Dubai Post 4: Inside the New Office

A look at my new desk for the next three months.

Today I had my first real day in the Dubai office and had a crash course in the Saudi Arabian clients and cultural customs.  I will post more on this type of information as I travel to Saudi Arabia.  The office set up is a little different than what I am used to in Chicago.  Rather than two massive floors, there are four offices with about 4 – 6 people in each office.  There are no cubes, just desks so the room almost looks like a trading floor (minus six monitors) with all of the computers and no walls.  There is one thing that remained the same with my Chicago & Dubai desk space:  the comfort and familiarity of Bucky.

I am not the only one to make it out to Dubai  #ONWISCONSIN

As I have started to meet some of the local Dubai employees, I have found that there are a few other Americans who work in the Dubai office.  The two consultants I sit next to are Rami and Shobhit, from Palestine and India, respectively.  Everyone is extremely accommodating and friendly which makes the transition easy.  

The view from my desk...my sale rep's office. 

During my meeting today with my new sales rep, Andre, we went down to their local coffee shop, Caribou Coffee (go figure).  After the meeting we walked to Freshii for lunch as it is one of his favorite spots.  I would have to say that my custom bowl in Dubai was better than the bowl I get in Chicago.  Out here, they are not like cheap Americans and actually give me the right amount of teriyaki sauce.  

My custom teriyaki BOWL in Dubai is actually in a bowl and has teriyaki sauce in it.  It does not come in a sauceless box like in America.