A Week in Arabia

I've been in the UAE for a week, but I've already experienced the usual culture shock from my first few days in the Middle East.

Although, Dubai isn't as 'Middle Eastern' as Riyadh or Damascus. But nor is it exactly 'Western' since only 3% of Dubai's population is categorized so and most expatriates (85%) are Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Filipino, etc.) For one thing, a stranger judging the other passengers on my flight from London probably couldn't easily tell where the flight was going to. The adjacent gates at Heathrow had flights to Mumbai and Nairobi, and were full of Indians and Africans, respectively. A gate across the terminal had a flight to Amman and had a whole group of a dozen or so oil executives from Texas, all of them talking loudly and each wearing a cowboy hat; the only one who wasn't was wearing a Dallas Mavericks cap. British Airways Flight 107 was even more diverse than a typical domestic American flight. I sat next to an Indonesian man, who worked for a real estate company in Dubai. Looking around, the other expatriates and visitors were all British, African, French, Arab, Persian, Indian or Filipino. There were probably other nationalities present too, but I just didn't see or hear them. I think I even saw a Private Military Contractor (PMC) on my flight too, judging from his desert boots, khaki pants, and obviously tactical coyote brown three-day assault pack. Speaking of PMCs, my plane flew right over Iraq (including Mosul) and Iran, which both looked like any other country would at night (at least from 30,000 ft).

Coming into Dubai at 1130pm, I could spot the bright lights of the city from all the way across the Persian Gulf. One of the man-made Palm Tree Islands was lit up like a giant Christmas tree jutting out into the middle of the sea. Of course the first feeling I got when leaving the plane was of beautiful warmth. It was about 70 degrees when I landed (though my cousin picking me up later asked why I wasn't wearing a jacket because it was 'extremely cold'). The airport terminal looked more like a mall than an airport and was extremely busy and crowded, even past midnight. I noticed all the signs at the airport were both in Arabic and English (which is true for all of Dubai). Emarati Arabs, who comprise about 10% of Dubai's population, walk around in their national dress like they owned the place. The men seemed to have a permanent scowl on their face and the women had veils on but they probably had scowls on their face too. But their robes are truly remarkable and despite being all white or black, they are immaculately clean and well-kept. Emaratis are kind of intimidating though, especially if they see you take a picture of them and they angrily confront you. After getting through passport control and exchanging an 'asalaam aleikum' and 'shukran' with the official I went to the pick-up area to find my relatives (my uncle is Cypriot and my aunt is Filipino) and noticed that they have separate pick-up zones for men and for women.

Speeding through the city at night, I was in awe of the magnificently lit skyscrapers and countless construction sites. Entire neighborhoods and blocks were under construction in most cases. Sheihk Zayed Road, the main road in Dubai (which goes all the way to Abu Dhabi the capital of the UAE) and the site of the worst traffic and accidents in the UAE and probably the whole Middle East, is very reminiscent of the Las Vegas strip, except without all the gambling, prostitution, and drunkenness (there is a zero tolerance policy with drunk driving...an expat will get deported if caught driving with any trace at all of alcohol in his system). Two hours after landing in Dubai at 1130pm local time (230pm Thursday ND time...Dubai is 9 hours ahead), I passed out at my family's house in the Al Safa suburb (in Jumeira) after over 24 hours of travelling and 0 hours of sleep. Although, it's the same exact amount of travelling and sleep deprivation everytime I go to the Philippines so I'm used to it.

The next morning, I wake up at 6am (4 hours of sleep hooah) to watch the sunrise and, being the Army tool that I am, did some PT in my room (hooah hooahhhhh). I explored the neighborhood a bit which is full of foreigners...Brits, South Africans, Filipinos, Indians, Pakistanis, Russians, Saudis, Iranians, Jordanians, Africans, etc....there are not too many Americans around (I still haven't met another American here as of this writing, after a week here). Usually when a see a Caucasian talk English it's always with a British or Australian accent. There's a striking similarity between the modern UAE and the 19th century USA. The shining beacon the US was to Europe in those times, in terms of opportunity and prosperity, the UAE, with it's tax-free lifestyle and crime-free environment, is the same shining beacon in modern times to Indians, Arabs, Persians, Europeans, and Asians. Like the US, the UAE is a country built by immigrants, and Dubai is the 21st century New York City. I even saw a statistic somewhere saying that there were more Indians in Dubai than Emaratis. Here's another fun demographic statistic: there are 1 million males in Dubai but only 349,000 females, making the city of Dubai an actual physical manifestation of a 'sausagefest' (a term actually used by the locals)...apparently 8000 miles away from Notre Dame, the nightclubs here still have the same problem as dorm parties.

