Friday, September 11, 2009
Dubai as I know it...
Well, in honour of it being two days short of our one month here in Dubai I have decided I am now totally qualified to speak on the subject of Dubai. :)
We arrived here from New Zealand on August 13th after a 24 hour flight that was exhausting and emotional. My first memory of what Dubai would be like is when we boarded our connecting flight from Singapore to Dubai and I was one of three white females on the plane. We were surrounded by men from Saudi Arabia and women in full burkas and upon landing the heat felt like I had stepped into an oven. We were met by a man who did not speak English and taken 10minutes down the road to our new 'home' for the moment - in a suburb called Hor Al Anz...no guesses as to the type of suburb we might live in. Where most Western married couples would stay in ...lets say Mirdif (a upper class suburb with all the familiar sights and sounds)..God deemed it right for Tim and I to live in the middle of Dubai along with the locals on a busy street filled with prayer calls, falafels for $1.20NZ, dairys galore, taxis,construction sites, cranes, dust and all the burkas a girl like me could see to make her feel more than a little out of her comfort zone. Suddenly my little Cotton On dress from Botany felt a tad inappropriate!
Its funny you know, living in a city like Dubai, there are so many things that make me laugh every day...Whether its trying to find sour cream and being given shower cream or looking for photo frames and taken to the pompadons isle - this place is bound to make you laugh. I have now been driven by a taxi driver 150km along Sheik Zayhed Road, been forced to listen to preaching from a Muslim in a taxi, lost my phone in a taxi and had a miracle happen where he brought it back to me 5 hours later and gotten into a fight with a taxi driver. Honestly they are hilarious! Every one chats away if you get them talking, and some even put English music on for me and turn up the bass because they think I like that....embarassing I know!
I think the thing I find most fascinating about Dubai is the contrast.The shiny,clean and so impressive malls with every modern convienience and toy for thousands of dollars versus the street stalls selling sharwmas for $6NZ that even Tim cant finish. The stark contrast between the working class labourers and taxi drivers working 7 days a week, 12 hours a day versus the wealth and opulence of the Palm Jumierah and the worlds only 7 star hotel. Dubai prides itself in being the biggest and best and I love how Colin Powell describes Dubai as this city that just grew up out of the desert and before we knew it Dubai had exploded into the worlds conscieousness. From the golf course in the sky, to the worlds tallest building, once you have been here you willl understand the absolute human feat it is to build on what is really one gigantic sandpit.
I am looking forward with great expecatations as to what God has in store for us here. We have met some good friends and are starting to feel more comfortable as each day goes by. I have personally found moving here a huge challenge - whether its Ramadan and the fact that we have prayer calls broadcast over a huge speaker outside our house that keeps us awake from 12-2am and 4.30-5 or whether its just the fact that I am different to most people here, I dont know... But all I do know for certain is that there is an amazing, loving, caring God in heaven who has placed me here for this season and knows I can handle it. Im growing closer to Tim, Im learning about a whole other culture I have previously been frightened of and Im having to rely on God in a bigger way than ever before. This season has really thrown me a curveball. Its so different to anything I have ever known.We are in the middle east!! Each day Im emailing my closest friends and family and they are such a blessing. They are Gods hands and feet on this earth and for me right now, their hands writing emails is what gives me something to smile about each day. My prayer is that God would dispel my fears, nerves and anxious spirit and replace it with his peace, assurance and insight.
Next blog subject...adoption. xo
love, helen
We arrived here from New Zealand on August 13th after a 24 hour flight that was exhausting and emotional. My first memory of what Dubai would be like is when we boarded our connecting flight from Singapore to Dubai and I was one of three white females on the plane. We were surrounded by men from Saudi Arabia and women in full burkas and upon landing the heat felt like I had stepped into an oven. We were met by a man who did not speak English and taken 10minutes down the road to our new 'home' for the moment - in a suburb called Hor Al Anz...no guesses as to the type of suburb we might live in. Where most Western married couples would stay in ...lets say Mirdif (a upper class suburb with all the familiar sights and sounds)..God deemed it right for Tim and I to live in the middle of Dubai along with the locals on a busy street filled with prayer calls, falafels for $1.20NZ, dairys galore, taxis,construction sites, cranes, dust and all the burkas a girl like me could see to make her feel more than a little out of her comfort zone. Suddenly my little Cotton On dress from Botany felt a tad inappropriate!
Its funny you know, living in a city like Dubai, there are so many things that make me laugh every day...Whether its trying to find sour cream and being given shower cream or looking for photo frames and taken to the pompadons isle - this place is bound to make you laugh. I have now been driven by a taxi driver 150km along Sheik Zayhed Road, been forced to listen to preaching from a Muslim in a taxi, lost my phone in a taxi and had a miracle happen where he brought it back to me 5 hours later and gotten into a fight with a taxi driver. Honestly they are hilarious! Every one chats away if you get them talking, and some even put English music on for me and turn up the bass because they think I like that....embarassing I know!
I think the thing I find most fascinating about Dubai is the contrast.The shiny,clean and so impressive malls with every modern convienience and toy for thousands of dollars versus the street stalls selling sharwmas for $6NZ that even Tim cant finish. The stark contrast between the working class labourers and taxi drivers working 7 days a week, 12 hours a day versus the wealth and opulence of the Palm Jumierah and the worlds only 7 star hotel. Dubai prides itself in being the biggest and best and I love how Colin Powell describes Dubai as this city that just grew up out of the desert and before we knew it Dubai had exploded into the worlds conscieousness. From the golf course in the sky, to the worlds tallest building, once you have been here you willl understand the absolute human feat it is to build on what is really one gigantic sandpit.
I am looking forward with great expecatations as to what God has in store for us here. We have met some good friends and are starting to feel more comfortable as each day goes by. I have personally found moving here a huge challenge - whether its Ramadan and the fact that we have prayer calls broadcast over a huge speaker outside our house that keeps us awake from 12-2am and 4.30-5 or whether its just the fact that I am different to most people here, I dont know... But all I do know for certain is that there is an amazing, loving, caring God in heaven who has placed me here for this season and knows I can handle it. Im growing closer to Tim, Im learning about a whole other culture I have previously been frightened of and Im having to rely on God in a bigger way than ever before. This season has really thrown me a curveball. Its so different to anything I have ever known.We are in the middle east!! Each day Im emailing my closest friends and family and they are such a blessing. They are Gods hands and feet on this earth and for me right now, their hands writing emails is what gives me something to smile about each day. My prayer is that God would dispel my fears, nerves and anxious spirit and replace it with his peace, assurance and insight.
Next blog subject...adoption. xo
love, helen
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