YOU'RE MOVING WHERE?

This August, Cindy and I will be moving to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dubai is on the Arabian Peninsula near Saudi Arabia (Here's a Map). We're starting this blog to answer people's questions about where we're headed and what we're doing - and also to keep our friends and family back in the US updated on our lives. So here's a little more info about our move.

Most people are curious about what we'll be doing there. I (Jeff) will be a professor at the American University of Sharjah (which is actually not in Dubai - it's technically in the city of Sharjah - it's pronounced SHAR-juh - think of it as a suburb of Dubai). There's a picture of the University at the bottom of this paragraph (and more pictures here). Cindy will also be working, we just don't know where yet. She's planning to get another technology job like her previous positions at Andersen, Sprint, and United.

Dubai is a city of 2.2 million people (Sharjah is another 800,000) and the primary industries are financial services, tourism, construction, and real estate. Most people are surprised to hear that oil is not a major part of the economy. There is some oil, but oil contributes less than 10% to Dubai's economy. If you've heard of Dubai, it's quite possibly because you heard about the world's tallest building (the Burj Dubai, twice as tall as the Empire State Building), the Palm Islands and The World archipelago (man-made islands with luxury homes), Ski Dubai (the world's largest indoor ski area), the Dubai World Cup (the world's richest horse race), the Tiger Woods Dubai (the first Tiger Woods-designed golf course in the world), or something else that's the biggest, first, newest, or richest.

A lot of people want to know what the culture is like - and specifically what it will be like for us to live in the Middle East. First of all, we will not be riding camels or shopping at open-air markets (we don't ride horses to the general store here in Texas, either). They have the restaurants and shopping you would expect for a city of the same size in the US, Europe, or Asia. Second, while the UAE is a Muslim country, we will be free to go to church. Also, Cindy won't have to wear a veil or a headscarf. Third, the primary languages are English and Arabic, so we don't need to learn Arabic to live or work there. The UAE was a British protectorate until 1971, so most people speak English. I'll be teaching in English at the University and almost all business is conducted in English (except for camel-trading and bargaining in the open-air markets :) ).

We're leaving the US on August 13; we'll probably leave Lubbock a week or so before that. We've got our house on the market here and the University is providing an apartment for us in the UAE, so we won't be buying a home there. We couldn't be more excited about the move. Send us any questions you have and we'll try to get them answered on here.