A Little Like Coming Home

Arriving at Abu Dhabi airport was a little like coming home ... the home we had left two years ago. Had we been residents of the Emirates living in Australia for two years or residents of Australia living in the Emirates? Although the answer is clear, sometimes it felt like a bit of a jumble.

The flight over was terrible. Thirteen hours travelling cattle class with a young man nearby who vomited at regular intervals or made loud choking noises. An apparent Downs Syndrome boy, it was hard not to feel sorry for him and his parents while at the same time having to put up with the noises while eating, trying to sleep and fill in time with the hope that the journey would be over soon. We realised that being parents of a hearing impaired son at times it had been difficult enough for us, but it could have been much worse.

After months of rain and cold weather at Alice Springs, it was lovely to arrive at Abu Dhabi with 30 degree heat and rain free. Although the sky was full of sand dust, it was still very pleasant.

We took a taxi to Al Ain to our friends'place which is, by Australian standards, almost a palace for two people. A property like theirs in Sydney would be worth millions. When we saw it again, memories of the many dinners and parties we had attended at this fine edifice ... Canadian Thanks-Givings, Christmas Dinners, and a few just to say goodbye to friends who were departing or ad hoc events with just one or two couples.

After cleaning up and getting a change of clothes we took a taxi to Al Ain Mall where Christina wanted to visit one of our favourite restaurants, the Beirut, to see if their humous and Lebanese bread was still as nice as it had been. To our delight it was.

There's more to do today and on the weekend we hear that one of our friends is having a party for us. How fortunate can one be? What a great start to our holiday.

If only one could live at Al Ain and not have to work, we'd be here in a flash.

Robin

Still in holiday mode

Although we have been home for 17 days, I still feel as though I'm in holiday mode. I've been sleeping unusually well, going to bed around 11 pm and not waking until about 6-6:30 am, which is very unusual for me.

The cold weather, plus the fact that we have a roller blind in our bedroom that blackens the room completely and the lack of free singing from mosques, is responsible. I guess I'm also relaxed about being home and back in my own bed. No place like home eh?

We wake up for a leisurely breakfast of rolled oats or toast with marmalade or vegemite and then sit and decide what we are going to tackle for the day. Today we tackled our ensuite cleaning it from top to bottom and shortly I am to return to the garage to repack my trunk, the contents of which I pulled out last night finding stuff I never knew I had.

Yesterday I pumped up the tyres of my beloved bike and relocated a couple of bookshelves.

Tory's bedroom has become my office. Most mornings I go there, shut the door and turn on one of our small heaters and work on the computer until Chris gets up an hour or so later. When the sun rises around 7 am, it shines through the window making it a glorious place to be while the rest of the house is cold.

Friday we have a guy coming to discuss installation of two new split-level, reverse cycle airconditioners that will make heating the place a bit easier. They will also be handy for the hot weather when it hits in the next couple of months.

Tomorrow Christina is off to the hospital to complete all the paperwork for her return to work on 21 August and I'm off to Meredith's place to install some blinds. It's all go here.

We won't be really settled in our house until our container arrives on 13 August with our lounge and spare chairs and some additional clothing.

Before we know it it will be Christmas.

Stay well and if you are on holidays from the UAE, enjoy the rest of your leave and have a safe return journey.

Robin

PS: We found out recently that there is a Northern Territory election on 9 August, so we are having to get up to date with local political issues so we can cast our votes for the best candidate.

G'day from Cape Town, South Africa

G'day from Cape Town, South Africa

Working at the Al Ain Women's College for the past three years has had one particular peculiarity that I thought of recently. That is, when the summer holidays begin, most of your friends (HCT and elsewhere) head off to exotic international destinations in a variety of different airlines from Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Expats really are a spoilt bunch.

I've never worked anywhere else where, as soon as the summer break begins, everyone heads off to an international destination. Like rats off a sinking ship. Or in this case, people wanting an escape from the 50 degree heat, the strictures of the local culture, and of course, take the opportunity to see loved ones and old friends.

Christina and I have done more travel in the past three years than we have done in our lifetimes. Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Scotland, England, Cyprus, Jordan, Syria, Holland, and now South Africa. This time will be different though.