After walking around aimlessly for an hour, I ate a nice hearty Arab breakfast (Crunch cereal...because I don't think they have this in the States) and my relatives took me around to tour the city. This city is crazy, like it's on crack or heroin or something...it's one thing to look at videos/pictures of it on the internet but it's another thing to be on the ground here seeing everything in person as huge modern skyscrapers rise out of the desert. It's everything I thought it would be and more. The first day we went to Mass in Jebel Ali, each of the 7 Emirates are only allowed one Catholic church...so, on a Friday this place was packed (mostly Indians and Filipinos, with an Italian priest). Coming out of Mass, it was about 85 degrees outside. The weather has been absolutely beautiful every single day and night. In fact, I have not yet seen a single cloud in the sky here. Then they took me on a car tour around the city. Everything is so absolutely amazing and it's astounding to see entire neighborhoods of skyscrapers rising from the desert. There's a ton of construction everywhere, and apparently Dubai has 25% of the world's cranes and the most cranes per square foot than anywhere else in the world.

The city, with its endless skyscrapers and modern wonders, stands like a physical embodiment of vast Arab oil money. The ruler of Dubai, Sheihk Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (I drove by his massive palace the other day...it's right next to my school), wants his city to be the best in everything and is spending money (lots of it) like crazy. It's the fastest growing city on Earth.

It's a good thing they have the world's largest rail system because rush hour traffic here is absolutely terrible (not as bad as DC though) and taxis are actually hard to come by because there's actually a shortage of them in the city and buses are very unreliable. The city is growing faster than they can build roads. Being born and raised in DC kind of gave me a high (or spoiled) expectation of public transportation everywhere I go, which is really inefficient here.

There don't seem to be any poor people around either because I still haven't seen one. Unless you count the construction workers (there are more construction workers in Dubai than actual citizens, and that doesn't take into account the hordes of foreign waiters, taxi drivers, bus drivers, maids, etc.) But then again, none of these people actually live in Dubai because they all live in government-built communities of dormitories and camps outside the city and are shipped back and forth each day by bus. It's like the government hires them to build this city into the modern wonder that it is, but then tells them that they can't actually live in it.

And I still haven't seen a car older than 5 years here as of this writing...and on my first day I must've seen over two dozen Ferraris, Porsches (including my uncle's), Maseratis, Hummers, Bentleys, Rolls Royces, etc. And SUV's are very popular here too (probably more than in the US) because of the super cheap gas (35 cents a gallon) and because they actually take them offroading in the desert (unlike American SUV drivers who take their kids to soccer practice and buy groceries). We went to the Mall of the Emirates where the largest indoor ski slope in the world is. Then, visiting the beach later that day I noticed that the Arabs will still go to the beach fully decked out in their national dress, and then there will be some half naked Western couple right next to them in a bikini and speedo. Yes, cultural tolerance for the win. I have to get used to not introducing myself as a Notre Dame student because here I get a blank stare everytime I do.

For my first dinner in the Middle East (of all the cultural restuarants that a modern diverse city like Dubai has to offer) I went to Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC-izzle). I didn't even think they would have one here. It tasted the same as it does in the US but as I ate my cheap greasy fried chicken leg, I couldn't help but think that most people here (Arabs, Europeans, or Asians) don't know what Kentucky even is...but then again, most Americans can't find Dubai on a map. Oh well, cultural ignorance also goes both ways.

