It’s Always the Little Things that Freak You Out the Most
So here I am in the UAE. How is it? Not so bad, actually. But it is the little things that freak you out the most. For example:
1) “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.” This is on a Skoda, which is a European car aligned with VW.
2) The maximum speed limit here is 120km/hr and if you go above that a bell goes off. I have been in four different vehicles so far and each one them the bell has gone off.
3) Nissan has cars over that you have never heard of in America. Like the “Sunny,” which is basically a Sentra.
4) Everything is in Arabic and English, even the stop signs.
5) White appears to be the normal car color over here, which makes sense to me.
6) Newspaper front pages are made of magazine stock - they are glossy.
7) Yes, I have actually seen camels. 4 so far.
8) On businesses, all doors open in. So if you are running from a burning building, remember to pull the door open!
9) Merge signs are ridiculously small.
10) Curve signs are colored red and white, not yellow and black, as here in the States.
11) the UAE is a curious mix of American and English standards, with Arabic on everything. Coke cans are in Arabic and English, people drive on the right side of the road, but use UK-style electricity (220V).
12) Gas is so cheap they don’t advertise the price on the signs.
13) The weirdest thing of all - pull tabs on soft drinks. I have not seen pull tabs on soft drinks since I rode a bike with training wheels. That’s all they use here.
That’s it for now, more later!
So what does 120 km/hr translate to? Can you smuggle a can of coke on the plane? Can you take pictures of your building? Is it me or does it look like Odessa with water and tall buildings?
120km is approximately 75mph. And I found out later that gasoline isn’t much cheaper there, it is just tax-free, at approximately $1.80/gallon.