the craziness of arriving and shopping and him starting work, I haven't realized how quickly time is going. We have now been here 5 days. Which made me start thinking, Where's our cargo? Due to the large load of boxes we sent we decided to have a company clear it through customs for us and deliver it to our apartment. Pretty standard stuff here, especially since hubby's company recommended them (plus we dont have a car). Before we sent our cargo, the form we signed stated that if you don't clear your cargo after 5 days you start accruing penalties. So yesterday, day 4, hubby calls the company. Mr Cargo knows nothing of us, even though we've been cc'd on an email directly to him from our company. So after a lot of patience and pursuasion, he tells us he'll look into it. Now, here we are, start of day 5, and no word. Am preparing to call them in a few minutes. To be continued....
Now, Ikea... We spent, let's say, waaayyy too much in Ikea. We ordered our couch, bed frame, desk, entertainment center and a few other things from them. They told us 7-10 days... But we have NO place to sit in our place! Most of the guys in hubby's training group have gotten their things delivered in 2 days! Now, I understand that part of our entertainment center was out of stock but they want to deliver everything together! So we have to wait for the in-stock things now too. I'm going to try and call the get some delivered sooner. The language barrier is definitely making things a little difficult, especially over the phone. Wish me luck! Will keep you posted.
Thankfully our kitchen appliances were delivered more or less on time. (Our oven was a day later than first expected but they did show up between the 3pm-5pm time quote so I can't complain.) Hubby's company told him to not be surprised if sometimes the deliveries say 5pm and they show up at 10pm or don't even show at all. I spoke to a girl yesterday whose bed was lost in the 2 hours of moving from one building to another. So I am preparing myself for this possibility. Enter cargo delivery...
I think with the craziness of arriving and shopping and him starting work, I haven't realized how quickly time is going. We have now been here 5 days. Which made me start thinking, Where's our cargo? Due to the large load of boxes we sent we decided to have a company clear it through customs for us and deliver it to our apartment. Pretty standard stuff here, especially since hubby's company recommended them (plus we dont have a car). Before we sent our cargo, the form we signed stated that if you don't clear your cargo after 5 days you start accruing penalties. So yesterday, day 4, hubby calls the company. Mr Cargo knows nothing of us, even though we've been cc'd on an email directly to him from our company. So after a lot of patience and pursuasion, he tells us he'll look into it. Now, here we are, start of day 5, and no word. Am preparing to call them in a few minutes. To be continued....
Now, Ikea... We spent, let's say, waaayyy too much in Ikea. We ordered our couch, bed frame, desk, entertainment center and a few other things from them. They told us 7-10 days... But we have NO place to sit in our place! Most of the guys in hubby's training group have gotten their things delivered in 2 days! Now, I understand that part of our entertainment center was out of stock but they want to deliver everything together! So we have to wait for the in-stock things now too. I'm going to try and call the get some delivered sooner. The language barrier is definitely making things a little difficult, especially over the phone. Wish me luck! Will keep you posted.
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