Dubai

Since we hadn't planned on a stopover in Dubai, we had done no research, and basically had no idea what to expect from the city.  We also knew that we could be there for awhile, so we wanted to do some sightseeing to fill our time.  When we first arrived, we were so excited to see the culture and history of the area... little did we know, there is hardly any culture or history to be found in Dubai!  The city is a concrete jungle of huge buildings (including the tallest building in the world), pristine beach hotels (including a self-proclaimed 7 start hotel), and MALLS!  Wow, are there a lot of malls in Dubai!  A mall with a theme park inside, a mall with an indoor ski park, malls with every store or restaurant you could ever dream of... some of the biggest and well-kept malls I have ever seen!  The theme in Dubai seems to be "over the top".  Everything has to be the biggest, the best, the most luxurious, etc in the world.  I think they might have some kind of complex. :)  They are also really into making their own islands.  They have islands in the shapes of palm trees, and right now are in the process of making islands that look like the map of the world.  Pretty cool.  There are so many eccentric things... I've heard it said that Dubai is like a combination of Las Vegas and Disneyland.  I think it's true!

Soon after we arrived, we realized that Dubai definitely did not fit the mold of the places that we normally like to visit. Not to mention that it was expensive and difficult to get around.  However, once we came to terms with the things that weren't our style, and changed our expectations, we were able to enjoy Dubai for what it was.  And we indulged in the "Dubai way" a bit too. :)  There were a lot of things that we loved about Dubai.  First of all, the international school there is great!  It's really new and modern, and has a very laid back atmosphere.  The teachers that we met said that they love teaching there.  Also, we had a great apartment!  It was very modern, spacious, and had great furniture.  And there was a great community of teachers who lived above, below, and next door to us.  We had an awesome time hanging out with and getting to know these people!  Another positive is that everyone speaks English in Dubai.  The city is a fusion of people from around the world, and the common language for almost all is English.  This made it extremely easy to get around and communicate with people.  And although we are not really "mall people", we did love the fact that the malls had tons of American restaurants (not to mention Indian, Lebanese, Thai, etc)!  Almost everything we could think of was there in Dubai.  So we ate a lot (too much)!  And if we had needed to go shopping for clothes, we would have had NO trouble finding exactly what we needed.  In many ways, Dubai was really easy, and we really appreciated that.  And really, it is a beautiful city.  The skyline is one of the most interesting ones I have ever seen.  The beaches are nice.  The weather was gorgeous.  The whole city is sparkling clean.  And there are all kinds of different people sharing the same space peacefully. We definitely came to love and appreciate Dubai, and we had a wonderful time sightseeing!

Here are some of our excursions...

We took a boat ride on the Creek.

We went to the Dubai Museum, where we learned that up until about 40 years ago, Dubai was just a small fishing and pearl diving village.  When oil was discovered and exported, things really started to take off!

We went on a Desert Safari, where we went dune riding, rode a camel, watched some belly dancing, and ate some delicious Bedouin food.  It got chilly at night in the desert!

We visited the Jumeirah Mosque.

We watched the sunset at the beach.

We had high tea at the Burj al Arab, the self-proclaimed 7 start hotel.  But it was more than just tea.  We had sandwiches, croissants, scones, cookies... We were stuffed by the end!  Apparently every room in the hotel is two levels and has one butler and two maids.  Tim went to the bathroom, and he said that there was a person in there who turned on the water in the sink for him, pushed the soap dispenser, and handed him a towel when he was finished.  That was too much for me.  I knew I would feel really awkward about that, so I opted to not use the restroom in the hotel.  But really, it was a beautiful and over-the-top place!

We took a day trip to Abu Dhabi, which was a great city!  I felt like it was more down to earth, and had more vision than Dubai.  We traveled there with one of the teachers from the school and her parents.  We had a great time!  First, we saw the Grand Mosque, which was so gorgeous.

Also in Abu Dhabi, we toured a palace that has been changed into a hotel.  It was beautiful!

Back in Dubai, we went to the Dubai Women's Tennis Championship.  It was so awesome!  We saw some really great players!

To end our trip, we went up the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.  No trip to Dubai would be complete without that. :)

So as you can see, we saw a lot of beautiful things in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and we met some wonderful people as well!  There were times that we felt worried about the future and somewhat purposeless, so it was good to have people around to interact with and things to see to distract us.  To be sure, we had a great two weeks in Dubai, but we were anxious to get to our final destination... Cairo!