Settling In...

Nighttime view of the pool at the Palace Hotel

Lots to recap as I’m already about to start my third work week... things have progressed since my first report, and I’m happy to say that I’m feeling increasingly settled and comfortable in the city.

Looking down on the fountains from the top of The Address Hotel

My roommate has arrived – a middle-aged Scottish lady who is working as a charge nurse at the trauma centre. She is very kind and has been working throughout the Middle East (in Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia) over the last 25 years, so she has lots of interesting stories to tell ... including providing care to genuine Bedouins (desert nomads) in the 1980s, when many had never seen a Westerner before, and working alongside American soldiers during the Gulf War. It’s been nice to have someone else to share this giant tiled apartment with!

Ramadan came to an end after my first week of work, which meant that I was able to follow up a week of shortened workdays with a 4-day long weekend to celebrate Eid al Fitr... tough life! I was happy to have made some connections during the week, which allowed me to connect with colleagues and friends of friends over the weekend to see some sights. I ate dinner at the base of the Burj Dubai and watched the dancing fountains (the largest show of its kind in the world... surprise, surprise), travelled up to the top of The Address Hotel for a night-time view of the city, ventured over to the Mall of the Emirates and saw the famous “Ski Dubai” indoor slope (with the highest run sitting at 400m, I think I will probably save my skiing for Vermont in December), and travelled north through three other emirates, with great views of sand dunes and herds of camels along the way – confirming that I am actually living in the desert! The end of Ramadan brought a real change to the city... with shops and restaurants open during the day and people out and about on the street, it’s been much easier and more enjoyable to explore the city.

Ski Dubai in the Mall of the Emirates

Returning to the office (and ‘real’ 9 hour workdays) after the long weekend was a bit of an adjustment, but I was happy to start some real progress on project work as we have a lot to do over the next few weeks. Market research and competitive analysis began this week... which meant that my colleague and I were pounding the pavement in the midday heat to conduct consumer surveys about healthcare preferences. I have also begun to meet with the administrative directors of several of the most prominent private hospitals in the city, which has been a very enlightening experience. It has been challenging for me to get my head around the structure and objectives of Dubai’s private healthcare system, which is complicated by some very pervasive issues regarding race, income, and class... but that’s a topic to be explored in its own post. I’ll only say that I’m extremely grateful for the Canadian public healthcare system, even though it is fraught with its own challenges.


I’m coming to the end of a relatively quiet weekend. On Friday, I ventured over to the nearby Dubai Creek to explore ‘Old Dubai’ (part of the Bur Dubai neighbourhood) on foot with my roommate... we walked through the restored historic Bastakiya souk (market) area and traipsed through the Dubai Museum to educate ourselves on the history of the area (again, which I will try to include in another post to give some perspective on the area beyond the flashy architecture and massive shopping malls). We hopped on an abra (water taxi) for a short ride across the creek to Deira (another neighbourhood) where we wandered through the Spice Souk, the Perfume Souk, the Gold Souk, and the Textile Souk. Even though we started this trip in the late afternoon to avoid the height of the sun, the 39 degree weather and intense humidity still packs a hefty punch – needless to say, we were happy to find a breezy cafe next to the dhow wharf where we could watch the boats arrive from the Arabian Gulf as the sun set over the water. Yesterday, I brought my roomie to the BurJuman Centre (another mall nearby), where tons of high-end designers have shops (i.e. Saks Fifth Avenue, Gucci, Prada, Dior, Hermes, D&G...), but thankfully there are also a smattering of stores where the clerks may believe that I’m actually a potential customer.

The Gold Souk in Deira

The Spice Souk in Deira

Overall, I’m a lot more settled than I was upon arrival. The people here are incredibly kind... our neighbours have gifted us with household decorations, a vacuum, a microwave, linens, etc... which we’ve gratefully accepted to try and make the place feel a little more homey! I have also been grateful to have been included on weekend trips and dinner invites – nice to have a bit of a social network in the city. In a city whose population is 85% expatriates, everyone has ‘been there’ and is eager to help ease the transition. I look forward to having even more experiences to share in my next post!

Looking out to the beach at a hotel in Al Hamra (in the north)

I've Arrived...

Hello all... attempting to blog again in hopes of keeping in touch with home & keeping you informed of my adventures in the Gulf Coast. For those of you who don't know, I'm in Dubai for my fall co-op work term as part of my Health Services Management MBA program at the DeGroote School of Business. I'm working with a Canadian healthcare consulting firm whose Middle Eastern office is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. My work term goes until just before Christmas, after which point I will be returning to class.

For my debut post, I'll just copy/paste the initial mass email home to set the stage for things to come!

"Hello everyone from sunny (and hot) Dubai,

I've landed, I've moved in, and I've started work... with a view (horizontal, of course) of "The World" islands project from my desk on the 19th floor (http://www.theworld.ae/), it's safe to say that I've arrived. I left Toronto last Thursday night on a red-eye flight to Istanbul and arrived in Dubai in the middle of the night on Friday. I'm 8 hours ahead of you here, soon to be 9 when you all "fall back"... so I hope you're all sleeping soundly as I write this.

It hasn't been a completely smooth ride so far... I found the first days to be incredibly challenging as I was very much on my own, with no contacts in the city (aside from work contacts, who sadly did not immediately shower me with invites to dinners etc.)... in a giant apartment by myself, with no access to internet. I know that the isolation is all part of the experience, but I am optimistic that things will change over the next few weeks. As usual, the initial transition to work was slow, and I was disappointed to find out that the workday has been shortened to 3pm during Ramadan, which ends early next week. Imagine being sad about a shortened workday... I must be going crazy!

Thankfully, things are already starting to look up. I received a note yesterday informing me that I was gaining a roommate... a charge nurse who will be working at one of the local hospitals. I have yet to meet her as she arrived at 2am last night and wasn't up this morning, but I'm hoping she'll be delightful. Even if she's not, I'll be happy to have someone to talk to at the end of the day! Work has ramped up very quickly as well, and I've found myself as project lead of a business proposal for the development of a new hospital -- everything from market research to financial analysis and scenario planning needs to be completed within the next few weeks, so it will be busy. The process is not exactly the same as it would be at home... for instance, when my boss recommended that I "get a feel for the (low income) neighbourhood where the hospital will be situated by exploring the area alone at night". No joke. Don't worry, I'm not taking her up on the suggestion and will continue to be safe and vigilant about my decisions... but I had to laugh!

Some interesting/funny Dubai-isms that I've encountered already:

- the cops drive BMWs

- I have a driver. Fancy shmancy.

- descriptions of new healthcare facilities always seem to be part of a '5 star resort complex complete with a hotel, spa, and shopping centre'

- the weekend here is Friday/Saturday... so I'm already at 'hump day' on Tuesday!

- for all the heat (and it's hot... though not as bad as I thought it'd be), I'm freezing most of the time thanks to turbo A/C

The upcoming week holds a visit to the trauma centre managed by my company, the celebration of Eid al Fitr (the end of Ramadan) early next week, and hopefully an opportunity to venture into the city and start sightseeing.

I'm hoping to get online again sometime soon to start a blog so that I don't spam your inboxes with these long emails again... but for now, know that I'm safe and thinking of you all! Updates and notes from home are very welcome. :)

Talk to you soon,

Meaghan"