little town, it's a quiet village

The two biggest complaints from any Dubai citizen will undoubtedly be:
1. Traffic
2. Real Estate
not necessarily in that order

For me- numero uno is real estate. Especially now that I am neck-deep in the throws of it once again. My biggest gripes (among a long list):

1. The year rent up front. I have never heard of any other country where it is the norm to force people to pay the entire year of rent up front. Its ridiculous. I mean, I understand where it came from- when the expats started to come (and there were like 10 locals who obviously have no housing issues) they were all highly in demand and their companies paid their housing. I imagine its a lot less hassle for companies to pay one check every 12 months than worry about monthly payments. Yeah, I get it. But time to change the system already!
This means that basically, anyone who can not get their company to advance them the check for yearly rent has to either sublease from someone who will let them pay monthly, usually for a room in their house (illegal, but everyone does it), or share a room with 12 other people, or find the random apartments that allow you to pay monthly but pay at least 2x (usually more) the already jacked-up prices.
Ridiculous.

2. The prices. They are soaring out of control. The one law they had to control it (which wasn't a very good one in the first place), where an owner could only increase the rent by 15%/year IF the tenant was renewing, has apparently now been abolished. Clearly no one with any authority has any interest in controlling the inflation (could be because they are the ones benefiting from it).

3. The real estate agents themselves. I've met a few who are reputable- but most that I encounter are sleazy and really never do any work. Perhaps that's because I rent and the good ones are in the buying, don't know. In the last month, Shady and I have probably spent a good 20 hours (I think I'm under-estimating) driving around searching for signs 'to let' and scouring newspapers and websites. No one has been helping us at all. When we finally find a place, the only work the 'real estate agent' (I use that term loosely) will have done is MAYBE met us to unlock the door so we can look at the place, but sometimes not even that. And yet, we will end up forking over at least $1,500 to this person- for doing absolutely nothing.
Well I guess if anyone's looking for a job- here's a lucrative and easy one for you.

Help- someone- get me to civilization- Quick!

the rumor, the legend, the mystery

The rumor has been spread. I heard it rained today in at least part of Dubai.

The sky looks an uncharacteristic state of dreary- but nothing is confirmed yet.
Time to venture home from the office- perhaps I will have a fun surprise!

Hope the house doesn't flood!

Mission: Accepted

“Sometimes the best way to change the world is by getting the big players to do the right thing for the wrong reasons, because waiting for them to do the right thing for the right reasons could mean waiting forever.”
–Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat, pg 382


When I read this I had to put the book down and say "Wow". The girl next to me in Starbucks gave me a funny look.
I have been learning over the last year or so that altruistic reasons don't work for everyone. But that doesn't necessarily mean you can't influence the result you want. You just need a new line of reasoning. Love it.

the 7 year itch

When I was 16 doing a family stay in Spain I got a tatoo. I was told it would only last for 7 years. I believed it.
It was actually a pretty poorly done one, and basically everyone that I talked to about it laughed in my face when I told them it was only for 7 years. The tatoo people that is. So I thought I had been duped. I had another one done over the top of it when I turned 18.
I was looking through the webpage of a friend of mine, also a 7-year-recipient, who mentioned hers, and said that its true because hers is almost gone.
I immediately checked mine, because you could see the outline a little bit underneath the newer one. I think its right! I can barely see it anymore. I should have had a little more faith in my crazy little Spanish tatoo artist.
Live and learn. Apparently 7 year tatoos exist.
Might be an option for those commitment-phobes out there who still want to try some ink.