Finally Home

I'm home... 45 hours after getting to the Dubai airport. In the amount of time it took for me to get from New York to Cleveland, I actually could have flown back to Dubai.. twice.
My rescheduled flight was supposed to leave at 8:30 this morning. I got to JFK at 7 AM, and found out that they put me on a flight that left at 3:30PM instead. And then that flight was delayed an hour. When I finally got to Cleveland, my luggage didn't show up. They sent it to Akron. I'm still waiting for it.
Anyway, the trip was amazing. Thanks to everyone who posted comments and sent me e-mails about the blog. I had a lot of fun doing it.
And if anyone's thinking of going to Dubai... do it! Let me know, too... I'd love to go back.

Not Home Yet

It's Friday night, and I should be home by now... but I'm stuck in New York. My flight from JFK to Cleveland was cancelled (along with a ton of other flights) because of bad weather. Delta can't get me out until tomorrow morning- and that's a flight with a layover in Detroit, which ends up in Akron. After about 18 hours of traveling, it's the last thing I wanted to hear. Plus, since the cancellation was weather related, they won't pay for a hotel.
After spending hours waiting in line after line, I figured I'd just sleep at the airport. But after looking around at the other people setting up camp, I realized I wouldn't be able to do it. Not after I was already going on so little sleep.
I'm staying at a Residence Inn that's going to cost me about 25 dollars an hour (not that they rent by the hour) for the limited time I'm going to spend here.. but it'll be worth it to be able to sleep in a bed and take a hot shower.
Oh, and the cab driver got lost on the way here AND we get stuck in traffic behind an accident. The fare was 55 dollars.

The view from my new hotel at night. Not as nice as the last one.

Last Day

I really wish I could stay longer... but it's 12:30 AM, and I have five hours until my ride takes me to the airport. I'm not packed, I have a full 24 hours of traveling in front of me, and I haven't slept. It's going to be a long day.

This morning I went to the Jumeirah Mosque.


It's the only mosque in the area that non-Muslims are allowed to enter. A few times a week, they have an educational tour and question-and-answer session.


Everyone had to take off their shoes before entering the mosque. Women had to have their heads covered. If they didn't bring something, they were given a scarf. The scarves also had to cover their upper arms. Men in shorts were given a long robe to wear.



A few hundred people were there for the tour. It was interesting. The two men explained the pillars of Islam, how they prayed, their customs, and their beliefs. And they were funny! When someone asked how many wives they were allowed to have, one of them answered, "We are allowed to have four. But many people don't have that many. They cannot handle more than one mother-in-law."

Next, I went to a nearby beach. When I went to the beach yesterday, I got there too late for swimming, and I wanted to give it a try.

Forget about everything else you've seen on this blog... it's worth visiting Dubai just for the beaches.


The water was unbelievable. It's the clearest blue-green water you can imagine. And it's surprisingly WARM! Very relaxing. Maybe it's just because I'm used to the Jersey Shore and Edgewater Beach, but this was mind-blowing.



You can clearly see right to the bottom. This is the view when the water was nearly up to my neck!


Then it was time to break out the kites again. Here's "Scuba Steve" flying over the tallest building in the world...


...And the 4-line "Revolution" kite (which requires two hands), while I took a picture. This was difficult:


Lunch was at a soothing outdoor cafe with burning incense filling the air. My German friends from Tuesday recommended it.


Here's my delicious chicken and mango chutney sandwich, with some tasty fresh-squeezed lemonade:


Later in the evening, I decided I'd go for a walk and explore. I left the hotel at 6 PM and had no idea where I was going. I figured I'd walk until I got tired, then take a cab back. I ended up walking for three hours.

I passed through the "textile souk", which was shop after shop of every kind of fabric.


Here's a tiny shoe store...


A busy hair salon...


And, some new ideas about my next job.


Finally, after three hours, I figured it was time to head back. I was just about to hail a taxi... when I realized that I was back at the hotel! It a block away. I have no idea how I did that. I'm just happy I noticed it before telling the a driver to take me there.

That's all for now... only four hours until I head to the airport. I'll post one more entry after returning home and getting some sleep!

Bonus random picture that didn't fit anywhere else:

A Relaxing Day Of Extremes

That picture's for you, Scott Sabol.

