Here They're Obsessed with Pace

Everywhere we drive in the UAE we hear “this wasn’t here six months ago,” in reference to grocery stores, entire neighborhoods, highways, and airfields. One-fifth of the world’s cranes reside in the UAE, and we’ve been getting a first hand look at why. This area has been developing more rapidly than any other place on the planet. Labor here is cheap, and for important projects like highways or the new Dubai airport which we passed today, they work in two shifts, 24hrs a day. These laborers come from countries like India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, some paying brokers in their home countries upwards of thousands of dollars for the opportunity to come and work in the UAE. Qatar, hoping to be the first Gulf nation to cut out these brokers (middle men) who essentially rip off poor men trying to earn for their families back home, just signed an agreement recently with Vietnam, which agreed to supply labors to the country. The conditions that greet them are miserable at best; intense heat, low pay (or no pay in some recent cases), slum housing, and relentless work that often pays far less than they were promised by brokers. These men are everywhere you go, and their obvious poverty stands in stark contrast to the rich villas and parks that Dubai has to offer. The scope of construction here is truly amazing.

These new hotels, banks, and business buildings also boast amazing architectural features. I’ve never seen buildings that could rival any of Dubai’s, not even in New York. Some of the buildings are distinctively Arab in design, some are a fusion of modern and ancient design, and they all carry a twist. Spirals, suspended bridges, creative shapes, glass facades in any number of designs make driving in Dubai a spectator sport (the sport part also involves navigating traffic while gazing). It’s as if there’s an undeclared competition here to see who can build the most innovative, logic defying buildings the fastest. The bin Laden construction company is the biggest contractor in the Gulf region. They even built our university, AUS, in less than six months (after 9/11 all the bin Laden signs were removed from campus).

Also being constructed at a break-neck pace are the green areas in the UAE. It reminds me of Palm Springs, with all the palm tree lined roads, the decorously placed flower and grass beds, and planned parks, all smack dab in the middle of the desert. They spend a small fortune keeping the plants from dying, but the results appear to be worth it to them. The influx of greenery in the area has actually changed the weather in the region. Only within the last two years has the country seen rain in December (they were dry the previous five years), and that change has been a direct result of the greenery planted.

We observed all of this on our first real journey into Dubai today. Professor S started us out in what will be known as Old Dubai, and is also called the Creek. Here all the older hotels, the remnants of the shipping industry, and various other aspects of Dubai’s history reside. We walked the area and hopped on a small boat, the dinkiest one we could find, for a tour via water of the canal. With the temperature in the low hundreds, it felt nice to be out on the water.

After our boat trip we decided to head to the mall to cool off. This is a very popular activity in the UAE. People go to malls for coffee, to relax, to visit, and of course to shop. Because the weather is often unbearable outside, this has become the favorite pastime. Dr. S is something of a shopper, so he took us to Burjamon Mall, which puts U.S. high end shopping centers to shame. Three floors of Gucci, Prada, Saks, and jewelry store after jewelry store stretched on ahead of us. The amount of money concentrated in this region is unbelievable. It would be amazing to experience the lifestyle some of these people have, if only for a few years. So clearly unable to afford anything, we settled for people watching. This mall offered an interesting mix of locals, ex-pats, and vacationers. Women strolled around the shops, some in abayyas, some modestly dressed, and others in tube tops and skirts. Dubai is much more flexible socially than Sharjah, and the dress code is therefore more relaxed. Next to women in full abayya’s and veils we would see walking someone in what I’ll call western dress, everyone here seemed to respect everyone else’s choice of attire, which the girls in our group found interesting. The men were much the same, some in the traditional white garb and kufeyya, and some in shorts with dress shirts. I couldn’t help but think that a woman or man in traditional dress would no doubt draw a lot of attention in a U.S. mall, but the opposite was not true here…

After the mall we hit Sheikh Zaid road, which five years ago had two towers. Today it is home to some of the most incredible buildings in all of Dubai. Along the way were Emirates towers, which appear sometimes in western media, and an enormous amount of cranes…This area will be the new Dubai, where the Sheikh is hoping to move the commercial district. Dr. S has been very good about driving us all around to give us the lay of the land for future outings on our own, and today was no exception. He promised to take us by the beach, so our next stop was in Jumeirah, possibly the most famous area in Dubai.

I’m sure most people have seen the Burj al-Arab, even if they haven’t heard its name before. It’s the giant sail shaped hotel that juts out into the Arabian Sea and is known as one of the most luxurious in the world. Every suite is two floors and comes with its own butler, plus the use of one of the hotels private fleet of white Bentleys. This is about as high end as it gets. Because it costs 150 dirham (about 50 U.S. dollars) just to enter the compound for a quick tour, Dr. S took us to Jumeirah Beach, which sits right in front of the hotel, so that we could grab pictures. Of course everyone was excited to see the Arabian sea, and so a five minute photo stop quickly turned into a half hour at the beach, running into the water and collecting sea shells. Some pastimes never get old :)

The rest of the drive flew by. We drove by Wild Wadi, the waterpark in Dubai, as well as the Emirates mall, which boasts the world’s first indoor (or at least inside a mall) ski area, complete with a snowball fight room. From the outside you can see the ski slope jutting up into the air. Hopefully we’ll make it back there next week for some fun. It’s 70 U.S. dollars for the day, and they rent you skis, boots, and parkas for the duration. We’re all psyched to try it.

Being in Dubai you completely forget that the land all of this new spectacle city sits on is desert. If you drive a few minutes in either direction, you’re reminded of the fact. Camels roam free, there is hardly any greenery, and the air gets thick from the humidity. Dubai is truly a city of wonders, and we’re all looking forward to going back in the coming weeks so we can experience as much as we can of what it has to offer.

Along the "Creek" or Old Dubai where the shipping ports used to be concentrated.

Boats along the Creek in Old Dubai

Some of the buildings along Sheikh Zaid road. None of them existed two years ago.

Jumeirah Beach, Persian/Arabian Gulf: Although almost no one is looking at the camera, this is one of my favorite pictures. Dubai is more relaxed in its dress code, which is why I'm wearing a tank top! (and it was 100+ degrees!)

Another of my favorites: Michael and Matt picking seashells on the beach with the famous Burj al-Arab in the background.









Olan, Mike, and I. The expression is because just as the picture was being taken a large amount of water came up behind us and basically soaked our lower halves. Fun.






Everyone in front of the Burj al-Arab!

The drive back from Dubai. Dr. Salloukh thought it would be funny to take a picture of everyone passed out.