Amazing Week

The last week was really busy for me and I actually got to do a lot of things that I didn’t think I would be able to do in Dubai. Last weekend I met up with some of Azeem’s friends again and went to a place called Dubai Marine Club. This is basically a hotel on the beach, with a huge boardwalk like area with 10 restaurants, bars, and clubs. We just barhopped a little bit and hung out a Cuban bar/ restaurant. One thing that sucks about Dubai is that smoking is still allowed everywhere, so you end up always smelling of smoke. However, you can buy Cuban cigars at bars, which is awesome.

My dad came into town for a night on business, and since he was coming through the Duty Free at the airport, I told him to buy me a bottle of vodka, so I could smuggle it past my grandparents. Since my grandparents came to the airport with me to pick him up, we had to sneak it into his bag before they saw it. But now, I have a bottle of vodka stashed in my room, so when I really need a drink, I can get one. I never would have though that I’d have to ask my dad to smuggle booze for me!

On Tuesday, I joined a beach volleyball league and played beach volleyball. It was awesome, a great way to meet people and have fun on the beach. The league is played at a beach bar called Barasti, which is a really cool, chill beach bar. Tuesday happened to be Australia National day (there is no Independence day, bc Australia is still a commonwealth of the UK, but this day celebrates the first colonization of Australia), and they had a huge party. Lots of cowboy hats were passed around and there were a ton of drunk Australians. I’m sure I will be going back to this bar a lot, totally my scene. I fit in quite well wearing shorts, crocs and a Hawaiian shirt, the first chance I‘ve had so far to wear one!

On Wednesday, I went to Artsnight, at the Dubai International Finance Center (DIFC). DIFC is an awesome set of buildings with tons of restaurants, bars, clubs, and galleries. Besides having tons of offices, it reminds me of an outdoor mall in LA. The architecture is really cool. I saw a fashion show and all the galleries were opened up for people to check out the art. They also were passing out some food and free drinks. When I moved to Dubai, one of my cousins said there wasn’t much art and culture here, but apparently, there’s much more than there appears to be. It was fun, but all the people there seemed to be very posh and into the scene.

On Friday, I went on all day long hike. I left Dubai at 6:30am with a couple friends, and we drove to a town called Dibba, which is in Oman, about 2 hours away. We met up with an adventure company and hiked up a mountain called Jebel Qihwi. Jebel means mountain in Arabic. This peak is in a range called the Mosandam range (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musandam_Peninsula). It was a pretty intense hike, about 7 hours in all, and to get to the peak, we had to shimmey up a crack in the rock and literally climb our way through a hole to the top. From the top, you can see the Iranian coastline, which was pretty awesome. The mountains look a lot like the grand canyon. Wadi (river) canyons wind they way throughout he mountains all around. Wadi means river, but these are all dried up rivers, that flash flood whenever rain comes. The most difficult part was actually hiking back down from the top, because it is all loose stones, so footing is tough and you slip a lot. There was a cool small village on the way down that we walked through, with neat terraced fields. It’s incredible to think how people still survive out there with very little water and so high up in the mountains.

Today, I met up with a friend and we went to J.B.R., Jumeira Beach Residence, which is a development built right on the beach, with a ton of beachfront restaurants and stores. There were a ton of people out and about, and it felt like a real city with so many people walking around. In most parts of Dubai, there really aren’t that many people outside, so it was a nice feeling. Even though it’s in Dubai, it did kind of feel like a beach on an island, in a beach resort, kind of like being on vacation.

All in all, a great week, and I got to many things that I thought I wouldn’t be able to do in Dubai. People keep saying I’m so lucky to be doing all these things in such a short time after coming to Dubai, some things that my friends hear haven’t done in all the time they’ve been here. So I hope these kinds of things keep happening to me!

First Weekend Out in Dubai

(Sunset in Dubai, pretty much every sunset so far has been like this)

I survived my whole first week in Dubai without a drink! But I was very excited to finally go out and experience my first weekend in Dubai. Weekends in Dubai are Friday and Saturday, which was a bit confusing at first. For example, when I went to work on Sunday, I kept thinking it was Monday and wondered why so many people in the U.S. and in India weren’t working.

Going out for me is a little tricky because of my grandparents. They are very religious and they think that I have a drink occasionally, but they hate drinking. So, whenever I go out, I always say I’m going out with my cousin, and that I don’t drink at all. Anyway, Thursday night I met up with my cousin and we went to an Irish pub. I forget the name, but it is the only stand alone bar in Dubai. What I mean by stand alone is that all other bars and clubs are in hotels. Only hotels are allowed to have liquor licenses but for some reason this pub was allowed to operate outside of a hotel. And let me tell you, it felt amazing to drink a beer.

After one drink, we met up with one of Azeem’s friends and headed out to a house party at the Dubai Marina. The Dubai Marina is a neighborhood in Dubai. They basically created a massive man made marina and built literally 60 apartment and office buildings around it. All skyscrapers. I didn’t get a chance to take any pictures, but if you google search it, you will see how amazing this place is. The party itself was full of older Europeans, and it was pretty fun. They had a DJ who played good music and I got a chance to catch up with my cousin and Azeem’s friend. However, the best part of the night was when my cousin told me about the epic drunk brunches that they have in Dubai. I was seriously worried that I wouldn’t be able to do drunk brunches and day drink like I did in the states, but she described drunk brunches to epic proportions, drunker brunches than even I have been a part of in the states. I can’t wait! I got back around 4am, but I wasn’t ready to call it a night, so I went to the 24 hour hookah bar (here they are called shisha cafes) in my building and had a nice rose.

