Yesterday I was in Dubai. This is the first time I've driven there. I was ready with my GPS coordinates set, so at least it knew where I was going.
As I approached the city, I could see the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world), in the distance. It was a very hazy day, so most everything else was hidden behind the clouds. Actually, I'm not sure if it was clouds or sand causing the haze in the sky. Either way, whatever it was, resulted in the visibility being very limited.
I was there to finalize one of my summer trips.
One of the things that was most striking to me, was the grittiness of this part of the city. I had to remind myself often that this was, in fact, Dubai - the land of all things glitzy.
But then I remembered, I shouldn't have been surprised by these findings because in every big city, there is the section that doesn't make it in the tourist guide books as places to see and things to do. And so it is with Dubai. It takes a whole lot of folks to shine the gold and silver and to keep all of the marble sparkling.
As I've mentioned before, there are less than 10 million people here, but only 2 million, or 20% of the population, are Emiratis. Almost everyone else is in place to serve them in some capacity or other. (Just looked it up - The actual numbers listed for population is 7.5 million, again with roughly 80% of that number being expats). Of the expats, most are from neighboring countries and almost all are Arab. This latest school reform has brought in the most Westerners, and those who follow Christianity.
It is the folks who live and work in the service industries that are not treated well, at all.
I have been asked again and again, about the treatment of women here. For the most part, very well. However, those women who make up the service industry, not so good. They are the cooks, nannies, house cleaners, etc.
There are many more expat men than women because of the job market. More men are needed for the incredible amount of building that has happened and continues to happen. Yesterday, I saw construction sight, after construction sight, with cranes looming high above on seemingly every block. You don't see that much building on the glitzy side of town, but it appears they are extending their reach throughout the city.
Side note - In the slides of typical single family homes that I included a few days ago, please note that these are in fact, typical. Remember, family sizes are much larger here. It is not unusual for a family to have 8-10 kids. (This is commonly referred to as "nation building"). The houses in the slides look like the ones across the street from my school.
Tomorrow I'm headed to Abu Dhabi, to get dolled up for my travels.
Insha'Alla (God willing), more soon.
Side note 2 - Every conversation begins and ends with Insha'Allah or Alhamdulilah (praise God).
As I approached the city, I could see the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world), in the distance. It was a very hazy day, so most everything else was hidden behind the clouds. Actually, I'm not sure if it was clouds or sand causing the haze in the sky. Either way, whatever it was, resulted in the visibility being very limited.
I was there to finalize one of my summer trips.
One of the things that was most striking to me, was the grittiness of this part of the city. I had to remind myself often that this was, in fact, Dubai - the land of all things glitzy.
But then I remembered, I shouldn't have been surprised by these findings because in every big city, there is the section that doesn't make it in the tourist guide books as places to see and things to do. And so it is with Dubai. It takes a whole lot of folks to shine the gold and silver and to keep all of the marble sparkling.
As I've mentioned before, there are less than 10 million people here, but only 2 million, or 20% of the population, are Emiratis. Almost everyone else is in place to serve them in some capacity or other. (Just looked it up - The actual numbers listed for population is 7.5 million, again with roughly 80% of that number being expats). Of the expats, most are from neighboring countries and almost all are Arab. This latest school reform has brought in the most Westerners, and those who follow Christianity.
It is the folks who live and work in the service industries that are not treated well, at all.
I have been asked again and again, about the treatment of women here. For the most part, very well. However, those women who make up the service industry, not so good. They are the cooks, nannies, house cleaners, etc.
There are many more expat men than women because of the job market. More men are needed for the incredible amount of building that has happened and continues to happen. Yesterday, I saw construction sight, after construction sight, with cranes looming high above on seemingly every block. You don't see that much building on the glitzy side of town, but it appears they are extending their reach throughout the city.
Side note - In the slides of typical single family homes that I included a few days ago, please note that these are in fact, typical. Remember, family sizes are much larger here. It is not unusual for a family to have 8-10 kids. (This is commonly referred to as "nation building"). The houses in the slides look like the ones across the street from my school.
Tomorrow I'm headed to Abu Dhabi, to get dolled up for my travels.
Insha'Alla (God willing), more soon.
Side note 2 - Every conversation begins and ends with Insha'Allah or Alhamdulilah (praise God).
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