[0:00] tax-free income, luxury lifestyle, and one of the fastest growing cities in the planet. But in 2026, with global
[0:08] tensions rising and the world feeling more unpredictable than ever, there is a real question behind all these shiny skyline. Is Dubai actually the dream
[0:17] base people imagine? Or is there a hidden reality nobody talks about it until they land there? And to explore all that today we talk with someone
[0:26] whose story has already been international long before Dubai entered in the picture. Dubai is very is a very
[0:33] exciting city in the sense there's there's plenty to do and I think I don't have my stats 100% from official sources
[0:41] but it's like 90 or 95% of the population here is expat and also it's in a part of the world which is right
[0:48] between Asia Africa Europe and you have you're kind of like in the center of it it has like a New York vibe but is more
[0:57] modern a lot more clean super clean safety wise from a goalkeeper football career that took him across continents. The guest
[1:05] learned how to adapt fast, start over and rebuild identity in new places. And after hanging up the gloves, he did it
[1:12] again. This time as an entrepreneur. Now he's based in Dubai working in real estate and seeing the city from the
[1:19] inside, not from the brer. Used to be a football goalkeeper. I played until I was 31 and I moved a lot because of football. I'm I'm originally from Salen,
[1:29] Brazil. So from S. Paul in Brazil, I started playing. When I reached the 20 year old age, I had options to play at a
[1:37] lower divisions or to go study in the US. And then I went with a scholarship.
[1:41] From there, I moved to play in Australia. Then I played in Australia.
[1:45] Didn't see myself there anymore. And I moved to Spain. Played one year in Spain and then I finished my career in Greece.
[1:51] In this episode, we talk about what Dubai really feels like dayto-day,
[1:55] opportunities versus reality, and what changes when you move somewhere that become a global hub. Today on Almost
[2:03] Local, the living abroad story of Marcelo Mercuri. Let's start.
[2:15] Me, who is Marcelo? Well, I used to be a football goalkeeper. I played up until I was 33. Sorry, 31. I'm 33 now. So, I
[2:25] used to be a goalkeeper. I played until I was 31 and I moved a lot because of football. So, I started I'm I'm originally from S. Paul, Brazil. So,
[2:33] from S Paul, Brazil, I started playing.
[2:36] When I reached 20 year old age, I had the options to play at a lower divisions or to go study in the US. And then I
[2:43] went with a scholarship. From there, I moved to play in Australia. Then I played in Australia. Then I went back to
[2:49] Brazil briefly after five years between the college and Australia. Didn't see myself there anymore and I moved to
[2:57] Spain. Played one year in Spain and then I finished my career in Greece where we actually met. So maybe for the let them know. Yeah.
[3:04] You are in Dubai. So that's the last step that we were talking about. Yeah.
[3:08] Yeah. To mention to the audience we know each other personally which is not something very common with my guests. We met in Athens in Greece. Yeah. It's not
[3:16] that I mean the very first episodes it used to happen more often because I used to interview my circle of network now I
[3:23] most of like maybe 80% of the guests that that are coming to the show are I don't know them at all but in this case we know we know each other from Greece
[3:31] we played together actually so that's pretty cool you said you are from Brazil you're from Sao Pablo at this early life
[3:39] were you really thinking about being a football player at all was that your like dream job somehow Oh, and you
[3:46] played for 10 years around the world. It was I mean when I think every at least in Brazil I think in Spain is the same.
[3:54] Every kid wants to be a football player at least one point in their life. And I started playing like every kid does, we started getting a little bit more
[4:02] serious and there was one trip that we did that we went to Scandinavia and then we played championships in Norway,
[4:10] Finland, Sweden and Denmark. And then as I was a teenager, it was not the first time I was out of the out of Brazil. I
[4:17] had been going I went to Disney World with my family before, but it was my first time alone, right? And then I was
[4:24] like older as well. I like wow this is life can be so much different. And and
[4:32] from that moment on I knew that I wanted to play football and that I wanted to move abroad that I wanted to have the experience. So I wanted to have these
[4:39] two experiences at least to play on the footballademies but once you start to don't want to stop you also wants to give to the next step and to move
[4:47] abroad. There was two things that I knew from this this trip I was 13. So it's it's been uh it was kind of pretty
[4:55] serious from then on. The first move that you did though wasn't only for playing soccer in US football. It was a
[5:04] scholarship you said you were going to study.
