My First Time in Abu Dhabi

I have come to appreciate the concept of experiencing things for yourself before you cast a judgement and my recent trip to Abu Dhabi gave me my new for appreciation!    For as long as I could remember, travelling to the Middle East has been laden with negativity and misconceptions however based on my own personal experience I can correct the misconceptions…

I have been known to make decision on a whim and I have to admit there is some truth to that!  Earlier this year, seemingly out of the blue, I decided I need a break from the monotony that was life and school.  Thought of a Caribbean experience but, what the heck, if I was going to do this I might as well do it big....so I decided to go to London for a couple months and in between that time hop across and spend some time with my girlfriend and her family in Abu Dhabi!

The whole idea of London was familiar as it was not a first time experience for me.  I had been to before and have loads of family living there so it was no big adventure.  Abu Dhabi…now…that was definitely going to be an adventure!

It’s amazing how people have opinions and preconceived notions about things they’ve never experienced.  Notwithstanding, the fact that Abu Dhabi in and of itself has certain stigmas.  So, before I left I was told all sorts of things, given all sorts of warnings from the few people who knew what my whereabouts were going to be in the future…my dress code seem to be of grave concern!  “Make sure you cover up when you get there, before you get thrown in jail…jail there different” was one of the stern warning I received.

If I say I was fearless as I boarded that plane to the first leg of my trip to Abu Dhabi I would be lying…I was quaking big time…didn’t know what to expect…wasn’t sure how much of what I heard I was about to experience!  I was pleasantly surprise…from the check in counter all the way to Qatar, where I had to get my connecting flight, the service was amazing!  It was as though I had paid for first class travel and boy was I loving it!  The flight was long….eight or nine hours thereabout….but I was constantly fed,  the aircraft itself was comfortable…so when I was not eating or watching TV…I was fast asleep!!!  The flight attendants were very warm, helpful and welcoming. A grave contrast to the misconceptions floating around.

Qatar from the air..

“Please Lord, let me make it to Abu Dhabi in one piece” was the only thought that consumed me as I approached Qatar airport for landing.  Qatar airport, relatively new, is the hub to the Middle East so traffic was heavy as I made my way to my assigned gate. I saw all sorts of people, some you could have made an educated guess as to their nationality and others you just couldn’t.  There were people dressed in traditional clothing as well as conservative western style clothing…it didn’t seem as strict as it was made out to be. 

Finally, Welcome to Abu Dhabi was the greeting as I stepped off the plane – this is where the panic started to kick in – omg how does this Immigration thing work here? Do I smile or remain serious? Do I make eye contact or not?  It was at this point I wished I had done bit more research or asked my girlfriend more questions.  I started paying attention, figured out what the process was, noticed that not everyone was required to do an eye scan and that there was large groups of people who appeared to be related, noted that persons were pulled out the line and asked to wait as the Immigration Officer sought to clarify the information presented…

My turn finally came, nerves obviously showing…I walked up to the window with my documents in hand.  This native male specie scans through the information and asked me two questions – what was the purpose of my visit and where would I be staying – then proceeded to ask this trini to do an eye scan…huh. Needless to say that my panic went to an all-time high at this point – I had reminded myself this is not Trinidad, calm the hell down…they don’t play here…with that I took the few steps, stood in front the machine and followed the instructions uttered out by the said officer very obediently …who by the way did not smile…not once!  A few minutes later I was making my way to collect my luggage and greet Debra…who like myself was relieved to see me walk out the door!

Now had I listen to ill-informed people I would have never venture out of London during my stay…I would have limited myself to one place, one experience simply because it was familiar and safe.  You never truly know until to try it for yourself. 

I had many first experiences in Abu Dhabi…look out for part 2 where I share my adventures and a bit of the culture.