Hey ! I know most of the time I write based on the days I travel but just decided to turn things around a little here :) Note that there may be not as many pictures of Arab women as the women are known to be quite conservative here.
Anyways, before you go to Abu Dhabi, here are a few things you would want to expect from the society regarding their culture based on my experience in spending a day in one of their homes.
So how do these Arab women and men have lunch or dinner ? Do they dine together or separately ?
Traditionally, men and women in Abu Dhabi eat separately when they have guests. Not only that, they chill separately as well. The women don't talk as much or laugh while eating. And they serve their food like a buffet served on the table. In the day, we ate inside. In the night, we ate in the room outside. They sometimes do prefer to eat using hands, and some of them choose to eat using fork and spoons. They do definitely cook in huge portions ! They do eat together when its close relatives or just within the family though.
What do the women traditionally do to pass time ?
Well, frankly I do not understand almost everything that they were conversing about as they were speaking in Arab and I don't understand Arab. But based on what I asked around, they usually chill under the tent outside if the weather is good, to drinking Arab coffee. They pretty much just enjoy each other's company by chit chatting to pass time and immediately commenced prayers once the Adhan was calling. Oh yeah ! They do henna too to pass time :)
How do Arab women go through marriage ? Is there a Bachelorette party by any chance?
Apparently, they sorta do have it ! But in their own traditional way. The soon-to-be bride gets her whole hand, from her shoulder to the end of her fingernails, tattoo-ed with henna. And there will be a night when its all girls, and the bride would show off the beautiful art on her hand within her girl friends.
What if I wanna take the bus around or cabs ?
Women gets treated with respect here in Abu Dhabi. If you were to take the bus, women sits infront and men sits at the back. Even if there are no seats for women at the front or space, the men would have to offer a seat or space for the women and cramp himself to the back. If you were to take the cab or hire a driver, it is always 'preferable' or advised to sit at the back rather than next to the driver.
What do the men and women wear there ?
Women and men from Abu Dhabi wears abbaya and jubah respectively. The women usually wears black and the men wears white with head coverings. Women from the olden days wear a different type of face covering than the common black cloth.
Its not made out of cloth. Its kinda made of paper sort of material. And the women wear it even in their homes within themselves, not only infront of men. But the younger generation covers their face with burkha / purdha mostly only when meeting men. Note that this is apart of culture, not religion :)
Abu Dhabi is quite an international country. Is it because there are many immigrants there?
They do not acknowledge these international workers as immigrants, as compared to other countries mostly do. They find if quite offensive to be regarded as immigrants. Hence, always refer to them as expatriate. But it is quite an international country as people from all over the world come to work in Abu Dhabi as it is strategically situated in the middle of the world map. Beyond that, the place itself has been developing to accommodate tourist since a couple of years ago.
How do men and women socialize there? What are the boundaries between men and women?
Men and women are generally conservative there. You would barely see Arabs dating or chilling out just the two of them as it would be considered as inappropriate.When there is a room with women and a man chooses to communicate to any one of them, he would have to stand outside of the room and keep his distance whilst talking to any one of the ladies. A man who performed sexual assault on a woman would immediately be deported to another country (an incident that occurred in which a worker in a hotel kissed a German guest who's a lady, and got kicked out of the country to Egypt for his inappropriate action)
What about entering clubs or pubs? What's the age limit etc ?
The age limit for drinking, clubs etc would be 21 y'old and those wearing muslim clothings (hijab, abbaya or jubah) are not allowed in. If you're a tourist and you wanna grab a few drinks, do get yourself a license to consume alcohol and being drunk or under alcohol influence in the public is strictly prohibited.
How do people usually get around Abu Dhabi ? Do they cycle, walk or take the bus?
The bus is only 2 Dirhams per entry despite the distance, but mostly taken by expatriates rather than the locals. The locals usually drive around. Note that the weather could possibly be hot most of the time hence people there would barely walk around or cycle.
What about language? Would being able to speak English only be a barrier ?
Most people I've met there are not that fluent in English. I would say 60% are great with basics of English so being able to speak in Arab would definitely come in handy !
So, there you go ! A rough idea on what you would have to expect from the society in Abu Dhabi !
PS, it is kinda guaranteed 95% safe personally to me, to travel alone, especially if you're a girl.
Anyways, if you're planning to go there anytime soon, don't forget to bring your sunnies and some fit flops!
