The most striking thing to me about Dubai was how familiar it felt. Sort of. It's a brand new city, all shopping malls and luxury hotels and freeways. I don't really get it. For a while, I thought a day was more than enough time there, but as I was getting ready to leave, I started wondering more about what life is like for people there. What draws them there, what do they do, how long do they stay?
The whole city seems to be under construction—half-build skyscrapers are all over. I wonder what it will look like when it's finished.
The Mall of the Emirates is the biggest mall in Dubai, and in the whole Middle East. It looks a lot like any mall in the USA, except for the ski slope:
Oh, and all the women in burqas.
The other remarkable thing about Dubai is how cosmopolitan it is. Sort of. Fewer than twenty percent of the population of the United Arab Emirates are Emiratis. The rest are from all over, mostly South Asia, but also the Philippines, various African countries, other Arab countries... It seems odd to have a society where the local elite import virtually their entire work force from other places.
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