Though weather in the UAE is very pleasant from October to March (besides the strong winds and a few rain showers in December and January), it becomes overbearingly hot and humid during the summer months. In July and August day time temperatures are usually between 42 and 46 degrees with humidity levels above 80%, during the nights temperatures are usually around 36 to 38 degrees, so still quiet sticky. During the summer months there is not much outdoor activities, everyone just gets from the house into the car and straight away into the next air-conditioned building.
The problem is that inside the buildings the temperature is usually well below 20 degrees, in our institute for instance the temperature in the office is 16 degrees only. So the body goes through a temperature shock of 30 degrees difference between inside and outside temperatures and the car is usually heated up to 60 degrees when parked in the sunlight. In the office I have to wear two sweaters and still feel cold, thats why I rather work from home, where I can set the thermostat to 24 degrees. In the students villa I also have a problem with the AC, even if I put the fan on low, the wind is constantly blowing through my room. on the other hand are the walls so badly isolated, that the rooms heats up quickly if the AC is switched off. No wonder that I get a cold freuently in the UAE. During my ractical term I fell sick four or five times within 6 months and was taking far to much antibiotics. So in April, just about 3 weeks after my arrival in Abu Dhabi, I found myself back in bed with headache, sore throat and fever. This time I avoided to take antibiotics but rather let my immune system fight it. After a few days I was feeling better and though once in a while I had a bit of sore throat or headaches again, I did not fall sick again in the coming months. Swine flu of course was discussed frequently, as I have so many cabin crew friends and many people in the UAE travel during the summer months. Maybe I was lucky, or the infection was very mild and my immunity system still activated to fight it instantly. Anyway, all who need to visit UAE during the summer, please do not forget to pack warm sweaters for indoors.
