So I am (back) in Abu Dhabi for a week. It's summer (although not the hottest part) and the temperature hovers in the low 40's (C) during the day. Everyone retreats to the air-conditioned comfort of some luxury hotel, their luxury car, or a luxury shopping mall. Everyone that is, except for the migrant construction workers who are still being bused* to and from their non air-conditioned quarters (which, complete with corrugated iron roofs, make ideal saunas) in non air-conditioned buses. At least the bus windows open.
I am inside all day since I'm working. I don't venture outside until the late afternoon, when the sun's direct heat has retreated and I only have the 40 degree heat to deal with. I want to cross the road outside the hotel but it's turned into something like a ten-lane divided freeway since the opening of the Salam Street tunnel. Luckily I remember how Abu Dhabi has a network of pedestrian subways (rarely used, since there are relatively few pedestrians, and apart from the subways, not much pedestrian-friendly ground to walk on). These are grandly built with walls of tiled artwork. Like much of the infrastructure, maintenance and longevity are less of a concern, so things degrade quickly. Paving and brickwork is cracked and broken, drains, when there are any, are blocked or broken (or uncovered). A pity.
* Annoying, isn't it? When you write an apparently simple word and all of a sudden your thought flow comes to a crashing stop when you can't convince yourself whether you've spelled (or spelt) it correctly! Being transported by a bus (of which more than one would be buses, while 'busses' is tempting) is being bused. But that looks a lot like 'abused' without the 'a', so can it be correct? A quick search digs up 'buss', which is a form of oral communication, so being 'bussed' is definitely something different to being transported mechanically. So 'bused' it is then.
Here the people's car is a Toyota Landcruiser - the most expensive V8 model of course. In white. Given that there's so many BMW X5 and X6s and Range Rovers on the roads they are now a bit passé. The Porsche Cayenne is still popular, although you'll definitely not stand out in the crowd driving one of those. Having a Porsche is not something particularly special here. Something more exotic (and expensive) is required. Perhaps an Audi R8, or why not a Bugatti Veyron or Lamborghini?
In a country where the police (in Dubai) have cars like a BMW M6, Mercedes AMG SLS, and Lamborghini Aventador, you need to make the effort to stand out from the crowd with your car.
I am staying in one of the luxury hotels on the island. Actually "luxury hotel" is almost a tautology here; every hotel is "luxury" by the standards of any other place. The forecourt is - as is the norm - crowded with valet-parked fancy cars: from BMW and Mercedes to Porsches, Bentleys, the odd Aston Martin and Ferrari. Footpaths are for cars, not people and to get to the front door you have to negotiate this parking lot. I meet up with some old colleagues. One arrives in his Porsche and the other turns up in his Aston Martin DB9. And there I am thinking that when I had a car here I was driving a Nissan Tiida....
The class I am teaching is almost monochrome. I look out at a sea of white on one side and black on the other. Boys on one side in their white dishdashes (traditional male dress) and the girls on the other side in their black abayas. An occasional splash of colour is provided by the few expatriates in the class. Coffee breaks inevitably turn into very lengthy affairs. Speaking of coffee, one morning one of the girls pulls out a Harrods bag and from it produces a large decorated ceramic coffee pot (with gilded decoration), a doily, and a set of ceramic coffee cups. I'm impressed. When I question her about it, she explains: "It's local coffee - I couldn't live without my coffee". She proceeds to offer coffee to others and the coffee break turns into a long local social event. The room is always fragrant, smelling of the typical woody local perfumes of oud and bukhoor, which are worn liberally by the men.
At dinner at one of the restaurants I am, as usual, dining alone. So I engage myself in some people watching which waiting for my meal. There's a young Emirati couple. He's in his sparkling white dishdash; she's in her black abaya, carrying the de rigueur large and obviously expensive handbag (with a large gold chain) and large sunglasses. It always impresses me when people wear sunglasses indoors. The couple arrives, are seated, and proceed to extract their smartphones (she from her handbag, he from the specially-designed pocket in his dishdash). I briefly reflect on whether traditionally, when people were still riding camels and living a nomadic life in the desert, the dishdashes had phone-pockets. The restaurants "no shorts or slippers" dress policy clearly doesn't apply to the sandals traditionally worn by the local men.
