To everyone in the states Happy Memorial Day and remember to say a prayer for all of our soldiers who are fighting only a couple hours away from where I sit right now. Also, remember to honor those who give us our freedoms. I live in a country where there are labor camps, in which ten people live in a single room. I am in a country where everyone is treated differently and your nationality plays a huge part on how you are looked upon.
So remember to be thankful for the right to BBQ and drink a beer today or tommorrow because around the world, it isn't like it is at home.
Happy Memorial Day
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Weekends are for the Warriors
So it's Sunday and everyone over in America is probably getting ready for church and waiting for that graduation BBQ or the Memorial Day picnic but over here it's just a full day's work. Thinking about it now I am definetly going to miss the Memorial Day festivities. All the picnics and food and swimming and fun. However, we will try and have a little American celebration over here even though there are only two of us.
This weekend held many suprises and many sights that I was hoping to see. On Friday I had my first chance to sleep in and man was it amazing. I got to sleep til around 11:30 and then the sun got to bright so I lost that battle and had to get out of bed. Upon waking up I heard the pool calling my name so I had to go see what he wanted, I mean obviously he wanted to play. Joseph was needing a new pair of sandals so we headed to the mall. Now this isn't even the biggest mall in Dubai and it would literally take you around 2 days to walk around and see every store and I am not exaggerating either. It was huge, and it had almost every store you could think of minus like Gucci and stuff thats a little later. However, what the most amazing thing about this mall was its theme. It is called the Ibn Batuta Mall and was named after a famous Arabic Traveler called Ibn Batuta. Go figure right, I mean where did they come up with something like that. Anyway, every different section of the mall was a different dynasty based thousands of years ago. There was the Tunisian/Moroccan section, the Egyptians, the Persian dynasty, the Indians (India), and then the Chinese. Each section was structured around that culture and it was just unbelievable. I will have to post the pictures so you guys can check it out.
After the mall we went to his Uncle's house for dinner and fellowship and man was it awesome. We had lamb, chicken, some desert potato things that are really expensive because, well they only grow in the desert. Salad, dessert, oh it was the works and the worst part for me was that everything was delicious. On friday night we went out to the Dubai Marina to play a little game of Backgammon and just chill underneath the Dubai lights. It was a pretty good cap to a wonderful day.
On Saturday we got up and got ready for work. Its casual saturdays over here so it wasn't anything to serious. Saturday was a very light day at work and it seemed to take forever, however we got to leave early and I was thankful for that. The gym was calling our names so me and Joe hit the gym to continue our lifting routine (I think i can already see my shirt ripping), and then we hit the pool for a little swim. Last night was probably one of the coolest nights yet in both temperature and events. We went to the Dubai Fountains which are right at the base of the tallest building in the world, and if anyone has seen the fountains in Vegas, these are bigger and better. They come on every half hour and amaze thousands of people who just stop to watch. We sat down at a restauraunt and had a massive meal. It was me, Joseph, Rami and Majd and we all pretty much stuffed ourselves while watching the fountains. Another amazing thing was the Dubai mall which is right beside the fountains and this mall is the biggest mall I have ever seen by far. It has four floors, and each floor is about the size of a small town. It has every store imaginable and I am not kidding. You name it you can find it here. It also has an aquarium, a skating rink and 10 food courts. Not to mention a movie theater and well the fountains. We only walked through enough to get to the fountains and man was I amazed.
After the Mall we went to a bar called Trader Vic's so we could chill out and have a good time. This bar was really neat and had a latin/carribean feel, with the music to back it up. It was pretty packed but the company was good. It was right around the area of the Burj al Arab, which is the famous hotel here in Dubai so it was awesome scenery. However, the workday was calling so we were forced to turn in.
Today has been very busy and what else would you expect from what I call "Monday". We have had two very big meetings and we have been finalizing procedures for our transportation take over here in a couple of days. Either way it was a good day and I can't wait to hit the beach for an hour or two after work.
