Ryan, Debi, and Toren Cragun's Blog

Day 6 was a day of panels and lectures.  We started out with a panel presentation on the UAE as the new Arab media hub.  Panelists included Abeer Al-Najjar, an Assistant Professor of Communication at AUS, Mohammad Ayesh, a professor of media and communications at the University of Sharjah, and Mishaal Gergawi, an op-ed columnist for the Gulf News.  The two professors were interesting and gave academic perspectives on the news media and the state of the news media in the Gulf region, but the op-ed columnist was fascinating.  He’s young, provocative, and was willing to really call things as he saw them.  Once he started speaking, the panel turned down a different path.  Here are some of the things I picked up during the panel:

There is no “freedom of the press” in the UAE; the government can shut you down and even imprison you if they don’t like what you have to say.  That has happened and Mishaal Gergawi mentioned about a dozen public intellectuals who have been banned from writing publicly because they have pushed for democracy in the UAE or said something else the government didn’t want to hear.  Mishaal Gergawi also claimed that media companies are not independent from the government (though we learned the next day that some are pretty close), and that means they are often tools of propaganda for the government.  Young people in the UAE are just as into social networks – including Twitter – as are young people in the West.  Mishaal Gergawi also noted that there are strange double-standards in the Arab world.  Because he writes for Gulf News, which is an English language daily, he can swear in English in his columns and no one cares.  But if he swore in Arabic, it would cause problems.  He also noted that he had run into the boundaries of what was acceptable to say, though he hasn’t been arrested or cut off.  He also suggested that what needs to happen in the UAE is similar to what happened in the UK – royals (members of the royal family) need to be phased out of government positions.  The reason he gave is that royals are basically off-limits – you can’t criticize them.  Criticizing them can get you in serious trouble.  But in a modern country, governments need to be criticized in order to address issues and concerns.  This is a serious problem, then, in the UAE – you can’t criticize the government, and that results in the government being incompetent and unable to receive feedback on how it could improve.  By phasing royals out of government positions, they could be replaced with civilians and bureaucrats, whom it is safe to criticize.  The end result would be that the royals get to save face by not being criticized but also that Emiratis have a voice in their governance.

The afternoon lecture was on Islamic Law or Sharia by Gavin Picken, an Assistant Professor of Arabic at AUS.  The lecture explained the different schools of jurispridence and the basis for Sharia in each of the schools.  He also showed a map outlining which schools were popular where.  Of particular interest was his explanation for the connection between Sharia Law and UAE law – basically, the UAE has a constitution and civil code (he didn’t explain how it was created, and neither does this Wikipedia article).  The courts in the UAE rule based on the civil code and the constitution, but if there is something not outlined in one of those, then they use Sharia Law to arrive at judgments. The way he described Shariah law seemed to make sense (only in the “I get it now” sense, not in the “I want Sharia Law in Tampa” sense).  Basically, Shariah Law is a way of reasoning about what people should do that draws upon various components of Islamic teaching.  He also gave a hierarchy of over-riding responsibilities and objectives in Sharia Law and said they are in the order of greatest importance: protection of life, protection of religion, protection of wealth, protection of intelligence, and protection of honour. He failed to answer one of my questions when I asked about the Quran saying that you can kill unbelievers (Sura 4:89 and 91), which would seem to put “protection of religion” above “protection of life.”  He really just didn’t answer the question, which was disappointing, but I think it’s because the answer doesn’t work with what he was saying.  I also asked him about the punitive punishments that are occasionally mentioned in the Western media, like flogging, stoning, etc.  He said that the punitive punishments you see in various parts of the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia, are not “cultural” but are actually based in Islam. It was good to hear someone finally admit that as every time I ask a Muslim in the US about these punitive punishments, they say it is cultural and try to absolve Islam from any responsibility.  However, Dr. Picken went on to claim that those punitive punishments are typically poor executions of Islamic law and that Islamic law doesn’t need to be punitive or mean and can be quite progressive. Basically he said that the judges issuing those punishments could choose to be less punitive and offer alternative punishments.  But, in the end, the punitive punishments are derived from Sharia Law.  I also asked about fatwas and he said that in Sunni Islam Muslims need not follow a fatwa; it isn’t binding.  However, in Shia Islam, depending on your relation to the “mufti” who issued the fatwa you may have to follow it. He argued that the average Muslim doesn’t know Islamic Law like the muftis and experts in Islamic jurisprudence, so they turn to a mufti or expert. Whomever they turn to for guidance and advice is whose fatwas they should respect. Thus, the fatwa against Salman Rushdie really only applied to Shia Muslims from Iran and any others who followed that mufti.  Overall, his description of Sharia Law seemed to be compelling, but he also admitted that it really only works when you have someone who is smart and progressive interpreting it. In other words, Islamic Law can be used by intolerant and cruel individuals as a way of justifying pretty terrible actions in the name of Islam.  And if that is the case, I have to wonder how useful Sharia Law is at all, since it doesn’t prohibit horrible actions.

