The adventure has begun... I landed in Dubai yesterday and greeted by the most incredible heat. I was told though, that this is not yet the hottest time of the year (gosh!).
Dubai is this crazy place with construction going on e-v-e-r-y-where. It's not really what I would personally call a lovely surrounding, but that was my assuption already. It is really really hot and the air is so full of sand that you can't see very far. I had great difficulties with my contacts (should probably not wear them) and breathing. You basically keep on looking for places with aircon all the time. Even a short walk of about 500 meters seems long here.
I took a public bus to go to the youth hostel. Cheap but also more cumbersome, but I like local transport much better than taxis. You're so off daily life if you take them. The busses have separated seating for men and women. Women have the front rows reserved. But since not too many women are out in the city, the rows also fill up with men - just never next to a woman. It really seems that public transport is not used by Emirati or expat women much. You see philippinas, indians plus a few other asian and african women only. The busses are cheap, but it takes unnecessarily long to get anywhere. And busdrivers are pretty grumpy and deny men to enter the bus (whereas women are always taken in first).
Well, yesterday I missed the stop at the youth hostel when I came back from Jumeira - actually the driver was just skipping the stop. I decided to just keep on sitting in the bus and make the whole turn and get out when we would drive past that stop again. Only the bus driver noticed that I was sitting in there for a pretty long time and asked whether I had any clue where I was going. I told him about my plan and he said I'd have to buy another ticket actually, but he'd give me one for free and I'd just have to give it back when I'd get out. He also got us some Pepsi at the final stop and we chatted about life in Dubai (he's philippino).
I also walked around in the city a bit yesterday and it seems to be ok to do that on your own. You get looks and stuff, but nothing too annoying. Local women dress from modest to fully covered (eyes only not covered). I wear long wide trousers and a long sleeved shirt. That seems ok and compared to many foreign women (western and asian) I'm conforming more to local standards.
In the youth hostel I met a British woman, Jackie, who tries to find work here. She had worked in Kuwait before, been to Iraq and Saudi Arabia and done all kinds of crazy stuff. It's funny how you always (and almost only) meet these kind of really independent, original people when travelling. She's now looking for a job here and having 4-6 interviews every day. It's obviously not that easy - most of the jobs she applies for are considered for men only and also the competition from cheaper Indian workers is strong. But this woman is really remarkable, she left Britain when she was 17 and has since worked in numerous countries. Not the usual "wanna build a house, plant a tree, have a kid" sort of life.
We shared the room with Waafah from Sudan. She's the third wife of someone (...) and just travelled to China to buy stuff to sell in Sudan. I asked a few questions about the situation in Sudan and she seemed a bit too laid back about it. She mentionned that Khartoum, where she lives, has been attacked recently, but the governmental troups had managed to chase them out. So another interesting person to talk to in the room.
Dubai is this crazy place with construction going on e-v-e-r-y-where. It's not really what I would personally call a lovely surrounding, but that was my assuption already. It is really really hot and the air is so full of sand that you can't see very far. I had great difficulties with my contacts (should probably not wear them) and breathing. You basically keep on looking for places with aircon all the time. Even a short walk of about 500 meters seems long here.
I took a public bus to go to the youth hostel. Cheap but also more cumbersome, but I like local transport much better than taxis. You're so off daily life if you take them. The busses have separated seating for men and women. Women have the front rows reserved. But since not too many women are out in the city, the rows also fill up with men - just never next to a woman. It really seems that public transport is not used by Emirati or expat women much. You see philippinas, indians plus a few other asian and african women only. The busses are cheap, but it takes unnecessarily long to get anywhere. And busdrivers are pretty grumpy and deny men to enter the bus (whereas women are always taken in first).
Well, yesterday I missed the stop at the youth hostel when I came back from Jumeira - actually the driver was just skipping the stop. I decided to just keep on sitting in the bus and make the whole turn and get out when we would drive past that stop again. Only the bus driver noticed that I was sitting in there for a pretty long time and asked whether I had any clue where I was going. I told him about my plan and he said I'd have to buy another ticket actually, but he'd give me one for free and I'd just have to give it back when I'd get out. He also got us some Pepsi at the final stop and we chatted about life in Dubai (he's philippino).
I also walked around in the city a bit yesterday and it seems to be ok to do that on your own. You get looks and stuff, but nothing too annoying. Local women dress from modest to fully covered (eyes only not covered). I wear long wide trousers and a long sleeved shirt. That seems ok and compared to many foreign women (western and asian) I'm conforming more to local standards.
In the youth hostel I met a British woman, Jackie, who tries to find work here. She had worked in Kuwait before, been to Iraq and Saudi Arabia and done all kinds of crazy stuff. It's funny how you always (and almost only) meet these kind of really independent, original people when travelling. She's now looking for a job here and having 4-6 interviews every day. It's obviously not that easy - most of the jobs she applies for are considered for men only and also the competition from cheaper Indian workers is strong. But this woman is really remarkable, she left Britain when she was 17 and has since worked in numerous countries. Not the usual "wanna build a house, plant a tree, have a kid" sort of life.
We shared the room with Waafah from Sudan. She's the third wife of someone (...) and just travelled to China to buy stuff to sell in Sudan. I asked a few questions about the situation in Sudan and she seemed a bit too laid back about it. She mentionned that Khartoum, where she lives, has been attacked recently, but the governmental troups had managed to chase them out. So another interesting person to talk to in the room.
1 comment:
This is very interesting, esp. the stuff about the local buses. Hmm. Actually, I also know a girl who was married to a superrich businessman who took her to Dubai and lived there for eight years. First she loved it coz all she had to do was organizing houseparties and deciding what the chef would cook, but then she got sick and tired of the husband, dicorced and started a new life, on her own... and working, yeah. :) These are all interesting stories.
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