This weekend held many suprises and many sights that I was hoping to see. On Friday I had my first chance to sleep in and man was it amazing. I got to sleep til around 11:30 and then the sun got to bright so I lost that battle and had to get out of bed. Upon waking up I heard the pool calling my name so I had to go see what he wanted, I mean obviously he wanted to play. Joseph was needing a new pair of sandals so we headed to the mall. Now this isn't even the biggest mall in Dubai and it would literally take you around 2 days to walk around and see every store and I am not exaggerating either. It was huge, and it had almost every store you could think of minus like Gucci and stuff thats a little later. However, what the most amazing thing about this mall was its theme. It is called the Ibn Batuta Mall and was named after a famous Arabic Traveler called Ibn Batuta. Go figure right, I mean where did they come up with something like that. Anyway, every different section of the mall was a different dynasty based thousands of years ago. There was the Tunisian/Moroccan section, the Egyptians, the Persian dynasty, the Indians (India), and then the Chinese. Each section was structured around that culture and it was just unbelievable. I will have to post the pictures so you guys can check it out.
After the mall we went to his Uncle's house for dinner and fellowship and man was it awesome. We had lamb, chicken, some desert potato things that are really expensive because, well they only grow in the desert. Salad, dessert, oh it was the works and the worst part for me was that everything was delicious. On friday night we went out to the Dubai Marina to play a little game of Backgammon and just chill underneath the Dubai lights. It was a pretty good cap to a wonderful day.
On Saturday we got up and got ready for work. Its casual saturdays over here so it wasn't anything to serious. Saturday was a very light day at work and it seemed to take forever, however we got to leave early and I was thankful for that. The gym was calling our names so me and Joe hit the gym to continue our lifting routine (I think i can already see my shirt ripping), and then we hit the pool for a little swim. Last night was probably one of the coolest nights yet in both temperature and events. We went to the Dubai Fountains which are right at the base of the tallest building in the world, and if anyone has seen the fountains in Vegas, these are bigger and better. They come on every half hour and amaze thousands of people who just stop to watch. We sat down at a restauraunt and had a massive meal. It was me, Joseph, Rami and Majd and we all pretty much stuffed ourselves while watching the fountains. Another amazing thing was the Dubai mall which is right beside the fountains and this mall is the biggest mall I have ever seen by far. It has four floors, and each floor is about the size of a small town. It has every store imaginable and I am not kidding. You name it you can find it here. It also has an aquarium, a skating rink and 10 food courts. Not to mention a movie theater and well the fountains. We only walked through enough to get to the fountains and man was I amazed.
After the Mall we went to a bar called Trader Vic's so we could chill out and have a good time. This bar was really neat and had a latin/carribean feel, with the music to back it up. It was pretty packed but the company was good. It was right around the area of the Burj al Arab, which is the famous hotel here in Dubai so it was awesome scenery. However, the workday was calling so we were forced to turn in.
Today has been very busy and what else would you expect from what I call "Monday". We have had two very big meetings and we have been finalizing procedures for our transportation take over here in a couple of days. Either way it was a good day and I can't wait to hit the beach for an hour or two after work.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
First Week...wow
So at this point in time I have been in Dubai for a couple hours over a week and it has been a great experience so far and I have no reason to believe that it will change for the worse. I have met some great and amazing people and have learned many many things about business and culture. My only hope is that Dubai continues to amaze me in ways i never thought possible.
I really don't remember what happened on Tuesday so I am going to skip it and write about Wednesday. Wednesday was a tremendously busy day at the office and I am just glad I didn't go to the gym before hand or it could have been worse. It was just terribly busy with meetings and procedures that had to be typed up. Also, there are people moving offices and offices being redone so the place has been something of a madhouse the past couple of days. I found out earlier this week that I had gotten a tryout for a Summer league team that consists of a couple of ex-pros and guys that are looking to make it on the professional level so all day wednesday I was nervous about that. I mean I can't let the Americans down on the international level (haha, that's a joke). Other than that wednesday went smoothly, I finished writing a standard operating prodcedure for the internal system at Deal Distribution and we polished of the Inbound Standard Operating procedure for the shipping companies.
