Dubai, Dubai, It's A Hell Of A Town

Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour!

...or should I say...

Ahlan! Ahlan! Ahlan!
(oh how bilingual I am)

Well there are so many things to tell you all and I wish could share them all with you in intricate detail, but that would take me a very, very long time, so I'll just do my best to give you the general idea. I have to say that after flying over 10 000 miles for over 18 hours at an altitude of 12 000m I was more than a little exasperated when I slid into a taxi only to hear Jojo's 'A Little Too Late' blaring over the radio. It gave me a vague but surprisingly earnest desire to strangle someone (although, it must be said I usually get this sensation when coming into any form of contact with Jojo).

In fact it is impossible to deny the fact that Dubai is not so much influenced as defined, at least superficially, by the Western world. The day after I got here for example, I was seriously wondering whether I had left home at all. I drank a phoenix juice whilst flicking through an NZ Women's Weekly in a distinctly urban cafe, was served a cheeseburger at McDonald's by a pimply teenager and shivered walking along a street under a grey sky with wind buffeting around me. Although I have to admit that the latter and former (certainly not the pimply teenager) are exceptions - we found a New Zealand, no I am not kidding, New Zealand-run cafe, probably the only one in the Gulf, and most likely the Middle East, just a round the corner. Oh, and Dubai only gets five days of rain a year. In our first four days we got three of them.

The very small amount of American tendencies I possess are also being well cared for. There are Starbucks nearly as often as there are mosques (they are only a maximum of 1km apart), the shopping malls here are ubiquitous and huge with every brand imaginable (a nice change from NZ). Also, Jumeira Beach where I'm staying has a distinctly LA-y, Santa-Monica-y feel which is also reminiscent of the Gold Coast with its golden beaches, abundant low buildings and the skyscrapers in the background.

However, further from the surface some pretty big differences soon become clear. The UAE is an Islamic country and, in all practical senses, an autocracy (albeit a very benevolent one - no tax, free education, water and electricity and free housing if you need it). Homosexuality, being pregnant and unmarried (at the same time), and abortion are all illegal. The press and internet are censored and there have been cases when someone has been disliked by the Sheikh (king) and has been thrown in jail for very little reason. However, it is far from being all bad, in fact probably been the most important part of this trip has been being able to learn about Islamic culture (no, the vast majority are not terrorists, sexist, racist, or anything else remotely dangerous or offensive). I have read all sorts of book and brochures on Islam, been surrounded by them including many women in the abaya and burqa and I was even lucky enough to visit a mosque (non-Muslims are usually not allowed) at the Jumeira Beach open mosque where we had a tour and got to ask many questions. There all the women had to cover up and wear an abaya and I can personally attest to the fact that it was neither demeaning or subjugating and I was still just as talkative as ever!

Some of the other, less culturally elighening experiences I have had include:
-quadbiking in the desert
-visiting giant malls like the massive Mall of the Emirates and the Italian themed Mercato were much bank account draining has occured
-swimming at the beautiful beaches (everyone else says it's too cold but, in the middle of winter, the water is much warmer than a beach in the middle of a Wellington summer!)
- a tour to the historic town of Al Ain which took us up an amazingly beautiful mountain
-eating the fabulous local and lebanese food with lots of fresh juice and vegetables
-getting to hold falcons at a five star hotel in the middle of the desert
-going on a desert tour which involved driving over sand dunes at scarily high speeds, a camel ride, dinner in the desert, smoking (as in taking one puff and choking on) a sheesha and being flirted with by creepy Californian dentists (with much younger girlfriends in tow)

Well, as you can see I've been having a very busy time so I will no go and be more busy because it's only four days until I leave for Bangkok! I will update with photos soon. I hope you've all had a great Christmas and will have a great New Year's,

Love Charli

PS. if anyone knows an effective way of getting sand out of your shoes, do share, because mine are continually full of it.