this blog will be a little about driving in the uae...
this country is very much all about the car... either if you talk about local emeratis with their porsches, hummers, and land cruisers, or you are talking about the labourers, who only dream of such things...
the biggest thing out here is owning a car... and acquiring a driver's license to go with it...
for most people who work here, either indian or filipino, or even from other arabic countries like egypt or syria, the pay is very low, and most of your monthly salary would go towards a car.
for most, owning a car symbolizes wealth like nothing else, and the independence and freedom to take off and go driving, go to the mall, etc. whenever you want...
most staff, for example in my hotel, live in a shared accommodation, and they are shuttled back and forth to work. we have a cafeteria, where the food is free, and the shuttle back to the accommodation is free... but you are unable to do anything else if you are slave to the food and bus timings... and the accommodation is 45 minutes from downtown
so for them, being able to go to the mall on your own or with a couple friends to sit at the movie or go bowling or sit at the food court is the same as back home with teenagers, the thrill of being able to break out of the rut...
like i mentioned, getting a license for westerners is no big deal, we just get a couple pieces of paper, and a stamp or two, pay some money, and after one solid day of bureaucracy, it is done and we can drive here ( if you rent a car you can use your CAD license, if you own a car, you must have a UAE license...)
but for non westerners (indian, egyptian, etc.) you need to spend several days in lineups for paperwork, and then you have to take a road test, which cost alot more money than my paperwork... and if you fail the test, you need to take a week long driving school... and this is even after you have your own license from your own country...
and of course, once you own a car, trying to find parking is a whole other blog!!
