Summer in Dubai.

Summer has officially returned to Dubai. Ugh. When I left school on Friday my sunglasses immediately fogged up (the change in temperature from the cool of the air-conditioning inside to the extreme heat and humidity of the outside air results in instant glasses fogging - a uniquely Dubai phenomenon). Then when I was at the pool swimming laps (I've had to drop running from my workout for the time being because of the heat and my hatred of treadmills so have replaced it with long swims), I saw a bird panting. I didn't know birds could pant, but apparently, they can. Quite disturbing to see. Annnnnd summer is here to stay... Yuck. Just another month until I can escape the heat for five weeks of New England summer wonderfulness. The countdown's on!

A Platinum Experience.

So, when you go to the movies in Dubai, you have two options:

1) Buy a normal ticket (for AED 30, or about $8 USD) and sit in the normal seats. Not unexpectedly, however, 'normal' in Dubai constitutes large cushy slightly reclining stadium seats which are conveniently pre-assigned -- you get to pick your seat when you buy your tickets. It's fantastic because you don't have to show up an hour early to snag good seats for a new release as you do back home... [and we were always the designated seat-savers for all our friends too, so I've done my fair share of waiting in line at movie theaters for inordinate amounts of time, but I digress.]
OR
2) Go Platinum! As with all things in Dubai, there is always the option to upgrade and gain VIP status (I mean there is a First "Gold" Class on the metro for god's sake). So you pay AED 120 (or about $32 bucks) for the "Platinum" seats, which of course come with all sorts of bells and whistles.

We've always thought that paying $32 to see a movie is a huge ripoff and so had never done the whole platinum thing before. Plus, it also buys into the whole Dubai classist thing, which we try to reject. But, we figured it was something that we definitely needed to try once while living here. We decided that time had come with the release of the latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie, which is 2+ hours long.. If you're paying that much for a movie, we theorized, it better be a long one.

So, upon arrival to the movies if you are a 'platinum' ticket holder, you get escorted to a private lounge where you can relax before the movie starts. Since there is waiter service in the movie though we didn't want to fill up before so bypassed the lounge. Once we got into the platinum suite, we were ushered to our seats which were plush leather Laz-E-Boy recliners. The chairs are set up in groups of two with a little table in between with a button to press for the personal butler service throughout the movie. And while we were settling in, the 'butler' immediately came over and asked if we would like blankets and pillows (Yes, please!) and also handed us the menu. I am not one to usually order anything but popcorn and soda at a movie (I mean, who wants a burger while watching a movie?), but we figured since this was our one foray into the platinum life, we needed to live it up. So we ordered waaay too much food: nachos, popcorn chicken, real popcorn, and a giant troth of soda each. Needless to say, it doesn't do much for your self-image (or digestion) to eat junk food in a reclined position under a blanket. Oh, but how fun!

We thoroughly enjoyed our platinum experience, while blowing our whole weekend budget going to the movies... Yet another uniquely Dubai occasion.

Life isn't always rosy in Dubai.

A very sad story from the newspaper Emirates 24/7 about the first person to commit suicide by jumping off the Burj Khalifa last Tuesday. Just a stark reminder that life for many of Dubai's inhabitants is in complete contrast to the glitz and glamor of western expat life. Oh dear.

Police, Emaar confirm: Man jumps off the Burj Khalifa

Dead worker said to have left a note saying his leave had been refused

By VM Sathish and AP

Published Tuesday, May 10, 2011

A man, an Asian worker, reportedly committed suicide on Tuesday in a plunge of 39 floors from a segment of the world's tallest skyscraper in Dubai..

Dubai Police, Emaar Properties, which owns and manages Burj Khalifa, and a resident, confirmed the report to Emirates 24|7.

Dubai Police said: "The police operations room received a call about a suicide at the Burj Khalifa today, and CID and investigation teams were immediately dispatched.”

After he jumped, the man hit the metal barriers of the tower, causing some damage before landing.

Investigations showed the man worked at a company inside the Burj Khalifa. Police said statements showed that the man had requested a holiday but it was refused.