So on Wednesday night I went for this tryout and as I already said I was quite nervous. However on the ride over I was reminded that everyone that plays on these teams are working men and they are just gathering for a place to play and relax. When I got there i noticed our team was made up of a bunch of brits, an indian, a canadian and me- the american. So i felt at home in a bit of a way because I am used to playing with crazy british and canadian guys (right boys haha), but I soon found out that even though these were friendly matches, the competition was quite intense. In the end though we drew one game and lost the other but it was a good chance to just play some football again. The pitch was amazing as well. It was four rugby fields outside of a 50,000 seat stadium and the games were played on these beautiful rugby pitches. At the end of the night though it was back to bed for the morning.
Today was a pretty exciting day at work as I got my first project to myself. Additionally, I now have my own computer and working area. So my whole day was spent working on this new project. If anyone knows what an internal audit is that is what I am scheduling and putting together. A rather painstaking process in a company that deals with a multi-million dollar warehouse. Furthermore, I am not in charge of helping out with the renovation of the website which includes helping Joseph transfer a powerpoint to website information. At the end of today it was time for the weekend as the Muslim day of prayer is friday so we will not go to work tomorrow. Me and Joseph treated ourself to a customary shave and haircut. I mean by the way my facial hair grows I needed a shave very badly (once again it's a joke). It was an awesome experience however, because it was done by a old timers razor and in a barbershop which was pretty cool and the whole time they talked about the world cup so I was pretty happy.
We treated ourselves to a nice Mexican dinner tonight on the beach front and now we are chlling around the pool deck just passing away the time. So it's a goodnight from Dubai, I will look forward to telling you about my amazing weekend.
I really don't remember what happened on Tuesday so I am going to skip it and write about Wednesday. Wednesday was a tremendously busy day at the office and I am just glad I didn't go to the gym before hand or it could have been worse. It was just terribly busy with meetings and procedures that had to be typed up. Also, there are people moving offices and offices being redone so the place has been something of a madhouse the past couple of days. I found out earlier this week that I had gotten a tryout for a Summer league team that consists of a couple of ex-pros and guys that are looking to make it on the professional level so all day wednesday I was nervous about that. I mean I can't let the Americans down on the international level (haha, that's a joke). Other than that wednesday went smoothly, I finished writing a standard operating prodcedure for the internal system at Deal Distribution and we polished of the Inbound Standard Operating procedure for the shipping companies.
So on Wednesday night I went for this tryout and as I already said I was quite nervous. However on the ride over I was reminded that everyone that plays on these teams are working men and they are just gathering for a place to play and relax. When I got there i noticed our team was made up of a bunch of brits, an indian, a canadian and me- the american. So i felt at home in a bit of a way because I am used to playing with crazy british and canadian guys (right boys haha), but I soon found out that even though these were friendly matches, the competition was quite intense. In the end though we drew one game and lost the other but it was a good chance to just play some football again. The pitch was amazing as well. It was four rugby fields outside of a 50,000 seat stadium and the games were played on these beautiful rugby pitches. At the end of the night though it was back to bed for the morning.
Today was a pretty exciting day at work as I got my first project to myself. Additionally, I now have my own computer and working area. So my whole day was spent working on this new project. If anyone knows what an internal audit is that is what I am scheduling and putting together. A rather painstaking process in a company that deals with a multi-million dollar warehouse. Furthermore, I am not in charge of helping out with the renovation of the website which includes helping Joseph transfer a powerpoint to website information. At the end of today it was time for the weekend as the Muslim day of prayer is friday so we will not go to work tomorrow. Me and Joseph treated ourself to a customary shave and haircut. I mean by the way my facial hair grows I needed a shave very badly (once again it's a joke). It was an awesome experience however, because it was done by a old timers razor and in a barbershop which was pretty cool and the whole time they talked about the world cup so I was pretty happy.
