1.
You land in the city and are swept off your feet by its cleanliness and beauty.
2.
A couple weeks in, you've already spent a ton of money.
3.
While instinctively converting dirhams to your home currency, in your head.
4.
You let yourself loose on the food. Oh god, the fooood.
5.
Of course, you want to try all local things, starting with literally every shisha flavour.
6.
And making shawarma an essential part of your daily diet.
7.
The rules of this country seem kind of overwhelming, compared to how laidback home is.
8.
You are more careful than ever because you can pretty much get ticketed for everything.
9.
Eventually, you get your first fine and have a distress attack.
10.
And though it's hard, you begin to understand that's how Dubai is so orderly.
11.
You get used to living in a monarchy and having Sheikhs' photos all around you.
12.
You very quickly pick up the basic arabic you need to survive here.
13.
You are more thankful for air conditioners than you've ever been because the heat is unbelievable.
14.
Soon, you discover that this land's water wants to kill your hair.
15.
And that the junk food binge you've been on for the past few months was a terrible idea.
16.
Every few weeks you recall something from home and get emotionally tender.
17.
As soon as you're over with your tourist phase, you start hating how many there are.
18.
Your first ramadan is tricky because you keep forgetting you can in trouble for drinking water in public.
19.
You realise you've started spending a lot more than you used to.
20.
You take your time getting used to the weekend starting on Thursday.
21.
But the nightlife is amazing and you could certainly get used to it.
22.
The sparkling blue beaches are a lovely change.
23.
And (in moderation) the food is phenomenal.
24.
And so, sooner or later, you fall in love with this Arabian dream.
