百闻不如一见

To hear of something a hundred times is nothing like seeing it once - Chinese proverb

"It is common here," says W in response to my question: " Did you see the guy with 4 wives last night?" D said she sees men with 4 wives with loads of kids walking in malls quite often. Last night, I noticed that there was not one, but at least two tables with the 1+4 configuration.

Now, I've always known that having 4 wives is allowed in the Quran. I have monogamous muslim friends whom I teased about having 4 wives. I hear about it when some guy goes to court in Singapore for polygamy and defends himself by asserting that Islam allows for 4 wives. (albeit his 10 wives make him 6 over quota)

But actually seeing it as a social norm, that's something different.

Driving

Where else in the world can you drive at 80 km/h right in the middle of the city? Right here in the UAE. It does not even feel like I'm speeding, I felt I was driving slowly. Consider this: 80 km/h is the speed limit to expressways in Singapore. Roads in Toorak in Melbourne only let you do 40.  The speed limit on the highways, i.e. the 30th/2nd/4th, etc is 100 km/h. I do exactly that (and 20 on top of that) and cars zip past me left right and centre. Maybe they are rushing for dinner, who knows? 80 on the above mentioned road I get tail gated like crazy with them huge 4 wheel drives and high beams shooting right into my rear view mirror. Makes me want to get a tank next time I hit the road. Well, what can I do but swear within the comfort of my little toyota? 

Steam

"So how is Abu Dhabi?" I asked W on the phone months ago when he first got there.

"Oh, not bad, but steam comes out of the toilet when I flush it!" He replied.

I paused for a moment. "Steam?"

Now that I'm here I found the reason for the oddity . Someone had connected the hot water to the WC water supply. Piping hot water every time, steam cleaned WC everyday, how about that?

Covering up

One thing I did not understand. How do muslim women put up with so much cloth covering their heads and bodies in 40 degree heat?

Now I get it. 

The moment I stepped into the convection of hot air at outside Abu Dhabi airport. I got it. 

I thought I knew what hot was. I mean. I am from the equator. One should wear as little as possible, sweat and let the breeze take heat out from the body. Well, not quite the environmental strategy that will work in a desert. 

My smart move of wearing short sleeves sizzled my arms, literally, and I got slightly dehydrated from the rapid moisture loss from my uncovered skin. So the next time I was out in the open, I wore a white (SRI* index of 100) long sleeved shirt and felt better immediately. It did not even feel that hot.  

So my conclusion is that people should cover up here in the middle east for physiological reasons - To protect the skin from the sun's rays, and retain moisture. Still, the black robes that muslim women here wear do seem uncomfortable given that black absorbs heat. So how come the guys get to wear white coloured robes? 

*Solar Reflectance Index

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9

I was actually pretty sure if there is anything I can understand in Arabic, it must be the Arabic numerals.

But I was surprised. Really surprised to see an alternate number system when I arrived. They invented numbers as we know them for god's sake! It boils down to my ignorance, and also the common use of the word "Arabic" when talking about European numbering. (aka 1,2,3,...) Here's the the wiki on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numerals

Anyway, one cannot stop learning can one? But why not use the numerals that most of the world use? Why bother to have 2 kinds of numerals on phone pads and license plates?

Anyway, at least now I can read the numbers they use.

*ahem* (clears throat)

One is still 1, Two is a mirrored 7, Three is like the 2 with 2 aches on the top instead of a horizontal line. Four is a mirrored 3. Five is BIG O. Six is a 7, Seven is a V, Eight is an inverted V, Nine still looks like 9, and Zero is a single dot.

TADA! My little step into the water, and the ocean beckons....

10 things I did not know before coming to the UAE

1. Emiratis do not use Arabic numerals (as we know them) 

2. Arabic is read right to left but numbers are read left to right

3. Trees are an urban occurrence

4. Hotels double up as pubs

5. You don't appreciate good traffic engineers until, well, you don't see good traffic engineering

6. Driving at 140 km/h is snail pace

7.  Middle easterners are worried about Ramadan becoming commercialized

8. Taxis are cheaper than Shenzhen

9. Boiled tap water is still capable of giving one tummy aches

10. A good night out does not have to involve alcohol, just some good mint tea and shisha

Ramadan's moon

My first Ramadan in the Middle East, specifically in the UAE. A few days leading up to the holy month, everyone was abuzz with apprehension. For most of the ppl I met, it will be their first Ramadan in the middle east too. So many questions like: What happens if they catch you drinking water in the day? Can we still drink beer? And of particular concern to W and I, can we hold hands? Or can we only hold hands after sunset?

Everyday ppl waited for the elders to give the call for the start of the Ramadan. Here in UAE, the first day of the Ramadan is based on observations of the moon. "They are still watching the moon" said S, a young British lady I met in a bar on the final night before Ramadan. The elders gave the call the next day.

I generally don't have much to do during the day. W stays in the middle of the desert near the airport in a villa with his workmates. Apparently this place does not even have an address. I know it's called Khalifa City, a new development. So new, they have not gotten down to planting trees yet. For someone who grew up in a tropical island, its slightly depressing to see nothing but sand outside my window. I had been sick since I arrived due to an upset stomach, and had not gotten to car renting and driving around yet. So it was an uneventful day in the room of the villa waiting for my beloved to come home from work.

W arrived home in the evening, and we decided to drive out to the city for dinner. I got into the car, buckled up, and looked up, and in front of me was the most amazing moon I had ever seen in my life.

It was the new moon. The beginning of the moon's passage that also marked Ramadan. The slither thin crescent was like an arch carved out of the sky with the tip of a sharp blade shining defiantly in the night sky. I was surprised for a while. Why is it I don't remember the moon looking like this before. Was it because I never looked, or is it something one can only see in the middle east, or something that only happens on the first night of the Ramadan? I felt I understood the reverence for this new moon muslims have, if only for a bit. But it was enough to lift my spirits the rest of the night as we drove down the 30th to the Corniche for a bite.