What do you mean your savings will go? I have heard most people spend way more than they usually would while they live in Dubai. Or are you saying the pay isn't as great as you thought it would be? Just curious
Thanks
There's no Home Depot here. No Target. No store here like we're used to where you can go in, take an hour, buy stuff you need and get your house set up quick. Believe me it's getting better than it used to, but it's a PITA doing anything for your car, house, computer, etc. And every store has complete idiots who cannot help you with what you need (if they even speak your language (can you speak Hindi? Urdu? a big help)) they'll just read the card in front of the item or the box/whatever like you just did. And return a item you bought? That's an adventure best experienced firsthand.
You wind up spending more than you did at home on inferior crap wasting half a day (for example, looking for a lag bolt). Guys on the 777 at least can get a US flight where they shop for some essential things from home, if they can fit it in their suitcase. I now cry when I walk into Target SFO, IAH.
Books at Borders here are crazily priced. Electronics are 220 only. Car parts...if you can find 'em, overpriced, and maybe fake. Some foodstuffs will shock you. Furniture mostly poorly made. I hope you like IKEA. And you had better get the biggest SUV made. You (and more importantly) your family deserve the safety. It's easier to get BurgerKing to show at your doorstep than an ambulance-you have been warned.
The circuit-breakers in my house pop more than my kid's pez dispenser...i have presently two leaks in my villa and one A/C busted. Crappy workmanship, uneducated, poor mechanics who show up and want to use YOUR tools because they aren't given any. I've witnessed first hand a Chinese guy stand in a deep pool of water checking pump electrics...I actually took three steps back so as not to get crisp myself. A dear friend here (since departed) once had a gas leak in his apartment that they could not find the source of. Finally, they found the skinniest, youngest 'helper' to craw though the ceiling with a
butane lighter until finding the leak. (SD, PM me, will ya?) I am not making this up. You will be off on trips trusting these guys with your home/family. Wait till your wife tells you her adventures when you return from your trips. I now ask mine to take a pix (I like pics with my stories).
It is said the first six months-year a new hire will not save a dime (believe it). The pay is what you think it is, it just evaporates like water in the desert. So does your time off. You will spend a day searching for just about anything and find just about nothing.
