Dubai - City of glamour & glitz & ....

Was it only 9 days ago that I left the USA for the glamour & glitz of Dubai? Little sleep & even less for my traveling companion, Robyn, preceded our adventure. Months of planning, last minute safoos, and hours of agony over tight luggage restrictions (Africa not Dubai) finally resulted in a 4 AM departure from Williamsburg for Dulles airport in DC. I THOUGHT I had only forgotten 1 item...no problem but along the way there are still things I cannot find...either left behind or buried deeply in detailed packing. 

 The 13 hour flight passed quickly with 4 movies & meeting my seat row mate from India or at least that is where I am assuming she was from with her traditional Indian clothing. Our “conversations” started when she didn’t know how to unlock her seatbelt and later to adjust her seat. It seems simple to most of us, but when I realized she was struggling I got up both times...we had an empty seat between us...and helped. We smiled and nodded. When her special order dinner arrived before mine, she started handing me food; I think she thought I wasn’t getting anything! I tried to decline, “No, thank you“, but she kept insisting. More smiles & lots of head nodding. 

 As the hours passed, she began to talk to me, but bless her heart, it was not English. It didn’t seem to faze her when I said, “I don’t understand”. She continued sharing more food with me and lots of conversation while I smiled and nodded and said, “Yes”. I don’t have the foggiest what we talked about but smiles and courtesy go a long ways! She gave me a big hug when the flight was over and I smiled, hugged her and nodded some more. International diplomacy! 

 We checked into our hotel - Holiday Inn Express, and like many foreign countries, I’m always amazed to see the same brands...McDonald’s, KFC, Hardee’s, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, 5 Guys, Dunkin Donuts...that we see everyday in America including an ad for Disney on Ice! The list is endless, and you might think you were home except each sign and menu are in English and Arabic! We headed to my youngest son’s office; I haven’t seen Michael except through FaceTime since he left the U.S. in August 2017. 

 I brought peanuts from Virginia for his office.  March is National Peanut Month in America, and although his office devoured two tins in one day, Michael “forgot” to tell them of the holiday. Go figure! 

 The Big Bus tour consumed our first two days in Dubai. Not only was it a great way to get a feel for Dubai, it also offered a convenient place to snooze right in the middle of traffic! Ahhh... jet lag! 

 The architectural delights of this modern city which is only 46 years old are amazing. Michael said at one time 25% of the worlds’ cranes were in Dubai! Over 30 skyscrapers were built in 10 years and the construction and cranes are everywhere today! Not only is the city bustling...with traffic to match...but each building’s design competes to be bigger and better and more unique. There are lots of angles with curved steel and glass, spires and towers, spikes and exo-skeltons, a building shaped like a boat sail, and even one which looks like Noah’s ark has landed on top! 

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Dubai rose from the desert and has a plethora of landscapes and date palms - which produces the national fruit - but no large green space like Central Park in NYC. Desalination plants provide 98.8% of Dubai’s water. Over 50,000 workers labor at night to keep the city clean. And I guarantee that the Dubai police force, most of which don’t wear uniforms, drive the nicest and most expensive police cars in the world...BMW’s, Porsche’s, and Lamborghinies! 

Here are some of my observations so far: 

*No Gideon Bible in the hotel room but it does come equipped with a prayer rug. Muslims are called to prayer 5x/day through the numerous mosques. As a Christian, it’s a good reminder that we are to be continually in prayer ourselves. 

 *The UAE has the most superlatives of biggest and most expensive I’ve encountered. Examples are: tallest building in the world -Burj Khalifa (and they are building a taller one opening 2020!), highest restaurant-Burj Khalifa, largest mall in the world - Dubai Mall (and they are building a bigger one), most expensive cocktail and most expensive hotel room, tallest hotel,  only 7-star hotel - Al Arab, fastest roller coaster, longest road without a curve or round-about- Sheihk Zayed, largest amusement park indoors opening summer 2018, most expensive Christmas tree (Yes, Muslims love Christmas traditions but only the commercial part) decorated with 11 million dollars in jewelry! Don’t you wish you were invited to that party! 

 *Cars AND helicopters are available through Uber! 

 *Dubai also has the world’s most expensive license plate. Single digit plates are only given to the ruling family; we saw E 9 today. Two digits signify a ruler’s extended family while multi-millionaires have a triple digit plate.  Millionaires have 4 digits and regular folks have 5 digit plates. 

 *There are water spray hoses in all the restrooms to wash yourself after you go. Toilets also have a small and a large flush depending....well, you get the idea. 

 *There are ATM machines here that dispense gold bars. Put in how much you want and out it pops! 

 *The National sport is camel racing. They outlawed child jockeys and now robots ride the camels with whips all controlled by owners speeding along beside the track in cars. 

 

Robyn and I have had multiple tech problems since arriving...phone, camera, iPad, email.  Michael helped and now I will see if this works.  Note to self...bring a tech expert on future travels!