Top ten

Summing up our first week in Abu Dhabi, we...

1. Hit five malls in five days
2. Can see four mosques from our apartment windows (including a minaret a stone's throw from our bedroom window--say goodbye to sleeping in!)
3. Went bowling American-style with 20 expats from Canada, UK, Australia (no Americans yet)
4. Smoked our first shisha (flavored tobacco, apple in this case)
5. Learned that Western parking standards do not apply (people park down the middle of the road, facing any direction)
6. Were required to sit in the "family room" at dinner at the local Indian restaurant (any group including adult women cannot eat in the main dining room)
7. Bought an ironing board at local grocery store, which the bagger carried across the street and up to our 9th floor apartment (this service was assumed; we did not ask for it)
8. Noticed our cable guy took his shoes off before entering our apartment (again, without being asked)
9. Discovered that every street has three names, two of which are not posted anywhere, and there are no addresses, only landmarks (we live in the "safety building" - no street number seems to exist)
10. Count 29, no wait, 41, sky cranes viewable from our living room window (the place is booming!)