We didn’t have any other plans this day with CIEE, but K. knew someone at the American University of Dubai (AUD) who formerly worked at his university and he had arranged dinner with her.  He kindly invited me to tag along.  We took the Metro to the AUD stop and met up with his former colleague, S.  She had been in Dubai for just six months, but had a lot of interesting insights.  First, while AUS is pretty respectable, AUD is a bit less so.  It’s seen as a party school and the school for rich kids in Dubai, including the children of Sheikh Mohammad and other royals. Rules aren’t as strict as at AUS for students – they can hold hands and need not worry so much about appropriate dress.  There are no “fashion and/or passion” police on campus.  Also, AUD is a for-profit school owned and operated by a Lebanese business mogul.  As a result, faculty are driven pretty hard.  She also noted that, while you can buy alcohol at the hotels in Dubai, you can’t buy alcohol to take to your home unless you have a license to buy alcohol.  She had just finished going through the process to apply for one.  There are only a couple of stores in all of Dubai that legally sell alcohol to ex-patriots with licenses.  She also noted that she paid extra for her maid to not live with her.  Her apartment, which was provided by the university, included rooms for the maid, but she didn’t like the idea of a maid living with her.  However, it actually costs more to not have a maid live with you because you then have to pay the maid’s living expenses.  Oh, and maids can make as little as $125 per month in the UAE.  That is the situation for Sudanese women, who are at the bottom of the hierarchy.  The Philippines government, in an effort to protect it’s citizens, put a minimum salary that its citizens can be paid – 1,400 dirham, or about $385 per month.

We went to a rooftop night club with live music and alcohol at the Radisson. It had a nice view of the city but, unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture.  Anyway, during our enjoyable conversation something interesting happened.  It was dark and we needed light to look at the menus to order dinner. S. asked the waitress for a light. As the waitress went to find one, I pulled out my phone and used my flashlight app for us. When the waitress came back, she had the exact same thing – her phone with a flashlight app. When she arrived, I put mine down thinking it would just take a minute for us to order.  But after a couple of minutes, I insisted that we use my phone rather than hers so she could leave and go get our drinks. The waitress resisted, but when I pulled mine out, she relented. As soon as she left, S. pointed out that I had, in fact, just violated the social order in the UAE.  If you remember the deference issues I mentioned in my earlier posts, I had just breached the deference system by not letting the waitress stand there with her phone light on waiting for us to read the menus. S. pointed out that, in just six months she had grown so accustomed to the deferential relationships of poorer ex-patriots that she was fine letting our waitress stand and wait for us.  By not letting her wait on us, I was the one disrupting the status hierarchy. Awkward.

I do have one picture to post with this entry.  On the way to the hotel/night club where we had dinner, we had to cross a rather busy street.  S., the professor at AUD, pointed out the marvelous urban planning in Dubai when we tried to cross the street – the crosswalk we were going to use didn’t take us to another sidewalk.  It ended in a wall:

the world's most dangerous cross walk - it ends in a wall

I actually took this picture a couple days later, but it is better than the ones I took that night.  If you look closely you’ll see that the white stripes lead directly into a wall.  There is no sidewalk on the other side of this crosswalk.  S., who kindly pointed this out before K. and I walked into the wall, said that she hadn’t noticed the first time she tried to cross the street and had ended up walking into the wall.  This is actually at the base of the Radisson where we had dinner.  Welcome to Dubai!

This was our first day of lectures. CIEE has a center at the American University of Sharjah (AUS) and they drew upon the expertise of the professors there to give us additional information about the UAE. Like many institutions in the UAE, the AUS is new, having been founded in 1997. It was built over the next 10 years or so using money from the Sheikh of Sharjah, Sultan bin Mohamed Al-Qasimi. He is now weaning the university off his money, forcing them to charge tuition. The campus is beautiful, but there are some “differences” having to do with restrictions on students, which I’ll get to shortly.  Here’s the view of campus when you first drive up:

administration building and fountains at AUS; tower to the left is the mosque on campus

Our first lecture was an introduction to the UAE by Dr. Pia-Kristina Anderson, an anthropologist and archaeologist, who also works in administration. She gave us an overview of the UAE and the AUS, mentioning some of the information I provided in my earlier posts about the UAE.

I asked our guide, Miranda, if we were going to get a chance to chat with students during our visit and she said that it was not on the schedule. However, I really wanted to chat with students, and our first lecturer, Dr. Anderson, knew lots of students because of her responsibilities on campus. When she ran into the current student council president, Luis A. Garcia, who is very charismatic, she asked him if he would be willing to chat with us and he was. They ushered us into the student council room after lunch and let us pester them with questions. Some of the other council members came in and out of the room while we were there, but Luis and an Emirati women (they prefer “lady”) stayed and answered our questions (I believe it was Azza Sayed Sayed). I asked about elections, which is of interest considering the UAE is a dictatorship that holds only perfunctory elections to appease the West for positions with little to no importance. The student council does hold elections.  However, Luis noted that the organizations on campus were odd in this regard. The leaders of the respective cultural clubs (e.g., Saudi culture club, Egyptian culture club, etc.) were chosen in ways that reflected the political structure in their respective countries. For instance, in the Saudi culture club the next leader was appointed by the current leader and everyone voted for the appointee. In the Palestinian culture club the campaigns were contentious and vocal, riled with debates, fights, and yelling (Luis suggested that is how things are done in Palestine). Luis also talked about his interactions with the administration. He is very vocal and has pushed to get things done and increase transparency. However, the President of the University is the Sheik of Sharjah and he has ultimate veto power. The day-to-day operations of the university are run by a chancellor who has to answer to the Sheikh, which means he’s pretty conservative as well. Luis’s efforts have alienated him from the Chancellor at times.  The students have to ask permission to protest and, if not given, they cannot. I asked the students about dating. Unlike Dubai, where rules for Westerners have grown more lax (you’re not supposed to hold hands or hug in public, but some do and they won’t necessarily get in trouble for it), in Sharjah, they are very strict. It is a dry emirate – no alcohol is allowed. And no public affection is allowed. That holds on campus as well. Boys and girls can only spend time together if they are in public and not touching. The professors said that a “date” consists of a boy and a girl sitting on a bench together talking.  Once they said that, I couldn’t help but try to find a couple on a date and take a picture:

dating at AUS

Women are not required to wear the hijab or niqab, but many do. There are also rules about modest clothing. No tanktops or shorts above the knees. There are actually “fashion/passion” police who roam the campus looking for violators. Those caught violating the rules of dress and interaction can be fined and if students are fined too frequently they can be kicked out of the university.  Emirati ladies often don’t feel comfortable being alone with a male whom they could marry (that’s typically the rule for whether or not the modest dress should be worn; if they are around only males they cannot marry – e.g., brother, father – they do not need to be veiled).  Emirati women will often want or require chaperons, even when doing things as innocuous as meeting with a professor.  Also, Dr. Anderson noted that Emirati women do dress very nicely, it’s just not observable in public.  She attended a wedding where the nicer and less modest clothing was visible.  At the wedding, the men and women were in separate rooms.  When there were no men around, the women could remove their abayas and hijabs and the women were, according to Dr. Anderson, dressed to the nines in short, very fancy, glitzy designer dresses.  Without men around, the women were open and even danced with other women.  But occasionally a male would enter the room and the abayat would immediately be donned again and the mood would become more modest and demure.  As soon as the men left, it was party time again.

I also asked about religion.  The students said they respect and tolerate each others’ religions but they don’t discuss religion.  They gave the impression that religion is too sensitive to discuss openly.  I also asked about being nonreligious and if that was accepted on campus.  Luis interpreted my question as being about Muslims not being observant of their faith.  He recounted a story to illustrate.  After completing the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, he was invited by some friends to a zone in Saudi Arabia where, apparently, the police aren’t allowed.  As he approached one of the homes in that area he heard loud music.  When they opened the door, there were “Muslims” drinking, partying, having sex with prostitutes, etc.  His take on this was that there are Muslims who do not observe there religion.  But he didn’t really address my question as to whether or not there are atheists on campus and how they would be treated.

The students were lots of fun to talk to and provided a lot of insights that I don’t think we would have gleaned otherwise.  I’m glad we got a chance to chat with them.

After leaving the students we had another lecture.  This one was by Linzi Kemp and was about women in business in the UAE.  She had several of her students come in and present about female role models in business, but noted that there aren’t many female role models and women are very under-represented in the business world.  Women who are working in business tend to be in “soft” businesses – charities or businesses to help women succeed in business.  She couldn’t really point to many highly successful Emirati women.  After her lecture I had a chance to speak with her about Emiratis and I mentioned that their behavior seemed odd.  I wasn’t sure if Emiratis were elitist or what was going on, but they didn’t seem to even recognize my existence when I passed them on the street.  She suggested that, while there is some elitism in that behavior, that it is also a reflection of their culture – Emiratis are very much a relationship based culture.  It takes a long time to build a relationship with someone because relationships are the key for negotiating the society.  So, when Emiratis avoided looking at me and seemed oblivious to me, she argued that they were been “aloof” but not necessarily snobbish are elitist.  They were simply avoiding trying to develop a relationship and recognizing the non-existence of any relationship.  That perspective helped me see the Emiratis in a different light. I brought it up to contrast it with the deference and openness I was observing in the menial laborer ex-patriots who, when I passed them on the street, would make I contact but then immediately drop their gaze to reflect inferiority and always called me “Sir.” It was very odd.

After our lecture we went back to the hotel then several of us went to the Mall of the Emirates for dinner at a Persian (Iranian) restaurant.  The food was fine, but of more interest was the indoor ski slope, which is attached to the Mall of the Emirates.  It’s obviously not huge, but it is a legitimate ski slope – in a building – in a mall!  I snapped a few pictures, but will just post one (that required I walk into a restaurant and promptly be kicked out after I snapped the photo):

Ski Dubai at Mall of the Emirates

That pretty much wraps up Day 5.

Our first full day was a day of site visits. The first stop was Masdar City in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Masdar City is being billed as the first city being purposely built to be environmentally friendly to the tune of zero-carbon emissions and zero-waste. The roofs of the buildings are covered with solar panels. The buildings are close together to maximize shade while walking. Electric transport vehicles move people without a driver. A novel variation on the wind tower is being employed, using automation and new technology to cool wind and blow it into the courtyard, helping to cool the city paths. And the city is zoned for mixed interests – housing is next to commercial and educational buildings to make it an integrated city. At present, only about one city block is complete, but more is under construction.  Here are some of the photos I took while there:

driverless electric pods

narrow streets for shade

innovative wind tower

fake rocks; the UAE doesn't have many rocks

It seemed like a neat idea to us, but it is obviously early in the construction phase of the development and has a long way to go. It is also quite far from the center of Abu Dhabi and it seemed unlikely that people would be excited to move out there. We later heard during a panel discussion that the project is really a mess. The cost savings that were supposed to come with the environmental friendliness are not materializing, there are delays, and people are losing interest. Even so, it seems like an interesting idea and it was nice to tour around inside.

