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Popular Local Customs | Other Local Customs Tips | All Tips (84) You can choose to exchange your money before coming to Dubai..or you can have your money exchanged here. There are plenty of exchange places around: In every mall, banks, etc. and even most shopping centers and shops might be willing to take dollars from you, but they will give you the change back in Dirhams .
Exchange Rates:
1 USD = 3.65 AED
1 Euro = 4.75 AED
However, if you do exchange your money at a store or a shopping center..they might buy the dollar for 3.60 instead of 3.65.
Of course, credit cards are accepted in most places. Leave a Comment
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As in other Middle Eastern Countries I've visited, roundabouts are made into a feature. I have seen them in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan as well as Dubai.
Usually the feature is an inanimate objects or represent features of the country as in Qatar.
Here are some of the more interesting ones I've seen on this latest visit [2007] Leave a Comment
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Please remember that this is a Muslim country!!! I wouldn't want you to wind up in jail for somethings you could do back home and not give it a second thought. Example: Holding hands with the opposite sex, kissing or hugging in public etc. Drinking (or drunk) in public, rude behavior, spitting in public, etc. These simple offenses could get a jail term for many months or a year. Don't worry about what you see someone else doing, that doesn't mean you won't get caught.
Also ladies nothing showing too much skin in public, unless at the beach. It only attracts unwanted attention.
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Shopping, this seems to be the national sport in Dubai, this is also why I had the impression this would be the perfect location for an eventual "Pretty woman" part II.
When I said this to a friend at home, his answer was: strange as the soul of the shopping is female and there they are all covered.
BIG mistake, infact he and many others think that a woman not showing her body has no interest in shopping. Actually malls are full of women shopping here and there and even their abayas that look all the same for our eyes are different, they also have trends and styles that change every year. Leave a Comment
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If you are eating in a public place, try to avoid using your left hand when eating.
The left hand is used only for the toilet. Leave a Comment
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You are never really far from a mosque when walking around in Dubai and it is quite fascinating when the “singing” starts being broadcasted from every minaret. According to our guide on the desert trip they all say the same words but it sounded very different depending on which mosque it came from. According to our guide it is better to pray in a mosque but the praying can basically done wherever you are and there are certain time frames for the different prayers. The first has to be carried out before 5.30 am before the sun rises. Leave a Comment
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We soon found out that the rhythm of life is quite different in this part of the world compared to what we are used to in Norway. Around here we work from 8 am to 4 pm and then you go home. In Dubai the workday has been adapted to the weather amongst other things. Many places were open in the morning and then they closed for about 4 hours in the middle of the day and then they reopened in the afternoon and stayed open quite long. In the period when places were closed we could see people relaxing in the shadow of a trees or on shaded benches. Leave a Comment
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In the Islamic religion, Friday is the holy day, as opposed to Sunday for the Western world. as a result, the working week in Dubai starts on the Saturday morning and ends on the Wednesday evening. So, if you deal with the region, avoid calling people on a Thursday or a Friday and don't be surprised if they call you on a Saturday or a Sunday.
The interesting consequence of this is you can take a direct flight form London on the Friday night after work, fly all night and arrive in Dubai early in the morning, ready to start a new working week. Or the other way round, you can fly out of Dubai on a Friday night, at the end of the week-end, fly all night and arrive in London on the Saturday morning, ready for two more days off. Leave a Comment
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Women: Even though you'll see Western women running around Dubai wearing exactly what they'd wear in London, Chicago, or Sydney, do please take the local Muslim population into consideration by NOT wearing spaghetti straps, sleeveless dresses or blouses, shorts, or two-piece bathing suits. You can get by with a bikini on a private beach owned by a 5-starr hotel, but otherwise, never.
Men: Do not wear shorts except when obviously participating in a sport, and stay away from tank-tops as well.
Both: Remember, Dubai, for all its 21st century trappings, is still a predominately Muslim city. The way non-Muslims dress is seen as highly provocative and morally repugnant. Frankly put, women who dress this way are seen as being very little more respectable than a whore.
Although many Emiratis themselves are very sophisticated and could care less how visitors dress, a large percentage of the resident population comes from other much more conservative Muslim countries where such tolerance is unknown. Leave a Comment
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I noticed that some Arab men use an unusual way of greeting - i think that the greeting is referred to as a “nose kiss”. Around here men don’t really have that much physical contact apart from the occasional hugging so it was strange to see this form of greeting. There were other things that surprised me too. We saw several men hand in hand and that is something that you don’t see around here :-) Leave a Comment
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