Six Days in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Located along the eastern edge of the Arabian peninsula, Dubai is a city of international importance. The city receives much media attention and hype; my impression of Dubai during my six-day stay is that the international hype is well deserved. From its ultra-modern skyline with all the amenities of the 21st century in the newer sections, to older, more traditional districts, Dubai truly is an international city.

Dubai and the surrounding region.

Dubai in relation to the wider Middle East.

Look and Feel of Dubai

One aspect of Dubai that stood out to me almost immediately was the large number of expatriates throughout the city. Emiratis make up a small minority of Dubai's population. The vast majority of shops and restaurants are staffed by Filipinos, Malaysians, and Indians, the later making up approximately 51% of Dubai's population. There is also a large population of people from Europe and the United States. Walking through the streets and malls, and dining at restaurants, I heard a bewildering number of languages being spoken. It was not uncommon to see expatriates in their distinctive national dress. Together, these demographic characteristics gave Dubai a very cosmopolitan feel.

In many ways, Dubai truly is a 21st century city. While the earliest recorded settlement of the city dates from the late 1700s, and traditional sections of the city are still full of life, many other sections have been developed within the last 10-15 years. The variety of modern architecture is astounding. Walking among the varied skyscrapers, I was given the impression that architects are encouraged to test the limits of imagination and design.

The first thing that struck me about Dubai was its diverse and ultra-modern skyline.

The Day-to-Day as a Customer in Ashgabat

With a break in the frigid weather, my wife and I decided to research more opportunities to tour Turkmenistan outside the city limits of Ashgabat, and in neighboring provinces. We contacted a local tour agency, and inquired about prices. After shifting prices on us several times, including services we did not ask for, and referred to as "complementary," but with a charge, we declined to work with them any further. A few days later, that same tour agency solicited my workplace advertising free tours. After speaking to the office coordinator, she received clarification from the tour agency: it was free to look at the tour agency's advertisement! That's right, we could browse through their brochure free of charge!

We went shopping at the Ministry of Textiles to find "Turkmenistan" t-shirts for ourselves, as well as family and friends. We walked into a clothing store, which had walls lined with neatly folded t-shirts and other outer-wear. My wife proceeded to pick through the clothes, looking for the right design and color. A few minutes later, a very concerned employee approached her and asked "speak English?" After replying in the affirmative, the employee told her that she could not touch any of the folded clothes, which made up about 75% of the visible inventory. Instead, we could only look through the clothes hanging on racks, or what the employee brought out for us to look at upon request. Later, without any warning, all the lights in the building shut off, and the store attendant informed us that the shops were closed.

I was at a grocery store one weekend, when I noticed chocolate milk drinks stored in what looked like a soft-pretzel warmer. Mildly intrigued with heated chocolate milk drinks in a pretzel-warming machine, I decided to take a picture with my phone. Immediately after, a young female employee came up behind me sternly saying "DELETE!", "DELETE!" At first, I was a little stunned and amused. When I realized she was very serious, I showed her my phone lock screen and replied "deleted, see?" She looked at me with the most scornful face she could muster, and I walked away and checked out. Perhaps they were afraid I might steal their top-secret chocolate milk-warming technology.

Dining at restaurants can sometimes be an awkward experience. It is not uncommon when dining at a restaurant to have the entire wait-staff starring at you while you eat. For example, my wife and I dined at a restaurant recently with three servers. Having finished their meals, the only other patrons left the restaurant, leaving us as the only patrons in the dining room. One waitress stood "at attention," right next to our table, starring at us. On the other side of the dining room, two servers stood "at attention," like soldiers on sentry duty, staring at us. I swear, I don't think they blinked once. While this was probably the most blatant incident so far, such over-the-top "service" is not uncommon. Although, it is ironic that we often have to wait 10-15 minutes for the bill after asking for it - more than once.