[Note: I will add more photos when I have better available WIFI bandwidth]
We set out from San Francisco on an Emirates Airbus 380, the largest passenger aircraft, accommodating about 450 passengers on two decks. The flight path from San Francisco was due North as we made our way over the top of the Earth, missing the north pole by just a few miles, then heading south crossing Russia east of St. Petersburg, over the Caspian Sea to today’s destination: Dubai. This 14-½ hour flight was the longest I’ve ever experienced. It was a good experience.
Stepping out of the ultra-modern, spacious airport in Dubai, we plunged into an air of heat and humidity, a combination that made it feel more than 107 degrees F – at 9:00 PM yet! A haze blanketed the city, limiting visibility – no stars, no clear skies. The skyline of high-rise buildings appeared as shadowy spikes reaching for the sky, as the sandy haze muted any lighting and detail features.
Dubai Skyline
We were scheduled to spend less than 24 hours in the city before continuing on to Nairobi. It was enough time to take a driving tour through this concrete jungle, stopping just long enough to jump out of our air-conditioned capsule, to snap a few photos. These stops were short. The ‘feels-like-temperature’ was 120 degrees, the air-filled with sand dust, the visibility less than a mile. Despite stoic efforts, it discouraged us to venture out for just a few minutes at a time. After the third photo stop, we all chimed: “No more!” It was Friday, which is the Muslims’ holy day of the week, equivalent to Sunday in the Christian world, hence no public facilities were open. This was a day of prayer at their local mosque. Mosques were not open to non-Muslims. Businesses were shuttered. The few stores that were open closed at about 1:00 PM, to allow time to pray.
We learned that our guide and driver were both Indians. Our guide, Fariq, a Muslim, came from India 14 years ago for work. He is married with a fourteen-year-old daughter. As he began his tour narrative, we quickly learned that the social strata consisted of two layers: Locals, or native Arabs, and foreigners, which included everyone else. So, our learnings from Fariq were from the perspective of a foreigner, not a local. His standard pitch was to point out the high-rise structures of office and living accommodations, mosques, the monarchies’ numerous palaces, and the plethora of 5-star hotels. All are located in the area known as New Dubai, built during the last 20 years, on a desert. Building continues at a breathtaking pace in preparation for hosting the 2020 World Expo. New Dubai’s aura seemed surreal, somewhat like a ghost town. We saw very few people. We never had an opportunity to interact with Arabs or local residents. The small amount of greenery was all imported from other parts of the world. Grassy areas were continuously watered with a buried drip system. For me, it brought to mind Las Vegas as the closest equivalency, but a hundred times larger in every parameter. Everything built had to be the world’s largest, highest, or most ostentatious.
Our group was most interested in the culture and history of the city and its people. We peppered Fariq with questions to get a sense of the soul of this city. It became apparent that he would not offer any profound insights, any views that might be considered even slightly critical. The government, a monarchy, is very vigilant to make sure the city and country are viewed positively. Fariq must renew his tour guide license every two years. Without his license, he cannot work. Without work, he cannot remain in Dubai. This type of control is not unique to Dubai. I’ve experienced it in many other areas: Myanmar, St. Petersburg, Prague. The list goes on. While his talk was interesting and consistent with what I had learned when preparing for this trip, there were components which either made no sense and or was in conflict. When I questioned him about a couple of points re the rights and treatments of foreigners, everything was rosy. Yet, recently the United Nations called out several human rights violations. He positioned it as stuff created by the media. Fake news?
To give you a quick snapshot, Dubai is one of seven Emirates, each with its own, absolute monarch or sheik. Dubai is the largest of the seven emirates that are collectively named the United Arab Emirates. Dubai, with a population of about three million, is the business center of the nation. The national capital to the north is Abu Dhabi which has much higher oil production and consequently is the wealthiest emirate. Demographically, Dubai’s populace consists of only 17% locals or Arabs. The vast majority are Indians at close to 50%, Pakistani at about 17%, and the rest from predominately Asian countries. They are referred to as foreigners. They are not a citizen, cannot become citizens, their children born in Dubai are not citizens. Since it is not a democracy, there are no voting rights. According to Fariq, 70% of the Dubai locals are millionaires, while about 70% of the locals in Abu Dhabi are billionaires, and 93% are millionaires and billionaires.
The locals receive a monthly stipend or distribution of monies from the government as it shares some of the oil wealth. Foreigners receive nothing. A local can go to school anywhere in the world (the United States and Britain are the most popular), paid for by the government. Fariq has a 14-year old daughter, but he cannot afford to send her to school, so she and his wife have moved back to India, where she can attend school at no cost. He sees his family only once a month.
When a local man marries, the government awards him an amount equivalent to about $30K, while the local bride receives about $50K. Several other tidbits – true or false? These only apply to locals:
Women are more critical and ‘valuable’ than men
A man makes money and turns it over to the wife
Men buy the Ferrari’s, Lamborghinis, Bentley’s….but the women drive them
Cabs display color-coded roofs to denote the various cab companies. Cabs with pink roofs are driven by women and are deemed ‘safe’ for women to use. Yet crime is almost non-existent at below 1%.
The primary driving force in the locals’ culture seems to be wealth, and the display of wealth, the biggest, the best. The tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa. They have started another highrise that will be even taller. All the hotels in New Dubai are 5-star hotels….oh, except for one, which reportedly has been awarded 7 stars. All these buildings, built over the last 20 years, are inspired by other noteworthy buildings in the world. There is one inspired by the Arch de Triumph in Paris, but bigger; one modeled after Big Ben in London, but bigger; the Ferris wheel modeled after London’s Eye is, you guessed it, much bigger. The list goes on and on. I began to lose focus and interest as he droned on and on about all the wealth and the local’s drive to advertise wealth. One unusual mechanism for advertising wealth is the license plate of their car. The lower the first digit, perhaps a ‘1’, and the fewest digits, i.e., just 2 or 3 numbers, demonstrates extreme wealth. Four or five digits and higher may mean that you are just a lowly millionaire. These license plates must be bought. In one reported case, one of the super-rich paid more for the license plate than he paid for his Bentley.
What do the locals do in this city? There is little to see or do. Oh, yes, there are huge shopping centers. The most recent, under construction for the 2020 Expo, is 7 km from end-to-end. There is no gambling, little entertainment, and no alcohol. They don’t work. As Fariq explained, they shop, socialize in the evening, and travel abroad extensively. The way he described the occupants, suggests the city is filled by a herd, a herd of celebrities and the wealthy, including the world’s most prosperous. Celebrity owners, including Tiger Woods, David Beckham, Hilary Swank, Donald Trump, and many others. Each owns a place here, all to demonstrate that they are members of the wealthy herd.
Enough! Time to make our way to the airport to catch our flight to Nairobi. We did get a chance to eat lunch before leaving for the airport. Delicious! I love the aromatic spices they use in their dishes; definitely one of my favorite cuisines. We didn’t find the soul of the city, which doesn’t mean it is missing. We would need more time to give it justice. Perhaps sometime in the future? Probably not!
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