Greetings yet again from the Middle East! As part of the Islamic month of Ramadan - this year landing at the end of November and the beginning of December - I was given two weeks vacation off from work and decided to use the time to explore the southeastern region of the Arabian Peninsula. Having heard good things from others who have visited the region I thought it would make for an interesting trip. In addition, since I had returned from a brief trip to the United States just three weeks before, I thought it would be nicer to spend just 2 hours on a local flight from Riyadh to Dubai instead of 20 hours in the air which was the case to California. Not to mention that flights to Dubai are a whole heck of a lot cheaper, too! Since my school was to be officially closed in celebration of Ramadan from Thursday, November 28th until Friday, December 13th, I packed my bags on Wednesday the 27th and left straight from work at 11pm to catch a flight from King Khalid Military City to Riyadh then connected to another flight 55 minutes later bound for Dubai. Fortunately, King Khalid Airport in Riyadh is quite small so I had no trouble making the transfer in the allotted time. Like usual, I landed in Riyadh at the Saudia Airlines domestic terminal and made my way out through security and shuffled my way in and out between large Saudi families consisting of the family patriarch, his multiple wives cloaked in black, and their plethora of children. "Lau samaHHt!" I declared, excusing myself while weaving in and out of the groups of people making their way out of the terminal as well. Upon reaching the Saudia Airlines International terminal I checked in, got my boarding pass, cleared security (once my laptop had been turned on and my shoes taken off) and made my way upstairs into the departure hall. The international terminal itself is basically a large circular open-air hub with different gates splintering off from its circumference. In the center is a large carpeted prayer area on the floor headed by a wall at the fore to prevent others from trespassing in front of anyone who might be praying westward toward Mecca (a HUGE no-no here). Since noon prayer had taken place about an hour earlier, no-one was praying as I walked by and instead all I could see were several men sprawled out on the floor sleeping. I ended up sitting at my gate for only a few minutes, watching the undulating sea of black sitting around me as I did, then got up and made my way to the aircraft once the announcement was made to board. I would have liked to take a picture of the airport and slapped it on this webpage but since a) King Khalid Airport is considered a military installation, photographing it is illegal, and b) I'd probably be beaten up, stabbed, or arrested if anyone noticed me taking pictures of their women. I've lived here long enough to know when it's NOT a good time to whip out my camera! The flight itself to Dubai was pretty uneventful. I just sat in my Boeing 747 aisle seat, listened to the Islamic prayers while we taxied down the runway, relaxed to some music under my headphones and read a TIME magazine while we zipped through the air toward our destination. Two hours later and a time zone away we had landed in the United Arab Emirates.

I didn't have a visa for the United Arab Emirates as I was informed by my employer that I could purchase one upon arriving in the country. Yeah, I heard the same thing about Kuwait back in October and was in for the 9-hour shock of my life when I showed up at the border as Visa-less Daniel and they nearly rejected and booted me back into the scorpion infested Saudi desert! So I arrived in the UAE thinking it was going to be a repeat of Kuwait, but I was pleased to find out that I could in fact arrange for my two-week visitor's visa there in the airport and had nary a problem. I slapped down US$40 for the visa, they stamped my passport, and away I went legal and clear to enter my 26th country. Waiting for me just outside the expansive and modern arrival hall of the Dubai Airport were Mark and his wife Jennifer (Mark and I worked together two years earlier in Riyadh.) Mark had no pictures of me to show his wife and so all he could do was tell Jennifer to look for a "tall white guy with a mature hairline" and flag me down should she stumble upon me. Well, poor Jennifer! She ended up running up to some random white guy with a mature hairline who WASN'T me and hollered, "Daniel! Daniel! Is that you?!! Mark and I are over here!" From what Jennifer said afterwards all embarrassed, the guy just stopped and looked at her like she was on drugs, huffed "NO!", turned and then marched away. REJECTED!!! Shortly thereafter I strolled out through the electric sliding doors onto the exterior sidewalk neighboring the parking lot and spotted Mark right away, as I, too, was looking for a tall white guy with a mature hairline! We smiled and greeted each other and then Jennifer walked up, introduced herself, and told me about her experience with the other tall white guy. We all laughed at the mix up and then hopped in their car and sped away from the airport toward the nearby city of Sharjah where Mark and Jennifer live with their four children.

