· I’ve heard that men hold hands here but I’ve never seen it. I have seen men standing with one man having his hand on the other man’s shoulder. I saw 2 men kiss but it was as a greeting.
· I haven’t seen too many Middle Eastern restaurants. There are a few but they are in the minority. When I stepped off the plane when I first got here I walked into the terminal and the first thing I see is a McDonald’s and a Roundtable Pizza. Food in the supermarket is quite cheap and the restaurant food is rather reasonable too. I get $50/day for food and I spend around $25/day so I’m pocketing around $25/day.
· About 90% of the people I work with are from the Indian Sub-continent. I work for a British computer company that upgrades computer systems so there are lots of brown people here in the computer department. I am down with the brown. They are usually very polite. I don’t know what happened to SkinsRaj and dsethi as to why they are so wild.
· Some of the brown people aren’t treated very well when it comes to jobs. There was a newspaper article stating that one worker hadn’t had a raise in over 22 years. The security guard at the apartment where I’m staying says he works 12 hours a day and won’t get a day off for 2 years.
· There are lots of Filipina’s here, especially near where I live. I guess the locals like to hire them for service positions because they are so friendly toward customers.
· There are a few bars where prostitution is allowed. The one I’ve been in is called the Cyclone Club. There are approximately 40 women standing around (half from China, half from Russia) and approximately half that many men. The going price is anywhere from 500-1000 Dirhams which is between $125-$250.
· Traffic is pretty bad here as there are a lot of people moving to the area and the road construction has not caught up. I live rather close to work so it almost never takes more than ½ by taxi to get to work and the one-way cost is around $3. There is a lot of construction so it is rather noisy no matter where you go here.
· Alcohol is for sale only in hotels and for those with a license. There is a hotel near where I am staying. Bottle beer (Bud, Heineken and Amstel) costs about $4/bottle. My boss has a license to buy alcohol outside a hotel so he is going to hook me up with some beer so I don’t have to go to the nearest hotel.
· I’ve seen the Burj al Arab from a distance. It’s a rather majestic building. I’ve also seen one of the palm islands but you really can’t see much from shore since it’s all out in the water. I’m going to go to a high-rise hotel that has a nice view and I’ll take pictures.
· The temperature gets over 120 degrees in the summer. I’m hoping we will be done with our project before then. It’s also humid too so it’s not like Phoenix where it’s a dry heat.
· The forum.therx.com web site is blocked from Dubai as are all gambling web sites. I have remote access to a computer in California so I use that one to post on theRX and to gamble.
I’ll try to write more later as well as post some of my pictures. I’ve been rather busy with work so that has taken a back seat.
· I haven’t seen too many Middle Eastern restaurants. There are a few but they are in the minority. When I stepped off the plane when I first got here I walked into the terminal and the first thing I see is a McDonald’s and a Roundtable Pizza. Food in the supermarket is quite cheap and the restaurant food is rather reasonable too. I get $50/day for food and I spend around $25/day so I’m pocketing around $25/day.
· About 90% of the people I work with are from the Indian Sub-continent. I work for a British computer company that upgrades computer systems so there are lots of brown people here in the computer department. I am down with the brown. They are usually very polite. I don’t know what happened to SkinsRaj and dsethi as to why they are so wild.
· Some of the brown people aren’t treated very well when it comes to jobs. There was a newspaper article stating that one worker hadn’t had a raise in over 22 years. The security guard at the apartment where I’m staying says he works 12 hours a day and won’t get a day off for 2 years.
· There are lots of Filipina’s here, especially near where I live. I guess the locals like to hire them for service positions because they are so friendly toward customers.
· There are a few bars where prostitution is allowed. The one I’ve been in is called the Cyclone Club. There are approximately 40 women standing around (half from China, half from Russia) and approximately half that many men. The going price is anywhere from 500-1000 Dirhams which is between $125-$250.
· Traffic is pretty bad here as there are a lot of people moving to the area and the road construction has not caught up. I live rather close to work so it almost never takes more than ½ by taxi to get to work and the one-way cost is around $3. There is a lot of construction so it is rather noisy no matter where you go here.
· Alcohol is for sale only in hotels and for those with a license. There is a hotel near where I am staying. Bottle beer (Bud, Heineken and Amstel) costs about $4/bottle. My boss has a license to buy alcohol outside a hotel so he is going to hook me up with some beer so I don’t have to go to the nearest hotel.
· I’ve seen the Burj al Arab from a distance. It’s a rather majestic building. I’ve also seen one of the palm islands but you really can’t see much from shore since it’s all out in the water. I’m going to go to a high-rise hotel that has a nice view and I’ll take pictures.
· The temperature gets over 120 degrees in the summer. I’m hoping we will be done with our project before then. It’s also humid too so it’s not like Phoenix where it’s a dry heat.
· The forum.therx.com web site is blocked from Dubai as are all gambling web sites. I have remote access to a computer in California so I use that one to post on theRX and to gamble.
I’ll try to write more later as well as post some of my pictures. I’ve been rather busy with work so that has taken a back seat.
