The Davidian Post – Food & Politics

In November, 2007 I had the opportunity to visit Dubai. My aim was to investigate the phenomenon called Dubai. I would be meeting a relative who had arrived a week earlier. His wife is from Dubai and we were being hosted by his brother in law.

The Emirates consist of 7 states which are more like principalities each governed by its own Sheik and attending family; very tribal. The principalities are Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Ras al-Khaimah, Fujariah, Ajman and Umm Al-Qumain. We were staying in Sharjah.

I am no expert on the immigration laws of the Emirates therefore the information I am will be relating was passed on to me by a local. In the past ownership of any property by non-citizens was not allowed. To become a citizen you had to be an indigenous Arab who could trace back your lineage to the land. This has been changed to allow ownership of apartments but not land. To do business locally you must be sponsored by a citizen and must be in partnership with them.

The first thing which struck me odd was in Dubai Airport. I noticed there were young Arabic women working at the passport check-outs. They were dressed in black from head to toe but their faces weren’t covered. I can’t remember if they wore facial makeup, but later I saw many who wore extensive facial makeup. I have to say I was surprised. I didn’t expect to see Arabic women and certainly not uncovered. Not to mention being out in public un-escorted by men and dealing with men. I was told that this wasn’t Saudi Arabia where women were very segregated. As I walked out of the air-conditioned airport a great volume of oppressive heat instantly enveloped me. This is November which is the beginning of the “good” weather?

My visited coincided with Ramadan this is a month of fasting during daytime and feasting at night. The ride to our hotel instantly revealed the massive amount of construction in progress. I couldn’t believe the number of cranes reaching into the sky like skeletal arms. I was told that 20% of all the cranes in the world were currently employed in the Emirates.

Most people only hear about Dubai, but this is only one of the Emirates, there are 7 Emirates and they are all in different stages of construction. Sharjah where we were staying was aligned more so with Saudi Arabia therefore it was very conservative. Alcohol is not permitted.

I was struck by the number of mosques(on my return I wanted to compare it to the US in terms of houses of worship and to my surprise I also realized we probably had just as many). Our hotel room was on the tenth floor. As you looked out of our window you could see immediately next to our hotel was a mosque whose minarets were level with our window. Five times a day the loudspeakers on the minarets would call for prayer, including 5 am. So guess who woke up at 5 am every morning?

During Ramadan all restaurants were closed during the day, but there were still meals available in discreetly screened parts of some hotels. Sun down which is called Iftar is when the fast is ended.

Imagine all of Manhattan being built all at once including the infrastructure; this is Dubai. The architecture was really superb. It seemed no expense was spared on quality as well as design. I felt as if I was in any American metropolitan city, with its attending malls and homogeneous franchise stores like Starbucks, Wendy’s, Burger King, and McDonald’s. The entire city was encapsulated within air conditioned spaces. It would have been unbearable otherwise because the temperatures soar between 115-120 Fahrenheit in the summer and with humidity.

The thought constantly popped into my head was, “so they are building this massive city, which is going to occupy these spaces?” I was being told that the demand was huge. My question was by whom? There answer was Iranians, Europeans everyone was moving and doing business in Dubai. I kept asking, “What kind of business”? They all said business? Financial institutions, tourism, software, free trade. This still didn’t jibe with me. I thought to myself, why would anyone come to a place that was this hot, you couldn’t become a citizen, it is basically the property of a sheik, there were double standards, the rents were high and the list continues. I think I found my answer. The Sheik was spending money and lots of it. I guess he had figured that all the investments they had made in the U.S. were not doing anything for them. In fact, they were overpaying and basically considering the state of the economy and the rapacious sharks on Wall Street. He might as well build in his own country. At least he can touch it even if he can’t fill it. I also realized for many Arabs this was a source of pride for them. I guess as long as the Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and his group of investor are spending the money there were going to be a lot of takers. It was construction that was the major business.

Dubai unlike Sharjah didn’t have a ban on alcohol and was basically a wide open town comparatively speaking to the other Arab nations around. This is where they come to play including a huge number of Iranians who were not only tourist but massive investors as well.

I had the opportunity to tour some of the spots in Dubai and did go on Palm Island to see this development in the gulf. Traffic conditions were bad, a six mile drive could take 45 minutes and it didn’t seem as if accommodating cars were a premium. Parking was woefully short. I noticed that many of the high rises didn’t even provide parking facilities, although I hear that has changed.

What I really enjoyed about the place wasn’t all the construction and western style resorts; I have seen enough of that to fill a lifetime. It was the charm of visiting the untouched parts of the culture, which is fast disappearing. I traveled to Oman, which is a couple of hours from Sharjah.

It was great to see the desert landscape.

I visited the old markets where heaping mounds of dates of all varieties were being displayed; the adjacent fish market displayed all fresh varieties of fish. A little further down the road the dhows that ply their trade on the gulf, had piled their wares right on the edge of the dock, which was adjacent to the road, it was interesting to see this against the backdrop of massive construction right next to these traditional markets and shipping hub. I could already see the change enveloping their trade as they also evolve to maintain relevance and continuity.

Dubai is well worth a visit just to see what the hype is about, I felt pretty cool about the fact that I had had an opportunity to see this world phenomenon and could write about it. I do plan to go back as I have always found that a place visited once doesn’t necessarily reveal its secret and character.

Filed under: Travel