From Masdar City we drove into Abu Dhabi for lunch at a Lebanese restaurant called Lebanese Flower. We had some difficulty finding the restaurant, but eventually found it. It was actually very good, but the size of the meal was enormous. No one was able to finish what they ordered – mixed grill kabobs.

mixed grill kabobs at Lebanese Flower in Abu Dhabi; mint lemonade in the background

Abu Dhabi was different in character from Dubai. It seemed to be less grandiose; less over-the-top. There were lots of 10 to 15 story buildings with shops on the first floor and residences above them, but not nearly as many skyscrapers as Dubai. Our guide and some of the AUS faculty said that Abu Dhabi takes a different approach to development. While Dubai goes all out, tries new things, and even makes major mistakes, Abu Dhabi, which is basically the big brother, watches and waits to see what works in Dubai. What works, it does; what doesn’t it avoids. The lack of skycrapers and artificiality of the city gave Abu Dhabi more of an authentic feel than Dubai. Dubai is a very large city that caters to wealthy tourists; Abu Dhabi felt more local.

After lunch we visited the Sheikh Zayed Mosque. I’ve been to some nice churches over the years, but this mosque was so over the top it is really hard to describe how beautiful it is. It was made out of white marble, with inlaid tiles for decoration in some of the columns and walls. Some of the marble was also carved with vines to make patterns as well. And that was just on the outside. Inside the main area of the mosque was a plush carpet, beautifully decorated walls, and some of the most gorgeous chandeliers I’ve ever seen. They were different and exotic, but absolutely spellbinding. It’s open to the public; you don’t need to be Muslim to enter it, but women need to wear the abaya and cover their hair. We wandered around the mosque for about an hour just in awe.  Here are some photos:

view of the mosque from a distance

close up of the exterior

interior chandelier - one of many

another, even more opulent chandelier

chandelier in perspective; huge domes

interior columns with inlaid designs

exterior columns with inlaid designs

carved marble in the shape of vines

In an interesting illustration of the social class structure, I snapped a photo at the entrance of the mosque of two workers.  Both were ex-patriots and their job, the entire time we were there, was just to sweep the entry way.  I also liked how their job was stamped on their backs: “cleaner.”

workers whose job was just to sweep the entrance

After the mosque we drove back to the hotel. With such a big lunch, very few people wanted to dinner. K and I walked down the street to Baskin Robbins and got ice cream; yep, Baskin Robbins, in Dubai. We also stopped at a bigger grocery store to pick up some supplies. While there I saw Old El Paso taco fixings and had to get a picture:

Old El Paso in Dubai supermarket

You can’t really see it in this picture, but the sign in the background is in English and Arabic and the labels on the shelf are in both Engish and Arabic.  It’s pretty remarkable to think about how globalized our society is. I can fly half way around the world and literally buy the exact same product I buy in my local grocery store.  It is a small, small world.

That did it for day 4.

My first full day in the UAE was a Friday. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the weekend in the UAE is Friday and Saturday, not Saturday and Sunday. The CIEE seminar didn’t begin until 2:00 pm. Having sat around on planes for the last day and a half, I wanted to get out. So, I went for a walk. Not realizing that Friday is the weekend, I assumed stores and banks would be open. No such luck. Everything was closed, including the Metro (their subway) until later in the day. In Islam, Friday is traditionally the day you visit the mosque. And since the UAE is, as I would learn repeatedly throughout my stay, a driving city and not a walking city, that meant that they closed the Metro. I could see the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, from my hotel, which was at the end of the financial center strip. With several hours to kill, I started walking toward the Burj Khalifa just to see what I could see. Along the way I noticed that all the stores were closed and there was no one out and about.  I also tried to get money out of an ATM, but it was an Indian bank and they didn’t recognize my debit card. The city seemed very empty.

The layout of the city is also very different. Basically there is one major freeway that runs the length of the coast in the UAE, Sheik Zayed Road, connecting the emirates. My hotel was just off a frontage road that runs parallel to the major freeway. I was worried based on a book I read prior to leaving for Dubai, City of Gold by Jim Krane, that walking around would be very dangerous and there would be no sidewalks. While the sidewalks are a bit spotty and walking around can be dangerous, it really wasn’t that bad. I walked along Sheik Zayed Road for about 2 miles until I was basically perpendicular to the Burj Khalifa. I then used the Metro station to cross over the main road and found an ATM in the Metro that recognized my debit card.  Here’s a photo from the Metro station of Sheik Zayed Road:

Sheikh Zayed Road; it has as many as 9 and 10 lanes in some places

I asked a security guard in the Metro station when the Metro opened and he said at 1:00 pm.  Since I was already there, I figured I’d keep walking, so I continued heading toward the Burj Khalifa (FYI – “burj” means tower and “Khalifa” is the name of the President of the UAE who bailed Dubai out when the economic recession hit). I only took my phone with me, so photos from that first walk weren’t very good, but I snapped a few. Here’s one of me in front of the Burj Khalifa:

photo from my phone in front of the Burj Khalifa

I walked around the tower and ran into security on one side which informed me that there were private residences there, so I couldn’t enter. I walked around a bit more, then tried to walk back to my hotel on the other side of the main road as I had seen a grocery store that was open and I thought it would be a good idea to have some snacks with me. Dubai really is not all that walker friendly. Construction on that side of the main road had torn up any semblance of a place to walk. So, I ended up walking through construction sites until I found the grocery store. I also hadn’t caught what the exchange rate was yet, so when I saw the prices in the store I couldn’t believe them – 14 dirham for a bag of granola. Turns out the exchange rate was 3.6 dirham to the dollar, which meant the granola was still pricey at close to $4.00, but not as bad as I thought. Also, the grocery store basically carried Western products and goods, along with some local stuff, but Westerners would be able to find pretty much whatever they would need to cook and eat in the supermarkets here. I bought some granola and fruit then climbed over more construction until I got to another Metro station and could use that to cross the main road. I then headed back to my hotel. Not knowing where we were going to go for dinner, I ate lunch in the hotel restaurant, then took a nap and got ready for the seminar to begin.