We arrived at the Stevens household shortly after sundown - sundown holding special significance during the month of Ramadan in an Islamic home. Since Mark had converted to Islam in the 1980s and his wife and his children are all Muslim, the month of Ramadan is a time of fasting from sunrise to sunset so once we had shown up, it was time to feast! We walked in the house and I was quickly introduced to Mark and Jennifer's four children Lisa, Ameena, Diana, and Joey then we sat down to dig into dinner which Jennifer had suddenly whipped up and spread out upon the table before us. Interestingly, I wasn't too terribly hungry since I had eaten the in-flight food served on the way to Dubai - and event which kind of surprised me considering that eating any time between sunrise and sunset during Ramadan is a huge social offense in Saudi Arabia. While I was sitting in my seat and the mid-afternoon snack had been served, I wasn't sure if it would be rude or not to partake in the offering. I mean, as an American in Saudi Arabia these days, I'm used to being looked at loathingly, having rude comments hurled in my direction, being viewed with the deepest of suspicion as a "Jew lover", and so I was a little apprehensive in the airplane about doing anything that might be misconstrued as an offense to Islam because I was simply in no mood for any would-be confrontations with the locals, even though half the other people around me were eating. Cautiously I decided to eat onboard without making a big display of myself and I figured that maybe because we were flying to the Emirates - a nation allegedly more liberal in its interpretations/implementations of Islam - that it was OK to eat on the flight despite the sun still being up. Interestingly, there is an Islamic stipulation to fasting which says you don't have to fast if you are undertaking a journey which many Muslims refer to when discussing exemptions to daily fasting. Somehow I seem to imagine that taking a trip through the deadly parched landscapes of the Arabian deserts in the 7th Century A.D. and taking a two-hour flight in an air conditioned jet in the 21st Century are not necessarily equal in their physical intensity and that these travel exemptions in Islam don't necessarily apply to the latter, but whatever, Muslims are free to interpret and practice their religion as they like. So, long story short, I wasn't nearly as ravaged as the rest of the Stevens family once dinner was served. Being me though, I can ALWAYS eat and so I basically behaved as though I had fasted all day long too! When in Rome. . . As we sat and ate, we chatted up a storm and Mark and I reminisced about our days working together in Riyadh. We thought back to all those odd personalities which had come in and out of our school during our time there and updated each other as to the hearsay and whereabouts regarding former coworkers and students as well as pondered the good and bad about life in the Saudi capital. Humorously, Mark's family seemed to know as much or more about the English school in Riyadh than even I did! Apparently Mark has been very prolific in describing those unique personalities that used to work with us there. It was funny to see his kids laughing up a storm and filling in details to our stories whenever the both of us drew blanks. I must admit though that there were quite a few "special" people there at our school two years ago so there is definitely no shortage of stories to be told! Dinner was a lot of fun and I clicked with everyone right away. Jennifer is Malaysian and so as per custom, I was introduced to Lisa, Ameena, Diana, and Joey as Uncle Dan and for the rest of my time in their home that's how I was addressed, and I thought it was really nice! Every time they said, "Uncle Dan!" I thought, "Aaaaaah! How totally muffin is that!" :-] We ended up spending the rest of the evening socializing until late and went to bed sometime around 3 a.m. Since Muslims don't eat during the daytime in Ramadan, many of them shift their dining patterns from the day time into the night time and eat breakfast at sundown, lunch sometime around 11pm and then dinner at about 3 or 4 a.m., perform their morning prayers before sunrise then go to sleep until noon at which time they have to wake up and do their noon prayers. Then they get the rest of their day underway, only to break the fast at sunset and start the cycle over again that evening. So this was our daily schedule during my time there which was more than fine with me since I'm a night owl by nature anyways! Happily, the Stevens family has a very liberal interpretation of Islam and so there was no obligation for me to fast during the day with everyone else as would be the case with Saudi Arabians. Jennifer had said, "Daniel, you're not Muslim. Where should the obligation for you to fast come from?" she answered when I had asked about whether or not I should fast with the rest of the family out of respect. "Hmm. . . good point," I thought. I'm so used to the rather intolerant codes of conduct in Saudi Arabia that I guess I just (wrongly?) assumed that all Muslims share the same attitudes and practices. It was really nice to be in a Muslim environment where I was free to be me and where I didn't have to worry about constantly offending everyone. Also, since Diana and Joey are still considered children, they are not obligated to fast either and so we three all shared lunch together every day which made my eating during sun-up that much more comfortable.

After waking up nice and late the following morning, Mark, Jennifer, Joey and I spilled into the Stevens Family car and motored our way from the outskirts of Sharjah into the city of Dubai to take a little stroll along the banks of Dubai Creek and take a dhow motor boat ride on the water to check out the Dubai/Deira waterfront.

