Heat in the Middle East?

[addler]

I'm moving over in the next couple of weeks, and as it draws closer I'm really starting to worry about the heat!

I'm always warm anyway, and I hate being hot, I get uncomfortable and irritated and feel like I constantly need a shower. I much prefer the cold.

I'm an actual idiot for choosing a job out there.

Please, please if you live in a country over there or have in the past, is there anything I can do to help cool down?

I know that when I'm inside or in a car it will have a/c, but there will be times when I'll have to be outside for a couple of hours in the late afternoon (around 5) but at the moment it still has a heat index of 48 degrees at that time!

Am I doomed to become a hot, stinky mess?

Another thing that has suddenly worried me is that I am on a fluctuating dose of medication for a problem with my nerves, when I'm having a relapse and need to take a higher dosage it has the side effect of greatly reducing the amount I sweat, which I've just realised could actually be quite dangerous in a hot country. I've been in remission for a while so have only been on a low dose which is why I haven't even thought of it until now!

I wish there were clothes with an in built cooling system...

Ex Qatar ex pat here. Your plan to save, save, save is great and exactly what a ME stint is for. Don't get sucked into the brunch and spending lifestyle and you really can set yourself up. Good luck, it's certainly "different"

I've not lived in Bahrain but absolutely no issue getting sunscreen or moisturiser with sunscreen in it in Qatar or the UAE so I suspect that's a Saudi thing.

You have to really work hard to avoid getting sucked into the brunch thing btw - most expats I have met were in debt at the end of year 1. Even now I'm always shocked by how much people around me spend when I know roughly how much their income is.

I live in saudi for part of the year and there's no issue getting sunscreen there?!

Hopefully I'll be alright on the brunch front- Ill be working 6 days a week and 12 hours day so I imagine all I'll want to do on my day off is sleep!

It's my comment on sunscreen. We struggle to get sunscreen in Saudi. Must be this area....

On the other hand, I was in M&S Bahrain today. They do up to a 20 in most styles, and saw some 24s. So cater for larger people than my local (obviously crap!) Saudi shops. Nothing long tho.

I've had no problem finding sunscreen in Riyadh or Jeddah Sand. Assuming you're not in either of those two cities?

Nope. Al Khobar. Which shops tho? Tried chemists and supermarkets. Very rarely there. Available Carrefour in Bahrain tho. Any excuse to drive over

I thought that, or Yanbu. Do you have an Al Nahdi pharmacy near you? We have Carrefour in our nearest mall. And the small Tamimi supermarket has it as well as Tampax 😮😮😮. Although I think that's just Riyadh. Couldn't find tampons in jeddah. Even pregnancy test kits are kept under the counter 🙄

Have failed at Carrefour here. Will keep a more careful eye in Tamimi and Carrefour when this summer's stash from UK is half run out never heard of Al Nahdi. Will keep my eyes open. Cheers.

If you want me dh, from work to post you some, I'll be in Riyadh in a couple of weeks?

Thank you. Thats very kind. We had a whole holdall of liquids (shampoo for me, toothpaste for the kids 'cause the Colgate doesn't taste right , sunscreen and moisturiser for kids) when we came back just a few weeks ago. That's the bag that got tagged and unpacked by customs. It might also have had a load of chargers in it. Possibly not very smart!

😮😮😮😂😂😂

Addler, I'm in Bahrain so if you have any questions ask. Basically I'd be taking whatever you are allowed to ship over with you. I'm from Ireland and I feel like everything is so so expensive (and getting more as time goes on). You can get all the usual things in Boots here.

VAT is going to be introduced next year here which is important to take into account when doing your calculations.

We aren't in debt at all here and have been saving hard in order to be mortgage free at home.

Well I've finally arrived, kept getting extended but landed a couple of days ago. Slowly finding my feet.

Not gonna lie when I stepped off the plane I felt like I couldn't breathe and wanted to go right back to London but the next day the heat was actually quite nice in the morning, I think the humidity was really high when we landed at 10pm.

I went and had a look around the malls today, I was surprised by how many brands I recognised.

Thanks everyone for your advice, and I'm sure the questions will start popping up soon once I've had a chance to get a proper sleep!

I tried Kunafa today, it was delicious! Who knew putting cheese and sugar together would be a good thing?

Welcome!
The humidity was shocking Tues and Wed this side of the bridge. It's dropped back to normal now. And you adjust to.

Expect a shit load of Saudis to desend next weekend. It's Saudi national day, so Sunday 24th is a public holiday. Its also islamic new year Friday 22, I think (that's ignored here so I'm not sure).

My 'uniform' in the ME consist of long sleeved maxi dresses in natural materials. Hobbs /M&S and River Island always seem to stock the good stuff in the ME. If you have a C&A all the better.

I'm feeling a bit out of it today. Don't know if it's lack of sleep or because I'm having a really heavy period but I'm quite dizzy.

It feels much warmer than the last couple of days. And my weather app says it's haze conditions, what causes the haze? Is it dust?

Real feel 53 according to my weather for Manama. "Only" 50 for us.
Probably a combination of heat, period, sleep, food/water adjustment. Keep drinking. I'm mainly water now, but had to have squash my first summer (powdered tang) as water just didn't seem to work.

Yes, haze is usually dust.

Take it easy. Are you working today???

Also (and I don't thinking have this luxury) after 3 months in the UK packing up without DH, then a month here sorting new schools etc, when I could finally sit down, I napped every morning for about a month. Don't underestimate how knackering moving and settling into a new place can be.

Yep, working. I'll have a day off on Monday. I think I'm going to stick the do not disturb sin on my door and sleep as much I as I can. I'm staying in a hotel for a week or so until my accommodation is sorted. It's a very nice hotel so I can't complain too much!

Argh I'm having a dreadful flare up of eczema in my arm pit, I know anti-perspirant makes it 100 times worse but I can't stop using that here surely?!

Try washing under your arms with anti-bacterial wash, I found that helped when I was working in a very humid country previously.
I'm moving to Dubai on Wednesday so prepping for the heat myself!

Get the eczema back under control, whatever that takes. And yes, if that means no anti perspirant, stop using it. Better to sort it now than to let it get worse over the next week by continuing to use something you know activates it.
Soap (not shower gel) twice a day if your skin will take it, clean clothes - and feel free to change bra and top at lunch time, or after a site visit outside.

Might be worth a trip to the chemist. We can get an amazing aray of steroid creams and antibiotics (not recommending this one) over the counter, so you may well be able to get a cream to stop it pretty easily, especially if you know what has worked in the past.

How is the rest of your day off?

I'm just anti-perspiring under one arm for now and letting the other one be slathered in creams.

I've enjoyed my day off, I went up to Manama to wander around the malls. I went to Seef mall. There's a lot of malls in this little country!

Also no one seems to pay much attention to road rules. I'm a bit daunted about driving over here now..

I also went and looked at a few flats yesterday and had a meeting with the main manager, and he's going to push ahead with getting the flat I liked sorted and get it furnished as currently it's just empty rooms at the moment. It's in Riffa, and not very big but I liked that it had parking and CCTV.