[5:06] Yeah. Yeah. Study and play. Yeah. What did you study?
[5:08] Uh so well the first my first move well I did I graduated in marketing but I moved out of my house the first time to
[5:17] live in the club. I was about 18 and then there was points in time that was living in the club even that it was
[5:24] right next like 40 kilometers 50 km sometimes was a trip that I could do but even in Brazil I was already living out
[5:31] of my my house. Uh so the move to the US was the opportunity to combine both uh
[5:38] to play football at a good level and to to study and the scholarships and everything. It would be something that I
[5:45] would not uh my family would not be able to provide me and I went there I stayed three years and a half because I had
[5:53] already started my studies in Brazil and I graduated in business market.
[5:58] Interesting. How is it life like the life of a football player in a professional level there? How does that work after the US? Does someone from
[6:07] Australia grab you, call you randomly and then they they tell you you want to come here or how does this really work?
[6:14] It was quite random. It was quite random. Look, of course, football has the levels, right? Uh and I was not at
[6:21] La Liga. I was not at Premier League but I played at a good level where I I had a good life and I was enough for me to
[6:29] live and to have all these opportunities. So this opportunity to Australia actually came from a teammate
[6:36] in uh in the US. He was Australian and he contacted me with the president of this club that I played there. I
[6:45] started talking with the president. I was actually still playing. I was still within semester. was my last semester,
[6:52] like my last month. We were playing the nationals, which was something huge at the time in my head. And from the nationals, I'm talking, texting this guy
[7:00] back and forth in Australia, someone that I never saw. He sent he sent me a contract. I read a little bit, didn't tell my mom, didn't tell anyone. I
[7:09] signed it and and I told everyone after the fact. It was pretty random. If you think if you put it back, it's something that you would do at 20 20 something
[7:18] years old when it's something that you really want. But the crazy I mean at the same time nice. No, you became like a professional football
[7:25] player at that moment and that's also when it came reality the whole thing.
[7:30] How many years did you did you spend in in Australia?
[7:33] I stayed one season. So I didn't actually complete a full year, right? So I did like 10 months 10 months before I
[7:40] came back. I actually had plans to possibly go back for the next season. It didn't really work out and I ended up
[7:47] going to Spain afterwards which was also I mean life happens sometimes and you don't get what you want. The coach
[7:54] changed and he he didn't want me because international sports all this type of stuff and it was fine. I don't regret it
[8:02] because for one it was not for me to regret and two it was not my decision to make but the second point is everything
[8:10] after that was the experience was amazing. I always wanted to live in Europe as well especially after the that trip when I was a kid and then I managed
[8:18] to do six almost seven years there. Is it very different? Like you you played in three different continents with three
[8:27] different levels of football probably with different ways of organizing teams and organizing stuff. Most probably no.
[8:33] Also like what are the main differences between playing in Australia playing in the US or playing in Greece or in Spain?
[8:40] Yeah. Well, if you count Brazil, it's four continents.
[8:45] Four continents if you count Brazil like the formation and the in the very beginning and it changes a lot. I think it changes a lot the culture around it.
[8:53] So for example in Brazil and in Spain there is this football culture where people live and breathe football.
[9:00] There's no other way around it. Not that in Greece it doesn't. But in Spain you go you play in fourth division, third
[9:09] division, fifth division, the stadium there's always people. The stadium fits 1,000 people. There's 1,000 people in the stadium. So even at lower levels it
[9:17] can be very fun to play. in the US, at least the part of the US there was,
[9:22] right? I was in the south, so in Kentucky, most of the time, my time there was in Kentucky and some people had no clue at all about it. They had
[9:31] zero knowledge about the sport in the part that I was, of course, but the infrastructure that we had there was unbelievable. It was the best I had
[9:40] throughout my entire career. that being a third division uh in Spain, that being a second division in Australia and in Greece and probably even the clubs that
[9:49] I did the formation in Brazil, it was something like for a for a college team.
[9:54] It was it was absurd. This was different. They are crazy about football, but the stadiums are empty
[10:01] unless it's like the big uh the big teams Olympia the rest the games are pretty empty. It doesn't matter where you go. Um,
[10:14] it doesn't have that same atmosphere.
