Will you still need me, will you still love me when I am 60…not in Abu Dhabi!

I think everyone knows I like to talk and I talk a lot. I do, however, like to listen and observe as well. In fact, during this trip I have tried to do a lot of listening to as many people as possible talk about life in this part of the world and particularly Abu Dhabi.

Earlier in my trip I blogged a bit about, Abu Dhabi being a place where everybody works and nobody lives, which is an assumption I haven’t changed during my two weeks here. If there is one thing that drives this City is money, money, money!

Related to this I began to notice that the city had very few older people. At first I thought I was imagining it, so I made a deliberate effort to look at people to try and see if I could see someone in their 60s or 70s. I have seen a few, mostly tourists in my hotel and a few locals, but not many. It turns out that people over 60 in Abu Dhabi are not allowed to work unless they have express permission from the Government, which rarely happens. Expatriates in the private sector can work until they are 65, but need to have their labour permits expanded on annual basis. Most shocking of all is that there is no pension for expats, once you hit 60, unless you are part of the 15% emirate population, you have to leave the UAE or face almost certain poverty. Hence, why there are so few older people in Abu Dhabi. I found this quite shocking. As someone who used to work for Help the Aged campaigning on issues of equality, it was very depressing to hear this. The UAE has a real retirement cliff edge.

Older people aren’t the only ones who are blatantly discriminated against. I have seen very few people with noticeable physical disabilities. I have seen some marked car-parking bays for people with disabilities, but they are surrounding by very high pavements, with a tiny lowering for wheelchairs that don’t even level out with the parking space. It would be almost impossible for any wheelchair user to get out of their car on to the pavement. Not that you would get far. The pavements have large cracks, dents, holes and a frequently intersected with roads with no suitable crossing points. People largely ignore the parking-bays anyway, I’ve seen people park in them and practically jump out of their vehicles making me suspect that they have any disability (I know not all disabilities are visible, but knowing this City I think I am right to have my suspicions).

Speaking with people that have been here a lot longer than me I have heard that people with disabilities are looked upon by their families as an embarrassment and so are kept indoors. Many don’t get any kind of education, never work, and aren’t seen in public. The Government has made the first tentative steps towards supporting people with disabilities and some Government departments have started actively recruiting people with disabilities, but for the most part is tokenism. At least, however, it is a start and hopefully they will continue to progress.

There are also no beggars or homeless people on the street. It’s illegal for adults and children to beg. I can’t say that I miss people asking me for spare change, but I do wonder what support there is out there for those that are homeless or out of work with no benefits or support, and I have heard that they do exist on the fringes.

In other news, last week I spotted a couple of speed cameras along the Corniche Road – a very long stretch of road that runs around the perimeter of the City. I was quite surprised considering the unruly nature of the traffic here. I also noticed that every time I have passed them, I run past them most evenings, the traffic has not slowed down even at over 60mph and the cameras have never once papped at anyone.

I thought this both unsurprising and fairly typical of driving and traffic standards in Abu Dhabi. I found out today why they never go off, they are apparently set at 100 mph! That is speeding in Abu Dhabi!! That certainly helps explain a lot. It would be funny, if it wasn’t so serious. I’ve heard some pretty bad stories during my time here of accidents and people getting hurt. Apparently with the Formula One here this weekend they have reduced the speed limit, to try and curb the accidents and injuries while the world is watching, and so they don’t accidently kill new world champion Jenson Button.

And finally, Formula One is in town at the moment and the whole place has gone a little crazy, crazier than normal. There are twice as many people clogging up the streets, airport security at all the hotels and major buildings, and people giving out flyers everywhere. I am glad I am leaving before it gets underway proper!

Challenged to a race by an man on a bicycle, well of course I said yes!!

More about the big race later, firstly, I thought I would talk about new 5 star life-style.

I’ve never considered myself to be rich or poor. Despite the fact that I have thousands of pounds of debt left over from being a student, don’t own a flat or a house, and have a pension that’s not even two years old and has already been shot to hell by the credit crunch. I do own a car, but it’s neither new nor high in value.