We treated ourselves to a nice Mexican dinner tonight on the beach front and now we are chlling around the pool deck just passing away the time. So it's a goodnight from Dubai, I will look forward to telling you about my amazing weekend.
Response To Rach...
The business is going really well actually. The main problem in the business portion is not the language but all the terminology and the standard operating procedures. There is so much that goes on in a logistics company that as a project manager you have to really know everything and everything includes every minute detail. So at this point I am really just trying to learn the system as fast as I can. We have pakistanis, indians, phillipines, romanians, brits and americans in the office so its a wide variety of culture.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Random thoughts
The toilets here are different from anywhere else i have been in the entire world. First off, each one has it's own spray hose that is attached to the wall. The only way I can describe it is it looks like the hose on the sink top and it is used to wash the toilet with when you are done. My argument is that it washes the excess of you butt that you couldn't get with toilet paper. But anyway, there are also two buttons that you can push to flush. The first just adds some water to the toilet and in reality is only used when you release your fluids. The second completely refuels the toilet and is used when you drop off the kids. I just found it funny that there are two buttons and a hose.
The Family Comes In...
So it was a rather laid back monday at work, that was until the boss arrived. Joe's Uncle runs this company called Deal Distribution and he was previously out of town until Sunday night when he returned from Syria. So on Monday when he entered the office the work picked up and that meant I had the all important meeting with the big guy. I am not going to lie I was a little nervous at first after all this guy does own shares in 4 sister companies and makes a ton of money. However, it was very relaxing and he introduced me to some lessons of the trade. The rest of the day just took off from there as there were company reports and standard operating procedures to be written out. We had a minor problem in the new warehouse as the floor is a little off level which has caused the racks to push up against the pillars but that is something I can't really explaing because I am not pursuing a career in engineering. Joseph and I continued our work on the 100 million dollar contract and it has been a very rough transition as both sides want something compeletely different and we have to figure out someway for this deal to go through.
Lunch was absolutely delicious as I had a nice Iranian dish full of rice, chicken and lamb. It hit the spot I must say. The day continued on and in the end me and Joseph were just ready for a nap, however the family were coming back from Syria so that wasn't an option. We had to head to his Aunts house to clean up a little (he has been housesitting for the past month and a half) and then we had to run back to his apartment change and head to the airport to greet his two aunts. On the way we passed the massive and beautiful skyling of Dubai and I tried to take some pictures but it is hard in a car and they didn't turn out very well at all. We met his uncles at the airport and greeted his aunts coming out of customs. It was all fun after that.
We all went back to his uncle's house to have a meal and I will tell you it was an awesome experience. Although I didn't understand a word that was spoken, the smiles and good food were enough for me. There were ten of us sitting around the dinner table and it was full of arabic bread, rice and pine seeds, chicken, lamb with potatoes, soup and the interesting thing was there was only three cups of water on the table and everybody shared. It is a big occacsion when the whole family gets together and it was a fun one. We finished off the night but watching a wedding video and drinking some turkish coffee.
Lunch was absolutely delicious as I had a nice Iranian dish full of rice, chicken and lamb. It hit the spot I must say. The day continued on and in the end me and Joseph were just ready for a nap, however the family were coming back from Syria so that wasn't an option. We had to head to his Aunts house to clean up a little (he has been housesitting for the past month and a half) and then we had to run back to his apartment change and head to the airport to greet his two aunts. On the way we passed the massive and beautiful skyling of Dubai and I tried to take some pictures but it is hard in a car and they didn't turn out very well at all. We met his uncles at the airport and greeted his aunts coming out of customs. It was all fun after that.
