I can count on one hand the number of Americans I've run into here: 3. Total. That doesn't even mean I've actually spoken to them. Three Americans... 2 in my hotel, and one I overheard in an office building in the business district. Otherwise Dubai seems to consist of 2 segments: Brits and Indians. The only time I see any Emirate locals is in the evenings after iftar. Or in lobbies of business hotels. Poolside I have yet to meet an American. They're all European. Not necessarily British, though. Let's see, I've overheard British accent, Scottish accent, met a couple Germans, more than a few Russians, and others in between. All served by Indians. I suppose that's helpful, too. Seeing as a good quantity of Indians are Hindu, they probably don't mind being around Westerners eating and drinking poolside during Ramadan. Good staffing choice.
Cab drivers, bellhops, waiters, construction labor, secretarial, all Indian subcontinent. White-collar office jobs are staffed by Brits and other Europeans. The Burj Al Arab seems to be sufficiently staffed by an equal number of southeast Asians, mostly in restaurant host and waiter positions. Interesting. It's fun walking around here, though. I just nod a cordial greeting and pretend I don't speak English. Gosh, in Cairo I was so used to saying "shukran" and "midfadlak" to people that it doesn't seem to work here. Anyone I'd normally say that to isn't Arab. I have to check nametags before I open my mouth. :)
I'm sometimes having a hard time reconciling what country I'm in since I rarely encounter locals, or even Arabs for that matter. Heck, I get more Arab flavor in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago than I do in Jumeirah. *smile* Tarek, are you reading? Where'd your peeps go? We'll see this evening when his sis Tuut (is that her nickname?) picks me up. I forget where she said we're going, but I actually look forward to getting out into the city more, away from tourists, and with some locals. Makes me feel a bit more comfortable and like I'm back in Chicago. Isn't it ironic, don'tcha think?
So today involved two excursions: to Sheikh Zayed Road (SZR), and to the Burj Al Arab. Let's start with SZR. I had a meeting at 11am (which the person was 40 minutes late for, but as Siddhartha put it, a little patience and fasting go a long way). Got a slight peek into Dubai office life and an outlook on the Dubai advertising community. Or should I say it was recommended to steer myself toward the broadcasting/media community and should check out Media City, home of CNN, Reuters, cable outlets, Al Arabiya, Al Jazeera, and others. Interesting, better off on TV production side? Hmm... that's a new avenue to explore.
So after the meeting I strolled down SZR, home of some amazing architecture: Emirates Towers, Dubai International Financial Centre (sorry, Manal, didn't get a pic, but did manage to see it). I wasn't able to find a way to cross SZR to get up-close to DIFC, so a pic from afar would have to suffice. Crossing SZR is like trying to cross the Dan Ryan at rush hour. No way. So camera in-hand (secretly stashed away in my bag during the meeting), I walked about a mile down SZR snapping away, and getting some great shots of the Burj Dubai, now the world's tallest building. Speaking of which, I really DID need a wider-angle lens - the building is so tall it barely fit in my viewfinder. The architecture on the street is certainly awe-inspiring for arch buffs, and perhaps a bit gaudy at moments. Well into that mile walk in my CL's (4" heels, ouch!) I thankfully found a hotel in which I hopped in a taxi to relieve my aching feet. Back to JBH, and I decided to steal a couple more hours by the pool before grabbing a shuttle to the Burj. Or Al Arab. Not exactly sure what the nickname is here.
How handy that the JBH and Burj are sister properties. You can't get past the front gate unless you're a guest of either, or have dining reservations. Or pay. And wow oh wow, the lobby... the 500' open atrium, the amount of gold EVERYWHERE... I tried to look as non-tourist as possible, but I think I was literally frozen for a half second in the entryway. Like I got slapped across the face with amazement. It's just... well, I'll let the pictures tell the story.
Me and the German couple on the shuttle (er, we met on the golf cart on the way in), went up to the restaurant on the 27th floor, which is suspended over the back half of the hotel. The southwest end of the restaurant was vacant due to Ramadan, so we were free to roam and take pictures. We had a clear view of the southwest end of Jumeirah, and the new Palm Jumeirah islands currently under construction. Are you familiar with the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas? You know, that gigantic pink hotel resort? They're building a replica here, it opens in 2 weeks. The gift shop also sold models of these painted camels. Some of you may remember the Cows on Parade art exhibit around Chicago about 10 years back... they did the same thing in Dubai with plaster camels. So I got a little souvenir camel from a Jordanian artist (sorry Tarek, I looked for a Syrian camel, no luck). When I was ready to leave, a golf cart pulled up again and drove me straight back through the Al Arab and JBH grounds and delivered me to my front door. Never had to be on the street. It's incredibly neat that the two hotels share the same grounds.
As I finish writing this, from my room I see yet another helicopter delivering a guest to the BAA. *sigh* Dennis, we need to get a group together, come out here, and stay there. You more than anyone I know would appreciate this place the most.
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