Also, please note that the fine for running out of gas is 500 AED ($137 bucks, roughly). Yeah, they FINE you for running out of gas, isn�t that a gas? Hell, you get a fine if, for any reason, you get stuck on the roadside. Flat tire, car breaks down, whatever.

So you go to turn on your gas so you can cook, and the guy hands you a slip of paper with an account number on it and he says to you �Go deposit 1250 AED into this account, and bring me back the deposit slip and I will turn your gas on.� Oh and you can only make this deposit at the main branch. The main branch being in the middle of fucking nowhere.

Seriously. So apparently, the gas company finds it too difficult to make their own fucking deposits and as a result, sends the poor consumer out to BFE to stand in a 1 hour queue to deposit money into an account, which may or may not be this guy�s personal account.

COOL!

So I go to get a bank account. I need to have my salary deposited directly into the bank account, but I work for an American company and they refuse to deposit money into foreign accounts (tax reasons or some shit), so I tell them I will wire the money from my US account, no go, has to be deposited by my employer. Okay, right, fuck it, I won�t get a bank account and just use my debit card.

Go to rent/lease a car � I need a local bank account. Hrm.

COOL!

-G