The reports cite security officials as saying that the man fell from the 147th floor of the Burj Khalifa and landed on a deck on the 108th floor. It is the first known suicide from the landmark tower, which opened in January 2010.

The man jumped Tuesday morning after leaving a note, said the resident.

According to the tower's owner, Emaar Properties, the half-mile-high skyscraper has 160 habitable stories. An observation deck is located on the 124th floor and a restaurant — billed as the highest in the world — is located just two floors bellow.

Emmar Properties PSJC, said in a statement: "At around 9am today, an incident involving a male was reported at the Burj Khalifa site. "The concerned authorities have confirmed that it was a suicide, and we are awaiting the final report."

A Burj Khalifa resident, on conditions of anonymity, told Emirates 24|7 that the conceirge and staff have been quiet and are not speaking about the matter. There are some balaconies, which are open with just a railing."

The 147th floor is a commercial floor and is unoccupied. The tower has balconies on the 76th, 124th and 148th floor.

Meanwhile, a source from 'At the Top', the restaurant located on the 124th floor of Burj Khalifa said the outlet was closed for maintainence today, but later resumed operations.

“The facility was closed for maintainence. However it was reopened after some time,” a receptionist at the Burj Khalifa Tower told Emirates 24|7.

An Unexpected Visitor (!)

Today my school, the American School of Dubai, had a most unexpected surprise visitor.... drum roll please.... His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and the Ruler of Dubai (!!!). Also known as Sheikh Mo, he is the guy who was the visionary behind turning Dubai into an international business and tourism hub. In other words, quite a very very big deal. His visit was just announced at around 4pm yesterday, and the whole day was completely consumed with the excitement of the visit.

And my class had the special privilege of getting to greet Sheikh Mohammed when he arrived at the front gate. We were told to choose one of our most "American looking" students to greet the Sheikh and that our whole class would get to be waiting when he came onto the campus (quite a big honor!).

Our class on the left getting to take part in the dedication of the school to Sheikh Mohammed (who granted the school the land for the new campus, and also apparently pulled all kinds of strings for us during the construction and opening of the school). Can you see me on the left side in the green sweater??! I got to stand literally two feet from the Sheikh. Completely awesome. It's like getting to meet President Obama or Queen Elizabeth.

Jaden (our most "all American" looking student) getting to welcome Sheikh Mohammed onto the campus. Originally she was supposed to present him with a giant bouquet, but about five minutes before he arrived they found out that His Highness was allergic to one of the flowers in the bouquet, so the flowers were out. So Jaden just got to welcome him... and he kissed her on the forehead. It was adorable because she was really nonchalant about the whole thing.

Sheikh Mohammed greeting the school administration.

And two of the boys in our class, Logan on the far side and Ahmed were chosen to get to uncover the rock plaque that dedicates the school to Sheikh Mohammed for his "generous support and continuous commitment to providing not for profit American educational opportunities in Dubai." Another big honor for our class.

Sheikh Mohammed applauding as the plague was unveiled.

Sheikh Mohammed reading the plaque, with our little Logan on the far side.

The plaque.

Then after getting to greet Sheikh Mohammed, he took a tour of the campus and so everyone lined the halls of the school like a parade as he passed.

Sheikh Mo's entourage approaching during the parade. Two of his sons, including the Crown Prince Sheikh Hamden, also visited the campus with His Highness.

Probably my favorite picture that I took all day, since you can see Sheikh Mo interacting with my class as he walked by. And the really amazing part to me was that when he came to Jaden he remembered her from when he arrived on campus an hour earlier and touched her head again.

Hands-down, Sheikh Mohammed's visit to campus has to be one of the most exciting and memorable experiences I have had living in Dubai, and maybe ever. What a day!

Oh, and even cooler is the fact that his visit (and the photo of our class!) made it onto Sheikh Mohammed's website and into the video of his visit on the site. Check it out! Sheikh Mohammed's Visit to ASD

The Weekend: Dubai-Style

The Sharjah "Blue" Souq.

This past weekend we had a pretty 'Dubai' weekend, having some new experiences and checking out some things we had never done before.

