Abu Dhabi:When the workday ends in Abu Dhabi, residents go looking for each other. Many people here came from somewhere else, and a growing number of weekly gatherings give them a place to start. There is gelato on a terrace at the port, Arabic poetry read aloud over coffee, a beginner salsa class, and runners meeting at sunrise on two different mornings.
Most of these meetings are free or cheap, and they run on Meetup pages, Instagram accounts and WhatsApp messages. All of them ask for the same thing: show up. Here are six of them.
Gelato at the port
The week’s first gathering starts, fittingly, with the slowest pace. Every Monday, the Abu Dhabi Expat’s Community meets at Souq Al Mina, near the port, on the terrace at Jlato. Sometimes the group drifts to Auro next door.
The pitch one the website, meetup is simple: Italian gelato, specialty coffee or a warm drink while the sky changes colour. When the mood is right, the group walks to the rocks nearby for an unobstructed view of the horizon. The invitation is open to long-term expats, digital nomads, locals and travellers passing through. Host Remi calls it a way to “kickstart your week” with company
In a city where many residents arrived from somewhere else, a standing weekly meeting with no…