Instead of returning to our UAE home and our friends and colleagues, we will finish our journey at our Australian home ... a spacious four bedroom house in one of The Alice's best streets with a view of The Gap and the pristine MacDonnell Ranges, sparkling blue skies, and a very laid-back lifestyle.

I wonder how very ordinary it will seem after being a globetrotter for these past three years. Alice Springs with 25,000 people and 1500 km from the nearest city compared with Al Ain with 400,000 people and Dubai and Abu Dhabi a stone's throw away or Muscat a little farther. Will we find it a disappointment?

I'll tell you later, but right now I have to help Christina plan our tours of the Stellenbosch vineyards and go for a steak dinner at the Protea Hotel's restaurant. It's a tough life, but someone has to do it and who better than an ex-expat?

Cheers

Robin

Durban, South Africa

Well, here I am sitting at floor nine of a lovely apartment block in Durban, looking out over the city roof tops, trees, roads, parks and skyscrapers. In the distance I can see the Durban Waterways and the unusual shape of a Hindu temple. A siren is blaring, birds are chirping, traffic is moving on the freeways and the sun is opening up another day. (No sand-filled skies here!)

As I type, Christina is lying on a couch reading a novel.

We are so fortunate; one husband and wife team that has dual lives in Durban and Al Ain met us at the airport and brought us to the apartment generously loaned to us by another couple who also live at Al Ain. How lucky can you get in one life time?

One day these and other friends will visit us and we'll be able to repay their hospitality, although Alice Springs is a bit smaller than Durban. But, a plus is that there is much to see of natural beauty, the Macdonnel Ranges, a Desert Wildlife Park, the Olive Pink Botanical Reserve and notable places such as Lassiter's Casino, the Overland Telegraph Station and our famous dry river bed, the Todd River.

Leaving Al Ain wasn't without its challenges, even at the airport. There had been a foul-up in our travel arrangements that caused a lot of grief ... I won't bore you with details, but my feeling at the end was that the last couple of weeks almost negated the three years of wonderful experiences and lovely friends we had made in the UAE and I just wanted to get my bum on an airplane seat and get out of the bloody place.

As my mental composure restored, I realised that in every life a little rain must fall and ultimately, I had enjoyed some of the best years of my life at Al Ain.

After a half hour on the jet and a restorative glass of red, all the trials and tribulations of the last few weeks seemed to simply fade away.

So begins a new era in our lives. One that has taken almost 50 years of work and 35 years of marriage for us to reach. The next 20 years should be glorious years as we count down to our unplanned adventures in some place that everyone is dying to get to. Maybe one day we'll see you there and we can lend you our apartment.

Robin

Counting Down - Two Days to Go

Well, we are almost at the end of our tour of the UAE.

Our "Permanent" Residence Visas have been cancelled and I have only two days to go to work and on Friday, we fly out to Johannesburg.

Last night we had a Last Supper for what has become affectionately known as the "Group of Eight" ... four married couples who spent lots of time together, visited Syria and other places in and out of the UAE together.

Christina and I are leaving, so the group will now be six. Maybe they'll find a replacement for us, who knows.

It's sad to be leaving our dear friends and colleagues, but nobody is permanent here as an expat. Some day we all have to leave. No job, no visa.

In our case, we have other things to do, places to see and after three years away, need to spend time with our kids and grandson.

In the future, I will place some photos of our South African tour and eventually will write about some of the great sights of Central Australia.

Hoping to keep in touch with you.

Robin

Cascading Sponsors, Leaving and the Dance of the Rubber Stamps

It might sound like a strange title ... but don't leave yet, all will be revealed.

Cascading Sponsors

Everyone who comes to the United Arab Emirates has either a visitors visa valid for 90 days, a permanent residence visa valid for up to three years or is an illegal immigrant.

For a permanent residence visa you need a job. Your employer is your sponsor. Once you have a sponsor, you can sponsor others.

I am Christina's sponsor. If we had children I would be their sponsor and so it cascades from one primary sponsor to numerous secondary sponsored individuals.

It's a tightly monitored system and a good effort at knowing who is in the country and having some control over what they do. Needless to say, you can't get a driver's licence, bank account, electricity account or anything much else without your sponsor's permission.

