A Whirlwind Tour Through the Middle East – Dubai First Impressions
I have never seen so much sand in my life.
The wonderful aerial views of the United Arab Emirates greeted me in a variety of forms: first a coastline, then what seemed like ranges of barren hills. Finally it was all sands in vast and endless deserts. Swathes of sand make up the whole terrain with only an occasional tarmac road dividing it.
As the plane landed, I saw a progression of human settlements, in what seemed like scarce villages, to what may have been industrial complexes, then an amazing view of a well-planned city-scape. A reality set in the midst of a desert was unimaginable to me. The barren appearance gave a deceiving impression, for the treasure that lied beneath this land has enabled wealth that benefited generations.
In 2015 I visited the UAE, Jordan and Israel for the first time. Frankly, I had no understanding of Middle-eastern culture, let alone the nuances between the middle-eastern nations. I did not know how to conduct myself in the hotel. Do I freely give out friendly smiles or do I purposefully frown at people?
The answer came my way. An Indian couple came into the elevator, and I felt awkward immediately as the Indian man was staring at me. He said, “have we met before?” I said I did not think so. He said how did you know? I said well because I have not seen you before. He then said, are you from China? I said yes. Then in Cantonese he said, “the New Territories!” No joke, I let out the heartiest laugh ever. He gave me a high five and his wife giggled nonstop.
I figured that friendliness was valued anywhere in the world. Genuine interactions knew no gender or culture.
It so happened that the UAE celebrated its 44th national holiday on the day of my arrival there. I received a very nice packet of dried dates as the guest at the hotel, wrapped in printed paper showing the national colors of the UAE and Dubai’s famous skyline.
The national flag of the UAE features four colors. Red represents the passionate desert people. Green represents hope. White is purity. Black is the poverty before the oil was discovered in the UAE. Of course, now that oil was discovered and has brought enormous wealth upon Dubai in particular, the black no longer represents poverty but its very opposite. The flag was designed by a primary school student.
We only had time for a quick tour in Dubai. We visited the palace of the Dubai Emirate and a natural wetland that gave home to migratory flamingo’s. Our way at the palace was blocked very far out from the building, and we could not reach close enough for a vantage point to see the architecture. Because it was still serving as the seat of government, it was out of bounds for tourists. The buildings were grand, however, surely striking a very favorable impression showcasing Dubai’s wealth and development.
The skyline of Dubai was consisted of buildings designed by famous architects, thus each of the building could be considered an experimentation of the architect’s creative and technical genius. Dubai prided the tallest building in the world, and it took $100 USD to go up that building. Due to high rental rates, many office space at these buildings were actually vacant. The Dubai Emirate could not care less, as the proud skyline of the most open city in the Middle East was for show, mostly.
I had dinner alone that evening close to the hotel. I ordered a beef donner kebab at a German chain restaurant. A soft pita wrapped around a hearty portion of veal and plentiful cabbage and cream. To this day I savor the taste of that first donner kebab I had in Dubai.
Back in the hotel room I heard the chanting of evening prayers in a male’s TV-anchor voice. It was said twice. It certainly sounded exotic to the foreign ear. I was unmistakably placed in an Arabic time and place.
