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 Abu Dhabi
By Monique Frushon
Abu Dhabi is the place you want relatives and friends to visit--but on the other hand, maybe not. They become immediate converts, and after this experience will probably visit you no matter where you are posted. Yes, Abu Dhabi has pristine beaches, a skyline that rivals those of some U.S. East Coast cities and safe living conditions. European tourists flock to the UAE throughout the winter months to enjoy not only the comforts of home, but--more important to frostbitten Europeans--tolerably sunny weather from November through April. The sky stays clear and the aquamarine Persian Gulf contrasts with fine, white sandy beaches. Palm tree-lined boulevards and flower-covered medians surprise many visitors who never imagined a desert city could look so lush. For many Foreign Service employees, a posting to Abu Dhabi or the consulate general in Dubai is a break from the hardship of compound confinement and Third World deprivations. There is little that can't be found in the Emirates. The two main hubs of government, commerce and industry, Abu Dhabi and Dubai also boast world-class golf courses, ice skating rinks, bowling alleys and beach club resorts, as well as modern shopping malls and supermarkets. In fact, as far as shopping goes--if you can't find what you're looking for in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, it probably doesn't exist. The contrast between the noisy, cluttered souks scattered around town and the multistory, marble-floored malls with hundreds of Western-style boutiques epitomize the entire UAE: a blending of old and new. In the souks and back alleys are hundreds of small, crowded shops full of spices, fabrics, gold, carpets and electronics at bargain prices. The diversity of goods throughout the Emirates reflects not only the socioeconomic diversity--Armani versus Mr. Souza's tailor shop--but also the needs of a multicultural population. A recent statistic puts the UAE's population at 2.8 million, and of those only 20 percent are UAE nationals. In Abu Dhabi alone are 7,000 U.S. citizens and 8,000 citizens from the United Kingdom. Many European and North American companies are represented in the Emirates, which explains the large presence of Canadian and French, German, Swedish and other European citizens. The largest percentage of expatriates living and working in the UAE are from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. Looking around, it's surprising that the UAE as a country is only 27 years old and that almost nothing seen there today existed 30 years ago. Pictures of Abu Dhabi taken as recently as the 1960s depict a scattering of barasti or palm-frond huts or buildings made from coral, with a large white fort surrounded by a few palm trees. But an explosion of wealth from the production of oil, discovered in commercial quantities in the late 1960s, transformed Abu Dhabi's subsistence economy into one producing one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. The Emirates of Abu Dhabi--also the name of the capital city--is one of the seven Emirates and Oman peninsula states that joined to form the federation of the United Arab Emirates in 1971 after the British withdrew from the Gulf. The UAE is a model of a fully developed Middle Eastern country, and the credit goes largely to one man. President His Highness Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan aspired to build a unified, modern, internationally recognized country for his people. When he became ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966, the small Abu Dhabi population consisted of migrant Bedouins, coastal fisherman and pearl divers. Where the landscaped cities are today, there was mostly sand and little else. In fact, when the first U.S. Embassy in the UAE opened in 1972, there were no roads linking Abu Dhabi and Dubai. John Vieira, currently administrative officer in Port Louis, Mauritius, was one of the two Foreign Service employees tasked with setting up the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi. The consulate general in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, was designated as the staging post. Mr. Vieira spent four months in Dhahran coordinating the shipment of office and residential furniture by a 14-truck convoy from Beirut to Ad Dammam, Saudi Arabia, where everything was loaded on a boat for shipment to Abu Dhabi. He recalls the few choices he and the principal officer found when they arrived in Abu Dhabi looking for suitable office space and housing. When they walked through the door of the first potential office, they were shocked to see 15 falcons and their handlers, as well as blood and scraps from feeding time on the walls and floors. In the backyard, an additional 10 falcons sunned themselves on perches. Flabbergasted, the State visitors didn't wait to listen to the agent's promises of how great the place would look once the falcons were out and a fresh coat of paint was applied to the walls. The second potential site on the top floor of a five-story residential building on the corniche looked great by comparison, and was selected for the first U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi. The octagonal building, it was later learned, was structurally unsound. Mohammed Mackawee, the post's administrative assistant, recalls that the structure was built on sand and the high water table underneath caused the building to shift, crumble and slowly fall apart. After several makeshift repairs, the roof began caving in, prompting the embassy's move to its current location: a group of several modest villas surrounded by a wall. Today, in this city where new architectural masterpieces sparkle in the sun, the embassy looks antiquated, though it is by no means old. An unavoidable feature of life in the UAE is the endless construction: hotels, hospitals, schools, highways, ports and residential and commercial