We all went back to his uncle's house to have a meal and I will tell you it was an awesome experience. Although I didn't understand a word that was spoken, the smiles and good food were enough for me. There were ten of us sitting around the dinner table and it was full of arabic bread, rice and pine seeds, chicken, lamb with potatoes, soup and the interesting thing was there was only three cups of water on the table and everybody shared. It is a big occacsion when the whole family gets together and it was a fun one. We finished off the night but watching a wedding video and drinking some turkish coffee.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Others for today
Everything here is under construction. All the roads, various office buildings and hotels, everything. It is in some places a rally course and I thank my lucky stars that I am not allowed to drive in this place because I could turn every road into a rally track and that e-brake would definetly be screwed. The problem was when they expanded too fast and too quickly and now there is no more money to finish the buildings so many wait in check until they can be bought out and finished.
The landmarks are all just as amazing as they are in the pictures and I hope soon I can get some pictures and video out to everybody. Also, it is hot and humid and it is kind of funny because it feels good at night til aroung 10PM then it starts to get really humid and all hell breaks loose. The food is delicious and I hope to start sharing some pictures of this great mix of culture.
If you guys want me to write about anything let me know and I will share my views...thanks
The landmarks are all just as amazing as they are in the pictures and I hope soon I can get some pictures and video out to everybody. Also, it is hot and humid and it is kind of funny because it feels good at night til aroung 10PM then it starts to get really humid and all hell breaks loose. The food is delicious and I hope to start sharing some pictures of this great mix of culture.
If you guys want me to write about anything let me know and I will share my views...thanks
Strap up the Big Boy pants
So it is Sunday evening and we are at work finishing in what seems to be a monday for the Arabic culture. This will be my second day of work here in Dubai although it is the first full day.
Saturday held many suprises for the first day of work. We woke up and treated ourselves to a smoothie on the beach. It was pretty sweet catching a smoothie on the smooth waves of the Persian Gulf. When we got to work I got the customary tour of the place and I am still finding new places as we go around the first week. The warehouse is absolutely huge housing around 9,000 units some singular and somee boxes. The company I am working for is called Deal Distribution and it is a third party logistics company that handles shipments throughout the arabic world. Most of its business is done throughout the UAE, Oman, Saudia Arabia and Syria but they have contracts throughout. I met many people yesterday and the workers in the warehouse call all of us "boss" and "sir", something I don't ever think I will be able to get used to at least for a couple of years. We are socially held in a higher regard to them and even thinking about it makes me feel for them a little bit.
Work was the typical first day which involved reading up on Standard Operating Procedures and meeting all of the staff, even though it was a Saturday and there was only about half of the people there. It was a casual day so it was nice to escape the heat wearing khakis and a polo. They are building a brand new extension onto the warehouse so I got to take a peak that and let me tell you it was amazing. State of the art equipment and new offices will make this company one of the top around.
After work, we met some of Joe's friends at the mall for some Pinkberry Ice Cream. If you don't know what it is ask me later and I will happily explain as it was delicious. I also got to witness for the first time the indoor ski park and man that is a work of art. I only saw it through the windows but man was it amazing. We decided that we should probably go work out after that and we went and got changed to hit the beach. We grabbed the football and hit Jumeirah Beach for some good ole' excercise. The beach was nice it was around 8PM so it wasn't that hot and we had a great time. A good 3 mile beach run really hit the spot and after that I got my first grocery store experience in the middle east. As is custom Muslims don't eat pork so there was a seperate room away from the store for that. The thing that really suprised me was the inflated prices. Me and Joe bought a pound of turkey meat from the deli and paid around 10 bucks (32 dirhams). When we went to check out we realized we had spent around 90 bucks and hadn't really gotten anything, it was quite depressing if you ask me.
The night concluded with the HANGOVER and a sandwhich along with a dip in the pool so I was quite happy. Although I didn't go into the Persian Gulf because the water temperature was a cool 86 degrees.