Neither has said a word to each other; they are engrossed by their smartphones. They are briefly interrupted by the waitress - who, of course, is Filipino, like virtually all hospitality staff in the UAE - and then revert back to their phones. Throughout the entire meal they are engaged with their phones, but not each other. And while I eat my meal I'm wondering how it is that Emirati men manage to keep their dishdashes so brilliantly white and free of creases.
I am inside all day since I'm working. I don't venture outside until the late afternoon, when the sun's direct heat has retreated and I only have the 40 degree heat to deal with. I want to cross the road outside the hotel but it's turned into something like a ten-lane divided freeway since the opening of the Salam Street tunnel. Luckily I remember how Abu Dhabi has a network of pedestrian subways (rarely used, since there are relatively few pedestrians, and apart from the subways, not much pedestrian-friendly ground to walk on). These are grandly built with walls of tiled artwork. Like much of the infrastructure, maintenance and longevity are less of a concern, so things degrade quickly. Paving and brickwork is cracked and broken, drains, when there are any, are blocked or broken (or uncovered). A pity.
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| Pedestrian underpass - desert camel racing scenes in this one |
* Annoying, isn't it? When you write an apparently simple word and all of a sudden your thought flow comes to a crashing stop when you can't convince yourself whether you've spelled (or spelt) it correctly! Being transported by a bus (of which more than one would be buses, while 'busses' is tempting) is being bused. But that looks a lot like 'abused' without the 'a', so can it be correct? A quick search digs up 'buss', which is a form of oral communication, so being 'bussed' is definitely something different to being transported mechanically. So 'bused' it is then.
 |
| Dubai police car - if you can't beat them, join them! |
In a country where the police (in Dubai) have cars like a BMW M6, Mercedes AMG SLS, and Lamborghini Aventador, you need to make the effort to stand out from the crowd with your car.
I am staying in one of the luxury hotels on the island. Actually "luxury hotel" is almost a tautology here; every hotel is "luxury" by the standards of any other place. The forecourt is - as is the norm - crowded with valet-parked fancy cars: from BMW and Mercedes to Porsches, Bentleys, the odd Aston Martin and Ferrari. Footpaths are for cars, not people and to get to the front door you have to negotiate this parking lot. I meet up with some old colleagues. One arrives in his Porsche and the other turns up in his Aston Martin DB9. And there I am thinking that when I had a car here I was driving a Nissan Tiida....
 |
| A novel use of 4WD to get over the traffic? |
The class I am teaching is almost monochrome. I look out at a sea of white on one side and black on the other. Boys on one side in their white dishdashes (traditional male dress) and the girls on the other side in their black abayas. An occasional splash of colour is provided by the few expatriates in the class. Coffee breaks inevitably turn into very lengthy affairs. Speaking of coffee, one morning one of the girls pulls out a Harrods bag and from it produces a large decorated ceramic coffee pot (with gilded decoration), a doily, and a set of ceramic coffee cups. I'm impressed. When I question her about it, she explains: "It's local coffee - I couldn't live without my coffee". She proceeds to offer coffee to others and the coffee break turns into a long local social event. The room is always fragrant, smelling of the typical woody local perfumes of oud and bukhoor, which are worn liberally by the men.
At dinner at one of the restaurants I am, as usual, dining alone. So I engage myself in some people watching which waiting for my meal. There's a young Emirati couple. He's in his sparkling white dishdash; she's in her black abaya, carrying the de rigueur large and obviously expensive handbag (with a large gold chain) and large sunglasses. It always impresses me when people wear sunglasses indoors. The couple arrives, are seated, and proceed to extract their smartphones (she from her handbag, he from the specially-designed pocket in his dishdash). I briefly reflect on whether traditionally, when people were still riding camels and living a nomadic life in the desert, the dishdashes had phone-pockets. The restaurants "no shorts or slippers" dress policy clearly doesn't apply to the sandals traditionally worn by the local men.
Neither has said a word to each other; they are engrossed by their smartphones. They are briefly interrupted by the waitress - who, of course, is Filipino, like virtually all hospitality staff in the UAE - and then revert back to their phones. Throughout the entire meal they are engaged with their phones, but not each other. And while I eat my meal I'm wondering how it is that Emirati men manage to keep their dishdashes so brilliantly white and free of creases.
