The Dubai experience

June 1, 2009
Millenium Airport Hotel, Dubai
A recap of yesterday's adventures
Arriving in Dubai was not so different from any other international arrival. But then I got in to the airport and there were a few notable exceptions. First off, it is HUGE. I mean, it is the world's largest ariport, but seriusly, that thing is BIG. We arrived around 8:30 pm and it took a long time to get through customs. Not because of long lines, but just because it took so long to walk from point a to point b. when we first got off the plane, we had to cue up single file. This was confusing. No one seemed to know why. It was not passport control, customs, nothing. It turns out, we were being systematically profiled. We had to walk by a camera one at a time to have our faces scanned. Looking for the bad guys, I suppose.
Once through the screening, there were signs, bathrooms left (stand or sit options available, personal cleaning shower hoses in ever stall-like the ones next to the sink in the kitchen...), prayer rooms right. Just a different world. The customs officers wore white, Egyptian cotton robes, heads covered in a white cloth and a black cord. Suddenly, it occurred to me, I was not in Kansas anymore, so to speak. I felt a little uncomfortable about my knowledge of social norms and customs. I was worried my yoga pants and excessively friendly nature might get me in to trouble. I felt like I stood out here in a way I did not like.
I made it through no prob and found my way across the airport to the meeting point for the Emirate Hotel guests. I found a young woman sitting alone, about my age, and I introduced myself to Elsa. She too was traveling alone. We decided to hang out in Dubai. We both wanted to go, but both felt uncomfortable going it alone. It was perfect! We were staying in the Emirates building of the Millenium Hotel. Emirates has a whole building just for its travelers. Pretty cool. The complimentary night in the hotel (COMEPLIMENTARY NIGHT IN A HOTEL!) came complete with dinner, breakfast and snack. Nice rooms, too. Double occupancy rack rate of $250...nice. No clocks in the room, either. Brilliant!
So, Elsa and I grabbed dinner and then headed to town. One of the stewardesses on the flight recommended we hit “The Creek.” It's a big lagoon in the middle of Dubai. Lots of shops nearby and promenades to walk on. Hey, it was 9:30 and we're two students traveling in a foreign land!
We grabbed a cab-asking, how much will it be. The cabbie said $3.50 and put us in a car with a different driver. When we got to the Creek, the driver let us off on the 'creek-side” as he called it. The meter read 18. We thought we were getting screwed but didn't really argue. What was there to say? We hopped out and began walking. We were clearly on the wrong side of the creek. All the shops were across the way. It was 85 degrees, muggy and we walked. And walked. There were barges all over the water, all lit up and pretty. It was a gorgeous night. But we were not where we wanted to be. We devised a plan to get across. We found a ferry.
It was awesome. The best part of the night was the ferry ride across the creek. I bargained to price from 20 to 15. But the ferry guy looked confused when I handed him US money. He gave me change in the local currency. He handed me a five and when I gave him my US 20, he gave me another 10...and then it clicked. The prices we had been quoted were local, not dollars!! In the cab, the driver was not ripping us off, we ripped ourselves off!!!
We laughed. We walked around and just enjoyed seeing this part of Dubai. After a while, we headed home in a cab and paid with the right money this time.
It was a good evening. Not as rousing and thrilling and either Elsa and I would have liked, but we decided that we had done well for two women in a very foreign land with limited funds and no prior research on where we were!
Slept well-about 5 hours-got up this morning and then...off to the airport again. I am now sitting on the plane heading to Ethiopia. I wish I would be able to get off the plane there and go see Ethiopia. As a Jew, I feel profoundly connected to the locale. I want to see where the lost tribes may have been. I want to see where all the Ethiopians living in Israel were rescued from. I want to see the land of words like Falasha. These people are my people too and I want to touch their home.
But alas, not on this trip...