Today was the first full day of work and it was kind of rough to be honest. We had two meetings and a lot of stuff to get done as this is the Monday over here. We had a nice gym workout this morning which I think hurt a little bit but other than that the day has went well. I have met some Americans and some Brits so I am not all alone over here in this Arab speaking world and two people here in the office are Macedonian and Romanian and their accents are pretty cool. I hope no one is getting bored by reading these I will try and spice them up a bit but hey its my life right now....who cares
Saturday held many suprises for the first day of work. We woke up and treated ourselves to a smoothie on the beach. It was pretty sweet catching a smoothie on the smooth waves of the Persian Gulf. When we got to work I got the customary tour of the place and I am still finding new places as we go around the first week. The warehouse is absolutely huge housing around 9,000 units some singular and somee boxes. The company I am working for is called Deal Distribution and it is a third party logistics company that handles shipments throughout the arabic world. Most of its business is done throughout the UAE, Oman, Saudia Arabia and Syria but they have contracts throughout. I met many people yesterday and the workers in the warehouse call all of us "boss" and "sir", something I don't ever think I will be able to get used to at least for a couple of years. We are socially held in a higher regard to them and even thinking about it makes me feel for them a little bit.
Work was the typical first day which involved reading up on Standard Operating Procedures and meeting all of the staff, even though it was a Saturday and there was only about half of the people there. It was a casual day so it was nice to escape the heat wearing khakis and a polo. They are building a brand new extension onto the warehouse so I got to take a peak that and let me tell you it was amazing. State of the art equipment and new offices will make this company one of the top around.
After work, we met some of Joe's friends at the mall for some Pinkberry Ice Cream. If you don't know what it is ask me later and I will happily explain as it was delicious. I also got to witness for the first time the indoor ski park and man that is a work of art. I only saw it through the windows but man was it amazing. We decided that we should probably go work out after that and we went and got changed to hit the beach. We grabbed the football and hit Jumeirah Beach for some good ole' excercise. The beach was nice it was around 8PM so it wasn't that hot and we had a great time. A good 3 mile beach run really hit the spot and after that I got my first grocery store experience in the middle east. As is custom Muslims don't eat pork so there was a seperate room away from the store for that. The thing that really suprised me was the inflated prices. Me and Joe bought a pound of turkey meat from the deli and paid around 10 bucks (32 dirhams). When we went to check out we realized we had spent around 90 bucks and hadn't really gotten anything, it was quite depressing if you ask me.
The night concluded with the HANGOVER and a sandwhich along with a dip in the pool so I was quite happy. Although I didn't go into the Persian Gulf because the water temperature was a cool 86 degrees.
Today was the first full day of work and it was kind of rough to be honest. We had two meetings and a lot of stuff to get done as this is the Monday over here. We had a nice gym workout this morning which I think hurt a little bit but other than that the day has went well. I have met some Americans and some Brits so I am not all alone over here in this Arab speaking world and two people here in the office are Macedonian and Romanian and their accents are pretty cool. I hope no one is getting bored by reading these I will try and spice them up a bit but hey its my life right now....who cares
Friday, May 21, 2010
Beginning Cont'd
Almost forgot...happens a lot I know. This city is extremely luxurious and extremely expensive and they charge for everything. They charge your for carts in the mall and belive me you need it these malls are like cities in themselves and I have only seen the small one. They charge you for the plastic grocery bags and to drive on the public roads. It is crazy but even through all of it this city is sick...Anyway its bed time us foreigners over here have to work tomorrow.
Later
Shane
Later
Shane
The Beginning of an Awesome Summer
What's up everybody. This is my first post from the luxiourious city of Dubai and man is it an awesome place. Very Hot but awesome.