Saturday night was even better, and the nightlife in Dubai certainly lived up to its hype. I met up with a friend from New York’s younger brother, an American, and we headed to a BBQ. The BBQ was full of about 20 Americans, many from the US embassy in Abu Dhabi, and a bunch who worked for an American defense company. It was great to eat burgers and drink bud light. Now, since there was such a large group of people, and a couple people had siblings visiting from the states, they decided to rent a stretch hummer limo. My friend told me that in his 2 and a half years in Dubai, he had never rented a limo or been around so many Americans. We took the limo to a beer garden called the Irish village, which was a cool place, set up like an actual village. We had a couple drinks, then headed to a lounge called Neos. Neos is on the top floor, the 65th floor, of a hotel called the Address, which has an amazing view of the city, including the Burj Dubai. When we got to the lounge, some of the guys decided to get bottle service and Cuban cigars. It was amazing, and I doubt that I will have too many nights like that again. Once again, I came home and smoked a shisha before going to bed.

There were a couple incidences in cabs from the weekend, but I will write another blog post dedicated to social norms, race relations, etc. soon. As some of you know, I always have interesting cab rides.

So my first weekend was a huge success. I made a bunch of new friends, got invited to play on a beach volleyball team, and have a group of Americans that I can hang out with whenever I get nostalgic.

I also set up Skype with unlimited calling to the US, including cell phones, for only $6 a month, so I’m sure I will be drunk dialing many of you, because when I get home, it will be late afternoon in the US.

But look out for future posts on cabs, and European prostitutes, which is a big deal here. Some advice I got from almost everyone here is that anytime a European comes onto you at a bar or club, they are almost always prostitutes, and many places here are known as prostitute pick up joints.

Also, check out this song. It's amazing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjV91bKVdu0

Sooo...I finally made it to DUBAI!!

View from my grandparents apartment (tall thin line of light is the Burj, and I couldn't even fit all of it in one frame)

Snow in my backyard from the snowstorm

Sooo…I finally made it to Dubai. And I say finally because it was quite a process. First, I had weeks of going away parties and events in Chicago. Then I went home to D.C. and got hit with the biggest snowstorm in 100 years. 21 inches of snow in my backyard!

While this was happening, Tameem was in the hospital, so I had to wait out the snowstorm and then run to NYC to take care of him. Then I came back to DC for Christmas, back to NYC for New Year’s, back to DC to pack and another going away party, and then back to NYC to catch my flight to Dubai.

When I checked in for my flight, they were asking for volunteers because the flight was overbooked. Of course, I volunteered and got a free roundtrip ticket from JKF to Dubai, so now I’m fairly certain I can make it back to the states in August, probably sometime around the 14th (someone should be really happy about this).

Ok, now DUBAI!

So, as most of you know, I decided to go to Dubai soon after Chicago 2016 was over. I have always wanted to live abroad, and this was the perfect opportunity. My grandparents live in Dubai, my grandfather has a family business that my dad has been bugging me to work at for a long time. So without much hesitation I decided to jump ship. I literally had no expectations and when most people asked me about going to Dubai, I told them I was just going to go and figure it out when I got there. I would live with my grandparents, work at the family business, and see what happened. I thought that when I finally got on the plane, it would hit me, I would miss Chicago, the U.S. etc. but honestly it still hasn’t hit me.

I’ve been to Dubai many times, but it still hits me how amazing this place is. As soon as I land, I’m awe-struck. The airport is huge, spotless, fountains everywhere, probably the nicest airport in the world. The floors are so polished that I literally slip and slide. Everything is brand new, bright lights.

The view from my grandparents apartment is stunning. I can see the whole Dubai skyline, inlcluding the Burj, tallest building in the world. The next day, I meet up with some family, at a mall called festival city. The mall is huge, an Ikea only takes up a small part of it. There are canals going through part of it. Later that day I meet up with a cousin and we go to a gym in a building called The Address. It’s in the same complex as the Burj and the Dubai Mall, the biggest mall in the world. There are fountains everywhere, the ground is all marble and I’m slipping and sliding everywhere. The Address looks tiny compared to the Burj, but it’s the third tallest building in Dubai. The gym looks out at the Burj and there’s a fountain show every 20 minutes that I can see while working out. This place is amazing!

My first couple of days were a whirlwind. Going to the gym, checking out the office I will be working at, getting a cell phone, unpacking, setting up my room, finally getting the internet set up.

I always tell people that Dubai is like Vegas but without the sin. But honestly, Dubai is way better than Vegas. Things are bigger, brighter, cleaner. I was reading an article that describes Dubai way better than I could. Here’s the link:

www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/dec/03/dubai-world-economic-crash

Obviously, some things have been quite frustrating – It took a couple days to get the internet set up. I’m having trouble getting my residency visa because I need to get a copy of my diploma notarized, which is taking some time. My grandmother is constantly nagging me to pray, to not drink, smoke hookah, etc.

But so far, I’m still very excited to be here. I can’t wait to go out and meet people, start being social again, making new friends.

As I write this, I’m sitting at a hooka café in the building next to my grandparents, watching traffic flow by, look at the skyline. It’s 70 outside, and the temperatue fluctuates between 60 and 75 everyday. I can’t help but think that I could be in 0 degree weather in Chicago right now.

There are my first impressions of Dubai. Kinda jumbled thoughts, but I’ll be posting regularly with more coherent thoughts.

Feel free to comment, email, gchat, call, mail, etc.