Dubai - no glitz, no glamor

The glitz is everywhere, from the airport to the hotels, to malls…it seems that if they can’t do it with glitz, there is not glory to be had. Opulence and over the top is the order of the day. Yet, with all this in-your-face wealth, there is a totally artificial feel to the place. Everybody is from somewhere else and the contact with the Dubai natives is nil. They walk down the street with a steely-eyed, straight-ahead look not acknowledging anything other than other Dubaians (sp) whom they pass. Then it is hugs on both sides of the head, kisses on the cheeks and a firm clasp of the hands which is more than just a handshake. It is a firm connection of like souls. The air of superiority is palpable and was acknowledged by countless of worker bees whom I encountered. I met countless of these worker bees all servicing the queen, as it were, and they all said the same thing. All others are treated with total disdain. I spent four days in Dubai and not until the very end did I have a “conversation” with a local. It was at passport control at the airport as we left the country. As the man stamped my passport, I asked: “Are you from Dubai? “Yes,” was the reply. Bang goes the stamp and that was it. Move along, buddy. The worker bees who maintain this system are treated as underlings and kept that way…Men and women from countless nations around the world cannot afford to bring families here because they must pay for the education of their children, the cost of living is so high and an apartment for a family is just an impossibility. A Taxi driver I talked with said he had been here for 26 years, sends money home to India every month to support his family and can only afford to return to India every two or three years for a couple of months and then returns to the life of a man whose life is better than it would be otherwise, but still feels that he is kept in a condition where he has no other options. Tales like this were common, as I engaged and explored conversations of this sort to try to get a handle on life here. The man at Emirates Airlines I talked with said that Dubaians, (still don’t know how to properly call them) don’t fly Emirates,, they take Etihad Airlines because it costs about three times as much and this allows them to avoid the unpleasantness of the riff raff. So, in the end, Dubai is just Las Vegas with oil and without the casinos, totally artificial, great place to visit, but not to stay…Only locals need apply. My dear friend, Najla, was born in the Emirates, but she is not considered a native because she has no lineage. Her mother is Uzbek and her father is Palestinian…that disqualifies her, no matter that her passport says otherwise. She says that the social structure is so set, it is impossible to break and find acceptance. In spite of this negativity or simple reality, it remains a fascinating place to visit. I love the call of the muezzzin, ringing from the minarets at various times of the day. Gone are the days when he walks the circular ledge calling to the faithful below to prayer. Now, in this modern world, 4-5 loudspeakers are placed to resound in all directions. It is a wonderful call, to me, simple and haunting. I have such memories of hearing it when I was young, and it has stayed with me over the decades. The song comes from a prerecorded tape. Everything changes.   Driving is an adventure on which I will pass….12 lane highways allow for travel at speeds not allowed on any Washington State highway…we zipped around at 75 mph (120 Kph) several times and also got stuck in traffic that would resemble San Francisco at 5:00 p.m. on a Friday before a three day holiday. Lanes are simply general guides to point you in the proper direction, and if you want two of them then why not? You can change lanes when and where ever you please, never mind if there is already someone in that lane and occupying the space you want…somebody will give…it’s a rule. I asked Carol if I sounded really negative and she said: “Yeah, but it’s all true” So I want to find some balance now that I have painted a scene that is less than desirable. First of all, I want to make it clear that I would return to Dubai…certainly not for the glitz and glamor, but for the other aspects of life that are fascinating…We took the tour to the top of the Burj Kalifa, the world’s tallest building, naturally, and to look at how the whole area was literally carved out of the desert was fascinating…this spire that reaches to the heaven is remarkably stable. Carol expected some sensation of movement, but there was none, we ascended to the 124th floor in speeds that rivaled the freeways…we couldn’t feel any movement, but the numbers kept going up. It was like some time portal where Mr. Etas sends you into an alternate reality. We looked down on buildings which previously looked like huge structures , yet now seemed insignificant was fascinating, and gave a broader picture of what they have accomplished with a few barrels of our insatiable thirst for oil. There are several desert adventures available and I would certainly be interested in seeing that. Falconry exhibitions, dune busting, as it is called, and overnight contact with the stars can balance the unreal atmosphere of Dubai.

Dubai is one of seven Emirates, and each is different. Najla lives in Ajman about an hour away from Dubai where she works because her father has no interest in living in Dubai. I’d love to see the other Emirates and explore them. We did get to Sharjah on the last afternoon as I felt the need find some dose of real life. We arrived in time for the fishing fleet to unload their daily catches and I was able to get down and dirty with the fisherman (Indians, naturally) and go on the Dhows, the same types of boats which have traveled across the Arabian Sea for centuries. I had lots of conversations of which I had no clue as to content, but they were about fishing and fisherman and I loved it. They were the basic human beings which contrasted so vividly with what I had seen for several days and they gave me back a sense of reality that had been missing. Throughout our stay, I was so impressed with the basic humanity of the workers…whether they be taxi drivers, hotel clerks, restaurant workers, and all the kinds of people a person meets in the course of any given day of our lives. They seemed truly thankful that I asked them where they were from and pleased that I had visited many of their countries.

I did get to see the iconic Burj al Arab, that beautiful hotel which resembles, appropriately enough, a sail. I didn’t get to go inside because you can’t if you don’t have a reservation…I could have booked a room at $2,200 for the smallest room per night, or tea at $150 per person and with that I would have been allowed to enter the inner sanctum...it’s so typical of Dubai, lots of fat cat golfers toting golf bags that matched their stomachs coming and going…but I did see it and that was wonderful.

I was totally impressed with the efficiency of the place…from the very start at the airport which is simply immense with a constant flow of humanity. I’ve never seen a busier airport anywhere in the world, and yet it seemed so well run, to the modern metro system which allows the visitor to move around the city easily and quickly. Dubai is simply a place that works. So Dubai has been a fascinating experience and one that I wouldn’t have missed for anything…It’s just that this is not my kind of place….it gives new meaning to the phrase, it’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live here. And it’s only February, Imagine it in August…Ugh.