A little about Al Ain...

Al Ain means spring, and as the desert oasis in the UAE it certainly lives up to that definition.  It is considered the 'garden city' of the UAE and lies in the shadow of Jebel Hafeet mountain.  Al Ain is the capital of the eastern region.  It is the Abu Dhabi Emirate's second city.

Jebel Hafeet at night

Al Ain is the birthplace and childhood home of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the former ruler of the UAE and the mastermind behind the education revolution in these parts.  It is a city that is 90 minutes drive from Abu Dhabi City, but prior to the discovery of oil it would have taken around 5 days travel by camel.  Al Ain borders the sultanate of Oman; the UAE side being known as Al Ain and the Oman side known as Buraimi.  It is so nice bordering a country that loves New Zealand and its people.  If we leave Al Ain to do a border crossing in Oman, we don't pay.  All other nationalities have to pay a cost to enter Oman; but the New Zealand government has an agreement with Oman and we are welcomed with open arms!


There are 18 fortresses that flank this city and highlight that this was an important, ancient trade route from Oman to the Arabian Gulf.  There is evidence that this place has been inhabited for 7000 years.  Sheikh Zayed had a vision for developing an education system that would allow children in the UAE to become participants in the global community.  He is also responsible for the beautification of Al Ain, particularly with the development of 7 oases in Al Ain surrounded by trees, greenery and urban parks.  Al Ain is home to many working palm plantations and is also home to the last camel market of its kind in the UAE.  This is located in an interesting place; right next to the new Bawadi Mall, which seems a little out of place in the middle of the desert!  I have to say, it is probably my favourite mall in Al Ain.  I can't wait to visit the carpet souks (like outside markets) there and buy for the place we will eventually live.  The haggling alone will be the best part of that outing.

Al Ain is certainly a step back in time from Abu Dhabi City.  Where AD City is bustling with taxis, other traffic, high rise buildings, and traffic lights, Al Ain is far more slow paced.  In Al Ain we have roundabouts galore...and each one has some kind of landmark on it and particular name.  Most of the streets throughout Abu Dhabi and Al Ain remain nameless; the way to get around here is to remember landmarks.  So that becomes incredibly frustrating when you're trying to find a place.  The taxi drivers here in Al Ain speak less fluent English than those in AD City, so that is equally frustrating when  combined with no road names!  I've spent many an extra dirham trying to find my own school!

Outdoors at the Rotana Hotel

There are some lovely parks in Al Ain.  We're heading into the best time of the year for ex-pats and their families.  Already at the compounded accommodation you'll find families out on the street chatting with kids riding bikes and scooters; children everywhere having fun.  The nights here are warm and lovely.  The locals of course find it is getting colder, and the shops are now adorned with winter clothing.  The other licensed teachers who have been here for some time tell us that soon the children will be coming to school with woolly hats and gloves!  I'm sticking to summer gear myself.

Swimming at Hilton Al Ain

Al Ain is not only a step back in terms of technology.  It is also a step back in terms of cultural practice.  Abu Dhabi seems more cosmopolitan.  Here we find women who still wear the berkha (this is the extreme of head gear that appears to 'cage' their faces in).  Things seem to be more strict in terms of cultural practice and custom. The girls in our school use their school day as an opportunity to actually get out and chat to their friends - that's why it is so hard to get them to be quiet during their lessons! School is their outlet; where they socialise and gain some sense of freedom (well relatively speaking).  When at home most don't get to go out or have friends over.  They are quite restricted in their lives.  And the women are pretty much the same.  On any given day at our school you will find loads of women in the vice principal's office drinking coffee and eating cakes and simply chatting and having a lovely time together.  It is their outlet; time to catch up with their friends it would seem.  The girls walk around school holding hands, or linking arms.  They actually glide as they walk; that's something I really like here, how the women have learned to glide so elegantly around the place.  The girls think my tendency to stumble and fall around the place is hilarious - my clutsiness is of great amusement to them.

Lulus Hypermarket

One thing that really gets me though is that this part of the world doesn't function during the day...they come alive at night!  You will find babies and very young children still up and being taken to the local malls at 9 o'clock and later at night.  The girls at school tell me that they don't go to bed until 11 or 12 midnight during the week and around 2 - 3am in the weekends!  They laughed when I told them my bedtime of 10pm!

So this is quite an interesting place to live.  If you wanted NZ replicated here then you're out of luck.  It is such a totally foreign environment environmentally, politically, culturally and socially.  If you're prepared to see how it goes and try to work within the chaotic systems that are characteristic of this place, then it might just work for you.  Right now I'm working it all out.  It will take some time though.  No two people's experiences here are the same.  Two people could be applying for the same thing (residency, driver's licence, switching the power on) and they will have completely different experiences and be told completely different processes for doing them.  It is just the way it is.  We have a word over here that sums it all up - 'Insha 'allah' which means 'with God's will'.  So you just have to hope that God's will is working for you on any particular day, time and situation.  A big leap of faith indeed!