You know you live in the UAE when…

… you’re taking dashboard pictures when your car indicates it’s 50 degrees outside.

… you’re longing for brushing your teeth with cold water and waiting for the moment that when you rinse your raw veggies, they don’t end up being cooked, because most of the time, there’s only hot water coming out of the tap.

… you leave your car running all the time, even while picking up your kids or doing small groceries, because otherwise you’ll have to step into a burning oven. No worries, nobody is going to steal your car.

… you know Summer is over when mosquitos return. Even they have their limits.

… you can swim in the pool, e-ve-ry single day of the year.

… you haven’t seen rain in months. There are only two types of weather: sunny and sandstorm-but-still-sunny.

… you get your car washed every week, so you can see through your windows and don’t risk to get a fine.

… you can only reach the recommended 10 000 steps a day when you go to a mall.

… on the weekend you can choose either to go to a theme park or attend a brunch, with free flow of course 🙂

… it’s strange that you don’t have a housemaid or a nanny.

… you don’t think it’s weird that men wear dresses and grandma slippers.

… there’s a sticker on the escalators warning women wearing abayas not to get them stuck.

… it’s very likely that you only meet with other expats and make new friends just because you stumble upon someone who speaks the same language or has the same physical appearance.

… you never had contact with an Emirati and therefore can’t answer to questions such as “What is the local food or culture”.

… you’re back in Europe and waiting for someone to pack your groceries at the supermarket or knocks on your door to ask if you need any services.

… you’re glad that petrol prices went down again. No more outrageous prices of 4 AED (= 1 euro) per liter! We’re so spoiled.

… you’re still doing PCR tests every 14 days and wear masks at all times inside, meanwhile the rest of the world is so over COVID-19