[10:17] Even though it's good level, it's good level football play there, but the stadiums are not necessarily full. And as a player, that's what you want,
[10:24] right? Like to it makes you makes the game feel different when there's a lot of people watching.
[10:29] Yeah, makes sense. What about more at a personal level? Because at the end, it's a kind of special life. No, you are like training at certain hours. You're having
[10:37] your routines. You're having your life turning around football, but probably you are also living outside of the normal routines of the other people who are working 9 to6, let's say, like this.
[10:47] How much do you Yeah. manage to see and adapt to a country when you're you're a football player? Well, um, as a football
[10:55] player, I think it's true. you live 100% or you should at least live 100% around around
[11:03] football. You don't have a lot of choice too because you play on Sundays, you play on Wednesdays. So you don't have a weekend per se,
[11:12] maybe you're going to have a game on Saturday night and if if the coach gives you Sunday off, then you have the you
[11:20] have the Saturday nights to enjoy here and there. So you are out at the same time that you're out of other people's
[11:27] routine. You also already in an environment where you come in and there's people right and as people your
[11:34] age with the same sort of interest which helps I imagine me well after I stopped and uh playing and I started working I
[11:43] saw myself with a group a team a team a group of people working with me co-workers at the office they were all super nice but we had nothing in common
[11:52] so yeah all the only thing that we had in common was uh we worked together. The rest, one is 60 years old, the other one
[12:01] is 35, one is a mother of two, the other one is is a party,
[12:08] crazy party person, and you you have nothing in common. And then that in that sense was very easy football-wise
[12:15] because you get colleagues, mates, and of course, you're going to get along better with some than with others. Is an
[12:22] environment that helps this type of thing. You spend a lot of time together,
[12:25] right? You travel together, you're in the hotel together, you have the meals together. He helps uh creating connections.
[12:34] It was easier as a football player than it is now. For sure.
[12:37] Interesting. That's funny. When is the moment that you at what point you start thinking about beyond football? No. When is you realize that you need a second
[12:45] path and you need to find something when the career when you decide to finish the career?
[12:51] Well, I started thinking about football a long time ago. Actually, I was 25, so almost 10 years ago, nine. I first
[12:58] started thinking about it when, well, at a certain age, you kind of understand that you're not going to reach the
[13:06] Premier League or you're not going to reach this type of contract. Maybe there's a possibility that you will, but
[13:13] chances are you're not. So, you have to start preparing. What am I going to do after? Where am I investing my money? Is
[13:20] it worth for me to buy a Louis Vuitton bag or should I put the money on the bank, you know, to invest after? And then throughout my career, I saw a lot
[13:28] of people that did different choices, let's say, than mine. And now we all kind of getting to
[13:36] this stage that we had to stop. And some people are struggling again with an old Louis Vuitton bag in the in in in the
[13:46] closet. I always thought the other way around. I think it would be interesting.
[13:51] It would be amazing to have the Premier League salaries, but I I I thought it I thought about start investing. I was in
[14:00] Australia. So I was 24 25. That's when I started putting money in the bank and then the year after I bought the my part
[14:08] in the restaurant etc etc that I have like uh the restaurant that I have in Brazil and that's when I started. So I started preparing kind of early and as
[14:18] years went by after the I I hit the 30-year-old mark. Then I was uh going to practice in the morning coming back home
[14:27] and doing an online course doing something even to find out what I would like to do after. I didn't know what I wanted to do. Like you you leave
[14:36] something for so long and then after what am I going to do with my life?
[14:40] Because you kind of only know for a fact to that. I I went to college. I studied. I did marketing.
[14:48] But I was not sure what I wanted to do after football or if I wanted to stay in football as a coach or if I wanted to stay as a directive or goalkeeper coach.