I finally met the rest of the group at 2:00 pm. There were 10 of us: “C” from Rhode Island, “L” from Connecticut, “R” from Georgia, “JS” from Nebraska, “K” from North Carolina, “M” from Massachusetts, “JL” from Indiana, “D” from Kansas, and “G” from Tennessee (I’m not using their names to protect their identities; they may not want me to share some information about them on here). We informally did very quick introductions then jumped into our tour van. Everyone seemed nice, but I naturally gravitated toward the next youngest person there – K. While almost 20 years older than I am, he was the closest to me in age and it turned out we had a lot of similar interests.

From the hotel we drove to Old Dubai, specifically an area called Heritage Shindagha Village. Recently the governments of two of the wealthier  emirates – Dubai and Sharjah – have realized that their demolition of the historic homes in the area have largely destroyed the heritage of the native Emiratis. One of the drawbacks of this is that it makes it even harder to know what the identity of Emiratis is – they are struggling to figure this out. Without historical homes and much of a connection to history, that connection to a possible historic identity has been lost. However, the governments in these two emirates have begun to reconstruct some of the older homes. Shindagha Village and another location nearby, Bastakiya, are restoration projects in Dubai aiming to accomplish this. The government of Dubai has funded excavations and reconstructions of what the homes may have looked like before modern development. We walked around some of the reconstructions and were guided by Samia Rab, an architecture professor at American University of Sharjah (AUS).

One of the most notable aspects of the architecture that, while not unique to the UAE (it’s Iranian, if I remember correctly), is their design for wind towers. There is only one traditional wind tower functioning in the UAE today according to Dr. Rab, though some variations on these towers do exist (I’ll describe one later). Here’s a picture of the recreated wind towers in Shindagha Village:

wind tower in Shindagha Heritage Village

How they work is interesting. They are up above the house and were only used in homes that didn’t have large courtyards as courtyards have a similar cooling effect. At the bottom of the wind tower is a low hanging boundary that drops from the ceiling. The bottom of the wind tower opens into a sitting room with windows leading to the courtyard. As the wind blows, it hits the wind tower and travels down the tower. As the air is pushed out of the windows in the sitting room and then out of the courtyard, the air coming in from the wind tower cools pretty dramatically. Dr. Rab noted that tests had found the temperature of the air can drop by as much as 18 degrees, which would make a big difference in the horrific heat of the gulf during the summer (120 to 130 degrees F). The low hanging barrier pushes the air very low, allowing it to rise slightly after falling and accentuates the cooling. I have to admit to not understanding the physics and engineering involved, but we did visit the working wind tower (I’ll posts pictures later) and it does work. It’s pretty amazing, actually. The buildings are largely constructed of a stucco-like mud filled in with coral from the sea bed.  I’ll post pictures of this later as we visited some ruins that clearly exposed the coral.

We walked through the reconstructed homes and ended up at a small cafe/art store in that area. That is where we first had mint lemonade. The version they served in that cafe was really strong – probably too strong – but still good. Here’s a picture:

mint lemonade in Bastakiya

After our drink we walked along the Creek (or river) that serves as a prominent characteristic of old Dubai. Right next to the Creek is a “souk” or market. There are actually three, one on the Bastikiya side and two on the other. The one we walked through on the Bastikya side was the textile souk, which I later visited again to shop for some souvenirs for Debi and Toren. It was a nice little market with small stores and hawkers out front trying to get you to buy their wares, the most prominent item being pashmina scarves. Here’s a photo of the souk:

textile souk in Old Dubai

On the Creek were the abras or water taxis, which are motor powered wooden boats that ferry people across the Creek for 1 dirham (about $0.30). Here’s a photo of one:

"abra" or water taxi on the Dubai Creek

On the far side are spice and gold souks. The Sheikh of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammad, also has his Ruler’s Court along the Creek, which apparently involved the destruction of lots of homes to build. We also walked up to the old fort in Dubai, as well as to a mosque. I really liked the Old Dubai area. It isn’t the glitz and glamour of the modern high rises; it seemed more authentic.  And even though the souks are touristy, it seemed like locals gravitated to this area as well.  We walked through an open area that was filled with Emiratis and ex-patriots just hanging out. There were also restaurants on the side of the Creek, which made for relaxing eating (we went later).

From Bastakiya, we got in the van and headed toward the famous Palm Jumeira – the human-made island in the shape of a date palm tree (with a breakwater). We stopped on the way at Jumeira Beach to catch a view of the world’s only 7-star hotel – Burj Al Arab.  The air quality in Dubai isn’t great and the smog made getting good pictures difficult, but here’s one of the photos I took from the beach:

Burj Al Arab from Jumeira Beach

We also stopped at Souk Madinat, which offered nice views of Burj Al Arab, but also contained a much higher scale souk (no bargaining there, unlike in the textile and spice souks). The part that struck me the most were the Christmas decorations. Islam is the official religion of the UAE. While there are, no doubt, some Christian ex-patriots, I found it highly unlikely that the lights, wreaths, Christmas decorations, and even Christmas tree were put up just to make ex-patriots or even tourists comfortable (which is what one of our guides suggested). This was in fact just the type of thing I was looking for as a sociologist studying secularization. What it suggests to me is two things: First, Christmas has outgrown Christianity; it is now a secular holiday that involves specific decorations, shopping, and other activities that are likely culture specific – family gatherings, going to the movies, etc. Christmas doesn’t have to be about Christ; it exists independent of him. (I am, of course, ignoring here the fact that Christmas is the result of syncretism from other religions that predate Christianity.) The second thing I thought was interesting was that the owners of this shopping area are pretty likely to be Muslims. While Christians in the US are fine letting, say, Jews, celebrate their own holidays, they do not typically decorate specifically for those holidays in order to attract them to their stores. Maybe there are the occasional menorahs in stores around Hannukah, but that seems pretty rare. I can’t even imagine Christians trying to decorate for a Muslim holy day in order to attract them to shop on those days. But what I saw in the UAE was Muslims decorating their shops in ways that have, for the last century or two, been associated with Christianity in order to attract shoppers. Admittedly, the holiday and decorations have been divorced from Christianity, as noted above. But this also says to me that, at least for some Muslims in the UAE, profit comes before religion, as they are willing to superficially celebrate the holy days of other religions in order to increase business. Religious fundamentalists – Muslim or Christian – would never do that; that would be seen as tolerating the religion of the infidel. If my assumption is correct that the owners of that Marina are Muslims, then they are secularizing. This may not be the best motivation for doing so, but it is evidence that it is occurring.  Anyway, we didn’t stay long at the souk, but I snapped a photo of the Christmas tree because I had to.

Christmas Tree in Souk Madinat

From there we drove out to the Palm Jumeira and then to the breakwater where the Atlantis Resort is located. Our guide had arranged dinner for us in a buffet in Atlantis, Saffron. On the way out to Atlantis and on the way back to our hotel we all noticed that most of the condos on Palm Jumeira were dark (it was night, so lights should have been on). Maybe this was because people were out – Emiratis do go out at night, late into the night. But given that more than 3/4ths of the condos were dark, that seemed like a lot. It may also be the case that some of the condos are only used part of the year. But the most likely explanation is that the condos are actually empty – there is no one in the condos. When the Palm Jumeira was originally announced, it sold out very quickly and property values went up rapidly. Many of those buying property bought it as an investment just to flip it. With the economic recession and the bubble in home prices popping – in the UAE too – the values of the homes and condos on the island have fallen by as much as 2/3rds, if not more. The result is more condos and homes than there are people for them – at least more exclusive homes for wealthy individuals.

This wasn’t the first indication that Dubai is over-built. As I walked around town earlier in the day I saw in huge letters on lots of high rises “To LET” followed by a phone number. If property were in such demand, why are there so many units that are available? Despite this, new buildings are going up. I’ll talk about the primary reason for this later.

Anyway, the buffett at Atlantis was nice but, as is always the case with me and buffets, I ate too much. The faculty participants also discussed the fact that this restaurant didn’t really seem to reflect Emirati culture. However, upon reflection we began to realize that it does, in fact, reflect a new part of Dubai’s culture – glitz, glamour, and gluttony. In fact, it’s not a stretch at all to say that Dubai is and wants to be the “Las Vegas + Disney” of the Middle East.

When this occurred to me, I ran it past Dr. Rab. She agreed and offered an explanation. She suggested that the reason why Dubai has grown so rapidly in the last 10 years or so is because of September 11^th, 2001. When that happened, restrictions on Arabs and Middle Easterners traveling to the west to shop or recreate increased, as did suspicions. There was also a crackdown on finances of Middle Easterners with Western governments scrutinizing their activities. Rather than put up with the suspicion and restrictions and risk losing money, Middle Easterners pulled their money out of Western markets and investments – to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars – as they saw an opportunity with Dubai. Dubai wanted to become the “Las Vegas + Disney” of the Middle East, and that required money. With billions to invest, Middle Easterners pumped the money into Dubai, resulting in a mega-boom. The richest people in the Middle East, including many sheikhs rich off their oil wealth, poured billions into Dubai. They basically built themselves the playground they used to visit in the West, but right in their backyard. Want to go to the beach? Dubai has great beaches! Want to go skiing? Dubai has an indoor ski resort! Want to go to a water park? I saw three of them while I was there! Want high end shopping and retail? Dubai has one of the world’s largest malls, Dubai Mall, with over 1000 stores; it has an ice skating rink, an aquarium, and every restaurant from the west you can imagine – TGI Fridays, Macaroni Grill, McDonald’s, Starbucks, etc. If you’re a wealthy Egyptian, Jordanian, or Indian, why fly all the way to the US or Europe when you can find all of the same luxuries in Dubai? Middle Easterners no longer have to go to the west to play. They can go to Dubai. And despite being an Islamic country (it’s part of their constitution, which I’ll discuss later), Dubai has legalized alcohol, ignores prostitution, and doesn’t force a dress code on the beach. If you want to get intimate in Dubai, just don’t do it in public. Aside from that one restriction (well, there are more, which I’ll get to later), you may as well be in Orlando.

