Maintenance Work

Another thing we have noticed that seems to be unique to the area, is the maintenance workers. Luckily we have only had to call a few times for odds and ends around the apartment. In September for leaking water in our half bathroom and recently for our washer and dryer (it is one machine...and super small in comparison to machines in the US) and our air conditioners (there are separate air conditioners in each room of the apartment). We also had to call when we were living in the hotel for internet assistance. The trend seems to be the same regardless of what needs repairing or where you live. The workers are usually Pakistani or Indian and come in pairs. There is almost always the guy who actually does the work (and speaks very little English) and then there is the guy who seems to "supervise" the task and has enough English to somewhat communicate with the customer. Last week, when they came to repair our air conditioner, there were three men...two of whom I could not really communicate with that did all of the labor and then there was a third man who sat at our kitchen table and basically watched them (or "supervised") the whole process. There is clearly a pecking order in the labor industry.

I think Chris and I both agree though, there are definitely some perks to "apartment living". When something needs repairing we call the concierge desk downstairs and they send someone to fix it. There is very little DIY in Dubai, so Chris has had very little need for his tool box.