[14:58] In my case, I didn't know. And so I I started opening the lack for to have
[15:04] more options. So I kind of started early earlier than most. But the 30-year-old mark for me was was crucial. When does
[15:13] Dubai come in this whole experience? Why Dubai first of all? Why did you move there? Was it a strategic move or
[15:21] another opportunity? It was the first time that you were really choosing where you wanted to move. Um that's well that decision was not taken alone, right? I I
[15:30] have my wife. She was with me towards the end of my career and we did not want
[15:36] to be in Greece anymore. Basically, I I did not see myself working there like a regular job. I never managed to learn Greek. I I managed to learn Spanish,
[15:47] English, French, not because of her, but Greek I didn't manage to learn to communicate well and and to have good
[15:56] work or or something like this. So, we started thinking about it. had she had actually as a school teacher she had a
[16:04] few opportunities that she could apply for and the most that the one that we thought the most interesting at the time was to leave something different was in
[16:13] Abu Dhabi turns out and it didn't and then we prepared we saw everything to go to Abu Dhabi this looks great because of
[16:21] this this and that and turns out they closed the the spot even before she could get an interview and I looked at her I'm like okay I I think we should
[16:30] try we should try to go to the UAE. Yes or no? And she started sending some emails. She got an interview for with
[16:38] the school here. And then as soon as she got the job, we came. We we were so happy. It was kind of like we decided to make the effort to come. But uh the job
[16:46] offer came. So it was here more today more because she got the offer than because I decided to go or something. It
[16:54] was something that we did together. But definitely definitely her merit that part. I mean, we talk a little bit at the end. We know each other before this
[17:01] podcast and you said like it's a good base. There is no taxes. The lifestyle is good. But how does it really look like a dayto-day in Dubai? I mean,
[17:10] you're working right now. It's not the same day today that you had normally. No, no, it's it's completely different.
[17:16] Look, Dubai is very is a very exciting city in the sense there's there's plenty to do. And I think I don't have my stats
[17:24] 100% from official sources, but it's like 90 or 95% of the population here is expat. So everywhere you go, there is someone completely different from you.
[17:35] And also is in a part of the world which is right between Asia, Africa, Europe.
[17:42] So you I mean I met people here from Kygystan, you know. I I had to go on the map after talking to the guy and cuz I
[17:50] didn't really know where he was. I I have an idea where it is but I don't know. And you have you're kind of like in the center of it. It has like a New
[17:58] York vibe but is more modern, a lot more clean, super clean safety wise. You leave your phone on the table and you go
[18:05] to the toilet when you arrive to the restaurant and to keep your typ coming from Brazil is something that I
[18:13] never imagined to do. So well and work-wise it's it's frenetic and I think
[18:21] a lot of cultures together and everyone here is an expert. So everyone in the end came here to work. So people do
[18:28] expect you workwise to reply to your phone after work hours which can be not as good depending on the day. But when
[18:36] you're the one that need someone else to reply to their phone after work hours is very good for yourself. So everything is a give and take. It's just a a balance
[18:44] to find. Makes sense. I mean, I've been to Dubai once because I came to an interview with Emirates back in the day and it was summer and I thought, "Wow,
[18:53] the life here needs to be constantly inside of the inside of the I don't know like the commercial centers and whatever, which are all with AC at 200.
[19:03] It's freezing inside, super hot outside.
[19:07] How much of the life in Dubai is really like that? you you live indoors in the commercial areas or is it really like
[19:14] that or that was my sensation back then in my summer I don't know if it's yeah summer no no but if you if you came during
[19:21] summer it's it's impossible I mean no one can it's 40° you go okay now is
[19:28] night time let's go for a walk it's 36° night and it's humid as well I don't know if you remember that but it's it's
[19:35] humid no it's horrible but from like September until miday is perfect. I
[19:43] think I pull out a jacket out of the closet two three times in the year because it's windy, a little windy. So,
[19:49] okay, I'm cold. But you can spend your I'm on t-shirts and shorts if work lets you. Weatherwise is very good except for
[19:57] the summertime which coincidentally is when people take their vacation and go back home or go to Asia and try to work
[20:04] remotely and do this type of stuff. is is is the opposite, right? Like you would imag in Europe, you're used to having the summertime being the vacation
[20:13] period, like where you go and you enjoy the the country, etc. Here is the exact opposite. You leave because it's too hot. And then when winter time comes,
[20:22] then people are like, "Okay, let's go to the beach. The weather is perfect today." When you think about going to the beach in Europe or in France, for example,
[20:31] I see mid winter. Um, yeah,
[20:33] sure. Maybe for the listeners I know where you ended and what is your career path but what was at the end like that
[20:39] you managed to do after the football career what what is your professional right now? So when uh I came here before
[20:48] coming before moving I got found a job in a football academy coaching kids
[20:55] and and it was not for me let's just say I I enjoyed it but working with the kids
[21:02] is it was too much it was too much for me and I did not want to go back into like a professional level where you
[21:09] moving constantly following the opportunities um so this was when I landed this is what I was doing and then within two
[21:18] three months I met the CEO of the company that I work for former football player and he was advising well athletes
[21:26] and other people of course to buy to invest in real estate here. So when he was telling me more or less what he was
[21:33] doing, I'm like this is this sounds great because I am someone who started investing at 24 25 thinking of my after
[21:42] career and and I saw a lot of people make bad decisions throughout my football years. So it could be great to
[21:49] be the person that uh some some of these guys can trust to help them invest in something that's going to help them in
[21:57] the future to have some sort of passive income. So when they stop playing, they have the choice of deciding what to do.