Brief history of the United Arab Emirates Like much of the rest of the Gulf, what is now the UAE has been settled for many centuries. The earliest significant settlements are from the Bronze Age. In the 3rd Millennium BC a culture known as Umm an-Nar arose near modern Abu Dhabi and its influence extended well into the interior and down the coast of what is now Oman. There are also settlements in the east which date to the 3rd Millennium B.C. The Greeks were the next major cultural influence in the area, ruins of which can still be found just outside of Dubai. During the Middle Ages much of the area was part of the Kingdom of Hormuz, which controlled the entrance to, and most of the trade in, the Gulf. The Portuguese first arrived in 1498 and by 1515 they had occupied various lands and built a customs house through which they taxed the Gulf's flourishing trade with India and the Far East. The Portuguese stayed until 1633. The rise of British naval power in the Gulf in the mid-18th century coincided with the rise of two important tribal confederations along the coast of the lower Gulf. These were the Qawasim and the Bani Yas, the ancestors of the rulers of four of the seven emirates that today make up the UAE. Once the British had established a presence in the region, the Qawasim and Bani Yas were granted relative autonomy to rule themselves as song as British rivals were kept out of the region and lines of communication to India remained secure. Despite being declared a British protectorate in 1892, the region remained a backwater with most of its trade stemming from tiny enclaves of fishers, pearl divers, and nomadic Bedouin camel herders. The collapse of the global pearl market in the early 20th Century however had led to abject poverty ruling most of the area for several decades. It was the prospect of oil that changed the way the British ran their affairs in the region although that discovery of oil was not made until 1958. Then oil was also discovered in Dubai in 1966 and the region was suddenly on its way to becoming very rich. Britain vacated the region in 1971 and initial plans to unify the seven autonomous Emirati sheikhdoms with the neighboring nations of Qatar and Bahrain failed to materialize with each of the three regions declaring their own independence, and new nation of the United Arab Emirates came into existence on 2 December 1971. Since then the United Arab Emirates have continued to develop their successful oil and commercial industries and in the process managed to become one of the Arab world's most stable nations.

The city of Dubai is actually two cities, Dubai and Deira, but it would seem that the name Dubai won out in the popularity contest and is what the whole area is generally known as. Dubai is on the western bank of the "creek" and Deira is on the eastern side. From all appearances, Deira received the majority of development funds during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and then Dubai won out in the 1990s and 2000s. This is reflected by the type of developments evidenced on both sides of the water with series of concrete medium-rise buildings creating the Deira commercial and urban residential district. All along that side of the creek you can the buzz of gold markets, apartment complexes and businesses of various sorts all crammed together on the tiny piece of land that constitutes the inner portion of the hairpin bend in the Dubai Creek just before it spill out into the Arabian Gulf (a.k.a. Persian Gulf). The Dubai side of things directly beside the water seems to have received quite a bit of funds for historical preservation lately as it is the site of various pedestrian walkways, tourist attractions including the Ruler's Court, the Dubai Fort Museum, the Sheikh Saeed Al-Maktoum House, and the nice and newly renovated Dubai Old Souk ("souk" = (covered) market area). Also, just a ways west of the historical section of old Dubai is an ultra modern high-rise zone lining Sheikh Zayed Road which is still under construction and is home to the Dubai World Trade Center twin towers. [Daniel notes that one of the September 11th murderers was actually from the United Arab Emirates, a little fact I pondered as I sighted the buildings rising above the city.] Anyways, back to the waterfront. We got out of the car and went for a little walk along the waterfront corniche and were surprised to see a slew of old dhow motor boats parked beside the bank of the creek all constantly being tied together into a cluster and then untied as boats departed for various passenger docking points along the banks of the Deira side. There are two bridges and one tunnel which span the creek, the tunnel at the mouth of the creek on the Arabian Gulf and the two other bridges farther inland which left a large stretch of water open free and so the only way to get directly between the old districts of Dubai and Deira are to hop aboard one of the crazy little boats that zigzag across the water ferrying mostly Indian and Pakistani passengers back and forth. Since we weren't necessarily trying to go anywhere, one of the men docked ashore offered to take us out on the creek up toward Umm Hureir Road Bridge beside several photo-worthy office buildings. The man fired up his wobbly boat and we descended a series of steps, balanced our way across a teetering plank then jumped onto the old wooden craft and set sail for a relaxing journey through central Dubai. The late November weather was very pleasant with temperatures somewhere in the low 80s Fahrenheit / high 20s Celcius and a slight breeze of the Gulf. Mark and Jennifer sat toward the back of the boat behind our waterway chauffer while Joey and I moseyed around the front of the dhow to get a good view of the city and to take some shots of the buildings and people passing us by on both sides. I think it was pretty clear we were tourists though to the Indians and Pakistanis boating up from behind then passing us with quizzical looks on their faces as I perched over the side of the boat with my camera to get "the perfect shot" not to mention Jennifer sitting relaxed in the back with the wind buffeting her hijab hair-and-neck covering. From what I could see, these boats functioned mostly as a male-transport system, although I did see the occasional woman peppered in here and there. Mr. Boat Skipper steered us out toward the middle of the creek where we slowed for a few moments to get some more pictures of the built up shore line then he spun us around and headed back toward our original point of departure. Along the return trip I sat back and enjoyed the ride while watching the continuing ebb and flow of south Asians being transported from bank to bank and sea birds fly overhead diving occasionally into the water for a scaly aquatic afternoon snack.