I landed around 8PM last night local time after about 22 hours of traveling and immediately I was in awe even at the airport. Dubai should literally be called the city of lights as it shines just like the sun. Even at night when we drove in the city was lit up beyond belief. I was treated to a nice sit down atmosphere at Studio one on the Dubai Marina last night and me and Joseph had a nice drink and sheesha (hookah).
I woke up around noon this morning with the temperature hovering around 96 degrees....No big deal if you ask me lol. Me and Joe took some of our stuff to his new apartment and got everything moved in there. It will definitely be a bachelor pad for the rest of the Summer ha ha. We went to the gym got my membership cleared up and then headed to the Dubai version of Bed, Bath and Beyond (no homo). We had some Lebanese food for lunch and the Hummus was delicious. After that we went touring around and I saw the indoor ski resort, the Atlantis resort and a couple of other sweet buildings. We went out for some dinner on Dubai Marina again and here I am.
For most of the Arabic world Friday's are full of prayer and family and it is one of the biggest days for tourism. And even though the temperatures were around 100 degrees today the city was still bustling with energy and life. If America is considered the Melting Pot of society then Dubai should be considered the Melting pan. This city contains Emiratis, Pakistanis, Italians, Dutch, Brazilians, Americans and everyone in between. Better yet, everyone I have met so far are very welcoming people. Grant it this is the United Arab Emirates and the Emiratis do carry a bigger presence both economically and socially, but everyone else just minds their own business. People watching here is absolutely amazing and anyone who likes to people watch would be in heaven (even though staring is not socially acceptable). Every culture is represented and the styles are completely different. My backwards baseball cap is no match for Italian shoes, or the Emirate robes.
However, in the 28 hours I have been here I have already learned some basic Arabic words and have indulged in some amazing food. Even a Chicken Big-Mac...I know real culturally appealing right. I am excited for what the rest of the summer has in store. Thanks to everyone who has helped me through this transition and hopefully soon I can post some pictures and video for those who are wanting to see Dubai.
See you soon
Shane
I landed around 8PM last night local time after about 22 hours of traveling and immediately I was in awe even at the airport. Dubai should literally be called the city of lights as it shines just like the sun. Even at night when we drove in the city was lit up beyond belief. I was treated to a nice sit down atmosphere at Studio one on the Dubai Marina last night and me and Joseph had a nice drink and sheesha (hookah).
I woke up around noon this morning with the temperature hovering around 96 degrees....No big deal if you ask me lol. Me and Joe took some of our stuff to his new apartment and got everything moved in there. It will definitely be a bachelor pad for the rest of the Summer ha ha. We went to the gym got my membership cleared up and then headed to the Dubai version of Bed, Bath and Beyond (no homo). We had some Lebanese food for lunch and the Hummus was delicious. After that we went touring around and I saw the indoor ski resort, the Atlantis resort and a couple of other sweet buildings. We went out for some dinner on Dubai Marina again and here I am.
For most of the Arabic world Friday's are full of prayer and family and it is one of the biggest days for tourism. And even though the temperatures were around 100 degrees today the city was still bustling with energy and life. If America is considered the Melting Pot of society then Dubai should be considered the Melting pan. This city contains Emiratis, Pakistanis, Italians, Dutch, Brazilians, Americans and everyone in between. Better yet, everyone I have met so far are very welcoming people. Grant it this is the United Arab Emirates and the Emiratis do carry a bigger presence both economically and socially, but everyone else just minds their own business. People watching here is absolutely amazing and anyone who likes to people watch would be in heaven (even though staring is not socially acceptable). Every culture is represented and the styles are completely different. My backwards baseball cap is no match for Italian shoes, or the Emirate robes.
However, in the 28 hours I have been here I have already learned some basic Arabic words and have indulged in some amazing food. Even a Chicken Big-Mac...I know real culturally appealing right. I am excited for what the rest of the summer has in store. Thanks to everyone who has helped me through this transition and hopefully soon I can post some pictures and video for those who are wanting to see Dubai.
See you soon
Shane
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