UAE

It’s Friday 23 October 2009 – that’s how we do it around here. If I were to write that date it would be 23/10/09…not 10/23/09. I have to say that it’s a far better system than the American version – never any confusion at all. Anyway…on that date I was sitting on an Air Arabia flight returning to Kenya from Dubai. I hadn’t been to Dubai in about 8 years so I was excited to go and see all of the new development I’ve read about over the years.

Dubai is part of the UAE – which is essentially small kingdoms that got together and formed a union for all sorts of good reasons. It sits on the Gulf of Arabia so there are loads of beaches. Abu Dhabi is the “capital” but really Dubai is where you want to be… I landed in Sharjah which is yet another little emirate just down the road…well…sexy freeway is more like it. Since I’ve been in Dubai last, the entire area has gone nuts with road and building construction so much so that the entire landscape is one big construction site. The tiny roads that used to be clogged full of cars have all but been replaced by very sexy, smooth paved freeways and a very new metro system still to be fully realized. Dubai is the place where hotels have been built on top of man-made islands. And because Dubai is so new – we’re talking about 50 years since it was realized – there’s no old construction…no old souq like you get in Cairo. It’s relatively brand new construction everywhere so there’s not much charm as you go around the city. The heat never really subsides. It was 35C (double that and add 30 and you’re at the F reading) in late October and the dust was of course always present. To survive in Dubai (and really to live) you must enjoy shopping in malls – massive malls with indoor downhill skiing areas, water parks, and hundreds of shops. I walked through the Emirates Mall yesterday and I was amazed at how modern, clean, organized, and well maybe even civilized the entire experience was…my brain relaxed for the first time in a long time. (Explain: When you live in Africa – or anywhere else that isn’t home – and you are constantly dealing with images that are not what your brain is expecting – driving on the wrong side, different languages, etc. – I think your brain just gets tired. Expat brain fatigue I’m calling it. And so after about six months, this EBF starts to really set in and it’s time to head back to what is familiar…in this case…Dubai. Because despite the language difference and a few other things it feels NORMAL. Driving on the right, Western clothes, Western food (junk food), and Western shopping malls all let your brain detox a bit… It’s a very necessary thing for me and most of the other expats I know…)

Now as great as Dubai is…it’s even greater if you have a lot of money. I found a few things that I’m taking back with me that cannot be found in Nairobi but for the most part Dubai reminds me of New York City or London – money makes a huge difference. So for the 400 or so odd stores that were in the mall (I’m guessing) I would say that about 10 of them were worth wandering into and the rest were decidedly out of my budget. I walked into a home store (IKEA was too far to go) and I saw so many things that I would love to have in my Nairobi flat – simple things really – like cheap carpets that were decent quality, linens that didn’t feel like plastic, organizing items, etc. I can’t quite figure out why Kenya can’t import the goods and the stores – Lord knows we have a large enough expat and middle class to support it…

I left the hotel in the morning with plenty of time to catch my flight…or so I thought. After thirty minutes of driving, I figured out that my taxi was lost. He kept calling an uncle for directions but couldn’t figure it out. So when I told him that we needed to go back to the city so I could take another cab, he got a bit upset. Not angry…upset. So upset in fact that he almost crashed the car into a roadside wall. I finally got him to pull over at another hotel and then got into another taxi – this was one hour from departure. We sped to the small Sharjah Airport and I begged to get on the now closed flight. Thankfully Sharjah is a small, commuter airport and they got me on my flight without much hassle. Had I gone out from Dubai International – I would still be in Dubai…

I don’t think Dubai is my kind of town…it’s fine for a night or two if you want to shop and bit and take a break but there’s not much culture – nothing like Egypt or maybe even Jordan. It’s almost too antiseptic for me in some ways although I admit that I did enjoy the very clean, tidy city loaded with McDonald's, Haagez Dazs and Kentucky Fried Chicken (and YES - I ate all of that...)and some Krispy Kreme donuts.