Once back ashore, we paid our boat driving host his fee for sailing us around the Dubai Creek (over inflated I am positive due to the "special price" individuals with white skin happen to get in this region) and then decided to take a little walk through the neighboring Bastakia Market Quarter alongside the waterfront. The district was built at the beginning of the 20th Century and were once the homes of wealthy Dubai merchants. It has recently been declared a conservation area and large sections have since been restored.

I found this to be a pretty interesting picture, one which pretty much sums up life in the United Arab Emirates: lone Emirati outstretching his hand as if in a command to the foreign workers on the boat before him. Of the 2.4 million people who live in the United Arab Emirates, only about 25% of that number are actual Emiratis. The rest are foreign ("expat") workers, a small number coming from the West, but the vast majority come from South Asia (Pakistan and India) and the impoverished Arab nations of the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine) and North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, etc.). In practice this means that the Emiratis own and operate the country's economic and security apparatuses and everyone else serves as their laborers, generating wealth and power for a relative few. Of course, this is the case in virtually *all* nations, it just happens to be more apparent here because each ethnic group is clearly recognizable by his clothing and/or headwraps. The Indians and Levant/North Africans dress in Western clothes, and are easily differentiated because the Indians look Indian and the Arabs look, well, Arab; the Pakistanis dress in their ultra long "shirts" dipping down to their knees with slits up the sides and they wear long cotton pants; the Gulf Arabs all wear long white robes, but each ethnic group can be decoded by paying attention to the color and method implemented in designing and tying their head wraps or by looking at the style of the collar on their robes; then you have the Africans who fall into various groups from the Westernized Northern Africans to the non-Westernized northern/eastern Africans who often are quite tall and have soft brown skin and wear long robes and uniquely styled head wraps, and the Central Africans who often wear bright and colorful clothing and have ultra black skin with full, round physical features. Then there's a decent number of far eastern/south-eastern Asians, and lastly and least numerous are the Europeans and North Americans. Since the Europeans and North Americans constitute by far the world's most economically developed, technologically advanced and educated nations, the best expat jobs and salaries are given to that group of foreigners with remuneration and benefits packages then following along a descending scale largely according to one's nationality/ethnicity with the Indians and Pakistanis largely being on the bottom of it all. Of course, with nearly 1 billion impoverished people living in India and Pakistan, there is certainly no shortage of low cost labor from there to import. My Lonely Planet: Middle East book has an interesting little blurb about this inserted in the Dubai section: The Other Expats For the 1.5 million or so Asian expats living in the UAE, life is very different to that of a western expat. Most Pakistanis, Indians, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis and even some Chinese and Filipinos are employed as labourers. Working on building sites without proper safety precautions or digging roads in 45C [110F] heat is hardly the easy life, but it is preferable to financial struggles back home. Even though salaries are often one-fifth that of a western expat, they're likely to be making three or four times as much as they could at home. One man is able to support an extended family back in India on his pay packet alone. Living here is not really a means to an end for many Asian expats - it is simply a better existence. What this means is that many men stay here not just for a few years but for 20 years or more, without seeing their families except for a trip home for one month every two years.