buildings. The building boom began in the early 1970s, and it didn't stop. "For 10 years they built day and night. It was hard to sleep because there was always hammering going on," recalls Mr. Mackawee. Houses were often constructed in a day, but then torn down two years later. It wasn't unusual to see 10 buildings rise up from the sand simultaneously. Today, construction continues. The most recent project, the dust still fresh in our minds--if no longer on our tongues--was the enlarging and straightening of the corniche, an eight-mile-long promenade along the ocean. The around-the-clock effort had the embassy staff hedging bets on whether the construction would be complete before the December 1998 Gulf Cooperation Council Summit, hosted by the UAE. And before our eyes, a new road emerged where there had been only sand and water. Though the conveniences of residing in the UAE are many, the downside of life is the summer heat, which lasts for about five months. The temperatures are suffocating to man, woman and camel alike: 120 degrees with 98 percent humidity keeps most people inside their air-conditioned villas. For the embassy staff, July and August are the only months when the multitudes of visitors subside. This potentially is a time to recuperate, except that half the population--embassy and otherwise--migrates to cooler climes en masse, leaving the rest of the staff to do the work of two, three or four. There's no relief for the consular section, which typically sees 300 to 400 visa applicants a day from May through June, its busiest months. During the rest of the year, however, the medium-size post--which, with just one political officer and one economic officer, is larger on the Defense Department side than on the State side--keeps extraordinarily busy. With neighboring Dubai having become the world's largest liberty leave port for the U.S. Navy, and the UAE's strategic location in the Persian Gulf and growing influence in Arab politics, the embassy hosts an almost unending stream of high-level visitors. The Secretary of Defense has been to the UAE six times in little over a year, and the post has hosted visits by other Cabinet secretaries, almost weekly visits by generals and admirals and a rapidly increasing number of high-level civilian official visits. The embassy regularly deals with its UAE counterparts on high-profile issues ranging from Iraq and Iran to drug trafficking, terrorism and intellectual property rights. The wealthy UAE has become a major market for American goods. The United States' trade surplus with the UAE is the ninth-largest in the world, and the UAE is the third-largest customer for U.S. exports in the Arab world, after Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In enforcement of United Nations sanctions against Iraq, the UAE has worked closely with international forces in accepting diversions of more oil-smuggling vessels than all other Gulf countries combined. Recently, the UAE provided substantial assistance to Kosovo refugees from the moment NATO actions in Yugoslavia began, sending planeloads of food, medicines and supplies as well as a fully staffed and equipped field hospital. Despite a heavy workload and oppressive summer heat, State employees in the UAE feel fortunate, because no matter how hot it gets, their air conditioners virtually never quit, and the dress code is relatively liberal. They are treated respectfully by the local population, and expatriates from all around the world appreciate the ability to earn a living in a conservative society that is nevertheless tolerant of other cultures and religions. The author is the community liaison officer in Abu Dhabi. Political officer Scott Edelman also contributed to this article.
USIS Abu Dhabi By Jonathan Rice
USIS Abu Dhabi is blessed with an excellent staff that pitches in when extra help is needed. Even senior staff members have been known to lug boxes to book fairs and hang banners above college fair booths. Some programs are pure support, such as finding stories for the local media at the mammoth International Defense Exhibition. For others, USIS has the lead. These programs are planning-intensive, but after they come together, they are spectacular. During 19981999, events included major book fairs in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi and the four-day visit of the Third Marine Aircraft Wing Band. It's amazing how busy a small post can be. From mid-September 1998 through the end of November, USIS Abu Dhabi conducted 19 programs, varying from one day (the visit of Secretary of Defense William Cohen) to 18 days (the visit of the head of the Department of Mass Communications at the University of North Carolina). In 62 calendar days, USIS recorded 127 program days with multiple events for each program in locations from one end of the country to the other over a land mass about the size and shape of Lake Superior. Fortunately for our collective health, the USIS staff was able to take a breather during Ramadan, the Muslim holy days. When Ramadan finished, however, the program season was off and running again. USIS Abu Dhabi also provides American speakers to discuss such issues as support to Dubai TV to improve the quality of its visual presentations and presentations on Islam in the United States to counter the widespread view that Muslims cannot practice their religion in the United States. The office also supported an American art show and musical group to broaden mutual understanding between our two nations, the TESOL-Arabia Conference on English teaching support for the Arabian peninsula, and speakers on women and development and rule-of-law issues. The author is the public affairs officer in Abu Dhabi. |
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ut after arriving in the United Arab Emirates, settling into a villa in Abu Dhabi and telling your friends and family back home that everything is wonderful, they think you've lost your mind.
