So we're heading back to Ireland, at least for a few months, leaving DH behind to sweat it out in the sandpit they call Abu Dhabi. Predictably, trying to leave the UAE invokes every conceivable complication and at times makes me want to throw my hands up and shriek 'OK, I'LL STAY!' out of sheer defeat.
Now that I'm selling stuff, I'm struck by the fact that I needn't have bought anything new to start with. On our arrival to the UAE, my days were filled wandering around the hallowed aisles of 'The One' and 'Unique' furniture shops, two establishments which are filled with beautiful and expensive furniture. It never occurred that I could bag a bargain from the classifieds as departing ex-pats clambered to recoup as much cash as possible before legging it back to their home countries, chastened and scarred from the illusion which is the UAE experience. Like I said, tax-free, my arse.
I'll know for next time....
Normal things like trying to move out of a house here, no matter at what point into your year's lease you are, requires that you forfeit the remainder of the year's rent (which has cleverly been demanded in advance). Imagine that! Being a landlord here guarantees unlimited, undeserved and unearned wealth -- I should have bought a property here the second I arrived; DH wouldn't have had to work a day after that (and don't get me started on the sub-species they call estate agents -- suffice to say I've yet to meet one that understood the concept of fairness or reason, and I've dealt with them as both a landlord and a tenant).
Of course the UAE authorities, in their wisdom, have made it illegal to sub-let: I truly believe there is a large building somewhere in Abu Dhabi with a sign out front which says: 'Ministry for making up stupid rules to ensure that expats, although supposedly earning a tax-free salary, are fleeced at every possible turn' -- although it would be rather a long sign. Which is probably illegal.
Selling your car is not possible either -- if you have a car loan -- since you must pay the bank off before you sell it - I mean, HOW? If you had the money to start with, you'd never have taken out a loan in the first place. It's a mess. I think I'll write a book about possible financial pit-falls of coming here...I'll call it 'Tax free: My arse!'.
So, as I sit typing today, we're facing paying for a house we won't be living in; while paying for a car we won't be driving (and who nobody else can drive). I wish I'd thought all this through when we'd first arrived...
Selling off furniture is fun though -- except I keep getting confused between euros and dirhams and just sold my daughters bed for 20 euros -- I thought I'd paid 150 dirhams for it (which is just silly) when in fact it was 150 euro's. Oh well, much to her delight she's now sleeping on a sofa....
But the amount of junk we accumulate over the space of a few months is overwhelming. I've been clandestinely filling bin liners with old toys, broken toys, un-played-with toys, and either donating them to the Red Crescent (although I'm not sure how useful five dozen MacDonald's toys would be to a flood victim in Pakistan), or throwing them in the bin. Every time the children see a bag sitting in the hallway they ask 'are you sending that bag of toys to Ireland?' to which I reply 'yes of course'.
However, struggling with a particularly heavy bag of broken and useless toys the other day, my six-year-old boy decided to accompany me out to the rubbish bin outside. 'What's in that bag mummy?' he asked. 'Oh, just some rubbish' I answered as the bag burst and a million toy soldiers, Lego bricks, and odd jigsaw puzzle bits exploded all over the pavement.
'Hey, that's my favourite toy' he yelped, over and over again as I tried to stuff them all back into the broken bag. With his arms full of toys, he wandered off back into the house to play with them for 30 seconds before something else caught his eye (sigh)...
Now that I'm selling stuff, I'm struck by the fact that I needn't have bought anything new to start with. On our arrival to the UAE, my days were filled wandering around the hallowed aisles of 'The One' and 'Unique' furniture shops, two establishments which are filled with beautiful and expensive furniture. It never occurred that I could bag a bargain from the classifieds as departing ex-pats clambered to recoup as much cash as possible before legging it back to their home countries, chastened and scarred from the illusion which is the UAE experience. Like I said, tax-free, my arse.
I'll know for next time....
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| The only thing I'm not selling...my Emirati/Elton John Chaise Lounge..... money can't buy taste... |
