I just moved to ABU DHABI, UAE and have lots of questions about this country.?

Question

Hello,

My husband, my 5 month old and I just moved to Abu Dhabi, UAE from the States. We are going to live here permanently. We are actually looking for several things, if any locals or any other ppl that have lived here or are very familiar with the area please advise.
1. I am looking for rent, where can I find listings? there is no for rent signs anywhere. How do ppl do it?
2. where can I find some baby stores that have baby products like items that Walmart, babys 4 us carry. I went to carfoor and I did not find anything that I liked.
3. How can I get American channels here? what carriers could have them. For instance, back home, we have variety of carriers like DIsh network, Comccast, Cox and Direct TV.
Thanks alot guys and wish me luck in this new country .... Got to say, I love lots of things in here. PPl here are really helpful and nice, but its too expensive. I miss my dollar, Wallmart, and target.

thank you,

Answer 1

> I am looking for rent, where can I find listings? there is no for rent signs anywhere<



Some times there are signs if it is a building but normally not for houses , those you will find advertised in newspaper classified sections like Gulfnews of Khaleej Times etc , and also online listings such as gnads4u.com , dubizzle.com , bazaar.ae, olx.ae and so on





>where can I find some baby stores that have baby products like items that Walmart, babys 4 us carry. I went to carfoor and I did not find anything that I liked.<



Depending on the product , not all carrefour branches have the same products , so if you don't find in one you can try another branch. Also Spinneys get their own imports .

In Dubai there are several branches of carrefour , and also Geant , HyperPanda , & Union Coop (mostly local market products & generics). You can also try one supermarket called Safestway near Mazaya center on Sheikh Zayed Road , they import a few things.

Some times specialized baby formulas can be found in big pharmacies as well , so try asking at a big pharmacy near you. (these are like drug stores in US)



>How can I get American channels here? what carriers could have them.<



You cannot get the American satellite TV networks directly here as we are in opposite hemisphere so technically those satellites are beyond the horizon. the "Dish TV" sold here is an Indian network , it is not the same as Dishnetwork. But you can get some American channels , or Europeanized versions of them from OSN using a satellite dish pointed at Nilesat , or if you don't want a dish you can get Etisalat's e-Life TV which is like the cable service , and OSN can be added to that as a premium package . But the cable box will have the channels numbered differently than the original OSN ones ,also Etisalat censors some of the sex related programming on cable.

Both of them have Pay per view , I think the e-Life has much more movies to choose from, and you don't have to pay first as it is billed (where OSN requires payment same time) , but OSN box is better in terms of picture quality & favorite lists. Also it lets you turn off Arabic subtitles , or choose English audio , where as the e-Life box software is lacking in that regard as the subtitle button does nothing on theirs.

But as I said there are other advantages to e-Life it being cheaper than OSN and working on same connection for internet so no need for a dish or antenna wires around the house. It also has a feature called Catch-up TV where you can watch programs you missed in the last few days and it will download it directly as you watch from Etisalat servers in same manner you order a pay per view but its free, however they have it only for designated channels like OSN Comedy, MGM & E!. I don't think OSN box has this but I could be wrong.



here are links to both



http://www.osn.com/Subscribe/packages_en_gb.aspx



http://www.etisalat.ae/eportal/en/personal/elife-triple-tv.html



Du also offers cable TV but for Dubai residents , if you got a Du phoneline in Abu Dhabi then may be they have it . Otherwise the first 2 are your only option.

Answer 2

Abu Dhabi Satellite Tv

Answer 3

UAE is very different from USA. Actually most of the countries are different, so you have to get used with this new lifestyle.

1. Look for an agency or read the local newspapers. If you don't know Arabic, that will be a pain for you.

2. You won't find same products, you need to look for similar ones, at local mall or hypermarkets like Carefour.

3. You need satellite TV, better purchase a package from USA and ask them if they have coverage in UAE.

Answer 4

Hi H, at the outset I apologize on behalf on Indian Community living in the United Arab of Emirates though it could not rectify things happened with you but it may make you happy for a while and I second with almost everything you have written above. I hope things have changed in last 7 years. Not taking side of Indians and with no intention of hurting other nationalities I request you to go to Danat Colony and see how people are living there. Before coming to this area I use to think that people from Indian subcontinent (not all) are only uncivilized/filthy people in the world which actually is not true. There are civilized/uncivilized in every race which now is my experience after seeing most educated & civilized people(no need to mention nationalities) not dumping garbage in bins, throwing water/juice/bottles/banana peels inside the lifts, sometimes smoking in corridor, not using subways foot over bridges, zebra crossing to cross the road and above all I have also seen 2 drunk white girls urin***ng in the colony; when I say white, it does not only limited to Brits and Americans. What should we expect from uneducated/uncivilized Indian subcontinent people if most educated/civilized are behaving this way??? The chances of seeing an Indian subcontinent person doing a silly thing in UAE is at least 20 times more than chances of seeing any other national doing it, because we are more in numbers and I am also not denying the fact percentage(NOT BECAUSE WE ARE MORE) of people doing foolish things are mostly Indians/Pakis/Bengalis/Sri Lankans/Nepalis. Lack of education is not the reason, how we see others is. I have seen many uneducated people(khaleejis esp.) behaving nicely. Rest all Noor M & Akhilesh have already said about hiring, and I suppose you also know the way to improve it. Still if companies are going for these villagers to save money then they should teach do's & dont's to these people.

Answer 5

Regarding American TV please follow "Word of Mouse" advice. For Baby items like you find in Walmart you may visit different stores depending on what you are looking for. Toys, cribs, etc can be found in the Baby Shop and Toys r us. Plenty of baby clothes can be found in e.g. LuLu Hypermarket, KM and Fair just to name some. Baby boutiques also can be found in Abu Dhabi Mall, Khalidiya Mall, Marina Mall, etc., etc.



Accomodation you'll find through Gulf News http://gnads4u.com/properties or through a Realtor. Also go to the Mall and grap the Abu Dhabi Magazine which is offered everywhere for free. On the last pages you'll find all kind of advertisements for rent.



As a new mom in a foreign country I recommend to join a group as e..g. http://www.abudhabikidz.biz/for-parents/parent2parent.html

By joining one of these groups you'll make friends real quick and receive many advises/help.



Welcome to Abu Dhabi

Answer 6

Most people watch TV online now via laptops/tablets plugged into the TV or directly on a Smart TV. if you install a VPN you pick up Internet via another location so isn't traceable to you and also allows you to watch American TV content aswell.

Answer 7

better watch a movie,than read a book.Of course,it is better to get a better picture by watching the action(images),then browsing through each one of these words.

Answer 8

Television is merely educational if you are seeing a documentary or something similar

Answer 9

As for the products, even if you find similar brands of what you used to buy in the US they might not be the same quality. So try different brands, you may actually find better stuff.