Anyway, the point is that I have always been comfortable, middle of the road, right through childhood and adulthood. The very wealthy is not a group of people or a lifestyle that I have ever really been a part of or known. Yet this past 9 or 10 days or so, I have experienced a little bit of that lifestyle, firstly with the Club World Travel, which I have already talked about, but also with my 5 star beach resort hotel in Abu Dhabi.

From the complimentary shoe shine and bottles of water to the daily bowls of fruit, to the hello Mr. Meade from all the staff who seem to know my name whether I’ve spoken to them or not, it’s all quite incredible. My room is even serviced twice a day, something I hadn’t realised until last Thursday, as I have not spent much time in my room due to work.

It was early evening and a particularly speedy taxi driver had got me back earlier than normal. I dumped my bag on my made-up bed, turned on the TV and started drinking a bottle of water only to hear a knock at the door. I opened it to see the room service trolley and a man from guest services standing outside. I quickly pointed out that my room had been serviced already. He responded, “Yes, Mr. Meade, but would you like it prepared for the evening?” Curious, I said yes. He came in drew the curtains, turned on the soft lamps, added a few more bottles of water pulled out the complimentary bedroom slippers and placed them on a special slipper mat that he had produced and set by the side of my bed. He then placed a fresh flower on my pillow. It was only then that I realised that was how my room normally greeted me every evening. Class.

The laundry service is another perfect example of this quality. At the weekend I stuffed my t-shirts, boxers, socks, and shirts into a bag and with one quick call to guest services a man appeared and took it away. They returned 12 hours later, the shirts cleaned and ironed, resting on hangers, the t-shirts and other clothes arrived in a wicker box. Inside they were neatly folded and ironed, with the cardboard supports you get in new shirt packaging helping them keep their shape. The socks were all neatly paired up, some of those socks haven’t been paired up since they were bought, it must have been quite a shock for them.

I am sure I could get use to some of this, especially the attention to detail that seems to separate this kind of service from the normal hotel service. I could certainly get use to the complimentary hot chocolate I get every evening in the business lounge and the way they clean and tidy the room. Not sure I can get used to the constant, “Mr. Meade” or the way that most of the staff acts in a subservient way when around me. They certainly don’t see themselves as equals in anyway and I feel very uncomfortable about that.

In other news, I went for my usual run tonight, and for the most part it was no different than any other night. However, as I was heading home along a pavement where the road it runs beside has been closed for maintenance, an Indian guy rode up alongside me on his bike. The bike was fairly old fashioned and even had a grocery basket attached to the front. It certainly wasn’t anything that would grace Lance Armstrong’s shed. In a very nice manner and with a smile on his face he turned to me and said, “I challenge you. Race? Challenge?” I was a little shocked at first and wasn’t sure what he meant, but he said it again. I don’t know if he was joking or serious, but he looked a little taken back when I accepted his challenge and inquired where the race was to finish. He suggested the traffic lights at the end of the road.

So we were off. He started peddling hard and I managed to stay level with him and still keep a little something back. It was at this point that I noticed his nice polite smile had gone and he was genuinely working hard. I am not sure he had bargained for this. I had abandoned the pavement and taken to the road at this point to get closer to him and the pair of us passed another bemused cyclist. Half-way and I was just hanging on, but still felt I had more to give. My challenger was pushing hard, head down and trying to break away. Unfortunately for me, at this point he did start to pull a way, so I had to give it everything. My arms were pumping, my chest heaving to the point of breaking and I could feel the jelly legs coming, but I wasn’t giving up. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many cases of man beating bicycle, even one as beat up as this, and with a hundred metres to go until the lights he got a couple of bike lengths ahead of me and in the end his victory was assured. He pulled up, turned and smiled, although it was full of relief rather than joy. He said thank you, waved his hand goodbye and then carried on. I had enjoyed our little race, but I was slightly disappointed, if it had happened at the start of my evening run, rather than the end, then I might have beaten him, maybe. Still all good fun and technically my first Abu Dhabi race!

And finally, when walking down the corridor of my hotel I passed a guy who I guessed was from the UK. He was and as we passed he just turned to me and said, “Wottcha!” I haven’t heard that in years, I didn’t realise anyone still used this expression. I was so tempted to say it back, but instead opted for the boring, “Alright.”

Friday is Saturday in Abu Dhabi

Well it’s the weekend here in AD.

