Dubai

Last Thursday we landed in the United Arab Emirates, starting in Dubai. Out of all of the people living here, only something like 10% are actually citizens. The rest are from all over the world. 

I heard on the radio yesterday that 202 different nationalities call Dubai home.

So far we have gone to the Dubai Mall, Dubai Creek, the Mall of the Emirates, Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary and Sports City. We also rented a car yesterday to go to the neighboring city of Al Ain. More on that later.

The malls were probably worth going to once, but otherwise totally overwhelming and not that special, in my opinion. Maybe from a helicopter it would be more unique, but from the inside it mostly looks like any mall you've been in except endless. Maybe if I could afford more things, both financially and suitcase-space-wise it would have been more amazing, but even then, how many stores can you go in!!

The most incredible thing to me about the mall was how it is designed in connection with the "tube" so you never have to go outside. We walked and walked for hours without ever leaving the air conditioning.

The malls also have a number of other novel attractions, like an ice skating rink and a ski resort / sledding area inside, in the desert heat.

More my style was Dubai Creek, which has a number of different "souks," or market areas. It is an older part of the city, with some of the older buildings still instead of just skyscrapers. It included a covered outdoor area that had a bunch of shops selling trinkets and souvenirs. 

I can't tell if this is something original, and a real market, or if it was designed to give tourists like me a sanitized version of such a place. To be honest, I feel silly for liking it so much and wanting all of the things. But I do!!!! I want all the shinies.

You can also walk along the water. Nearby are stores selling spices and dried fruits, which are the one thing I have bought so far. Mango and papaya and melon! Delicious. 

One of my favorite parts of Dubai so far is there are cats everywhere! Wild street cats that sit on the parked cars and wander the sidewalks. It seems like people feed them pretty frequently, as I've seen little bowls of water and food left out.

It's an interesting place, that's for sure. The cricket match starts in a few days and in a bizarre twist I have media accreditation. This means I can go with Subash to watch in the press box and hang out with the journalists. 

Until then, I'll keep exploring and looking at that incredible skyline!