#ToVisitinUAE - Before and After moving to UAE

Hello.

It's been quite a long time since the last time I've posted. I left Thailand just last June to work in the United Arab Emirates. And mind you, the process of moving out of a country was so stressful. So I had a 1 month preparation after submitting my resignation. Of course, some of the stuffs that I don't use on a daily basis were already packed and to be sent to my family back in the Philippines. I faced several problems while waiting for my flight to UAE that I lost a lot of weight, almost skin and bones. I struggled financially thinking that I had to have some money with me going to another country. But by God's grace and mercy (He is indeed Mighty in every circumstances), I had more than THB 20,000 (which I didn't expected at all) with me on my way to the airport. I was able to travel to Chiang Mai for 3 days and 2 nights a week before my flight and I had at least relieved my stressful mind. 

So comes the day that I arrived to a new place. It was a 7-8 hours flight through FlyDubai from Bangkok to Dubai. And what greeted my at the skyline was a place of desert. Upon landing, I did not see any building or anything which made me question myself, did I made the correct choice? Short testimony: Looking back, before I received the job offer, I fervently prayed that if I passed the interview then it's surely a job that God prepared for me and if not, then I should stay. I have not stopped praying for the right job that would push me to closer again to God and would not hinder my ministry in serving because my heart truly desires to keep the fire burning for the Lord. As I was accepted with this job in this country, a lot of questions ran into my mind particularly, "Why here?". But we never what God prepared for us, and what I'm sure of is that His plans are always good for me. 

Going back to the story, the airport was not quite as what I had expected. It's very modern, no crowd, and most importantly, disciplined. Usually, upon reaching the immigration, they will have this webcam on their counters to take your photo, but in here, they have this huge iris scanner that will serve as your record. The immigration officer was quite annoyed during my turn because my eyes were so tiny and the system cannot read that I had to try many times. After passing through, I was picked up by a future colleague from the airport and dropped me at the accommodation. The place was good, clean, huge, air-conditioned, great people and it was again not as I imagined (double decker beds). I have my own bed but I share the room and the entire flat with others which is not bad (I am just not used to it because I lived alone). I arrived on the 27th of June and I am dead tired and had to adjust with the different time zone. I was scheduled for an orientation on 2nd of July till 4 and start my first shift on the 6th. So I had few days to rest and explore the place. On those short time, I was able to go to Dubai alone (I live in Ajman by the way) to meet with a friend and a churchmate (she delivered her baby). What surprised me the most was that I arrived with a 40-50 degree Celsius temperature that you can literally cook an egg on the road. I like going out for the sake of seeing stuffs of the new place but with the temperature, I didn't even bother going out of the building. People at my workplace were all nice. They've greeted me by name and I've never felt more welcomed than what I had experienced here. 

Fast forward to now, I've been smart with using my money. I had been very unconscious with the money I spent on my first since I thought that the value of it was low. Thinking 30 AED was also equivalent to 30 THB but hell it was 10 times higher if converted. So as of now, I can say that I have adjusted with the food, the money, the weather, the people and so on. I go to Dubai once in a while (if it's sale) and visit Sharjah. We had a one time trip to Abu Dhabi and visited Jebel Hafeet, Grand Mosque and the Louvre Abu Dhabi (which I'm still thinking of sharing). As I'm writing this, the weather is the best I've experienced because it's cold day and night, the cold wind blowing to your face, foggy during the early morning and it's always a good day to walk home. 

I still have loads of plans to travel within UAE and also the places that I have visited and I will surely keep it posted.