Salaam Alaykum from the UAE! I just landed after a really, really long flight, after which I probably will not sit again for a few days. The time change is exactly twelve hours forward, meaning that it is 1AM here, but it is 1PM your time the previous day. I have the internet up and my power converter is humming away like an electronic bug zapper. After flying Air France, I now know how to say bonjour and mercy. I am rapidly on my way to becoming bilingual. :) After spending time in smaller terminals at LAX and Paris Airport, I was struck by the hugeness of the Dubai Airport. The terminals are the same size--they just had a huge shopping mall in the middle of the airport. Commerce begins right when you step off the plane. :) It is quite hot in Dubai. I guess that was pretty obvious. Their advertisements look just like ours, some products and stuff, only the models and actors are Middle Eastern. Oh, and the airport has a mosque inside it. I changed my dollars to dirhams, so when paying for anything, I have to do a little mental math to see how much Im actually spending. The stores looked the same, except absent was the magazine rack with half-naked women on the covers (or completely naked, if youre at the Paris airport). Im getting ready for bed soon to have an awesome day tomorrow, but one thing that struck me about the place is that the people are really beautiful. I mean the men and the women are both gorgeous. And the costumes are incredible. You have people wearing t-shirts and jeans next to thobes and keffiyeh, suits and abayas and button-down shirts and turbans and face veils--theyve got everything here. Out of respect I didnt take any random pictures of the locals, but its really colorful and beautiful. As a datum of comparable magnitude, imagine a US where its equally socially acceptable to wear a business suit or Victorian or Shakespearean dress. That would be really, really awesome. We should so do that! My hotel is right next the this big ancient Persian fort thingy, or something. I think thats the technical classification. Ill see what that is tomorrow. Night! :)
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 21:37:48 +0000
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