Driving in Abu Dhabi

First two things I learned about driving in Abu Dhabi, are---1) rules as we know them don't exist, and 2) it's every man for himself. It will be a long while till I get brave enough, if ever, to drive here. I am perfectly fine with being the passenger. Taxis are my friend!

We have a Mitsubishi Outlander(?)----some sort of SUV. Its small, utilitarian, leased and....did I mention small? Small is a grrrrrrrreat benefit here. Parking is hard to find, spaces are small, and just navigating the roads makes a small car a benefit. The parking here at the apartment is underground, so we are always assured of a space when we get home. The malls have parking garages so they arent too bad. Street lights, turn signals, lane arrows.......all to be ignored and scoffed at. My trips with Mark, who has adjusted remarkably well to driving here, still causes me heart palpitations and sweaty palms and a lot of "ut oh's", stifled screams and the famous foot on the brake that doesnt exist in the passenger side.

Our most remarkable experience to date was a venture we made out for more passport-sized photos, mostly for my resident visa and etc....and Mark feels its handy to have extras around. He arrived home from work one night, knew just the place we needed to go for the photo, and we proceeded. A leisurely dinner was planned out following our photos. We were minding our own business in the right-hand lane, keeping up with traffic and watching for our turn. Suddenly, a man cuts off in front of us, missing us by literally inches, and slams on his brakes. He gets out of his car, comes back to ours, and starts shrieking and waving his hands wildly. Mark lowered his window down a bit, told the guy in English and used hand-language--"no damage done, all is ok, let's go on our way". This guy was having none of it...he began shoving our car with his hands, screaming at the top of his lungs.....I could only imagine knives, guns, bombs....anything with a potential of bloodshed. Mere minutes went by, another man in native white robes and head-dress and driving a huge white LandCruiser pulls to a screeching halt on our left...fully pinning us in....and I decided, 'THIS IS INDEED 'it'....and my life flashes before my eyes. He rolls down his passenger window, and a furious word exchange takes place between the two men. This went on for a good 5-10 minutes, finally the first guy got into his car and speeds off the next five feet before the next car in the lane. The guy on our left gave us a huge smile and a big double thumbs up, and pulls away. We had no clue why the first guy chose us to unload on, why the second guy came to our aide.....but we lived through it! We got our photos and made the grand decision to go back to the apartment and throw a pizza in the oven...heck with a dinner out! Saying we were rattled is a vast understatement.

Mark keeps mentioning getting me a leased car....but I balk, I don't think I will ever be to the point of wanting to drive on my own here. The city is physically about the size of Albuquerque, on an island, with maybe 3 or more times the population.

In the next few days, I will talk about a little bit about the history of the UAE, and how life is for them now. Its a very pretty city, very clean, new buildings and plenty of museums and open-air markets. Adios for now!