Welcome to Dubai
Published on
The place is Dubai, al Rashida district (though I am yet to figure out where exactly do I live). The temperature is 46*C. The radio plays the best of oriental pop and the keyboard in the internet cafe has arabic script on it. No camels though ;-)
Whoever told me Dubai was a Western-looking city, where women are modern and liberal lied. Or so if my first impression.
Most of the women I see wear veils or even the black burkhas that only show their sprakling coal-colored eyes to be seen by a passerby. On another note, Dubai seems for now to be more similar to Sharm-el-Sheikh or Hurghada in Egypt than to the actually-quite-western looking Beyrouth.
Nonetheless, people are lovely and friendly. My neighboors already explained to me where to find everything I need in the near-by stores and showed me up to the pool, located on the roof of my three-storey building.
Going to the grocery store was todays greatest adventure. Imagine going to a supermarket and not recognizing any of the products... All strange beans and wheats and cans and spices and brand names you've never seen before. On top of that half of it is in Arabic so you can only guess its purpose. This was my today's experience.
I finally found Nutella. With chocolate through life.