[22:03] So now you're helping others who were in your same situation. Cool. The last question maybe of this section. Are you planning to stay longterm in Dubai? Is
[22:10] that the bigger plan? Are you are you really staying there?
[22:13] Yeah. Uh look, well now we have to take week by week, let's say. But we landed
[22:20] here. We landed here and we within two months, one month, we were like, okay,
[22:25] this is it. Life here is absolutely perfect. You have good opportunities for work. You have all the possibilities in
[22:32] on earth to travel and everything you can possibly think of to do inside the city. We were we fell in love with the city quite quickly. Uh to be honest, it
[22:40] was the easiest place from all over the world for me to adapt from all the places I've been. It was the easiest one and the plan is to stay. The plan is to stay longterm.
[22:49] Nice. So with that, I will say we jump to the first reply questions. I always ask the same 12 questions to everyone as as you know you need to answer them
[22:58] between 40 60 seconds. The first question that I have it's how is how was for you the cultural adjustment in Dubai
[23:05] thing that surprised you or took you a while to adapt to? Um how fast things move here that I think this is people
[23:13] told me now you're going to go there you're going to see the you're going to work the work pace is a lot faster etc etc. I'm like, "No, I cannot be. I just pace myself." Oh, when you come here,
[23:22] no, you you pick up you pick up the pace without noticing. And the traffic the traffic here. I think too many different
[23:31] cultures driving in the same streets with their, you know, back home traffic.
[23:38] Uh what is normal back home is not normal here. Yeah. And it get sometimes get to me it gets too aggressive. So
[23:45] that's it. The two hardest things. the traffic I still didn't get. I'm not used to it. So,
[23:50] what about the social life? How do you make friends? How do you meet people?
[23:54] Well, pretty much here since as I told you before, right, uh pretty much everyone here is an expert. So, is very
[24:02] easy to find expert event for the French community, for the Brazilian community,
[24:08] for this, for that, for a runner's group. Let's go play paddle. And then I but I never play paddle. And I find an
[24:15] app. And then there's this app. you put your name on it and then you match with three other people that also want to start play paddle. So you have all this
[24:24] you know since everyone is kind of in the same situation everywhere you go kind becomes a place to meet people and to connect and at the same time they
[24:32] create this clubs of niche interests that that are very easy to to get into it. So it's it's not that hard. You just
[24:40] have to you know have the the will to get out of the the couch and actually go. Next one that I have is language.
[24:46] Uh, do you need to learn Arabic? How are you dealing with it? Uh, you speak English only. What do you do? No. No.
[24:54] Arabic is not I think it's a plus, but definitely not necessary. I know about three words in Arabic. Inshallah and
[25:03] sham and you know and maybe I'm not even saying it right and it's been two years. No, you don't have to learn.
[25:11] It's a plus, but most people as again I think if you go to Abu Dhabi, if you go to the other Emirates, it's going to be
[25:18] more useful than it is here. Here, no one expects you to speak Arabic. Is is a plus. It's really a plus. What about the cost of living compared to the other
[25:26] places where you lived? Is it really cheap? Is that expensive? It really compensates the tax-free part of it or not?
