(Middle) East Meets West

We left Dubai just about 3 hours ago, taking a flight route out over the Persian Gulf, skirting along the Iranian coast, over tribal Pakistan just south of Afghanistan, and as I type we are cruising through northern India with Mount Everest in the distance. I love these flights that take me over places I'm not likely to visit anytime soon. Most impressive in recent days was the Nile River in Egypt, on the flight from France to Dubai. We crossed in darkness, and there is nothing – it is literally black – in the surrounding area, but along the river itself there are lights, towns, villages, life. You can follow the bends and curves in the Nile for tens of miles out the window because the lights of the riverside villages along it guide the way. Quite a spectacle and I wish a photo would do it justice – but it didn't – a good reminder of why we travel.

On to Dubai. It is no doubt a polarising place, much like London or New York or Las Vegas – but multiply that by 10 in the Middle East. You love it or hate it, and we fell more on the side of the former. We stayed in Bur Dubai (literally Old Dubai), which sits along Dubai Creek. This part of town has its own dress code – around the rest of Dubai, westerners can dress more or less as they do at home, but here we needed to wear pants (even with the mercury at 90 degrees), and the call to prayer bellows from the mosques 5 times a day. The people here are mainly from the Gulf region (mostly Iran, Syria, Lebanon), India, Pakistan, Phillipines, and of course the Emiratis themselves. The food is just amazing -- lamb kebabs marinated overnight in yogurt, fresh ground hommus, and the best lime and mint fruit juice you have ever had. Just across the creek sits the Gold Souk (biggest gold market in the Middle East), the Spice Souk, and the perfume markets. The vendors are friendly and always ask where you come from (the middle eastern way of establishing status we were told). A reply of America brought a response of either "Obama!" or "My shop is an Obama shop!" or something to that effect. America is suddenly cool again amongst the Dubai shopkeepers. We did spend a day out in Jumeirah beach, home to the western resorts, party atmosphere, big beaches, and big prices – but definitely preferred the authenticity of Bur Dubai.

Dubai's population is 85% expat, but the term means something different than we are accustomed to. In London, the average expat tends to be a Westerner making a hefty salary (present company excluded). Here in Dubai, an expat tends to be a construction worker from Sri Lanka or a taxi driver from Pakistan. It goes back to one of my earlier posts on Hadrian's Wall in England – it is amazing what one can do with an endless supply of cheap labor (average worker wages in Dubai are about $300 USD a month) -- and that is exactly what is happening here.

But you have to respect what Dubai is trying to do. This emirate is a sea of (relative) calm in a powder keg region. They know the oil is going to run out one day (indeed, Dubai doesn't have much oil to begin with) and they are trying to build both a financial centre and a desert oasis, kind of like Las Vegas but without the booze, strippers, and gambling. This is officially the fastest growing city in the world (population just 50 years ago was 55,000, just bigger than Harrisonburg, VA) and their boldness is visible everywhere – we could see the tallest building on Earth from our hotel window, two days ago they hosted the biggest purse horse race in history ($10M USD), and they are building residences along every foot of waterfront and on manmade reefs that are visible from space. Will it all work? Is it all just a desert mirage here in the Middle East? I can't wait to watch in the coming years and find out.


PS – As some of you may know, Andrea and I were in a car accident in a taxi two nights ago in Dubai. We are thankfully okay, just some sore ribs and aching backs. A reminder that moving around this globe is occasionally hazardous, but we are doing fine and the police and paramedics in Dubai were professional and made sure we were okay. The paramedic also sternly informed me that in his country (Syria), a one year age difference between husband and wife is definitely not enough – a bit of levity to calm some shocked nerves. We loved Dubai but won't miss the manic Middle East driving, and are pretty excited to be on foot and public transport in Asia for the next few weeks.