In the short time I have been here I have noticed that I have tried, subconsciously I think, to adopt the same routine that I have at home in Edinburgh. Work during the day followed by a run and gym in the evening, dinner, a bit of TV and then bed. And it’s been the same on the first day of my weekend, I've tried to adopt the same routine.

Today is Friday, the first day of the weekend, so basically a Saturday for me and again I’ve done pretty much what I normally do on a Saturday only is a lot hotter!! I got up went for a run, had some breakfast, chilled out and read a bit (albeit on a beach by the sea), went to the shops, now I am watching TV (although no X Factor for me) after having some tea. I’ve quite enjoyed it really, and after a busy week I was quite tired and didn’t have the energy to do too much else, nor the inclination. Mind you, in the midday heat, unless aided by the air con, you really don’t want to do too much.

It’s made me realise, although I knew it already, that I am a creature of habit and really like routine. Dull, perhaps, but I do not care.

In other news, I visited the Abu Dhabi Mall today – a massive super shopping centre, three or four times the size of the Buchannan Galleries in Glasgow. It is spread over three levels and is mainly full of western brands from Virgin, Next, BHS, Starbucks, to Claire's as well as a mixture of smaller Arabic-style stores. I was struck by just how western it was with the Backstreet Boys (or at least I guessed it was them…) playing out of the speakers and advertisements for Pepsi, Coke, Subway and MacDonalds everywhere. I think the only modern-day Western icon that was missing was David Beckham. I am sure there will be a poster of him somewhere!

To paraphrase from John Travalota in Pulp Fiction “they got the same shit over there as they have here. Just here it’s a little different.”

The mall is very much like any major shopping centre back at home. There were groups of young kids messing about, zipping by on heelies (the trainers with the wheels) hanging out by the cinema and flicking through the comics in the Virgin shop. However, they were more respectful and well behaved than many of the kids that hang around our shopping centres. There were families, tourists, and locals all mixed together. The people there reflected the international mix of the city and they were all out and about either to shop, eat or be entertained. I was really tickled to see some of things that people from Asia the Middle East, and the Gulf were buying, including a guy from the Gulf purchasing a copy of Paul McKenna’s Imagine myself thin and another picking up a complete DVD set of Yes Minister. I would never have imagined.

The experience was slightly disappointing as I was hoping for a little more culture and tradition rather than quarter-pounders and Britney. However, I guess that’s the nature of this city. Maybe I just found the wrong shopping centre. I’d quite like to go out a bit and see if I can find that culture, but I am not sure I will have the time, but maybe tomorrow, we’ll see.

A meal can make all the difference and Air Con fights back!

It’s amazing the power that food can have. Everyone who knows me knows that I love food, I love cooking it, eating it and sharing it. Today I was feeling pretty low, not really sure why, I guess we all feel that way sometimes. However, I think you notice it so much more when you are not around the people you are close to and the places you know.

So that’s how I felt before going to meet some FH clients for lunch today. The lunch was at the Shangri-La Hotel and what a place it is, simply beautiful. I met with three of my clients and they were all charming, very friendly and really good company, not always a combination you have at a client lunch!

The food was every bit as fantastic as the hotel. It was a self service buffet with an inexhaustible range of choices from Moroccan food in beautiful tagine pots, to a choice of 6 Indian curries bubbling away in large pans, a large selection of fresh sushi, Arabic foods, and a counter for western-style foods, which included something that looked like shepherd’s pie. The smells and choice were almost overwhelming. I tried to fill my plate with as much as I could without looking greedy. Thankfully my fellow diners seemed to have had the same idea. It was all beautifully cooked. I had Moroccan lamb, chick peas, rice and a chicken curry, with some fresh salad – gorgeous!

If that wasn’t impressive then the deserts selection was even more spectacular. It was like a scene out of Charlie and the chocolate factory, and I felt like the tubby kid that just wanted to eat everything! The focal point for the deserts were three milk and two white chocolate fountains and gathered round them were plates and plates of sweets of all different colours, cakes with frosting, cakes with chocolate, fruit cakes, there were puddings, meringues, ice cream and sorbets. I could have spent the rest of the afternoon there working my way though it all and still not made a dent. There was even a guy who made fresh crepes. I had a little bit of everything, including a crepe filled with caramel ice cream and covered in chocolate sauce. Thankfully no one seemed to mind me returning to the table with two plates!

