Every day this week, we’re bringing you diaries from some of NYU’s shiny new freshmen. Click here to meet our diarists and check back on NYU Local every day for more insight.

7:20 am - Alarm sounds. I wake up, look around the room, and remember I’m in Abu Dhabi. Like woah.

8:03 am - Lost in the maze that is Sama Tower. Guy on second floor stares at me and my roommate. We press the elevator call button a bunch.

8:22 am - The air conditioner drips on me while sitting in the Dining Hall. I twitch.

9:57 am - Feeling super jealous of the guys in the corner suite on the eighth floor. They have a bathtub!

10:24 am - Sitting in the Shanghai decorated lounge on the eighth floor, debating the pros and cons of different study away sites. Red is a nice color.

12:14 pm - Walking to the bus headed for Ikea – it feels like a sauna outside. So humid.

12:20 pm - Someone spots a Burger King out the window; the logo is in Arabic but still completely recognizable since it retains the same colors and shape. Probably never going to eat there, but still.

1:47 pm - Mission: find a shower caddy in Ikea – FAILED
Mission: find a combination extension cord/adaptor – SUCCESS

3:32 pm - The bus is stuck in traffic. Forgot to eat lunch before heading out, and now my stomach has realized its deprival. I haven’t had food since eight.

Did I mention the humidity?

4:06 pm - Shopping at Plug-ins (electronic store) in Marina Mall and I hear someone say “Hey!” from across the bin of DVDs. It’s a fellow freshman that attended my candidate weekend and I haven’t seen him since April. We extend our arms to dramatically embrace above the DVDs, and then decide to buy Kill Bill.

5:53 pm - My RA baked chocolate chip cookies with Oreos inside them. Yeah. I still haven’t eaten since breakfast and resist the urge to have 20.

6:07 pm - Two of my roommates are on the phone with family members – in two different languages: one Korean, the other Romanian.

8:53 pm - Walking in Downtown Abu Dhabi with two roommates. The humidity is still there, don’t you worry, though it gets better as I accept the fact that I am slightly damp all over.

 

9:03 pm - We pick up juices from Lebanese Flower restaurant.

9:30 pm - Finally we make it to the Corniche and walk along the edge of the water, our feet in the Arabian Gulf. (I’m not supposed to say Persian Gulf, apparently.)

10:15 pm - We meet up with one roommate’s mom who lives in Abu Dhabi. She has Knafeh with her. (Read: delicious cheesy Lebanese food.) Sitting in the grass, we chow down.

11:28 pm - Last move: we grab a taxi to Al Safa, a hypermarket right next to Sama Tower, to get a few things before heading in. I get some chapstick and shamelessly choose the one with the most Arabic on the label because it looks cool. Whom am I kidding? This is how I’ll buy everything.