minus eight weeks

Okay, so maybe I'm being a bit previous here. I'm not actually in Al Ain, but I'm in 'find out everything you can about Al Ain' mode. I've been scouring blogs and websites to find out what I can. What have I discovered so far?

1. Driving in Al Ain is somewhat nightmarish and not for the feint-hearted.
2. The population is around 400,000 (similar to my city in Aus).
3. This city in the desert is actually the greenest part of UAE. It uses water from an aquifer.
4. There's a Starbucks there - not that I'm into Starbucks, but at least I know I'll be able to get a decaf when I want one - hmmm - or maybe that's an assumption! I wonder if Starbucks in Al Ain have an online menu. ... will have to check that out.
5. I've found two posts about accommodation. One says that their apartment is crappy and that the landlord isn't interested in fixing anything. The other says that their aircon doesn't work properly and it stinks and the landlord doesn't want to know about it! Hmmm. I sure hope I don't get one of those two apartments when I turn up. If only the bloggers had published their addresses! Okay, I know that's too much to ask!
6. Conditions for teachers have deteriorated to the point where people are resigning. Hmmm. That doesn't bode well. I wonder where they were teaching.
7. Furniture and white goods are cheaper than in Aus. So I'm thinking of buying over there rather than shipping everything from Aus. I wonder if that's a good idea.
8. Medical care in UAE generally is the same standard as in Aus.
9. It'll be 50 degrees when I arrive in August. Really? Truly? Surely not!
10. Many streets don't have names. So my address is likely to be ... turn right at the first round about and left into the second street. My apartment is the third one on the right.

Well, I've got pets to rehouse and documents to authenticate. I'd better get back to it.