Just beside the waterfront is the Bastakia Market Quarter and one of the prominent features you notice walking up to it is the newly renovated wind towers which once functioned as natural airconditioners for buildings during the hot summer months long before energy hungry electrified airconditioners were imported into the region. The old wind towers apparently used to work in conjunction with the moist sandy creek-side soils beneath them by allowing rising warm air to escape the building and pulling cooler air out of the ground into the dwelling while also preventing direct sunlight from entering the interior. Quite ingenious, eh! And no environmental pollution!

Above, from right to left: laa ilah ilaa Allah, Muhammed rasool Allah. "There is no god but Allah. Mohammed is the messenger of Allah." Known as the shahadah (testament), that's all you have to say in order to become a Muslim. Of course, you have to actually believe it in order for the conversion to be official. Beware though: once you become a Muslim the commitment is binding and you are not allowed to unbecome a Muslim as the punishment for apostacy is DEATH.

There are two major sects within Islam: Shiite and Sunni. The Shiites consist largely of the Persians/Iranians, western Iraqis as well as small pockets here and there throughout the Middle East, whereas the vast majority of other Muslims (Arabs, Africans, non-Persian Asians) are Sunni. The critical differences between the two sects center largely around who they believe to be in line of succession to Mohammed's rule of the Islamic nation and who has the right to rule the Islamic world today. The disagreement has lasted nearly 1,400 years.

Above: Sheikh Zayed Road and the new World Trade Center district, much of which is currently under construction.

Burj al-Arab (Tower of the Arabs) Burj Al Arab's sail-shaped structure, soaring 321 metres above the Arabian Gulf, has become as much a point of reference in Dubai as the Eiffel Tower is in Paris. The Burj Al Arab towers over the renowned Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Wild Wadi Water Park. Basic One-Bedroom Deluxe suites span 169 square metres (1,820 square feet) and offer beautiful views over the Arabian Sea. The living room, located on the ground level, has a large lounge, a dining table for 4 guests, a private bar counter, a luxury guest washroom, and a complete Business Centre consisting of a work desk, laptop, printer, private fax/telephone service and data port. The spiral staircase leads to the bedroom (with king-size bed), luxury bathroom with a Jacuzzi, dressing room and a large private safe. Deluxe Suite has excellent communication facilities, including a highly sophisticated multimedia system offering a video-on-demand and the largest selection of satellite channels available in the Middle East, viewed on a 42-inch plasma television screen. The system also offers Internet browsing and a host of interactive services including on-line shopping and extensive information services. Deluxe Suite: starting at US$600, £380, ¥72,000 Royal Suite: US$6000, £3000, ¥720,000)

And them prices is per night! Not to mention the 20% Dubai City hotel tax! YOUCH!!! At least breakfast is included. I can't even imagine what a $6000 per night hotel even serves for breakfast. Bars of solid gold?!!

Jumeira Beach Hotel The resort comprises the 'splash-tastic' Wild Wadi Water Park and the truly magnificent Burj Al-Arab, the tallest all-suite Hotel in the World. The Jumeirah Beach Hotel takes leisure, comfort and hospitality to new levels of opulence - a landmark of luxury in the city of Dubai, the leisure, shopping and sporting capital of the Arabian Gulf. The unique architecture is inspired by the Arabian seafaring tradition, echoing the form of a breaking wave. While the interior design reflects the four elements of water, earth, air and fire. A theme reflected throughout the Hotel, culminating in the magnificent atrium sculpture depicting a satellite view of the earth by day and night. Facilities: Ground Level - 3 squash courts 'Waterfront' café, which opens out onto the double height foyer. The Pavilion Dive Centre offers a full range of courses, daily dive trips and a retail outlet. It is adjacent to the sports club, near the marina slipway and mooring pontoons. Upper Level - The gymnasium features 70 pieces of nautilus equipment, extensive cardiovascular area and a separate free weights section. The gym occupies 400 square metres (4,000 square feet) and has full height glazing, giving fantastic views over the Resort and Marina. Personal training programmes are also available with our qualified instructors. The Health Suite incorporates two saunas, three hot tubs, steam room, Jacuzzi, plunge pool and two massage rooms. Treatments offered include aromatherapy, reflexology, shiatsu and facials. The Group Fitness Room covering 170 square metres (1,700 square feet) fully equipped with ballet rails and mirrors. Fitness classes are regularly held including Yoga, Karate Classes, RPM, Body Pump and Body Combat. External - 4 swimming pools - main pool, family pool with an adjacent children's pool and a 25-metre lap pool 7 floodlit competition standard tennis courts, one of which is multipurpose to include volleyball and basketball. A mini putting green and golf driving nets A family adventure Playground, consisting of raised walkways with a variety of play features including swings, slides, climbing structures, tunnels and rope walkways. The equipment is padded for user safety. This area is closed during the summer months due to the heat. Water sports on offer include sailing, water skiing, parasailing, snorkeling, wind surfing, scuba diving, kayaking, boogie boarding, wake boarding and banana boating. Deluxe room: starting at US$204, £126, ¥24,000 Royal suite: US$1,035, £642, ¥122,000