I didn't do anything educational or cultural today. I spent the day doing two things that I can do back home.. but not on the same day.

I went skiing and kite flying.

I wasn't going to do "Ski Dubai", but since the poll was overwhelming, I headed there this morning. The cab ride was extra-exciting. The drivers here are crazy, and I thought I was going to be in at least one accident during every taxi ride I've had so far. But this time, someone swerved near us, laid on the horn, and sped off. My driver sped up and started tailing him. Just when I thought we were going to be in some sort of Middle Eastern road rage incident, the car spoke. A woman's voice calmly said, "The car is now speeding. Please slow down." My driver did.

Ski Dubai is AWESOME. You really can't see how large it is until you're inside.


It cost 170 dirhams (about 47 bucks) to ski for two hours. That price includes the rental of a jacket, snow pants, boots, skis, and poles.. plus a pair of socks for you to keep.

And I made it all look good.


During the two hours, I only fell twice. And one of them was a graceful, slow-speed fall. The other one was face-first.

Here's the bottom of the slope. All of those windows lead to restaurants and shops in the mall where people are watching.


In addition to the slopes, there's also a snow park. Parents were pulling their kids along on inner-tubes.



A few hours later, I was on the beach... Jumeirah Beach. I paid 5 dirhams, or about $1.38, to get in. When I packed for the trip, I brought two big kites.. which is why I needed two suitcases. The scuba diver drew a lot of attention.


I was actually standing in the Persian Gulf, flying kites, as the sun went down. It was perfect.


I'm really going to miss this place.
Tomorrow's my last full day here!

The Road To Al Ain

Today I took an all-day trip out of Dubai, to the city of Al Ain. It's in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (seven Emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, and Dubai is one of them.) I was right on the border with Oman... literally. The fence separating the two counties ran along one side of the street.

I was in a car with two guys from Germany- Oliver the restaurant owner, and Stephan the Chemistry teacher. Our driver was a very nice man who's originally from Pakistan. During the roughly 2 hour drive to Al Ain, he told us a lot of stories about how the area has changed in the 15 years he's been here. He said it's very hard for a local person to make a living operating a business, unless they "do the cheat." He was pretty fed up with the skyrocketing cost of everything in Dubai, and was considering moving his family to Canada. He's never been there... but, he said, "it's cold there."

The first thing you notice as you approach Al Ain is that the area is much greener. The driver pointed out full working farms in the middle of the desert. I didn't think you could grow much in sand, but I was wrong.
Al Ain is much more peaceful, and traditional, than Dubai.

Our first stop was a quiet park that cost 1 dirham (27 cents) to enter.

At the back of the park was a slide-type thing that probably wouldn't pass U.S. safety standards.

"Freefall"... was basically a cliff.

Would you let your child near this? Pure nightmare fuel.

The park had its own mosque... because mosques are everywhere.

Next, we went to the Al Ain Museum. Like the Dubai Museum, it's an old fort.

Al Ain is central to the cultural heritage of the UAE because it's the birthplace of its first ruler, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. His reign lasted more than 30 years, until his death in 2004.
In 2000, he had a kidney transplant operation at the Cleveland Clinic.


Our next stop was Jebel Hafeet, a MASSIVE mountain that dominates the skyline. It's about 4,000 feet high, and we drove all the way to the top... on what edmunds.com calls "the greatest driving road in the world." This winding road has 60 corners and three lanes, and is in pristine condition.
Here are some pictures from the ride up.



And here's the view from the top:


So what's up there? A brand-new presidential palace. Construction crews were still hammering away while we were there. (Technically, I wasn't supposed to take a picture of this.)


(But, I took two.)


It's good to be the king.

Our last stop was the Al Ain Zoo, which is the largest zoo in the Middle East.





Looking at the people there was even more interesting than looking at the animals. Since this is a more conservative area, almost every woman we saw was covered up.



By the way, I DID see a concession stand for a certain product that I won't mention, but whose Malaysian headquarters is now monitoring me. When I asked one of my new German friends if he ever heard of it before, he looked at me like I was crazy and said "yeah, sure." Looks like I'm going to Germany next.

One more thing- on the way back to the hotel, lit up in front of me, was my next job. I HAVE to work on this show:

I don't know the plot, but I enjoy imagining what it could be.