Getting Started in Sharjah

I have been avoiding writing my initial blog from Sharjah, as it has seemed from the beginning that there is simply too much happening to try to condense into any sort of reasonable blog. And beyond that (and in spite of the fact that no one but myself will likely read this one), I have been hampered by the thought that I ought to have some extra poignant things to say in my initial blog from such a new and fascinating place.

The truth is that the whole experience is profound and poignant, and there is not one story to start with that could capture that experience. In fact, it is--and I suspect is likely to become even more so as time evolves--the overall experience of being here that is what I want to convey to people when they ask "So how is it over there?". I'm not sure if it is just me. But I find that this is a particularly difficult question to do justice to. I tend to retreat back to answers like "it is really great!" - which of course says very little.

So here goes nothing. I am going to make a valiant effort to regularly update this thing in order to try to remember and get a sense for myself (and for anyone who wants to keep up on my experiences) how this experience is shaping my perspective.

I guess the place to start is to say that being here in UAE is really great! I have been here for about 2 1/2 weeks, and am beginning to settle in a bit. It takes a lot to do that in any new job and location. But all of that is compounded by the fact that this is also a new country and culture, with many added administrative things to take care of and interesting quirks to adapt to. For instance, things do get done here. They just don't in the manner or in the time-frame that one from the States might anticipate. I was told before I came that a key here is to keep a sense of humor. So far, so good.

I managed to do so through my journey here, in spite of the fact that my initial flight got canceled right before it took off. I mean the plane literally came to a screeching halt as it was turning the corner to start take off. The steering mechanism had broken down. That set in motion a series of issues that resulted in my not leaving Bloomington for another 3 days.

I eventually did get to Sharjah though, though I missed orientation. It has been suggested that this might have been a blessing in disguise, given the excessive fun that orientations typically are. Of course, I would never admit the truth in that - at least not in such a public forum. The downside of missing orientation was that I missed the fast-tracking of residency visas. This led to a two week delay in getting mine.

But I am officially a resident of Sharjah now. Next step - my UAE driver's license...

In the next couple of blogs, I will play a bit of catch up on my initial stories from the first couple of weeks here.