[25:34] Well, yeah, it compensates. It's not only the tax-free part that's very interesting here. Also, you're better paid. We are better paid here than we
[25:42] were would be for the same job in Europe. Cost of living wise is is is a lot more elevated than the other places,
[25:50] but we also make more money. We put more money on the side here than than we did ever before. financially can be very
[25:58] interesting given that you arrive at a situation or that you're making a
[26:05] certain amount of money because you can live with I I'm going to say that you can live okay with around€ 10,000
[26:13] dirhams which is you can live okay you can have a nice house you can here you most likely going
[26:20] to have to buy or rent a car so you have that cost so you need this much but there is no limit here right with the people, the multi-millionaires that end
[26:29] up moving here and etc. You can go out and spend €10,5 to eat and you can go out and spend €500 for for food. There is no limit. So,
[26:40] it's about how you budget yourself, how you live, how you want to live, the lifestyle that you want to have. Some things here are a lot more expensive than they are in Europe. For example,
[26:50] alcohol is not a problem to find it. You can find it. There's many bars and at hotels mainly, but a pint of beer is
[26:58] €10. So, if you're someone that want to go out and have two, three pints of beer every day, four or five, how much money
[27:06] do you have to be making to to be able to afford that lifestyle? It's it's a matter of what you want and what and how you do with it. I I would say that for
[27:14] for people thinking if it's less than 10,000, I don't think it's even worth considering. And if it's like above 20,
[27:20] it should be more than okay. And more than that is you can live a great lifestyle.
[27:24] What about finding apartments, finding a place where to live? How how do you recommend? I mean you're real estate investment but investor but uh in general how it's the easiest way?
[27:35] Well, we have here you have like this websites uh property finder and you have beut where you can find the properties.
[27:43] I think the most the hardest part when you arrive is actually how it works. For some reason no one managed to explain it
[27:51] to me. This rental contracts here are still paid but in checks. So, and you don't pay one check per month. You pay
[27:58] one check, two checks, maybe three checks. So, you pay your entire rental for rent for the year in two or three checks, let's say. So when you come in,
[28:09] you have to have prepared that you're going to pay let's say your rental is 100,000 that you're going to pay 50,000
[28:16] for rent in one check for the first 6 months plus the security deposit plus the commission plus the connection for the water etc et so you have to come in
[28:25] prepared for that because if you not it can be it can be tough but in and all you have plenty of everyone wants to
[28:32] live in the nicer places like the marina downtown But there's plenty of other places that are very nice to live. The entire city
[28:41] overall is very nice. It's not a it's not that big of a deal. Again, it goes back to the lifestyle that you want to have and how much money you you're willing to pay for it.
[28:50] Nice. The next one, it's living like a local. I mean, in this case, how do you blend in on how what you need to adapt yourself to to fit in Dubai?
[28:59] Uh well, local wise, be honest, you barely see them. as 90 95% of the people
[29:06] are expats. You don't see them that much. Uh when you do see them is all most normally on the nicest places of
[29:15] the city. This place, you know, when you go somewhere and you see a bunch of locals, you say like, "Okay, this this is this is a nice spot." Like you walking in and then you see the the locals. Okay, this is going to be nice,
[29:26] you know, first time coming in. Um well and then blending in I guess is trying to find you have to try to find people
[29:33] that have the same interest of you and you will for sure and then you're going to have your little bubble there and then from from there you can you can now
[29:42] but if you want to think about UAE you can thank the Arabic coffee. If you go to Abu Dhabi or something maybe you're going to see that happen there coffee
[29:51] which is kind of yellow. I don't know if you ever drank it. It's it's good. I don't know if it's that good, but it's good. Something here that is huge here
[29:59] that is um that I've seen in other places as well like the shisha everywhere. It's easier to find chisha than it is to find alcohol is completely
[30:07] different. Yeah, I think that's it. I mean, in terms of habits, I think that's it. But it's they're very nice people.
[30:13] Cool. What about the work life? You touched a little bit about it before,
[30:17] but how is it the work life balance and working in there?
[30:21] Work here is fastpaced. It's the culture here is expects you to work a lot. I don't know if it's a mix of the Asian
[30:28] cultures with the western cultures and maybe to us we maybe it was is too much or too fast-paced but you kind of
[30:36] expected also you came here for work right is a very easy place to to start a business and this type of thing and this
[30:44] this is the type of period that you're working a lot more than than normally.
