Welcome to Al Ain... The new campus and a legendary desert town

The view of the desert from highest point in UAE, called Jebel Hafeet or Mountain Hafeet.
Below is the town Al Ain, where I reside.

The park Mubazzara, a green park below Jebel Hafeet.

Hey all, I have been in the United Arab Emirates for 2 weeks, and has it ever been interesting!

My flat is excellent, furnished with cherry wood furniture and grandiose. If you can rely on anything here it's the generosity and kindness of others particularly the Emirati culture which is rich in architecture, culture, education and wealth... Check out the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) new Maquam campus, and a few famous city sights below.

Pools of water between buildings on campus

My building: The College Humanities and Social Sciences... My office is here

Touring Al Ain Oasis - the town I live in is an ancient oasis,
named "Al Ain" means "spring" instead of eye

Mubazarra Park outside of Al Ain from the nearby mountain,  Jebel Hafeet

Malls here are SO lavish- this is a waterfall (the lines are water- not strings) around a pearly-gold elevator

The last 2 weeks have been interesting, challenging, and a test of patience... because it always takes time to get things done, or find one's way around a new place. Now I am settled into my sweet flat (apartment), and today I finally got cable and TV hooked up. I've got keys to my new office and everything, including my research is starting off slowly.  However I will keep you updated.

With all the difficulties I cannot stress enough how grateful I am for the generosity of the university UAEU... and the lovely young Emirati women I meet there. Some of them are the most determined, fashionable and above all, friendly people I have had the pleasure of meeting.

For example my first quirky ethnographic story:
    Last week, in my many attempts to find the easiest way to get home, I jumped on a bus I thought would take me near home to facilitate taking a cab. However, it was a bus headed for a city one hour away. When the young ladies some me board the bus, they stared a bit... so I greeted them "Assallam Alaikum" (usual Muslim greeting of "Peace be upon you"). They replied, and all began asking why I was on their bus.
    When I explained how confused I was, and the difficulties of finding a cab in the isolated student's exit point, they insisted on speaking to their driver on my behalf. As the driver approached the bus, these women basically talked him into a detour through town to drop me at my flat.
    They used their privilege, and their kindness to help a total stranger... although it was a minor inconvenience for them... it meant the world to me.