The food combined with the company and the surroundings totally lifted my mood and I felt good all afternoon. The power of a meal is truly immense.

In other news Abu Dhabi has read my blog and has sent a memo! My hotel room and taxi today both had no air con! It was roasting, way too hot! My office was also a lot warmer this afternoon, I even had to take my jacket off for the first time and was drinking water by the bucket load. I now miss the air con! I've been taught a valuable lesson by someone, somewhere who clearly has a master switch to all the air con.

And finally, I decided that I could easily develop an unhealthy relationship with the treadmill that would probably lead to me killing myself trying to go faster and faster. Also, I remembered that I hate treadmills and there is no substitute to running outside, so I manned-up and braved the streets of Abu Dhabi. There is, thankfully, a lovely long stretch of promenade that runs along the sea front here and it has cycle paths and walk ways, a perfect place to run. Getting there is a little tasking, as you have to work your way through 1.3 miles of the concrete jungle/building site that is Abu Dhabi. Combined with drivers who care little for red lights, pedestrians and runners getting to the Corniche, as it is known, is an achievement in itself! It was just after 7pm when I left for my run and the outside temperature, according to the hotel, was 30c. It certainly felt it, but it was great to be outside running again. I managed 9 miles and true to my nature really pushed it once I was on the Corniche even managing to get up to 7 minute per mile pace, which I thought was quite good in the heat. Eyeballs out, dripping with sweat I pounded the pavement hard, so hard that again I was drawing looks from people around me and even an Arabic comment (I don’t know what) as I overtook a man on a bike! I felt great when I got back to the hotel. I lost close to 2.5kg in weight in just over an hour of running, which gives you an indication of how much I sweated (nice). I didn’t touch the bottle of water I brought with me until half way and I had turned round to run back. When I poured some of it over my head it was as a warm as shower water. I’m already looking forward to doing the same run tomorrow.

Right, I’ve rambled on for long enough. I’m off to bed. Tomorrow is Thursday, which is Abu Dhabi Friday. Not sure there will be any crunchies though…

It’s freezing in Abu Dhabi and the Taxi Sat Nav system is unique, but useless!

Not much new today at work. Still massive internet problems. More fantastic arabic food for lunch, which was great. My work is quite dull, but it needs doing a lot of drafting letters, biogs and reworking documents, so I will blog on other more interesting stuff.

I mentioned air con yesterday. Thanks to the air con the title of this entry is a 100% accurate! I am already sick of the air con. It's everywhere, in all the cars, offices and rooms. Despite being in a country that has an outside temperature of well over 30 degrees I am constantly cold!! Everyone has it blasting out. I've barely needed my deodorant!

I've even tried turning off the air con in my hotel room, but like HAL in 2000 AD it has a mind of its own and just starts up again, with an added humming noise that sounds very threatening. I have found a reasonable solution, by opening the balcony door the cold air blows out the window. If I sit on the balcony the cool breeze in the warm night air comes from my bedroom and not outside!!

In other more exciting news the taxi driver who took me home today told me it was his first day on the job. I could tell he was new as he used his indicators and left more than 5 inches between his bumper and the back of the car in front. But most telling was that he was using a tourist street map to guide him, which sat on the passenger seat. He spent more time looking at that, than the road, nearly causing several accidents! Tourist map = worst sat nav ever! He still managed to get hopelessly lost! I've been here 3 days and had to give him directions! He even stopped to allow pedestrians to cross the road. They looked very shocked, as normally they have to run for their lives in some sort a very unfair British bulldog game. In fact, it took him so long I wrote most of this blog entry on the journey. Even when he reached the hotel vicinity he managed to drive us on to the slip road for the car park to the shopping mall next door. In the end I had to abandon the cab and walk the final 100 metres. Give me the dangerous lunatics who get me home in 20 mins rather than the new guy who takes 45 mins!!!

And finally, I hit the gym again today and took off three minutes from yesterday’s 10k treadmill time – result!! I sense a personal competition coming on. The treadmill was going so fast by the end of my run that it was rattling and vibrating quite loudly. I could see those around me on the other treadmills looking on quite nervously, as I pushed it to the limit. Need to break the time again tomorrow.