[30:49] there's a lot of opportunity in terms of the demand. There's just a lot of demand because the city grows a lot. So, if you work more, there's more things for you
[30:58] to do and you can advance in your career or if you have a business, you can have a a new branch in a new neighborhood that's growing. I don't know how to explain it, but it's very fast-paced.
[31:08] You touch about renting or having a car,
[31:10] getting around, moving. Uh does it has a good metro, good uh public transport in the sense of like uh can you live
[31:18] without a car comfortably? No. Yeah, I think if you work and live close to the metro, you can take the metro like everywhere else. But at the moment,
[31:28] there's only I think two or three lines.
[31:31] And the thing also Dubai is very long. I think like the beginning to the end of the city if you travel along the coast
[31:38] on Shik Zad road which is like the most important road here I think it's like about 40 km long. So you can take the metro but it's 40 km by metro so it
[31:47] takes a while 20 km 15 km so the tra the the tragics are long like the traveling time is is long regardless. So I think
[31:55] the best way right now is the car they are building more metro stations but it's not here yet and the buses I never
[32:02] took. So I I wouldn't I wouldn't be able to tell you. But no, like imagine in the in the summer and you have to, you know,
[32:11] take a bus and walk uh 5 10 minutes.
[32:14] It's 40°, you need a car. Maybe the metro is fine, but it is it is a must. I think it's a must.
[32:22] What about the healthcare? How does the system work? Uh if you have anything is all private uh is it easy to access it
[32:29] have good quality? Okay. So, healthcare here is linked to your visa. Your visa
[32:36] is sponsored by the company. So, if you're here and you don't have the you don't have a job, they revoke your visa.
[32:42] You have a period of time. I don't know how long it is, but they revoke your visa and either you find another job or you you go home unless you are an
[32:50] investor or something like this, but normally your healthcare is linked to your visa. So, it's all private for us,
[32:57] right? for for the locals it's is public for us it's private it's paid by the company always and then of course
[33:05] you have uh different plans and etc. I only needed once. It was super good and it was not a problem at all. After we
[33:14] got refunded me, I needed once. My wife needed once. Took her to the clinic.
[33:19] They approve everything there and we were super well treated to be honest. Is there is kind of like like in America
[33:26] where you have uh multiple people. It's not like what I saw for example in Greece or in Brazil. It was very well organized. I liked it. I mean it was I
[33:35] was impressed. I didn't think it was going to be like this. You touch upon visas also. How is bureaucracy? How is dealing with paperwork? Uh getting
[33:42] permits, visas is super easy. I think this is coming from Greece. This one you're going to know because you know how bad it is there. Coming from Greece,
[33:52] this is a is an absolute heaven. So everything that is related to the government, you have an app on your phone that does a facial recognition. So
[34:02] let's say I'm going to sign for a new internet service. I go online, I I apply for the new internet service and they
[34:09] send something like a button for you to click. It opens on your it's called I forgot the name now is a UAE government
[34:17] app. It scans your face. You accept it saying that is you signing the contract.
[34:23] So instead of having to okay I s I have to take my ID go all the way to the to the store or whatever to the office and
[34:32] do this in person I can do everything from my phone. So in that sense everything that is government related is
[34:38] it's super easy super super easy it's is it's brilliant really I I have no words of how good it is. I think it's the best
[34:47] thing here it's it's amazing Mark is amazing. Cool. I mean, you just said it,
[34:52] but I have two more. The first one, it's the best and the worst thing about Dubai.
[34:57] Well, the worst, well, let's start with the worst. The worst, I think, it hit on the summer months and and for me is the
[35:04] traffic, like the the differences um on how people are used to drive. And the best thing I think overall is the best
[35:13] thing overall is the lifestyle. You can do anything or live however you want.
[35:18] You can be a party animal here. You can be someone that wakes at 5:00 a.m. to go run at the beach. You have the beach. You have the mountains not too far off.
[35:26] You have the desert. You can do anything you want. So lifestyle here is is unbelievable. The last one that I have for this section, it's the top tip. If
[35:33] somebody is planning to move there, what is your one line advice? Plan. Plan and research before coming. It doesn't mean
[35:41] because someone is offering double or maybe triple the salary that you have in Europe or back home that you're going to come here and live the lifestyle that
[35:49] the same amount of money that same amount of money you give you back home.
