الحمد لله

Alhamdu lillah (something like "The praise belongs to God") is a very common phrase here. You use it when things go well, when you are asked how you or your family is, etc. I've gotten in the habit of saying it a fair bit myself, even when I'm back home in the US.

You see these words on lots of U-turn signs here in Al Ain, and whenever I see them I always wonder a couple of things, but then it slips my mind and I forget to ask my co-workers:

1. Who puts these up? I mean is it something that comes pre-printed on the sign straight from the factory and is there when it is put up or does someone slap a sticker on after it has been up for a while?

2. Why U-turns? Is it just because there is so much blank space or is this a common thing to say when making a U-turn?

Of course, then there is this one that is by Al Ain Mall that for some reason is written in Latin characters (and weirdly mis-transliterated, by which I mean I have never heard anyone pronounce this with an "o" sound):



I think that the green above the truck says "Allahu akbar" (God is greater or greatest) and the red says "la tanas dhakir Allah" (my very bad transliteration), which a co-worker told me means "Don't forget your obligations to God".

More Road Signs

These are some more road signs from around my neighborhood:

As I said before, Al Ain is divided into districts, so at every intersection you have signs like these that tell you which way to turn to get to what district or community:




This is a sign warning that a roundabout is coming up:


This is a sign informing you that a roundabout is coming up:


This sign directs where each of the roads off the roundabout go:


All three of those are from the same roundabout.

This is perhaps the most ignored sign on the road:

That is the speed limit, 60 kph (about 38 mph).

This is probably the most ignored sign on the road:

Since I can't read Arabic, I'm guess that this says Don't Litter or something like it. Unfortunately, few people listen to this. I have seen people throw wrappers or soda tops on the ground when they are only 10 feet from a garbage can, or cabbies toss stuff out the window of their car. The fact that these signs are not in English too means either English speakers are considered hopeless cases or that we won't litter (probably the former).

This is one of the more useful signs. Since you can only rarely turn left, you end up driving past things and then making a U-turn to get back to it.



This is either a hat or snake that has swallowed an elephant.

Sorry about the bad Little Prince joke, but that is the first thing I thought of when I saw this sign. It is actually a warning about a large speed bump ahead.

Road Signs

These are some road signs here in Al Ain. Some of these are very similar to the US, some are quite different. Of course as a group, the biggest difference is that if a sign has writing on it, it is in both Arabic and English, so I'm ignoring that difference.

This a street sign. The biggest difference is that it lists a community and a district. This is because each community has a 1st Street, 2nd Street, etc. But the color and shape is basically the same, so it looks a lot like home.



This is a stop sign (obviously). Again, the color and shape are the same as the US.



Now, in America, we call this a yield sign (cause it has 'yield' written on it), but still, same shape, same color, same purpose.



This "Do Not Enter" sign is exactly like the US



These three signs are pretty clear in their meaning even without words, and in the US their counterparts wouldn't have words either, but the signs would be diamond shaped and yellow.



OK this one:



means:



The roads have lots of speed bumps to encourage drivers to slow down.

OK, a keep right sign, different color and shape, but very clear



Another obvious one, even if it didn't have the writing:



This might be the most ignored sign I have seen, especially by the taxi drivers who seem to regard speed limits as mild suggestions.



Since 'X' represents the unknown in Algebra, this sign seems really appropriate to me. I have know idea what this sign means. Can someone tell me? I see these everywhere. Is it a don't stop here sign? Something like that? Thanks for any help.