some observations about coins and driving

totally random, just crossed my mind. the coins (there are 3) have no writing in english on them. so you don't even know what they are. i thankfully read my dubai resident's guide (well, started reading it) and saw that the big round ones are 1 dirham, the octagonal ones are 50 cents (only it's not called a cent, i'm drawing a blank) and the small round ones are 25 cents. 

when you go to the grocery store, they have prices in 10's or 5's. so you can technically have a bill come to a figure that cannot be given change. like 11.80. so some cashiers give you 25 cents back and some don't. do you get mad about it? nope, because in the end it will even out. weird, isn't it?

as for driving, it's an interesting situation. all of the traffic lights have only 1 direction of traffic proceeding at one time. that makes it easy for left turns. trucks have to stay in the right lane, even on the highway. and they have these weird turnarounds in the middle of the road where you make a u-turn to go the other direction. 

people drive very aggressively, but so far it's been okay. i haven't really driven a lot (besides to carrefour, natch), so i can't really pat myself on the back. i'm sure if i venture out further in my little rented toyota corolla, it may be a bit hairier. once we get our own vehicle, it should be easier. we'll be getting a car with 3rd row seating (to accommodate all of the visitors we're anticipating) and here, the bigger the better.