Trying to get used to the work days here is really difficult, you see - here in Abu Dhabi, Thursdays are Fridays and Fridays are Sundays, followed by Saturdays, which are followed by Mondays, which are Sundays everywhere else. Mondays are actually Tuesdays, but Tuesdays are Tuesdays as well!
Most companies in AD work from Sunday to Thursday and have Friday/Saturday weekends. However, most companies in Dubai have Thursday/Friday weekends, and some international companies have the normal Saturday/Sunday weekends. Then, some unfortunates work for companies that only have one day weekends - Friday - which turns Fridays into Saturdays AND Sundays all in one!
Somehow your brain knows that, while you are lazing around on a Friday, the rest of the world is working, but it will not accept the reverse on a Sunday. Because Saturday feels like a Saturday, you kind of expect the next day to be a relaxing day - but noooo - it is a work day!!
We are lucky that we do not have schoolgoing children, because some schools have their weekends on a Thursday and Friday. This means that kids and their parents only share one day weekends!!
Add to this confusion, the fact that during Ramadan, the shops are closed all day (like our old-time Sundays) and only open at 6pm or 7pm, and during the mourning period for the Sheikh who died, all shops were closed all the time, and you can see what I mean by being confused.
I tried to handle the mayhem by calling a Friday "Saturday" and a Saturday "Sunday", but because no-one else here does that, it confused them AND me. Now, I have a calendar stuck in a very prominent place and diligently mark off the days each morning, so I will know WHEN I am.
So, if we speak to you on a Monday and ask how your Friday is going, please bear with us - we are on Arab time!!
Most companies in AD work from Sunday to Thursday and have Friday/Saturday weekends. However, most companies in Dubai have Thursday/Friday weekends, and some international companies have the normal Saturday/Sunday weekends. Then, some unfortunates work for companies that only have one day weekends - Friday - which turns Fridays into Saturdays AND Sundays all in one!
Somehow your brain knows that, while you are lazing around on a Friday, the rest of the world is working, but it will not accept the reverse on a Sunday. Because Saturday feels like a Saturday, you kind of expect the next day to be a relaxing day - but noooo - it is a work day!!
We are lucky that we do not have schoolgoing children, because some schools have their weekends on a Thursday and Friday. This means that kids and their parents only share one day weekends!!
Add to this confusion, the fact that during Ramadan, the shops are closed all day (like our old-time Sundays) and only open at 6pm or 7pm, and during the mourning period for the Sheikh who died, all shops were closed all the time, and you can see what I mean by being confused.
I tried to handle the mayhem by calling a Friday "Saturday" and a Saturday "Sunday", but because no-one else here does that, it confused them AND me. Now, I have a calendar stuck in a very prominent place and diligently mark off the days each morning, so I will know WHEN I am.
So, if we speak to you on a Monday and ask how your Friday is going, please bear with us - we are on Arab time!!
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