Hello ALL,
Sorry so long to write. As Mom said, I am actually IN Dubai and getting settled in. It is amazing here. I live and work on the beach! Every day when I get home from work I go out on my balcony and watch the sunset over the Palm Jameria... it is stunning, picture attached! The Palm Jameria is the completed Palm, it has the Atlantis on the crown which you can see in the background. If you look right off my balcony you can see the Burj, the worlds only 7 star hotel (shaped like a sailboat).
I am actually working on the Palm Jebel Ali. This Palm is also man made. They are in the process of compressing the island (packing it down so the sand settles in with the rocks so the foundations dont crack in a few years). We are helping them to build a team (right now there are so many cultural issues no one will talk and communicate or aggregate events), and then we will help them improve their planning, sourcing and contracting process. There are many contracts to be written, from hotels, condos, retail space, to infrastructure, roads, bridges, landscaping and on and on and on. We could be here for years on just this project. We will also be doing something similar on the Dubai Waterfront project in a few months.
So, just thought I would drop some random interesting things about Dubai:
All of the toilets have detachable shower heads/ sprayers attached to them. Not sure if this is to spray down the toilet or yourself but I like it!
You know that noise cars make when you dont have your seat belt on? The loud beep? The cars here make that noise when you go over 120km.... it is SO annoying... esp. since everyone drives over the speed limit all the time.
They don't have traffic cops, they have radar guns all over the road that track your speed and mail you tickets... all the cars are under our boss Todd's name- so hopefully he doesn't get too many tickets (esp. when others are driving) and get deported :-)
You can get any RX drug you want at the Pharmacy without a prescription.
The building we are working in is a the base of the Palm Jebel Ali (which is still under construction). It is somewhat like a double decker trailer and kind of like the metal buildings we had at Wal_mart. That means it is really loud when anyone walks around... and for some reason they put down laminate on all the walkways. So, like I said we are basically in a huge trailer (think at least 20 trailers side by side, 2 story) and everything has marble/ granite counter tops. It is pretty silly. Also, I have been pretty much told I have to wear flats because walking in heels is too loud and it echos. Too bad my director in the Dallas office told me flats were not professional so I brought a ton of pumps. Blah. But, being right on the water is amazing. We have to walk a little ways to go to the cafeteria and it is nice to look out at the water, seagulls and feel the cool breeze.
Havent seen any cute guys except this one personal trainer. Today was the third day I have seen him and he has worn the same track suit the last 2 days. I have checked out other trainers and they don't wear the same thing every day or even similar outfits... so basically dude is just dirty. Bummer.
Still havent ate out yet. Mostly the team goes to this fabulous grocery store a short walk from our hotel and cooks in the room... there is every appliance imaginable in the room and very fresh stuff at the store-- healthy body here I come!! My stomach is still killing me so I havent ate much to begin with... just gotta figure out this dang conversion to see if I have lost any weight (dang metric system!!).
Internet is slow here so email is nearly my only connection to the world outside Dubai! Please feel free to shoot me notes often! And come visit! The place we are staying in has an extra bedroom, and most rooms go for over $500 a night so a free place to stay in Dubai will definitely make it worth the trip!!!
Love to all,
Robin
Sorry so long to write. As Mom said, I am actually IN Dubai and getting settled in. It is amazing here. I live and work on the beach! Every day when I get home from work I go out on my balcony and watch the sunset over the Palm Jameria... it is stunning, picture attached! The Palm Jameria is the completed Palm, it has the Atlantis on the crown which you can see in the background. If you look right off my balcony you can see the Burj, the worlds only 7 star hotel (shaped like a sailboat).
I am actually working on the Palm Jebel Ali. This Palm is also man made. They are in the process of compressing the island (packing it down so the sand settles in with the rocks so the foundations dont crack in a few years). We are helping them to build a team (right now there are so many cultural issues no one will talk and communicate or aggregate events), and then we will help them improve their planning, sourcing and contracting process. There are many contracts to be written, from hotels, condos, retail space, to infrastructure, roads, bridges, landscaping and on and on and on. We could be here for years on just this project. We will also be doing something similar on the Dubai Waterfront project in a few months.
So, just thought I would drop some random interesting things about Dubai:
All of the toilets have detachable shower heads/ sprayers attached to them. Not sure if this is to spray down the toilet or yourself but I like it!
You know that noise cars make when you dont have your seat belt on? The loud beep? The cars here make that noise when you go over 120km.... it is SO annoying... esp. since everyone drives over the speed limit all the time.
They don't have traffic cops, they have radar guns all over the road that track your speed and mail you tickets... all the cars are under our boss Todd's name- so hopefully he doesn't get too many tickets (esp. when others are driving) and get deported :-)
You can get any RX drug you want at the Pharmacy without a prescription.
The building we are working in is a the base of the Palm Jebel Ali (which is still under construction). It is somewhat like a double decker trailer and kind of like the metal buildings we had at Wal_mart. That means it is really loud when anyone walks around... and for some reason they put down laminate on all the walkways. So, like I said we are basically in a huge trailer (think at least 20 trailers side by side, 2 story) and everything has marble/ granite counter tops. It is pretty silly. Also, I have been pretty much told I have to wear flats because walking in heels is too loud and it echos. Too bad my director in the Dallas office told me flats were not professional so I brought a ton of pumps. Blah. But, being right on the water is amazing. We have to walk a little ways to go to the cafeteria and it is nice to look out at the water, seagulls and feel the cool breeze.
Havent seen any cute guys except this one personal trainer. Today was the third day I have seen him and he has worn the same track suit the last 2 days. I have checked out other trainers and they don't wear the same thing every day or even similar outfits... so basically dude is just dirty. Bummer.
Still havent ate out yet. Mostly the team goes to this fabulous grocery store a short walk from our hotel and cooks in the room... there is every appliance imaginable in the room and very fresh stuff at the store-- healthy body here I come!! My stomach is still killing me so I havent ate much to begin with... just gotta figure out this dang conversion to see if I have lost any weight (dang metric system!!).
Internet is slow here so email is nearly my only connection to the world outside Dubai! Please feel free to shoot me notes often! And come visit! The place we are staying in has an extra bedroom, and most rooms go for over $500 a night so a free place to stay in Dubai will definitely make it worth the trip!!!
Love to all,
Robin
A blog is only as good as it's comments. So let me be the first! Robin, thank you for sharing your updates with us, it makes me feel more worldly knowing someone WAYYYY over in Dubai. Enjoy this opportunity!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Maybe the trainer isn't dirty afterall, perhaps he has 7 of those outfits and it's a clean one everyday ;)