Dubai DL 3

DDL, Volume 3

So much to do…..

Everytime I want to complain about what Dubai isn’t (cultural like Kathmandu or Bogota) I am usually presented with an opportunity to do something that I couldn’t do in previous cities. Within a span of three weeks, I was able to see Tiger Woods and other top world class golfers play 18 holes and watch two week’s worth of top flight tennis (Roger Federer, Nadal, Rodick, Henin, Mauresmo, Ivanovich and others) in the Dubai Open. It attracts all of the top names because of the prize money. The woman’s field was particulary strong as in the first round I saw the number 11 and 12 players in the world compete. No other tournaments in the world have such competitive fields from the first round except for the year-ending tournaments when only the top players of the year qualify. As for the golf, I’m not really even a golf fan, but it was fun walking the course and watching all these top players do their thing. Unlike other tournaments (or so I’m told), you are right there and the players walk right past you. I even got a nod and “thanks” from Tiger when I told him ‘good luck!” as he walked past me when going from one hole to the next. He ended up winning the tournament. As for the tennis, there is no bad seat in the stadium, but thanks to a student’s connections, I was able to watch Rodick play and beat Nadal in the semi-finals. I was one row away from the court and the players almost slung sweat on you as they ran to hit the balls!

Bon Jovi also deviated off of their world tour and came to play one night in Abu Dhabi, which is about 1.5 hours down the road. It proved to be a hot ticket to get a hold of, but we all (and by we all I mean some 20+ teachers!) and despite the concert being on a school night, we were ready to go. We rented a bus and partied all the way to the concert. BJ sang all of their old hits, plus some new ones and put on a fantastic concert. Who cares if it was still in the 90’s when the concert ended at 11:00! The traffic slowed us down a bit on the way home but I was in bed by 3:00 and up the next morning for school! Thank goodness I was just giving a test!

Another day excursion found a group of friends and I going to Oman for the day to go out on a traditional Arab book called a dowh. We snorkled a bit, watching the scenery go by (barren mountains that drop into a blue sea with some cool rock formations) and some fun in the water and sun. We spent time jumping off the boat and rocks into the water and just playing around. The highlight was watching the dolphins though. They are called Indian ridgeback bottlenose dolphins and there were plenty to see. They liked swimming near the boats and riding in the waves/wake coming off the hull of the boat. There were a few babies swimming along side their mothers just below the surface. A few times the dowh I was in was moving parallel to another dowh and the dolphins were in between the two ‘surfing’ the waves…half in the water, half out. It was incredible. The captain of the boat would see the dolphins and whistle as if he was calling them to the boat! I’m sure some tourists believed that but I was much to saavy to be conned! Still, it did SEEM to be working! The dolphins remained only in this narrow strait of water and didn’t follow the boats once we moved out of the area. They were beautiful to see but kind of ugly in a way. They didn’t look nearly as good as the “Flipper”-like Atlantic bottlenose dolphin!

Right after school ended I had a friend visiting, so we went on a ‘desert safari’ which basically means you are in a 4 wheel jeep ‘bashing’ the sand dunes. That was a lot of fun (and a bit nauseating!) Our driver was particularly good and he would just slide the car down these dunes and it was a wonder we didn’t flip over! After about 45 minutes we arrived at a ‘camp’ in the desert where you could go on camel rides, use 4 wheelers for short trips around the dunes, snowboard down the sand dunes, watch some belly dancing, and then enjoy dinner under the desert sky! It is amazing that with as big and developed as Dubai is, that the wild Arabian desert with HUGE sand dunes is less than 30 minutes away from the city.

So year one in Dubai is a wrap. Overall, it’s a good gig to have as a job. I’ve got great friends, I love my job, and like (well enough) the city. But, how long will I stay…..hmmmm….that is the questions!? As of this writing, I will say two more years. This used to be a destination where teachers would ‘come to die!’ but will won’t be for me. So, to give some answers to questions I’m frequently asked….

What I like about Dubai…..
§ I really like the school where I’m working. The students are from all over the world.
§ There is always something going on….if you want to spend the money to do it!
§ It’s clean and you don’t want for anything (well, almost anything-I haven’t been able to buy black beans since before Christmas!)
§ Playing tennis on the roof of the school as the sun sets over the gulf and the lights of the sky scrappers are coming on…and sometimes with the Muslim call to prayer sounding.
§ It’s a dynamic cosmopolition city
§ Just about anywhere (including Atlanta) is a direct flight away
§ Madonna is coming for a concert in November!
§ The two pro tennis tournaments


What I don’t love about Dubai…..
§ The traffic and all the construction
§ The ‘biggest, best, richest and let’s do it the fastest mentality’ of the city (though it does provide for some scenic vistas and sights)
§ The fact that you can ski indoors in a mall!
§ The ‘us and them’ mentality of the Emiratis and the expats in the city. I wish there was more interaction.
§ The lack of appreciation for the south Asian workers that are building the city and who make it run smoothly.
§ There is little remaining culture
§ It’s not Kathmandu or Bogota!