My one-month anniversary with Dubai

This weekend, I celebrated my one-month anniversary with Dubai... hard to believe that I’m already a third of the way through this residency. I’m sure it will be December before I know it!

Atrium decor at the BurJuman Centre mall.

Work continues to be busy. Last week was spent working with Suman to madly scrape together our research into a workable presentation for management to prove to them that our data collection was coming together to form a logical argument... we spent most of the week working and re-working the numbers to ensure that they looked right and had a successful presentation on Thursday. It’s almost time to start writing... I will be happy to see this business case start to take shape as the pieces come together. Many of the assumptions that the team made at the beginning of the project regarding the healthcare gaps that needed filling were off the mark (surprise, surprise)... it has been an interesting exercise in learning what the real drivers of demand are in Dubai’s currently unpredictable market.

Hello lovers.. (window shopping at the Gold Souk)

I started off the week with Sharon and her teaching friends... a relaxing evening spent at “Films Under the Stars”, a free event at the Wafi Centre (a mall nearby my apartment, located next to the pyramid-shaped Raffles Dubai, with an entrance that “looks like Egypt” complete with 50ft tall Pharaoh statues). Attendees show up to the rooftop terrace that hosts a quasi-drive-in... instead of cars, you sit on bean-bag chairs that look like M&Ms and order your theatre snacks from wait staff who circulate during the double feature. A lovely way to spend an evening now that the weather is starting to cool down after the intense heat of the summer.

The following evening was less tranquil... my debut game with the Flying Carpets ultimate Frisbee team. Work had been insane that day and I didn’t get a chance to have a proper dinner beforehand – huge mistake, when combined with the heat, humidity, and one especially long point, I was nearly the unconscious new girl in the middle of the field. I managed to rally back and hope that I can put out a better effort this week. The team is made up of many very kind expats... as predicted, a good way to meet more new faces.

View of the Burj Dubai, now set to open on December 2, 2009 (UAE National Day).

Mid-week, I was informed by my boss that I would be accompanying the management team to Abu Dhabi (UAE capital city, to the south of us) for their final presentation of a hospital development business case to a client. Everyone wants to build a hospital in this country! I saw this as a good opportunity to get an idea of what my finished product should look like, and I think management saw this as a good opportunity to impress the clients with a new Western team member… specifically, “Meaghan, a consultant from the Toronto office” (“Not true! I’m a student!” I think to myself…). All in all, a good day and a great chance for me to see where the bar for project output has been set, along with a new city! I will need to get back to Abu Dhabi to take a proper photo of the Sheikh Zayed mosque, which is nothing short of spectacular…

The dancing fountains (again!)... view from Karma Kafe.

After a long week in the office, I was pleased to see that after a month, I had graduated to ‘local’ status (by Dubai standards) as I was asked by Hillary to HOST a blind date (as I’ve come to call these funny meetings with strangers/friends of friends over dinner) with her friend Alexa, who was coming through Dubai en route to travel Africa. I brought along another newbie, a Canadian nurse named Kelly, and the three of us swapped travel stories on the outside terrace of Karma Kafe by the dancing fountains (very unimaginative of me… I returned to the site of my very first Dubai blind date with Hillary!). We later met Hillary and her hedge fund friends at their work event, held at Zuma (modelled after the one in London… similar to Ki in TO).

Dubai newbies on a blind date... from left: me (1 month in Dubai), Kelly (1 week in Dubai), Alexa (1 day in Dubai)

‘Thanksgiving dinner’ this year was held on Saturday night, complete with a bottle of red & ordered-in thin crust pizza… toasting to family, friends, health, and happiness with Kelly the Canadian and Margaret, my Scottish roomie. Thinking of all of you at home who I am so very thankful to have in my life… already looking forward to reuniting in December. Until next week…

Evening view of the pool from my bedroom balcony.




My second-rate attempt at arts & crafts with Canadian fall leaves mailed from home (thanks, Mom!)