Good Morning Dubai

Right now I’m sitting in my hotel room at the Grand Hyatt Dubai. The hotel itself is nothing out of the ordinary in a city with more cranes than any other place in the world. From my window I can see over twenty cranes and I’m sure if it were a clear day I could see more in the distant skyline. The city and it’s people are a conglomeration of old world and new school all set against an ocean background.
We took a day to tour some of the cities more touristy destinations including the Mall Dubai, Emirates Mall, the Burj Al Arab and the Palm Island. All three are a testament to the power and immense wealth of the city. Imagine building a whole community on an island shaped like a Palm tree where less than a decade ago there was only ocean.

Despite the extensive westernization of Dubai, the old world is still very much in power. While eating lunch at the Emirates Mall, I had Chinese by the way, the muezzin announced the time for prayer over the PA system. There were LCD displays notifying people to respect the local custom and dress located at the entrances of the mall.

I think it’s interesting to see so many people dressed in traditional clothing walking amongst western tourists dressed in shorts and flip flops. Groups of women in burqas walk passed women in mini-skirts and men in robes meet with men in suits. It’s not at all the culture shock I was initially expecting, but I guess I wasn’t really expecting anything.

Looking out from the window of my room, which is the entire northern wall, I have to remind myself that I’m not in San Diego anymore. There is green grass, palm trees and a swimming pool surrounded by jogging paths and a water park. Cell phone towers are cleverly disguised as palm trees surrounded by palm trees. That’s another characteristic of this city that really amazes me, how everything is kept so perfect.
Everything from the overpasses to the road barriers are painted to match. While walking around the mall I noticed more people sweeping and cleaning than in any mall stateside. There were even people sweeping the sidewalks on the streets. I guess money can buy cleanliness and there is A LOT of money around here. Where else can you find a city that’s exploded as much as Dubai in a very short period of time?
Part of me would like to know how it was before the big bang of Dubai. Before all the companies moved in and started constructing their skyscrapers and luxurious hotels. How different was it from other parts of the Middle East? I’d like to talk with someone who was here before and continues living here to know what the local perspective is. Is there even anyone left here from those times? Most of the people I’ve talked to are Indian, Filipino or African. Maybe I need to get to the outskirts of town to find the ones who know, but I’m leaving tomorrow so I guess it’ll be left for another time.