In what has become a daily ritual since arriving here, I fall asleep at 5pm and wake up around 8pm for dinner (it's okay, I usually wake up at 4am anyway). To this day (after a week here), I still have not seen a Middle Eastern sunset because I always fall asleep before and wake up after the sun sets into the Persian Gulf. Then, I was feeling groggy again after dinner so I tried my first ever cup of Arabic coffee. Now, American coffee never really affects me so compared to most college kids, I don't need to bother drinking it. ROTC and Bengal Bouts exercise gives me enough energy to last all day and every day, and I'm an Arts and Letters major anyway so there's no excuse for me to be pulling late nighters all the time. So the few times I do drink coffee back home are only for socializing at Starbizzucks and similar situations. And if I did somehow find myself in a situation to keep myself up artificially, I'd rather chug a Rockstar or Mountain Dew or something. Oh yeah, back to Arabic coffee. It's served in a small cup the size of a double shot glass and is a lot stronger and extremely more potent than American coffee. Arabic coffee to American coffee is like dark chocolate is to regular chocolate. I had a cup of it and I was floating on clouds the rest of the night...it really helped with the jetlag, which almost forced me to stay in my first night.

On my first night, my cousin Chris took me out to the Madinat, a high-scale shopping/hang out place right next to the Burj Al Arab. He introduced me to his friends, one of them was actually the daughter of the Manager of the Burj Al Arab (the local 7 star hotel). She's French and got us into an exclusive private area on the beach right next to the 7 star hotel. In fact, all his friends were foreigners (British, French, Filipino, etc.) We had our own little private open tent on the beach where we smoked shisha (hookah) and had drinks, with the nearby hotel looming overhead. I couldn't believe that I had only been in Dubai for less than 20 hours and I had already achieved baller status. Later, we all went out clubbing/drinking. Alcohol's really expensive here because anything against Islam is taxed. I spent $10 on a pint of Guinness and about $6 on a Corona. But the nightlife is absolutely amazing. For Chinese New Year's, we had dinner at some nice Chinese restaurant (The Noodle House...I don't know if they have any branches in the US) at Emirates Towers which is another pretty classy place around here. Besides the glowing skyscrapers at night, the thing I love about this place are the starry skies every single night, which are an unfortunate rarity at Notre Dame. I thought about the beautiful timelessness of this place, sitting on a Persian Gulf beach stargazing and off in the distance are ultra modern skyscrapers rising out of the ancient Arabian desert.

My only disappointment with my new home in the UAE is that my usual routine of going to daily Mass (especially during Lent), which was very convenient back at Notre Dame, kind of hit a snag here. Like I said earlier, there's only one Catholic Church in Dubai and the rush hour traffic here is terrible. I'm still trying to work something out with getting up extra early and taking the bus or sharing a taxi with some of the other Filipinos in the neighborhood. But it's quite a hassle to pull off in a Muslim country like the United Arab Emirates. Especially since Sunday through Thursday are weekdays and Friday (when all the Muslims go to the mosques) and Saturday are the weekend. I don't know how I'm going to pull off going to Mass and then rushing across the city through traffic to get to classes on time. Even so, it still takes a bit of personal sacrifice to do after graduating and working in the real world back in the US, although daily Mass can take as little as 20 minutes in some cases. It really makes me appreciate the convenience of all the opportunities I had to attend daily Mass at a university like Notre Dame...because I sure do miss it. And most students will probably miss it too after they graduate and try to live devout lives away from such a Catholic environment.

Anyway, this note was a lot longer than I intended. Nothing much else has happened I guess. Valentine's Day just kind of came and went since the Arabs don't really celebrate it here since some see it as encouraging out of wedlock relations which is against the Koran (the Saudis already have it banned) and St. Valentine is a Catholic saint anyway. And I went to my University's orientation yesterday. There are a lot of palm trees on campus. And I walked to the beach and laid down and read for a few hours after orientation. The police arrested these creepy Pakistanis who were gawking at women on the beach. Oh, and I saw a camel the other day. I also saw Cloverfield and I Am Legend. I won't extend this note any longer and review them, but I really liked Cloverfield, the handheld camera was a good idea for the movie's sake but not for me when you're already jetlagged. And I wanted my 30 dirhams back after watching I Am Legend. Well, I did like the part when Will Smith is running on a treadmill and his dog is running right next to him on a smaller treadmill...but that was about it.

Cheers.