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.