To Dubai
Stores owners put out signs to let you know there hours, if they are open or closed. Real estate agents put out signs to entice potential home buyers, perhaps in today’s world travelers put out signs on their blogs when they post where they are going!
It is off to Dubai for the weekend to search for culture in Dubai, catch up with friends and laugh! Nothing more and certainly nothing less! It has been a while since I travelled but sometimes things have to be taken away to be enjoyed or at least used properly. For that I am thankful!
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou
The Dubai Difference
Malls are standard in any big city. Many malls across Canada and America are like huge mega cities filled with stores for miles, food courts for all and even fairs wheels and roller coasters. The Dubai difference is that you will find a mall with its very own indoor ski resort. Ski Dubai, located inside the Mall of the Emirates is
22,500 square metres covered with snow all year round. Ski Dubai has 5 runs that vary in difficulty, height and gradient, the longest run being 400 meters with a fall of over 60 meters.
For those who have never woken up to fresh Canadian powder this snow experience is unforgettable. The students in my class come back from Ski Dubai raving about their snow adventures. When you check in at Ski Dubai you are given all necessary equipment to ski, snowboard or sled (toboggan). Funny to think that a snowsuit is considered necessary rental equipment but that is just another part of the Dubai difference.
In many cities you will find gorgeous condos and rows and rows of luxury hotels but only in Dubai do you find these condos and hotels on a giant man made island, shaped like a perfect palm tree created by drudging up desert sand. Palm Island, Jumeriah defines the what make Dubai so different, so over the top.
Dubai is a Middle Eastern city that not only welcomes the tourist but is prepared for them. We spent the better part of the day viewing the sites on Dubai Big Bus, a hop on hop off tour bus. Being a welcomed tourist in the Middle East is a lovely aspect of the Dubai difference. Why being able to sit back, relax and be spoon feed city facts I didn’t even mind that a large number of bus stops were to super malls.
For me, because I live in Kuwait, a place currently without a real big fantastic book store, the difference I might have loved the best was going to a Borders book store. Now I do believe in all due time many major stores, in shallah a bookstore, will eventually arrive in Kuwait. Why Dean and Dulca and Payless Shoes have come to Kuwait within the last year. However a large scale bookstore isn’t here yet, maybe because of the issues around oh say book and magazine censorship, so the Dubai difference that thrilled me the most wasn’t the big buildings, the feats of incredible architecture and design but just reading and buying books and magazines without the giant black censorship marker! Hanging out in the bookstore was Dubai difference that I enjoyed most, well that and real red wine.
So on the weekend of the 27th of March, two thousand and nine I spent two days learning some of the differences in the city of Dubai. A wonderful fact is that I think I have only seen about 1% of all the difference and wonder the city of Dubai has to offer.
I am looking forward to one day taking another trip to this huge Arabian playground.
Friendship
With the travels and dinner parties this past two weeks have been a wonderful time to better get to know my Kuwait friends. Sometimes we get so busy with work and daily life that we forget to just stop, sit around a dinning room table and get to know the hearts of the wonderful people that are your neighbours.
It was nice that last weekend 6 lovely ladies got to laugh, shop, talk, explore and drink red wine in Duabi. It was wonderful to learn about our unique diversity, the interesting choices we all made to shape the people we are today, who we were and how we have grown. Working, living close to and being friends outside of work with people you work with sometimes presents challenges but I truly do believe if you take care of your friends the way you would like someone to take care of you, the challenges find a way to bring you closer together.
Dubai is a huge Arabian Disneyland experience, that was interesting to explore, but what I cherish most from that trip is not what I saw but who I got to spend time with. Thanks Ladies!
I had eventually come to understand that friendship was a delicate, gradual process that mustn’t be rushed or seized upon but allowed and encouraged to take its course over time. I pictured it as a butterfly, simultaneously beautiful and fragile, that once afloat belonged to the air and any attempt to grab at it would only destroy it.
Kuwait City, KUWAIT
Christine Oastler is a freelance travel writer, teacher and artist, currently living in Mahboula, Kuwait. Born and raised in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Christine obtained her Bachelor of Arts at Trent University and her Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University. Currently traveling around the Middle East she finds herself riding the odd camel and embracing a new culture!