That discussion led to another one, which I thought was very interesting. Dr. Rab noted that the gulf where the UAE is located has, as long as there have been historical records, been called the “Persian Gulf.” However, in recent years some Arabian countries  have taken to calling it the “Arab Gulf.” This is largely a reflection of antipathy toward Persia – a.k.a. Iran. While I think Dr. Rab’s explanation is probably over-simplifying things a bit, she offered an interesting and somewhat compelling explanation for why there is such animosity between the West and Iran. Obviously there is the issue of nuclear weapons that is so prevalent in Western media today, but Dr. Rab suggested that the real reason lays in oil. Saudi Arabia and the UAE all gave exclusive license to British Petroleum to explore for oil and BP got the rights to extract it. In short, BP has made billions, if not trillions of dollars because it got exclusive license to oil in the gulf region. In 1951 the Iranian parliament nationalized Iranian oil, removing it from its previous owner, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, which was owned by – the British government.  Because Iran has refused to allow the West to profit off its natural resources, the countries has been isolated from the world community. I’m guessing things are more complicated than that, but I think this is a legitimate and reasonable point. Governments in the West are often engaged in facilitating business for the corporations located in their respective countries. By allowing Western corporations control over oil and the ability to profit handsomely from it, the UAE and other gulf countries that signed away those rights are being exploited.

One other thing I noticed while touring around was that all the signs in the UAE are in Arabic and English. English is the de facto language of the country; pretty much everyone speaks it because there are so many people from so many different countries they need a common language. English has filled that role.

We wrapped up dinner and headed back to our hotel.

My first flight took me to Newark. There I boarded a flight for Zurich, Switzerland. In examining my itinerary I realized I had a four hour layover. Ever up for adventure, I figured I could slip out of the airport real quick to see Zurich, especially since the downtown is only 15 minutes away by train. I also happen to have a friend who lives in Zurich. I contacted her and she was free that morning, so she agreed to meet me at the airport and take me on a tour. I landed at around 8:40 Zurich time and quickly made my way through customs (my bag was checked all the way through to Dubai, so I just had my backpack). She was standing right outside security and finding her worked out seamlessly. She guided me right to the correct train, helped me get a ticket, and we cruised to downtown Zurich. Given that it was the middle of the winter, it was cold and there was a slight drizzle falling, but she walked me around the downtown, visiting Bahnhofstrasse – the prime shopping area – and the Limmat River. She pointed out the university where her husband works (ETH Zurich), which is one of the best universities in Europe. After our quick tour, we got back on the train and headed to the airport where we chatted over a cup of coffee for about 45 minutes. I said goodbye and checked back in without any problems. Given how quick our tour was, I didn’t even take a picture in downtown Zurich. I took a couple at the airport, but they weren’t very good. So, no pictures for this post.

My flight to Dubai left around 1:00 pm and I arrived in Dubai around 10:00 pm. The airport is huge and very busy. Luckily, it also has free wi-fi. Since I hadn’t checked my email for about a day, I took advantage of the wi-fi while I waited to get my visa to enter the country, which took about 30 minutes because of the lines. I also noticed, while I stood in line, a man dressed in the Emirati style who, while talking on a cellphone, simply cut through the lines of people. Apparently he was looking for a friend.  Once he found him, they walked up to the front of the line and went right through security. I’ll come back to the issue of Emirati behavior later.

The CIEE guide arranged for all of us to be picked up at the airport, so I just had to find where she had told us meet our drivers. No problems there. While I waited for my driver to arrange everything, I sat and watched the people in the Dubai airport. It became apparent very quickly that I was very much the minority in the UAE. As an Arab country, there were lots of men in variously styled “thawbs“ (also called “dishdasha” or “kandura”; this is the long tunic that looks like a robe) and “keffiyeh” (the headscarf) and other Middle Eastern and South Asian clothing. Lots of women were also wearing variously styled “abayat“, some with matching “niqabs“. And then, of course, there were many dressed in the western style, which was standard for the many ex-patriots working in the UAE.

For clarification, the UAE or United Arab Emirates refers to seven distinct Sheikdoms (kind of like kingdoms) that have joined into a single political entity.  The UAE was formed in 1972 when the seven emirates decided to join together to pool their resources, primarily for things like foreign relations and the military.  The emirates are like US states, but are similar in that they have a federal-like government that unites them.  However, much like the states in the US, the emirates retain a great deal of autonomy – more so than do states in the US. Each emirate controls citizenship in that emirate. Each emirate controls work visas. And each emirate controls its own resources. That is why some dole out higher welfare payments to their citizens then others – not all of the UAE emirates have oil. In fact, Abu Dhabi, which is the largest and wealthiest, has lots of oil. Dubai, which is second largest, had the second largest oil reserve, but it is almost gone. The other emirates have little to no oil, though Sharjah has natural gas reserves. The other four emirates are much poorer and much less developed.

While I didn’t learn these statistics until later in my trip, it is worth describing the make up of the UAE population to help explain my comment about feeling like a minority. Recent data, which the leadership of the country claims is a census, suggest that there are 8.26 million people in the country, roughly 948,000 of which are citizens (the estimates make it clear this is not a census; in all likelihood the data come from the extension of visas, which is where most ex-patriots are tracked). Citizens are called “Emiratis.” That means just about 10% of the people living in the UAE are citizens. The rest of the people living there do not have UAE citizenship and they are, in all likelihood, never going to get it, regardless of how long they live there. The reason why they are unlikely to get UAE citizenship is because citizenship comes with substantial benefits. Emiratis, depending on the emirate in which they live, receive annual stipends from the government (basically a form of welfare). While the estimates I heard varied, I found one source online saying the average male Emirati receives about $55,000 US per year (women may or may not receive welfare stipends). There are other benefits as well. Emiratis can attend school and college for free, receive a marriage dowry, but only if they marry another Emirati, and get free healthcare, utilities, and land as well as other benefits. Occasionally their respective sheikh will simply give them money or buy or build them a new house.

