My Dubai Expirience: PART ONE: Human Perspective

Dubai is the fastest growning city in the world. There are many things to say about Dubai, good or bad.
I want to share my Dubai expirience from 2 different perspectives so in this article I will explain my human view of the 2 months I spent there.

photo: Dubai city

Late 2015. I finally collected some money to travel to Dubai in order to find a job and a "better living".
On one side, a city with no taxes, cheap gasoline, beautiful architecture and controversial job opportunities on the other side slavery and prostitution. Yes slavery. People from all over the world come to Dubai to live a "better life". For an average Indian , in Dubai he sleeps in one room with 10 other people, getting the minimum payed job, works 12 hours a day with only 1 day a week free and why does he do that? Because he sends half of his paycheck to his family in India which by their standards is a LOT of money. Also a lot of employers have the law liberty to take their employee's passport for a period of time which can create problems. Amount of money that you are going to get on your paycheck each month depends ENTIRELY on your skin color and the place you come from. White people from EU (like me) don't have it bad as the Indians or Nigerians, but an Emirati born person will always have the biggest paycheck on the same job position as me or as the other guy.

photo: slaves of dubai

The small flat where I stayed for 2 moths was rented by 2 Macedonians, a brother and sister.
They were kind enough to give me a roof and a place to sleep while I searched for work.
The location was outside the Dubai city because of cheaper rent and from there it's literally impossible to walk anywhere because there is nothing but desert and an 7-lane highway . There were a few stores and restaurants within our buliding, but nothing more.

photo: buildings where I stayed

Nevertheless, Dubai has it's perks. The buildings and architecture are simply mindblowing, a city from 200 years in the future. There is a shopping mall that has a sky painted on the ceiling and it is also the oldest shopping mall in Dubai.
There is a skiing and snowboarding mountain inside a building inside a shopping mall in case you feel like snowboarding on 45 degrees celsius. :)
It is the only place in the world where soon (they say) they will be able to control the city's temperature.

photo: Burj Khalifa, tallest building on the planet.

photo: sky painted ceiling in a shopping mall

photo: winter sports in Dubai centre

You can meet a person from any country in the world and try literally any food you can imagine. I tried a lot of arabic cuisine , but I must say I was overwhelmed with the taste of Afgani chicken, but the best pizza I ever had in my life was in Business Bay downtown Italian Restaurant with an "original" recipe.

photo: italian pizza in Dubai

photo: local indian fast food restaurants with cheap food

While in Dubai , I had to learn to respect their culture and their laws.
This is nothing what I was used to before. Every day, people here pray from early morning, very loud, the Mosqs are all around the city and outside it, and the shopping malls also play praying music every day.
Alcohol is illegal, marijuana gets you to jail.
There are bars where they have "bought" a licence to sell alcohol and price of one cheapest beer is equal to 10 Euro.
Sex is also illegal if you are not married.
But as I mentioned before,unfortunately, same for everything, you will be judged by the color of your skin and the place you come from.

photo: Mosq

In December, I went with a couple of new made friends to see the new James Bond movie Spectre and after the movie, they parked his car inside the cinema hallway as a surprise. But within a few weeks , ferrari's , lamborgini's and other super cars become a normal sight for anyone.

photo: James Bond's car from Spectre

photo: batman car I caught in Business Bay downton

The Countryside around the city is a whole different universe. Food is 3 times cheaper, car repairs are very low and there is nothing but endless sand, a few rocks and camels.

photo: Dubai countryside

photo: Dubai country road

photo: me (left), my macedonian friend (right)
enjoying some countryside wasteland.

At the end of my Dubai journey I decided to leave back for my home country.
I did find a job as a Brand/Sales Manager for a DVS shoe distributor but after good consideration I decided not to accept a job where the contract says my employer can take away my passport for a year, making me another slave in Dubai.
For me, freedom is what every good man needs, and no one should take it away from us. Everyone should put all effort in doing what they want in life.

But don't forget, Dubai is a must see place! 8)

Best Regards,
Vermillion666

Nice post! I used to live in the UAE too (Abu Dhabi, flight attendant for Etihad). You did a great job describing Dubai and its contradictory culture.

I'm glad to see you covered all aspects of it - not just the cool stuff such as the over-the-top decadence and futuristic landscape. The city is fascinating and very innovative, but it's true much of it is built on slave labor and indentured servitude - workers from third-world countries whose passports are often witheld for several years. As if that wouldn't suck enough, these people are doing manual labor all day in temperatures that can rise up to 120 degrees. And you're absolutely right when you say there's a hierarchy based solely on what part of the world you come from. Someone with a EU passport will be treated much differently than someone from Bangladesh. It's both sad and surprising that a city as modern as Dubai can be so behind when it comes to labor standards and the basic rights of its workers.

But oh man, do I miss all the badass Indian and Arabic food. And shisha/hookah being included on many restaurant menus. Were you there during Ramadan?