OCEANS AWAY

On not going to Dubai

Filed under Travel

This is Dubai. It’s about two hours by car from Abu Dhabi, which is where I was invited to go this summer with a close friend to meet his family and friends, and see a part of the world that is home to him but as foreign to me as anything could possibly be. Of course, I cannot take him up on that. I will – some day. But this summer is packed with my last-minute sprint to graduation and worries about what may happen come September.

Direct flights from Frankfurt International to Abu Dhabi are cheap, though, comparatively. And having a friend on location to stay with and show me around and drive me to the tourist attractions and the lesser known places frequented by locals – it makes everything so easy. European citizens don’t even need a visa to go to the United Arab Emirates. So this one is particularly hard to say no to. Meeting my boys in Paris – ok, that just didn’t work out. Visiting a friend in Moscow – it’s complicated and expensive. But this one: a week or longer in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with one of my best friends in the world; the Arab culture; the glamor and inherent contradictions of these two utterly strange and fascinating cities in the desert… It truly sucks that I can’t go, right now.

This is also Dubai. I’m sure everyone has seen the famous hotel and that crazy human-made, palm tree shaped cluster of islands. Not to mention the recently finished world of islands. And, more interestingly, the now hidden traditional sides of the United Arab Emirates that we actually never do see in glossy magazines and documentaries. — I don’t think this is necessarily a typical tourist destination. Maybe for the super rich and the business people and the curious who have already been everywhere else. But naturally, that is exactly why I would love to go: to see in person what few have seen before.

My friend is originally from Pakistan but his dad works and lives in the UAE most of the year, and during the summer months his whole family stays with him in Abu Dhabi for a few weeks. It would have been amazing to meet everyone, taste some traditional food, be surrounded by the different languages and customs, try to understand that ancient culture and how it can exist within such modern cities. — We talked online a bit today, and my friend – inherently good and rational and focused – agreed that school should be my priority right now. He promised that the offer stands and I could come anytime.

So I guess there’s always next year…