"No one lives in Abu Dhabi, everybody works"

Well another day has passed. The working environment today wasn’t as chaotic and I felt a little more settled. What didn’t help was serious internet and IT problems that hindered the whole office. The full time staff there were very frustrated.

However, I am not going to blog too much about work today, but rather about a few impressions I have made about Abu Dhabi in the short time I have been here. Someone said to me that “no one lives in Abu Dhabi, everybody works.” It is very true, from the top to the bottom. There are those working at the top of business and industry who earn big bucks for a couple of years and then head home or somewhere else that offers more money.

Then there are those, mainly immigrants from Asia and parts of the Far East, who fill most of the service jobs in the hotels and offices, as well as many of the manual labour jobs. Most of these workers live in camps outside the city and are bussed in every morning for work and then at the end of the day bussed back out again. They certainly don’t get many of the luxuries that come with a city like Abu Dhabi. The money they earn is sent back to their families at home and many don’t see them or their homes for many years. It makes me feel a little bit stupid for missing Gail and Jack (and Stephen) after just a few days!

In other news, I went for a swim yesterday in the outdoor pool at night time, which was lovely – managed 60 lengths breaststroke before having to drag myself out of the pool. I was getting competitive with myself continuingly demanding just 5 more laps! Today I managed a visit to the gym and even though it was air conditioned I was dripping with sweat by the time I had finished my 10k on the treadmill. It is so hot.

Tomorrow, I think I might talk about the air-conditioning here! It’s everywhere.

Tip One – don’t walk back to the hotel, it is very hot even at 5pm!!

Day one done! What a day! Up early at 6.30am, it’s an early start here. I met my fellow FHer’s Kerry and Michael for breakfast, which was nice and simple. We chatted about Abu Dhabi and the job ahead, so it was good to get a better idea about what I will be doing and learn a little bit about more life here.

The car journey from the hotel to the offices where I am working was something else. There’s little courtesy and lots of aggression as the cars streak between each other searching for the best and quickest way through the ongoing building works. For those that live in Edinburgh and complain about the trams, you haven’t seen anything yet. Thankfully, traffic didn’t move that quickly otherwise there could well have been several accidents. It’s not difficult to understand why so many cars have collected dents, scrapes and holes!!

So Kerry and I arrived at the Chamber of Commerce, which is where the IRENA offices are based for our meeting at 8.30am. No one was there, other than the service staff who facilitate the office spaces there. IRENA had yet to move in. Move in day was in fact today, so at roughly 9am a whole load of people arrived and began filling the empty offices. It was certainly a little chaotic. We had been moved into a small empty office to wait to speak to the Director-General and her communications staff. It took a while, but eventually we were called in. There seems to be a lot to do and I think I will be very busy over the next couple of weeks. It appears as though I will be drafting a lot of materials. It was an interesting working environment with a lot of excitement, as it is a very new organisation, and moving into their new offices today was a big deal for them. It will be very interesting to see how it pans out.

In other news, I had a falafel for lunch today from the cafeteria and it was very, very nice! I am already enjoying the food!

After work, in an attempt to get to know the city a little better and being from Scotland, where sun appears once a month and so far away it keeps you as warm as 60w Tesco value light bulb, I thought it would be nice to walk home in the sunshine. Oh dear! It is really warm even at 5pm! The hotel is about 3 miles away, so the ensuing hour long walk started off nicely but quickly transcended into a desire for a well air conditioned taxi! I persisted, as I was walking along Cornichie Road, which is by the sea and has a lovely pedestrian area. Going off this area and back into the concrete grid/ building site which is the rest of the city wasn’t so pleasant, but eventually I made it back to the hotel.

Back in my room I opened my window to see that the tower block across the road, which is in the process of being built, was quite badly on fire with black smoke spilling out across the city. Thankfully the wind was taking it in the opposite direction. As I type this I am pleased to report it is now under control and the thousands of flashing blue lights have slowly reduced in number.

So that’s day one! I am off to try out the swimming pool before getting an early night. I am still a little short on sleep, but feeling good. Hopefully day two will be good as well.

From Aviemore to Abu Dhabi – all in a day’s work at Fleishman-Hillard

It’s Saturday night and I am meant to be at SNP Conference in Aviemore. However, I am sat in typing this in the Rotana Beach Resort in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.

