brodtron

Hello again,

Myself and my girlfriend decided about 4 months ago to emigrate to Dubai. We plan to head over around this time next year. However recently because of talking to people who "have a freind of a friend who live in Dubai" she has become somewhat nervous for a number of reasons:

1. We are not married and probably will not be by the time we get over there.

2. She is very worried about how women are treated in the middle east.

We will be heading over sperately and our qualifications mean that we will be working for international organisations. She is a Planner and I am a Surveyor. We will not be making it public knowledge that we are not married and have even considered buying wedding rings. We are aware of the culture and understand about public displays of afection etc.

From what I have seen on this forum having logged on a number of times since we decided to head over, there seems to be a very strong ex-pat community which provide a heathy social and work life.

What I would like are some genuine honest accounts from some of the expat women in Dubai on what life is like over there on a normal day to day basis - Warts and all! I do not want to go over there if her life over there is not going to be a good one, but I feel she is being miss informed by people who have no authority on the subject.

Thanking you in advance.

B

ps please be as brutally honest as possible.

lionheart

Its a piece of cake...few problems whatsoever for a working woman here... so long as she has transport and does not have alcoholic or exhibitionist tendencies.

cherrypie1

Hi, I live in Abu Dhabi not Dubai but I have not encountered any problems living here. You can expect your partner to get stared at quite a lot but that is normal here and not particularly a problem but most people go out of their way to be nice to you. I have known a small number of locals to be slightly 'offish' but most are pleasant and helpful. She may need to cover up slightly more than at home (ie, no hotpants or barely there tops) but that is so you don't offend people and their culture. On the beach you can wear whatever you like, not topless though!!!! Our social life here is much better than in the UK, probably because everyone is in the same boat and people make much more of an effort to make friends, etc. I am married so can't comment on how much it would affect you living together but I think there are a lot of people here like yourselves, they just don't publicise the fact that they're not married, you may encounter a problem when you try to find somewhere to live though as we had to show our marriage certificate (don't know if that applies to everyone).

On the whole we have a great life here and being a woman has never been a problem, go for it.

busybee2

people do live together, just dont advertise the fact, the problems come around if you fall pregnant, big no no. in order to remain in the country you need to be sponsored, obviously if you are not married you cannot do that, so she would need to be working and sponsored by a company, so probs if she decided to stop working, you would have to get married in order to stay etc. another problem may arise if your company decides they do not allow non married couples living together so i would check it would be ok before.

brodtron

We plan to go over separately and both get jobs before going over there. I had not planned on mentioning my partner to my employer. I was under the impression that you were given a rent allowance or if they provide the accommodation I did not think they would be checking up on me at home.

Have you ever had any unpleasant experiences while just out by yourself?
Basically what has Elaine (my partner) a little rattled was she was told about a friend of a friend who was spat at while on her own in a lift, which I personally find very hard to believe and even if it did happen, I do not believe it a regular occurence. Unfortunate things like this are just as likely to happen anywhere in the world - in "Liberal" societies or otherwise.

We are not stupid people and have tried to learn as much about the culture there as possible. We are not alcoholics or exhibitionists. I cant get her to wear hot pants or skimpy tops over here so I dont why that should be any different over there

thanks again

B

MataHari

it's as nice as you make it....don't worry about it

Squirty Cream

I've been here forever, as a single, married and as a single - it's safe - my girlies go all over the place by themselves and with their friends, they have a lot more freedom than they would ever be allowed in England.

I doubt you will have any problems, why not get a hold of some of the magazines published here that will give her an idea of what women do and are interested in - look on the ITP website at the magazines (Time Out, Viva, Ahlan) and then there is 'What's On' and Emirates Woman (Motivate publishing), there's a local edition of Hello magazine, and plenty of others and if you can get a hold of Dubai Explorer or something you'll see there are lots of things to do and the society is reasonably open.

There are ladies nights in all the pubs so that should also show that it's open for women.

Good luck - be prepared for the heat if you are coming this time next year.

brodtron

Thanks to all who replied much appreciate it. Cant wait to get over there.