[35:52] I think that this is it. You have to plan and research very well depending on what you like to do, how your lifestyle is. It's not for you. It's not for
[36:00] everyone. No place in on earth is for everyone. But that's plan, research, and do your homework before coming.
[36:07] Okay, perfect. Marcelo, thanks a lot for all the replies on that. Thank you.
[36:11] I'm checking a little bit on the time here. Wanted to quickly uh pass through.
[36:16] Normally here, I would do this miniame section, but I think the the circumstances are a little bit strange with what's happening in the Middle East
[36:24] right now and globally with with wars and so on. I wanted to ask you, we don't need to enter in too much details or
[36:31] whatever, but just briefly touch upon it. How does it feel being in Dubai right now during this period? I know that you're not deeply like the country
[36:39] is not deeply involved in it but at the same time has it affected business lifestyle the atmosphere do you notice
[36:46] that everything changed I mean for the moment it's different it's been a month now right and a month
[36:55] and two days I think the first moment was a bit panicky because I never imagined in my life that I want to see
[37:03] him here I didn't see it but to hear a missile being in intercept the interceptions and all this type of stuff
[37:11] as the time goes you have start having more and more confidence in the system
[37:18] so I mean it affects you mentally because you hear it and it's not nice but at the same time nothing super
[37:26] serious has happened here which means that the system works and makes you feel safe to a certain extent and then in terms of life well a lot of people work
[37:34] from working from home to avoid going back and forth. I mean, a lot of people are living life normally, but a lot you cannot force people to be afraid, right?
[37:44] If you're afraid to go to the office,
[37:46] you prefer to stay home and the company is not going to should not at least force people to to go. As schools at the moment are being taught online and that's it. It really didn't change much.
[37:56] And tourism, the city is more empty because at the moment you don't see a lot of tourists and it's a big part of the city, right? So it's a bit you notice it also did in that sense. Yeah.
[38:06] The tourists left. That's the part that left the city probably because of the fountains and well in the mall itself. Now you get to go and
[38:14] enjoy, you know, because normally it's so crowded that I I don't even want to step inside. So it is what it is for the moment. Hopefully it ends soon. Strange
[38:23] times. Well, thanks a lot for for sharing the the feelings and then what's going on in there. I think it's important also to to see the perspective of someone who is living there taking at
[38:31] the end what it's time wise I always want to give a little bit of space uh for you to talk about what projects do you have on on your hand is there
[38:39] anything that you want to use the platform share with my listeners to check out and uh and also if they want to get in contact with you how can they
[38:48] well at this point uh what I do here in Dubai is helping people either to invest in real estate or when they move in to
[38:56] find their home So, if anyone is coming here and want to contact me, I'll be more than glad to help. I know for a
[39:03] fact how how hard can it can be to to move countries. I've been through it a few times and it's always nice to help
[39:12] someone find their home or to prepare for for the future and etc. So if someone wants to reach out to me, my I
[39:20] think the best way would be the Instagram which is Mercury Marcelo.
[39:25] Mercury vani not um and how do you say it? Why? Yeah.
[39:32] Yeah. Why exactly? Perfect.
[39:36] Um as always for the listeners if you're interested the link will be in the description to to Marcelo's Instagram so you're up to contact them. You can get
[39:44] in contact with him. Marcelos, it has been very cool to see you again, talk to you again after a couple of years of contact, not being in contact. Thank
[39:53] you. Thank you for so much for getting in touch and accepting being part of the of the show. I really enjoyed our conversation. All the best to you. Now,
[40:00] Mark, well, thank you for having me.
[40:03] Honestly, it's uh it's amazing to to be a part of a project uh of a friend. I think we
[40:10] should make a better effort to to stay in touch and all all the success really.
[40:15] Thank you. Thank you. Very nice. Very nice to share the experience.
[40:18] Perfect. So for all the listeners, as always, if you enjoyed the episode,
[40:22] don't forget to subscribe, activate the bell in YouTube, you know, the whole thing. Let review on YouTube and Spotify, Apple, and so on. So you give
[40:29] some love. If you know anyone who is planning to move to Dubai, of course,
[40:33] share Marcelo's contact so they can check it out. Until the next time, keep exploring, stay glorious, and see you in the next episode of Almost Local.