My Place

Let me post some pictures of the bizarre little world I've found myself in here at the Radisson Blu, and which has left me feeling more than a bit like Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. I arrived late last night at the Abu Dhabi Airport after a very long flight. I had visited Abu Dhabi a few times before, but only after flying into the Dubai Airport. Because I'm actually working here it would have taken longer to check in at the airport than if you're just visiting, which, if you're an American, is just dropping down your passport. There was a long line to look at passports and visas and go through the eye scanner, but I was greeted as soon as I got off the plane by a nice young Filopino woman from a service that whisks me people through the airport, and that's exactly what she did for me. She grabbed me and we blew right past the long queue as if I were an actual VIP (with me apologizing the all the folks in line as we strolled past). So, the entire process which I would imagine would take over an hour, ended up taking about two minutes. Then I was met by a driver arranged by Zayed University, and delivered on to the Radisson Blu, where they also made a big deal over my visit and joked about the fact that my reservation was for 99 nights. The Radisson Blu is located out on Yas Island, one of those man-made islands that the Emirates is famous for. Although the hotel is really nice I can also say that it's not really what I was looking for. I was hoping for a little two bedroom apartment in an actual neighborhood, where I could get used to the lay of the land and frequent little family restaurants, etc. There's nothing out here except for other posh hotels and Ferrari World and the formula one race course (which actually, at one point, runs underneath the five star Yas Hotel). If Zayed was looking to grab my attention they have, although I also can't say that I'm surprised. I just don't know how sustainable any of this is - either me staying here (there's no kitchen, although I have free breakfast everyday in the restaurant downstairs - and I guess I'll just swipe tons of yogurt and store them in my little fridge) or as a country (but more on that later). There also is no place to shop for food or place or laundromate, and I really don't want to spend the rest of the year eating dinner at the fine restaurants at th3e local hotels and having my laundry done by the hotel staff (although one of the perks that Zayed threw in was two free items of laundry a day - yes, it was explained to me last night as I checked in). The room and the hotel is beautiful, just sort of surreal. More on all this later, but here's a few pictures. The balcony is so long that it has two separate sliding doors. Again, it's just surreal.