Your sponsor is responsible for you while you are here. That sends a shiver down the spine of most sponsors who are, therefore, more inclined to exercise control over their sponsored employees.

When you want to register your vehicle, you get a letter from your sponsor saying you work for them and have a contract etc. No letter, nothing happens. Period.

Rubber Stamps

Now, a letter here (also known as a certificate, clearance certificate etc) is not just a letter. To be valid it simply MUST have a rubber stamp imprint (like a seal) on the front of it and be an original. Anything without a stamped imprint that is not an original is just a piece of paper.

It's actually one of the few things done here that makes any real sense to me as it reduces the opportunity for fraud considerably. It also keeps thousands of Indians in jobs making rubber stamps ... and probably thousands more actually using them ... but I digress.

When you leave here you get an exit list from your sponsor and you have to get a stamped clearance certificate from places linked to your sponsor to show that you leave without any liability. This is my "Dance of the Rubber Stamps"!

Leaving the UAE (Harder than arriving)

Like you, I have a few Rules for Living that I try to abide by. Mine are based essentially on Buddhist philosophy and include doing as you would be done by (also a Christian/Muslim ethic). Therefore I always endeavour to:

1. Treat others with courtesy and never be rude (especially to those considered underdogs)
2. Be tolerant of others, even when they are the most stupid f%$#ing people on the planet (there's truck loads of them here!)
3. Never unduly get my knickers in a twist over anything (based on the premise that if you wouldn't worry about it in 100 years, why worry now)

However, I have to tell you that even though I have been pissed about by experts for decades, restructured dozens of times, downsized, upsized, and dealt with more than a fair share of dickheads who were police clients, I've been very close to losing the plot recently. Probably closer than ever.

It's all because of he Dance of the Rubber Stamps.

When you leave, you have to cancel your various accounts like power and water, banking, have your house inspected, transfer the registration of your cars, cancel personal loans etc. This could and should be easy, but as is the way here, it isn't. In almost every case you need some type of document as proof with ... yes, you guessed it, a rubber stamp impression.

The problem is that nobody knows exactly what you want or how to do it. Even though tens of thousands of people leave the country and probably hundreds in the HCT leave every year, there is no solid systematic, fireproof procedure that anyone can tell you about.

Even the HCT staff responsible for these things give you a bum steer.

Most organizations tell half the story. So you go to one branch of the Al Ain Distribution Authority and can't finish your business because you didn't bring a photocopy of an identification document. You go to the another branch and nobody even asks you for such a copy, so you toss it in the bin as you leave.

In some cases the clearance document can't be made at the time, so you are asked to come back later to collect it. You've already driven for 10 minutes either way through Cannon-Ball Express traffic, risking life and limb just to visit the office once ... why would anyone sane do it again? But you go back and often go back again to pick up pieces of paper.

They can't be faxed, they can't be posted, you just have to go with the flow. At times it tests your mettle to the limit, as it did mine. On one occasion recently I had been to the office of a bank on five separate occasions. Finally, I had to collect a clearance certificate and five cheques of mine that had been unused. When I drove in the sixth time, the clearance letter was there, but not the cheques. When the "customer service officer" asked me to come back later to collect it that he couldn't possibly post it, I thought:

"Do you think I sit about on my fat ass all day just waiting for you to call me to come in an pick up a piece of effing paper?"

But fortunately said, "I don't know how you make a profit here. You aren't very good at what you do."

There are several other occasions I could tell you about, but I think you get the drift. The good thing is that it's almost done now and while I have gotten stressed and finished up with a headache, I have managed to remain dignified.

In the end, it's all part of the experience. And after all, wasn't that what we came for?

Only two weeks to go.

Robin

... and, Some things I WILL Miss

I thought I'd put a bit of balance into this discussion because I don't want you to think that it's all negative here. Far from it.

I've told you about some of the things I won't miss and now I'll talk about some of the things I will miss.

I'll miss Al Ain city. It's a lovely city sprawled out across a wide, flat area at the bottom of Jebel Hafeet which divides Oman and the UAE. Most of the main streets are wide, with divided roads whose median strips are populated with palm trees, grasses and small shrubs. They are clean and at any time of the year you can see gardeners tending plants and cleaners picking up any rubbish that's been left on the street.

