I recently visited Dubai on a business trip and have to say it was an interesting experience if nothing else. Some observations...
1. No one in Dubai is local. Okay that's not true really, but Dubai has the largest ex-pat community of anywhere I have ever been. And a huge portion of them are from India. So I had the unique experience of getting a taste of Indian culture in the Vegas of the middle east. I had great Indian food at least, which was a good thing :)
The Indian restaurant I ate at:
2. Everything in Dubai is new. Its all stunning towers and shiny malls full of Western brands. Honestly, while in a mall in Dubai it was nearly impossible to tell where in the world I was. I easily could have been in the US.
Mall in Dubai
3. Dubai is an odd mix of very rich and then the less nice/not so orderly. After visiting the largest mall ever with its beautiful architecture and shining floors, I then wandered the business wasteland near my hotel with drab shops and dirty floors. Even the new looking Starbucks by my hotel, which looks like it was well designed and built, had these nasty carpets in the back that needed to be cleaned (or ripped up and burned, perhaps).
Proof of the oddly nice but dirty Starbucks
The vandalized table
4. In my glimpses into Indian culture, I experienced "hospitality" that was charming on day 1 and stifling by day 3! And I observed the common practice of straight Indian men walking around holding hands. It was so odd to an American... You can read a humorous post about this behavior here: Stuff Indian Like
5. And I was reminded that your previous notions of a culture are often biased and incomplete. I heard women dressed in very conservative outfits and even in burka's talk about how they think of beauty and appearance and it was quite surprising. It was a great business trip because of this, but not a place I am that eager to return to. For me, once was enough.
But a few good touristy images of our drive and dinner out in the desert!
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