On Friday night I convinced Jared that we should go and check out the Sharjah Souq (in Sharjah, the next Emirate over) because I thought it might be fun to check out another souq, and I also thought it might be fruitful in my ongoing quest for an Arabic dowry chest and a Moroccan tea kettle. It turned out to be a fairly interesting night too, because we soon discovered that the whole of Sharjah is a huge traffic jam on weekend nights and also that we did not have a map of Sharjah in our car as I thought we did when we left the house (oops.). So anyone who knows Jared can imagine the unpleasantness that ensued as we were stuck in traffic and lost (oh, and our gas tank was on E, which added another element of fun). Somehow we did end up finding the souq though, and it was well worth the stress to check it out.

The Sharjah Souq is a huge interconnected and enclosed (therefore air-conditioned, which is essential now that the heat is back to the UAE, over 100 and humid everyday, yuck) building with approximately 600 shops inside. And not unlike the Dubai souqs, it is divided into different areas selling pretty much the typical stuff - gold, textiles, and beautiful Persian rugs. There were also a lot of refreshment stands and some souvenir-type shops as well. It was a good size and took us about an hour to go through, but was not so big that it was daunting (think Kapali Carsi - the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul). We had a nice time looking around, but unfortunately had no luck with the trunk or tea kettle (unless I wanted a pure sterling silver Moroccan tea kettle which was gorgeous but approximately 6000 AED. Yeah, my jaw dropped when I heard that price).

And after we left we immediately got stuck in the continuous traffic and got lost yet again, but luckily found a gas station no problem. And despite the stress surrounding getting to and from the Sharjah Souq, I still think it was a good little trip (Jared, however, may disagree as he was growling "This is why we don't go to poor Emirates. Never again!")... Oh well...

Sharjah Souq facade. It's a really pretty building.

Then on Saturday, we were invited for an afternoon out on our friends David and John's boat to go for a ride in the Gulf and to have some dinner and drinks on the water. I had never been on a boat in the UAE before (Oman yes, about 4 times, but not in the UAE). We know John and David from the pub quiz night we go to every week and they also invited along our friends Pauline and Kevin (who hosted a fantastic Royal Wedding Party a couple weeks ago. With all the Brit's living here the Royal Wedding was like a national holiday in Dubai, lots of excitement) who also do the pub quiz with us every week on team "Totem Possum." The weather was perfect and luckily not too humid, so it was a fantastic afternoon.

Pauline, looking very chic as we headed out of the marina.

The small dhows used for shipping. We saw about 10 of these boats heading out and all the guys on board were super friendly -- or maybe they were just gawking at the white women (us!) in bikinis...

David and John keep their boat in the Dubai Marina Yacht Club and I have never seen such a high volume of crazy nice boats before in my life.

Just some of the big boats with a view of the Burj Al Arab in the distance. Everyone out on boats, it seemed, had a legit. yacht. Oh to be rich!

I really enjoyed riding on the front of the boat. It was my favorite spot.

Jared, Pauline, and David swimming off the back of the boat.

The water was really refreshing and the boat had a built-in fresh water rinsing hose for after you got out (which makes a huge difference since the Gulf water is soooo salty). We didn't actually swim for all the long though because there were tons of jet-skis zipping around and weaving in and out of the anchored boats a little too fast and close for comfort. And after the fact, we read that a man was killed on the same day we were out, in the same area by getting hit by a jet-ski while swimming. Hearing that was actually quite unnerving...

Jared in absolute bliss. On a boat with a good Irish Stout.

Me & Jared on the boat.

Close-up!

Captain John relaxing with his drink.

Adorable shot of Pauline and Kevin relaxing on the front of the boat.

Me, pretending to drive...

Jared with Dubai Marina behind.

The beautiful Dubai Marina.

UAE Pride. Apparently it is mandatory to display a UAE flag though, if the boat is registered in the country.

The gorgeous sunset.

My camera couldn't really do it justice..

Jared, driving us in. John and David had a lot more trust in Jared's boat driving abilities than I would have. What a perfectly lovely weekend!