In contrast, ex-patriots, who make up close to 90% of the population, get very little. They cannot become citizens. They have to be sponsored to be in the country, either by an Emirati (who can sponsor as many people as he or she wants and can withdraw that sponsorship whenever he/she wants) or by the governments of the various emirates. The only way to be sponsored is to be working or studying. And as children get older, their ex-patriot parents can only serve as their sponsors until the children are adults. If they stay to go to college, their sponsorship is extended. But if they fail to get a job in the country after college, even if their parents live in the country, they have to leave. There are some perks – ex-patriots don’t pay taxes to the UAE government. And at least for college faculty their housing is free. But for many of the ex-patriots, particularly those doing the most menial jobs, their lives are very difficult. I’ll talk more about these laborers later.

Anyway, all of that was basically to explain why it was that I felt like a minority immediately upon arriving. I was told there are only about 20,000 American ex-patriots in the UAE; just a drop in the bucket. There are more Indians and Iranians in the country than there are Emiratis. Most of the ex-patriots are from the surrounding region: India, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other gulf countries. There are also many from southeast Asia (e.g., Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines). As far as Westerners go, I was told the British are the largest group.  Just because I am a numbers person, and because there are no photos in this post, I figured I’d put together some charts.  The UAE has a National Bureau of Statistics; it’s not very good, but I found some interesting information there.  For instance, here is a chart showing the nationality (grouped, unfortunately) of UAE workers in 2008:

(click for full resolution)

As the figure shows, Emiratis make up just under 4% of the workforce in their own country.  The biggest group is Indians, Pakistanis, and Iranians at 82.7%.  Amazing!

I also found data on the UAE National Bureau of Statistics website supporting the remarkable sex imbalance – 68% of the population of the UAE in 2005 (latest data available) was male; 32% was female. Data on that site also indicates that the average family size is 5.3, which suggests the average number of children is 3.3, though possibly higher given the increasing divorce rate.  I may also discuss it later, but one of the major concerns of Emiratis is that they will grow increasingly marginalized in their own country.  Data from the National Bureau of Statistics lends gravity to that concern.  In 2009 there were 15,000 more births to non-citizens (45,415) than to citizens (30,951).

Here’s another interesting figure – crimes by nationality in 2007:

(click for full resolution)

This is fascinating because it suggests that Emiratis are disproportionately responsible for crimes committed in the country.  This is supportive of lots of research suggesting that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than are citizens, precisely because they want to avoid problems with the law that might get them deported.  Anyway, hopefully that helps give some background on the UAE and the rather strange nature of the population.  On with my trip…

My driver was Pakistani. He was very nice. But much of that was probably the deference that results from a very distinct and clearly divided hierarchy in the UAE. At the top of the hierarchy are the royals – the families of the various sheiks. Not only are these individuals incredibly wealthy but they also have what is called “wasta” in the country. It basically means clout. Because of it, royals can basically do whatever they want, regardless of what it is they want. They are at the top of the hierarchy. Next are the non-royal Emiratis, who, because they have citizenship, also have wasta. They do display some entitlement, as did the young male Emirati who cut in front of the lines where the rest of us were waiting for our visas. But in later discussions I concluded that Emiratis aren’t necessarily elitist, though certainly there is some of that. I’ll return to this point later in my trip report. Next in the hierarchy are the educated and skilled ex-patriots – the engineers, lawyers, doctors, etc. – who make up a large section of the work force and are basically the middle class. Many of these individuals are from the West, but some are from the region as well. At the bottom of the hierarchy are the menial laborer ex-patriots who receive virtually no respect, are largely ignored, and who are very deferential to those above them. My driver was at the upper end of the bottom of the hierarchy – he spoke English and had a license to drive, so he likely made more than the lowest paid workers. Even so, the deference he showed to me – insisting on taking my bags, opening my door, calling me sir, looking down instead of looking at me, apologizing for everything – it was really awkward. There are, of course, social classes in the US, and some individuals feel like they are at the top and they treat those lower than them poorly, demanding deference. But perhaps because I grew up middle class where the assumption was that we are all equal – hell, it’s in our Declaration of Independence (“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…) – the hierarchy and its accompanying entitlement and deference was really awkward for me.

Anyway, rather than sit in the back seat, I sat up front with the driver and chatted with him (he initially tried to put me in the back but I insisted). He was single and had been in the UAE for 9 years. His family is all still in Pakistan. He said he would prefer to be in Pakistan but the money in the UAE was too good to pass up. He got several weeks of vacation a year and used it to go home and visit his family. When I told him what I do – a college professor – he became even more deferential. His perception of the prestige associated with that job was really interesting. He said he thought it was a really good job and assumed that I must therefore know lots of important people – like politicians, judges, police officers, business people, lawyers, and doctors. Admittedly, I do know some, but I’m guessing those types of connections are more common in less developed countries where the prestige of a college professor is higher. I asked him about the problems in Pakistan with violence and particularly about the recent conflicts with the US. His response was that the media can’t be trusted. He said that he thought most of what was in the news was driven by the interests of the wealthy and whoever was able to spend the most on the news coverage. He also said the media isn’t always accurate. He gave an example of a news report of a bomb going off in Pakistan near his home town. He called a friend whose business was just a street away from the alleged location and his friend said nothing had happened. Granted these are the thoughts of a random young man working for National Car Rental in Dubai, but I thought it was interesting to get his perspective.

I got to the hotel around 11:30, checked in, and wanted to go to sleep, but my internal clock was screwed up, so I stayed up for another hour unpacking and getting settled before I was able to go to sleep.