Quote:
And I'm always looking to go to the lowest bidder when it comes to my kids' teeth . I kid sir, I was even worse and let the USAF post graduate dental school do both my kids' braces. The true dental hobby shop. Amazingly they both came out great and other than long drives to Lackland didn't cost me a dime.Originally Posted by CaptYoda
In the ME you also have to know where to shop without getting completly ripped off. A cart full of groceries at Spinneys may run you AED 1000, while similar shopping at LULU's or HyperPanda might be be 30% less. Lots of good deals but you have to figure out where to go. My kids needed braces a while back and I found someone in Bur Dubai who is awesome but probably half the cost for the same service in Jumeirah.
I spent my 20 months in the UAE. The booze is significantly more expensive, even Lulus food is high priced compared to any US grocer except maybe Whole Foods. Hard to put a price on how much 50c and 90% humidity sucks. Also that minor issue of civil rights which are 100% absent in the Middle East. If you treasure the fundamental values of being an American then the sandbox probably isn't worth any perceived economic advantage.