There are no drunks stumbling about, graffiti is almost unheard of, and nobody here returns to their car to find someone has kicked in the side panels of your car. Vandalism here is very, very scarce as are street offences common in Australia.

We have some lovely friends. We'll certainly miss them although we intend to keep in touch and hope some will visit us from time to time. (There are too many to place their photos here)

Rosie, a lovely lady who cleans our house and irons our clothes will be missed. Not only for the valuable work she does, but because she is a friend.



















Our mansion. Although our house at Alice Springs is lovely, we'll miss our Arabic mansion tht has more room than we need, airconditioning that is very effective and cheap to run, and which is rent free. (Can't do much better than that eh?

Food prices and Middle East foods. The price of food, as is the case with most things here, is very much cheaper than in Australia. There's no shortage of anything and there are some lovely foods like date honey that are peculiar to the Middle East that are nice to taste.

Beer, a category of essential food, is not only a little cheaper than in Australia, it also comes in a 500mL can. (Eat your heart out.) Look at this shot of a can in an Aussie stubby holder designed for an Australian 375 mL cans. Now I'm being a bit dishonest here. I will miss the price, but it will be good to get back to light beer and smaller sizes. It's very easy to overdo it here.

No tax on salary. I'll write that again ... NO TAX on salary. Everything you earn you keep. I'll certainly miss that.


Petrol prices. Petrol is so cheap here, you don't even have to bother about how much you put in your tank. 100 AED is roughly $30 AUD and you can fill your tank for 75 AED (60 L tank). Imagine that.


Well, that's just a glimpse. There are many other things I will miss and the misses outweight the won't misses, just to set the record straight.


Robin

Getting Ready to Leave ... The Highs and Lows

The first sign that we are leaving Al Ain soon is the advertisements we have placed on the Higher Colleges of Technology and University of UAE public email boards. They've been fairly successful, we've sold most of the big stuff we wanted to sell. We do have a refrigerator to go, but feel confident that will move as the weather hots up. Selling the cars shouldn't be a problem either.

When we arrived here, with only a half dozen boxes of memorabilia from home so we wouldn't forget our roots, we got 30,000 Dirhams to set ourselves up. That's just under $9,000 AUD. We had no idea how far it would go or how much anything cost here so we bought some cheap stuff we later replaced. We never really used all of the allocation, but some day we'd be sitting back and I'd say to Christina something like, "Have we got a can opener?" "No", she'd say, "we need to get one". Sometimes when it was urgent we'd walk off to Al Ain Mall immediately and buy what it was we needed.

We had to buy a stack of curtains for the unit which has very high ceilings and consequently, long curtains, a stove, washing machine and everything, nothing is provided here other than the house.

For the first few months we didn't have a car, so we walked to the Al Ain Mall to do our grocery shopping and wheel it back in a shopping trolley. The roadways in our housing complex are paved with concrete pavers, so the trolley would bump, bump, bump all the way to A25 which just happens to be the farthest away from the mall.

Sometimes we'd use a taxi of which there are millions here and they are so cheap I don't know how they manage to pay for fuel, even though it's also cheap. I fill the 60L tank on our Nissan for about 75 Dirhams or $21 AUD. I'll get a shock when I fill up at home since our diesel Toyota has a 110L tank ... probably have to take out a loan on the house.

We are looking forward to ending our tour and getting back to Australia, our kids and friends, but the downside is that we will leave behind some of the loveliest people we have met who come from Canada, England, Scotland, Turkey, the US and even Australia.

We will also miss some aspects of the way of life. Al Ain is a lovely city with a mainly pleasant climate. We have lived very comfortably here where there is no tax on salary and everything is very cheap, especially food, although in the time we have been here, prices have risen quite a bit.

We have a lovely Indian lady, Rosie, comes once a week to vacuum and mop the floors and iron our clothes and a Sri Lankan fellow, Bubblo, who washes both cars every Friday morning and waters our garden every day. For these services we pay a pittance by our standards although when the Dirhams are converted to Rupees, the value for them is much greater than it would be for us in AUD.

Guess who will do the housework, water the garden and wash the car when we get home?

Our experience here has been one of the highlights of our lives and one that I recommend to anyone fortunate enough to have the opportunity.

Robin