The house

In Al Ain, we stayed at what American would call a "mansion." Or a "McMansion" if you are a suburbanite. This house was huge. 8 bedrooms, 9 baths. Plus 2 kitchens, 2 living rooms, an office, a game room, and an awesome spiral staircase leading up to a stain glass skylight.

This place was a party waiting to happen.

The house is purposefully large, because it is used as a guesthouse. But since we were the only guests there at the time, its size was striking. The inside was nice, too - polished tiles covered all the floors, and Ikea was clearly the primary interior decorator (which I have no problem with).

The house is average size for affluent Emeratis, who tend to live with extended family plus servants. So for an average family of the UAE elite, the sizeable house is put to good use.

In the city center, there were more condos and apartments, though the city as a whole looked more like an American suburb (spread out, with wide avenues) than a city.

-alan