First Impressions of Dubai

Friday, October 3rd, 2014
Post by Kim

Yesterday, Adam and I spontaneously decided to go to Dubai to pick up a bank card (instead of having them deliver it to us in Al Ain), to sightsee, and to have dinner.  It was 1 hour and a half of smooth sailing from our home to the big city.

By the time we arrived in Dubai, the sun began to set.  Here are some pictures from the road.

We had some quite overwhelming views, as the city is quite large and luxurious.  In this picture here, you can see the Burj Khalifa – the tallest building in the world.  Notice how it towers way above all other buildings!

After we picked up the bankcard, we went to the Dubai mall – the world’s largest shopping mall in terms of total area.  There again, everything was large and luxurious – things made of sterilized metal and glass, with clean lines.  There are over a thousand shops at the mall, most of which are brand names: Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Salvatore Ferragamo – you name it, they got it.  Here are two pictures that help encompass what I mean.

There was also a gigantic aquarium at the mall, which we watched only from the outside.

We then tried one of the restaurants at the mall – The Social House, which was fabulous (like all the other restaurants we’ve been to in the UAE thus far).  It was a eclectic-looking restaurant (with things as random as trees and plants, combined with books, bottles on shelves).  The menu was hung up on pant hangers, and comprised of items list under “East” and “West”.

Adam and I went with the East theme, and ordered a Vietnamese papaya salad, salmon and avocado nigiri, curry bibimbap, lemongrass and mint juice, and guava and grape juice.  Affordable (all for around 230 dirhams, or 60 US dollars) and soooo good!

It’s kind of silly, but one of the events that stuck with me from this trip was going to the ladies’ restroom on our way out of the mall.  There were two parts that I found really interesting.  First, when I came in, I was surprised to see the Emirati women in there, still wearing their abayas (traditional black dress) but with their veils off, on the counter.  They were standing all along the mirror, fixing their gorgeous hair and perfect makeup.  Some of them had long, beautiful, curled hair.  I was a little stunned because I had never seen with without their veils, and I thought to myself:  “What is the purpose of making yourself look so pretty when you’re going to cover yourself up again?”  I myself, walk around without a veil but with barely any makeup and with relatively unkept hair.  Maybe I am the one who should cover up and wear a veil…  Haha!

Anyway, seeing those ladies all made-up to the nines made me think about some other curious thing I have seen in the multitude of malls in the UAE; they shop at expensive western clothing stores, yet they wear abayas!  I suppose they buy these nice expensive clothes, but cover themselves up with abayas (at least in public).

The second thing that was interesting to me in the ladies’ restroom was that there was a cleaning lady, standing there and cleaning up the toilet stalls whenever one was free.  I had the distinct impression that this was a her job; to stand there and clean up after each toilet use!  Maybe I am wrong and she was just there to check up on the restrooms, but this is definitely possible since Adam and I saw a porter in the mall, ready to carry people’s shopping bags.  The level of luxury in this country is absurd!

As we were leaving Dubai and reflecting about what we saw, Adam said the following about the mall: “I almost didn’t like it.”  The grandeur of the place was amazing, but it almost felt like a museum because of its luxury.  You can also window shop for most of the stores.  I also think about what we saw, in contrast, last year in Malawi – kids laboring with a hoe in the sun, without any sandals, only to get a measley piece of cassava.  Meanwhile, the Emirati people are eating exotic Western and East Asian foods at high-end restaurants, wearing expensive clothing that they hide under their abayas.

This experience also made us think about the state of the economy here, in the UAE.  The luxury from this country all derives from their oil.  With this money, they have chosen to build grand buildings, sites and tourist attractions.  Most of the stores in the big malls are relatively empty; only a few (usually Emiratis) actually buy items in there.  How do they keep their shops running?  With their oil, they fly teachers from all around the world, provide them with housing, furniture, and salary on a yearly basis.  They spend money on porters at the mall, and apparently 24/7 cleaning ladies in the bathrooms.  All loans made to Emiratis are with 0% interest.  We also heard the following rumors: (a) Emiratis get paid 250,000 dirhams (around 70,000 US dollars) for having a boy and 125,000 dirhams (around 35,000 US dollars) for having a girl, (b) they get paid to send their children to school, and (c) every once in a while, the Sheik Khalifa pardons Emiratis' debts.  How can all of this be sustainable, especially considering that the oil will run out at some point?  Would the tourism industry be enough to sustain this lavish lifestyle?

One of our good friends in Al Ain said something that I thought is really interesting; he said that it feels like Roaring Twenties here in the UAE, and perhaps something similar to what followed that period could happen here as well.

Anyway, these are my thoughts from our first trip to Dubai.  It was definitely an interesting one and we enjoyed seeing and learning.  In addition to being Adam’s birthday, it’s Eid weekend, which means that we will probably do some more travelling or sightseeing in the days to come… maybe a trip to Muscat, Oman.  We’ll keep you posted!