DXB at 2am

DXB is Dubai International Airport. Logan is an International airport, too. Getting “International” in the title makes it sound important.

On my most recent flight home out of Dubai, I took these on the way to the gate. You can tell I was boarding the 2am flight.

But don’t think it’s a ghost town at that hour. The palm trees are not real, btw.

In fact, here in duty free shopping, DXB is positively vibrant at 2am.

The Christmas tree and snowflake decorations are part of “the festive season” décor. More on that later.

Why are you crying?

October, 07

Just before 10am, Seema came to my desk about nothing special. “You look awful”, I said. “Are you sick? Not sleeping?”

“I was crying.” More tears as she reached for a Kleenex. “Why? Is your daughter ok?”

Turns out she just got to work after a 2.5 hour commute to go four kilometers (2.4 miles). She missed the 7:30am bus, and there is only one. Taxis with passengers passed her by. Seema called her husband, Sanjiv, but he could do nothing. They have no car.

More waiting. Then weeping on the sidewalk. A man stops and asks what’s wrong. He offers to drive Seema to work, and she accepts. Imagine how strong that feeling of desperation was for her to get into a stranger’s car. Public transportation is a big problem in Dubai. It almost doesn’t exist.

Seema and Sanjiv are not poor. They have no car because neither has a driver’s license. If you’re licensed in one of 36 favored nations (Western and Arab), you get a UAE license by transfer good for 10 years with only an eye test and 100 Dirhams (US$27).

But they are Indian and must pass a driving test to get a license. You can only take the test after completing a Drivers Ed course, which is about US$400 and many weeks of lessons. There are now just five driving schools in Dubai. Sanjiv has failed the test 3 times, which is strange because he drove for 10 years in India. And if you can drive in India, rest assured you can drive anywhere. I wouldn’t even cross the street in India, let alone drive there. Seriously, I told taxis to make a u-turn so I wouldn’t have to cross the street.

I dunno why it’s this way. Maybe it’s a racket where the driving inspectors get kickbacks from the schools for every failure. Maybe it’s simple prejudice. Maybe it’s an unwritten rule to keep drivers off the congested roads by discouraging them with a few failures.

January, 08

Fourth time was a charm. Sanjiv passed the test and they are getting a new Toyota Corolla. No more tears getting to work now that her husband can drive her.

It's about real estate

A new skyscraper going up is exciting news in any American city: jobs, taxes, growth. Not in Dubai.

There are hundreds of skyscrapers under construction at the same time across the emirate.
The photos below are from one area, the Dubai Marina, where an estimated 200 buildings are simultaneously under construction.

The same mega-scale construction is going on in dozens of other locales around Dubai. Thousands of projects all together. People joke that the national bird is a crane.

The estimate is 700,000 blue collar laborers mostly from India, Pakistan, Malaysia and the Phillipines. We all ask the same questions: who is going buy, rent or stay in these places? It's not affordable housing. Is this sustainable or is it a bubble that will burst in 2011 when major construction dials down and the market is flooded with empty properties?

Housing is expensive

Here's my place. It's very open with 12 foot ceilings and gets alot of sunlight. A lovely one bedroom place for me. The only problem is, it's $2600 a month, not including utilities. And when you have to pay 4 months or more in advance, that's a good chunk of people's income. Gives you some idea about why real estate is big in Dubai.

My old place was a spacious studio in a residence hotel. Nothing terribly fancy, mind you, but clean and safe.

Being in a hotel meant buffet breakfast, maid service (I don't do hospital corners), utilities, free parking and of course, fully furnished. This was $4500 a month and the exclusive domain of white collar expat contractors. Like in every city, you can rent for alot less, but your commute will be 45 min to 2 hours each way, depending on traffic. If you can't do that, there's alot of rooms advertized and even communal living arrangements.

That thing is turned off, isn't it?

It’s your basic cell phone tower with lots of antennas (I know, antennae. But only entomologists say that).

It’s just that it's next to my apartment building.

I mean RIGHT next to my apartment building, about one parking space away.

Is it safe? I think so, after consulting an expert who said the risk of signal radiation is quite low. But he also said,

"The only real hazard I see is from lightning. The tower structure is close enough that if it took a direct strike, I could easily imagine part of the current bridging the gap between the tower and your balcony. And you if you were standing on it at the time... So, if thunderstorms are an issue there, I'm not sure I'd stand on the balcony to admire the light shows, lest you become an intimate part of one."

Not to worry. It doesn't rain much in the desert. I'm sure the zoning board took that into consideration when they approved this.

I got mail!

After 4 months, the cable TV bill came to me at work this week. I am 2 months overdue, of course. If I don't pay it pronto, I'll lose internet access (yikes). Now I have something else to do on the weekend. And while I'm at it, I'll check with the electric company. In Dubai, they just turn off the power for non-payment, no questions asked.

You Got [no] Mail

Tired of getting three credit card applications a week in the mail along with 17 L.L. Beans catalogs? Then come to Dubai because there is no home mail delivery here.

Paradoxically, everyone has PO box number. In fact, it's impossible to live in Dubai without one. Yet, I've been in Dubai for 3 months and gotten no mail. None. I'm not complaining btw. However the effects are far reaching.

Employers assume the mail delivery burden. Getting the mail from the post office box, sorting, delivering... it's a clerical task that business pays for and certainly lowers the civil service payroll. Employees are encouraged to use the company's mailbox number, (as I do) so personal mail goes to your workplace. People sit at their desks with their electric and phone bills in hand. Is there anything you don't want dropped at your desk? You can rent a personal mailbox, maybe, if you can find one. I think having so much of your personal life not private inhibits people from straying too far from a narrow acceptable norm. Changing jobs means mail will go to your old employer until you fix it. Good luck with that task.

There are consequences to a feeble postal service. Few businesses risk income on mailing invoices. My friend got a car loan. He spent about an hour at the bank signing 36 checks, each dated another month in advance for three years, and the bank promised to cash them in the appropriate month. Only then did he get a cashier's check made out to the car dealer. This is normal.

My landlord took a year's rent "in three cheques" as we say. To move in, I post-dated three checks and therefore pay rent 4 months in advance for the year. This is quite liberal. Many landlords require 6 months or even 12 months rent in advance! You're in a weak position to break the lease or move out early. Puts a damper on personal choice and change.

There's no mail order industry: no catalogs, no printing companies, no Victoria's Secrets models, no internet shopping. Sears & Roebuck became a retail giant in 20th century America because there was a postal service.

Instead, Dubai has mega-malls and a crush of people shopping. It's no wonder Dubai is a shopper's paradise, it's the only way to live.