Thursday, January 16, 2014

Driving in the UAE=craziness!

One thing I have noticed that is absolutely insane is driving here! Holy smokes am I happy that I didn't bring Betty with me...she would be destroyed by now...and me too! People cut each other off, change lanes without looking, drive VERY fast, tailgate (and I mean ride your bumper like 2 inches away), and flash their lights at you if you don't move over lanes. It doesn't matter how fast you are going, if you aren't fast enough for them, they will let you know! On top of all this, kids don't have car seats (can you imagine!) and they pile mom, dad, sister, brother, grandma, aunt, uncle, and their extended family into one car. I have already witnessed at least 4-5 accidents since I arrived, 2 of which I am sure were fatal...so sad.
The cars are amazing though...every luxury car can be found. Maserati, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Mercedes, Porsche...you name it, someone drives it...and a LOT of people are driving these cars. Unbelievable the amount of $$ people spend on their cars here. Then they drive them like crazies...ha!
Another thing about driving here is the road system...basically it makes NO sense. Whereas most cities are built on a grid, Dubai just has long, long roads with no ways to cut off to the other side because a median is in the middle. It's the weirdest thing. In order to get from Fairmont The Palm to my house, we drive down a street called Hessa. We then have to completely pass my building because there are no ramps to get off. We completely circle around this large area (to the point that my building can no longer be seen) to eventually come back to my building on the other side. So strange! In such a developed city, that wants to be the most iconic place in the world, you would think they had streets (and a postal system) figured out! Oh yea...on top of everything, there are very few streets with actual names. For example, I do not have a street name for my apartment building. When I had to have my stuff delivered from IKEA, it was the strangest thing. I put down the following: "Manhattan Building B904, located in Jumeirah Village Circle 2, close to Atlantis Accommodation, major street nearby is Hessa or Al Khail"...and somehow they miraculously found me! Anywhere else you would just list your address and it would be fine.
SO...if you want to send me something, you need to send to the hotel because they have a PO box..ha!
Once I get my resident visa, I will be able to buy a car. I need one in order to drive around to sales calls and to my different properties in Dubai, as well as Abu Dhabi. However, I'm scared to death to drive given all of the above (how am I going to map my sales calls in a GPS??) oh boy! I think I will need to buy some sort of SUV to stay safe as well. A Volkswagen Tiguan is what I am thinking...see picture below. Other thoughts from all of you?? I would appreciate any suggestions!

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