APetty

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 16 October 2011 - 14:22

I can see that this board is as diverse as the general population of Dubai, and I'm curious to know a little more about all of y'all. Forgive me if this has been done, I can't help that I'm naturally a bit nosey. :) Feel free to skip anything that is too personal. I'll start! [b'>You and your family....[/b'> [b'>Where are you from?[/b'> I'm from the US. Texas, to be specific. [b'>Are you married or single?[/b'> I've been married for 7 months. DH and I dated for 3 years before getting married. [b'>Children?[/b'> I have two beautiful stepdaughters, ages 7 and 5 who live in the States with their mother. DH and I keep in touch with them via skype 3 times a week, plus a couple of phone calls and emails. They're precious and we miss them so much! [b'>Do you have any extended family living in the UAE?[/b'> No, it's just us. We're trying to talk DH's mother into coming over at least for a visit and possibly to stay. [b'>Your life as an expat.....[/b'> [b'>Is this the first place you've lived as an expat?[/b'> As an adult, yes. When I was a child we lived in Mexico City for a short period of time. [b'>How long have you been in Dubai?[/b'> DH has been here for 7 months (he left a week after we were married). I've been here exactly 4 months today. [b'>What do you do? What does your DH do?[/b'> I was just hired last week as an executive admin, but haven't started yet. Prior to this, I was a district manager for a major retailer in the States, but was laid off over a year ago and was never able to find work. DH is a law enforcement instructor. Back home he was a police officer. [b'>How long do you plan to stay in Dubai?[/b'> We initially thought that we would just be here for a year, but now we've decided to stay for at least 2. DH isn't under contract at his job, but I will be. [b'>Do you feel that the life you have here is better than what you could have "back home?" If so, in what ways?[/b'> Right now, yes. With the state of the US economy, there was almost no chance of me finding work in the forseeable future. With the tax-free income that we bring in here we're able to provide a better education adn standard of living for my stepdaughters both now and in the future and that alone makes being here worth it. Still, we miss our families and look forward to when we can move home. [b'>What is your favorite thing about living in Dubai?[/b'> I love how everything is new and different for us. DH and I are seeing things and having experiences here that are new for both of us and exclusively OURS together. I think that's been invaluable as newlyweds. [b'>What is your least favorite thing?[/b'> The heat, easily. There are other frustrations of course. But I've had days where I felt like the heat and humidity were literally sucking my soul from my body! [b'>What has been the biggest challenge for you living in Dubai?[/b'> Really just getting used to the way things are done here. At first, nothing seemed intuitive at all, especially with regard to finding a place to live and then setting up everything related to establishing a household. Also, learning our way around and dealing with insanely bad drivers has been difficult. But everything seems to be coming more easily these days. [b'>What do you miss most about your home? (Other than family and friends)[/b'> Really good Tex-Mex food with frozen margaritas. [b'>Just for fun.....[/b'> [b'>Where is your favorite place to shop for clothing?[/b'> Banana Republic! [b'>Guilty pleasure?[/b'> Reality tv. It's embarassing, but I can't help it. The "Real Housewives" series are a major weakness for me. [b'>Favorite hobby?[/b'> Reading. Give me a great book, or even a not-so-great one and I will get so caught up in it that I'll read the entire thing in less than a day. [b'>Favorite movie?[/b'> The Sound of Music. [b'>Pet peeve?[/b'> Messiness. I'm more than a little obsessive-compulsive about cleaning.

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APetty

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 28 July 2011 - 09:24

[b'>Hello all! I'm an American and recently moved to Dubai and I have tons of questions! My husband is working at Zayed Military City, but as I can't live on the base with him, we are looking for an apartment in Dubai (bit of a commute but we just don't like Abu Dhabi as much). This has proven to be more confusing and difficult than we initially thought it would be. Most of the realtors we have worked with so far have been disorganized and unreliable. I'm hoping that some of you ladies can help us out with some advice/recommmendations. Firstly, we've more or less settled on the Dubai Marina area. We've seen several apartments in Zumurud Tower and each of the Marina Diamond buildings. We really like Zumurud, but were not at all impressed with any of the Diamond buildings. It would be wonderful if any of you could recommend some nice buildings in the Dubai Marina area, so that we don't waste any more time arranging viewings for apartments that we'll hate. It's so difficult to really tell how nice a place is from the ads.... Secondly, if anyone can recommend a specific realtor (either an agency or a particular agent), that would be fantastic. As I said, everyone we've met with so far has been a total flake and it is extremely frustrating. Finally, I've been using gnads4u.com and bayut.com to search for apartments. Is there another site out there that would be good to check out? Thank you in advance for any suggestions you can offer![/b'>

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