How? It’s not as if you can take a wrong turn on the A9 and suddenly appear in the desert. No, it all started on Thursday lunchtime. Sarah, my boss took a call from Kevin, her boss. I remember looking across from desk to the Boardroom and could see it was quite a serious call. A moment later she came out of the room, and asked to speak to me. I must have looked nervous, because straight away Sarah told me not to worry, I wasn’t in trouble. It was then that she hit me with, “Can you go and work in Abu Dhabi for 2 weeks? And you need to be there on Sunday.”

It took a while to sink in. My gut instinct was to say yes straight away, but I had to check. Thankfully there was nothing that couldn’t be missed, skipped or postponed, so within 10 minutes of being called into the Boardroom I was no longer going to Aviemore but to Abu Dhabi – exciting was one of many feelings to rush through my mind, fear was another. The details of what I was going to be doing were sketchy at best, but that was to come later.

In the run up to leaving I began to have a number of concerns.

Firstly, leaving Gail (and Jack and Stephen of course) was really hard. I am not used to going away for long periods, just the odd day or two. I also had next to no time to get used to the idea too. So it was really difficult saying goodbye on Friday evening. They say absence is good for the heart, but I reckon it just makes it ache!

Secondly, I am a fanatical exerciser, as most of you know, especially running. I run every day. So of course I am worried about how that is going to work. To give you an idea of how obsessed I am at the hotel at Heathrow this morning I got up at 5am to go and do an hour’s running on the treadmill followed by a 30 minute weights routine!! The AD resort where I am staying apparently has a good gym and a pool. There is also a local running club called the Abu Dhabi Striders (Google is marvellous!) – I have emailed them, but as yet no reply. I have telephone numbers, so will try and ring them tomorrow. It would be great if I could meet up with a few people to go running, although the heat might be a major barrier.

Finally, the work! I am worried that I won’t be up to the job, I am worried about how I will settle in and adapt to a new culture and way of working, but I guess this is natural. The good thing is I am excited and enthusiastic, and I do have confidence in myself so I am sure I will be able to make it a success – we’ll see and you’ll hear about it here!

One of the most exciting parts of the trip today was travelling Club World on BA. I am sure for some travelling business class is old hat, but I never have. It lived up to my expectations and more and was a real experience.

I hate flying, simply can’t stand it. Don’t know why, I am sure it some kind of control thing combined with a fear of falling – or something like that. I normally sit on planes and count down the seconds from take-off to landing, shifting so nervously in my seat that those around me start to look a little worried. I can’t even get on a plane without performing certain rituals, which involve stroking the side of the plane as I get on and off! Yes, I am a little mad when it comes to flying.

However, today was so different. I felt relaxed from the start. I still did my little routine. The reclining chair, the orange juice on arrival, the blanket and pillow and a nice menu with a range of options for lunch it was all so civilised, how could I be worried? With nice food, a relaxing seat and a choice of films I settled back and really enjoyed the flight. The service was brilliant and it’s definitely something everyone should have the chance to experience. I am looking forward to my return flight and I never thought I would ever relish the chance of getting on a plane!

Arriving at night it was hard to take in much of the city. The only thing that I really noticed was the heat. Stepping off the plane I was hit by a heat wave so strong I thought at first it was somehow coming from the plane’s engines. It wasn’t, it was night time Abu Dhabi! Wow. One thing’s for sure it’s going to be even hotter when the sun is up!

My hotel is also amazing. It has 10 restaurants for a start! I have not had any time to explore yet, so more on that later. My room is huge, with a private ‘sea view’ balcony. Although from where I was standing the ‘sea view’ looked more like a building site! It is still lovely though. The large bed, wardrobes and sofas mean that I am going to be more than relaxed in there. The walk-in shower is amazing as well.

So here I am for the next two weeks in my temporary Abu Dhabi home. In terms of the work, I have had a bit more detail, but will know much more tomorrow. I am going to be providing some communications support for the International Renewable Energy Agency or IRENA to give it is acronym. I start tomorrow at 7.15am with a breakfast meeting with my AD based colleague Kerry. I am tired, but quite excited now! I’ll report back after.