Life in the Emirates crew buildings, what nobody tells you before you move to Dubai
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#1 Four years in. Things I wish someone had told me:
- Your flatmates are assigned; some become family, some you never see. Both are fine.
- The buildings have gyms and pools, and the social side is huge, join something in month one, not month six, or the fourth-month wall hits harder.
- Groceries and taxis are cheap by European standards; brunches and "just one drink" are not.
- Dubai summers are brutal; plan leave for July/August.
- Sleep hygiene in a shared flat with three different rosters takes negotiation. Blackout curtains, earplugs, a written "quiet hours" agreement.
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#2 All true, and the fourth-month wall is very real. The crew who did well had one recurring thing, a class, a team, a volunteer group, that survived the roster.
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#3 Starting in June and this is the most useful post I've read about Dubai. The quiet hours agreement idea is going straight into my first flat.
