Dubai, a modern miracle

DUBAI (AIRPORT)
Dubai (and its airport) seems like an improbable place, rising up out of the desert sands. Seems like a fairytale place—wave the wand (of money, of oil) and a city develops. It’s hot, dry and dusty, and frequently a thick heat and dust haze obscures the horizon. But amazingly, this small area has carved a name for itself in world commerce and tourism, has found a unique niche that is working well. Many people organize special trips here, mainly for shopping, but even if you never leave the airport you can “shop till you drop” and many people do! The morning we had our long lay-over, there was a shopping frenzy going on—watches, jewelry, electronics, clothes, toys, alcohol, cigarettes, DVDs. You name it, you could probably find it there in the airport in the huge duty-free emporium.
The very mod-looking airport building resembles a long silver cylinder from the outside. Inside, the enormous departure hall stretches virtually the whole length, much of it with a high central atrium, lined with many floors on either side, one with a hotel.
At times decorated like a mosque, or an Alhambra, and at times like the desert with palm trees, stars winking overhead. A multicultural mix of people surges and flows—people in smart clothes, others casual, or in various ethnic costumes; some Muslims in strict dress, the ladies all in black, all but the eyes covered, men in white flowing robes and checked head scarves; other Muslim women are in white robes, their heads covered with a scarf; bright African caftans; some Indian saris. The crowds ebb and flow, and all have a place here.
People are not shy about lying on the floor to sleep and we see bodies stretched out all over the airport, especially those in Muslim garb. Interesting. Emirates traffic has increased dramatically over the last few years, and many passengers have long lay-overs. But, the airport tries to pay attention to comfort, as there are good chairs, and even a Quiet Lounge with recliner chairs (we were happy to crash for an hour or so). Special smoking rooms are well used—open glass ‘bubbles’ in which the smoke is sucked downwards.
All signs are in Arabic and English; the default language is English throughout the airport. Arabic is a very foreign language for me—both spoken and written—so this was one time I was very happy to be an English speaker.
People ask: What and where is the real Dubai? Good question, as Dubai largely owes its existence to tourists and tourism, and to the investment there that has been encouraged. Lots of people who live and work there are imports and become ex-pats. In many parts of the city, there is world-class shopping and brand names from around the world, so the question of what is Arabic, what is Muslim, what is Middle Eastern, becomes somewhat moot, it seems to many. Even the airline (Emirates) has many employees (including at the executive level) who are ex-pats; on the flights they are very proud to offer staff who can speak English, Arabic, Korean, French, Russian, Romanian, Mandarin, and even Swahili! A real multilingual, multicultural mix, a high-tech country, that’s Dubai. Apparently, the construction growth is so rapid that it’s hard to get enough skilled manpower, and the lure of a good life is drawing people as foremen and supervisors from many other countries, such as Australia. Workers arrive from the Philippines, Indonesia, India, to name a few. People are fascinated with this place, this magnet that is drawing many big names to live there at least part of the year (Tiger Woods, for example, I’m told).