Impressions of Dubai

Impressions of Dubai Part II

We wound our way down to the creek - which was really a river - so I wondered why it got the name of the creek. There were assembled there the old traditional boats each ready to take us across the river, but Stephen and I were really just there to see it all and wanted to walk along the creek rather than cross over. This section of old Dubai was probably far more deserted because of the sabbath than it would have been the next day, but we were content to wander. 

We found the Museum of Architecture and the Security Guard there told us there was no admittance due to the Sabbath, and we were turning to go when he said, “well, I’ll let you have a short tour.” So we started to roam on our own. I took a picture of a floral design on the wall, and he came up to stop me and said no pictures. Here is the only oneI was allowed to take of the decorative wall pieces.

He was from Bangladesh and his English was a bit hard to understand (in all these situations, I am aware that they have worked hard to learn English, and I regret that it is the only language that I speak).  Instead, he started to give us a guided tour and he took my camera and started to place us in all kinds of poses and then took our picture. One pose with two wax figures above - representing men at work. The guard directed Stephen to get down on a knee and pretend to work along side the figure of a man pounding on rocks. I was to stand next to the other man. The Guard had us pose in several other tableaus and each one got sillier and sillier, but he kept snapping our picture and then he took pictures of everything but of the thing I wanted to take a picture of - the decorative floral designs on the walls. 

                                           Another of the poses we were directed to perform.

In one setting he asked Stephen how many wives he had, and Stephen told him just one. The Guard started to talk about the power of date honey to give men the strength to - and he demonstrated with two fists pulling back toward his hips and the hips thrusting forward - the old universal language of the pelvic thrust. Clearly, the man was delighted with his sexy joke. He told us he had four wives and laughed again, then said no he was just kidding. He took us upstairs to see still more of the museum. He explained the technology of the wind tunnel - the one architectural detail that we both found interesting. It’s a part of the building that is a tower designed to catch the wind and bring it in the house to cool it. I wondered if the tower would also have some way of filtering the sand out of the wind before it reached the living quarters below, for one thing that is clear to see in both Doha and Dubai- these cities have been carved out of a desert land. When flying in, you can see the treeless desert, all a monochrome of sandy sameness. Stephen tipped the man from Bangladesh for his entertaining tour and we escaped the Museum of Islamic Architecture.  

We strolled along the Creek hoping to find the Gold Souk or the Spice Souk, but we didn’t see any signs of either and decided to turn back. I did see a camel tethered nearby so I took a picture of him. 

We got back to the Dubai Museum just as about ten tour buses arrived and the place was mobbed so we decided that we would skip the museum. 

We headed back to the tallest building in the world near the large mall. We didn’t realize that we needed tickets to go up to the top of the tallest building and they were all sold out for the rest of the day, so we didn’t get to do that either. (Both of us admitted we had not done our homework preparing for our short visit). I wasn’t really all that disappointed. We decided we would be able to do this on our next visit. 

We still had more than an hour before the first of the performances by the musical water fountain began. We had some lunch - tabouli and hummus and stuffed grape leaves, which we enjoyed. We found a bench to sit on and wait for the fountain show. Again, there were people from everywhere and women dressed in every fashion one might see in the west. One young woman had a sheer blouse (see through) with a black bra underneath and cut off short-shorts. It seems that anything goes here in Dubai just like anywhere else in the world. However, there were many women in burkas with faces covered and other women in scarves. There was a billboard advertising a Rihanna concert for earlier in March. There are provocative ads with women heavily made up. Walking around the mall in Dubai is like walking in a mall in any western country.

Finally the fountain began to perform right at six. It was an Italian opera - not sure which one - a female soprano voice with quite a range. (Seth can you identify the aria?) The water spurted up in a synchronized design, but there never was anything even approaching 200 feet. The choreography for the performance we saw was graceful and in some ways lovely, but since Stephen and I had spent over an hour just waiting for the performance, we were pretty underwhelmed by the site. I did take a video of it if anyone cares to see it.  I have tried to post the video here, but I am not sure if I have succeeded. 

We got back to the hotel in time for the happy hour, and had some wine and light bites. We decided that we would eat dinner at the Thai restaurant on the hotel property and have a more low key night than the night before. The food was good, not wonderful, but acceptable. I am still waiting for that amazing meal, and I hope we do have a few while I am here. 

Our flight was at mid-day Saturday, so that morning we just needed to pack and be on our way.  I got a chance to visit with Juma again as Stephen was handling the check-out. Juma is just one of those fun and good natured people that is probably capable of a whole lot more than just greeting people and opening their doors. But he seems happy to have this job even though he misses his home. That was the general feeling I got from talking to all the cab driver, door men, waitresses and anyone we could talk to. They miss their homes and family, but are happy to have the income provided by the jobs in either Dubai or Doha.