I suppose I could afford $204 a night for a hotel if I really had to (for like *one* night!), although I bet those two hundred and four bones would only get you some totally ghetto room with shredded curtains and police tape everywhere, not to mention endless stares of disdain and ridicule from fellow guests able to pony up for the high-roller rooms.

On one of the days while Mark was at work, Jennifer and I decided to go out for a little historical sightseeing, and specifically we chose a nice long visit to the Dubai Museum near the banks of the city's creek. The museum is to be found in the renovated premises of the old Al-Fahidi Fort, it was constructed in the early 19th Century and is thought to be the oldest building in Dubai. It's definitely worth a visit to anyone who should find themselves in town for any amount of time.

Above: Emirati kunjar daggers. The same kind that a friend of mine and I had pulled on us in the desert of Saudi Arabia once!

Splintering off from the center courtyard of the fort are various rooms with different displays of pre-modern armaments and weapons, and below the fort itself is a huge new addition with walk-through rooms depicting life in the Emirates as it was before discovery of oil in the mid-20th Century. The designers did quite a remarkable job recreating each of the scenes and the entire area was very interesting to stroll through.

The time honored tradition of offering dates, tea, coffee and sheesha tobacco bongs to guests. As a rule, it is the youngest male in the group (having reached puberty) who is obligated to be the server, and offerings are generally made in a circular fashion starting first with guests sitting on the right and then working around the circle left-wards. As with Christianity, the right position is considered one of honor in Islam.

Above: This display was labled "Traditional costume" but I'm not exactly sure what's so traditional about it since I see people dressed like this all the time still throughout the Gulf. Well, for men at least. Gulf Arab women are cloaked from head to toe in black so I wouldn't know what they're wearing under their robes to be honest.

Above: I have been very interested to see in my travels over the past decade that despite the global cries and whining about "rampant American consumerism" that virtually every historical site or tourist attraction in the world to have been designated, built, or renovated in the last 10 years or so has MIMICKED that oh-so-wicked consumeristic American model and retrofitted their sites with these nice little shops peddling anything a tourist could possibly want. Basically, you spend a nice time wandering through Historical Site X and just before you exit, you are spilled right out into a gift shop offering mugs, purses, t-shirts, trinkets, and everything else under the sun. Just for example, I've found this at the Osaka Castle in Japan, the Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany, and now here in Dubai, UAE. For hating America's successful Disneyland-like consumer based tourist culture and industry so much, the rest of the planet sure does seem to be in a rush to emulate it! I'll never understand the world, I swear. Bitch bitch bitch. . . emulate emulate emulate. . .

On one of the evenings, Mark, Jennifer and I decided to take a fun little drive into downtown Dubai and pay a visit to both the Dubai and the Deira sides of the city's creek. Like most places I've seen throughout the Arab world, evening is when daily life actually begins, and since it was the month of Ramadan and most people try to do as little as possible during the daylight hours due to their religious fasting, once the sun goes down everyone comes out to feast, shop, and enjoy a nice walk through the city.

Above: the streets of Deira were alive in all directions with people from many reaches of the world: Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West, and each group was dressed in their region's clothing. I don't think I've seen so many differently dressed people with their own languages and customs in such a small area before in life! Not that I got it all on film since I'm still a wee bit camera shy as far as sticking my little photo machine right up in someone's face and snapping away, especially here in the Middle East. But trust me, it was all there! :-)

Above and below: while walking through downtown I was very shocked to stumble upon a narrow little alleyway which sold all sorts of Hindu religious items. Why shocked? Well. . . in Saudi Arabia it's illegal to practice any religion in public other than Islam and the import or trading of non-Islamic religious symbols, icons, images, books, or other items can land you in jail, so I was surprised and impressed to see a more progressive view toward religious expression in the Emirates. Of course, you can't exactly have a country which is 75% non-Emirati and not be a wee bit flexible to their spiritual needs.

Ahhh. . . a store with an American name. A little symbol of home in a far away land. For sale: T-shirts and sneakers, all of which were probably made in India!

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