Dubai, 10/17/05
Marhaba!
Effective immediately, you can now send all mail and other items to:
Jen Nathan
c/o Al Qasr at the Madinat Jumeirah
Jumeirah Road
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
A girl can only wish. :( We actually got moved a few days ago into the villas in the summer
house. Our patio is right on the canal. We have our own private pool. Spa treatments (I opted
for a Balinese massage which was not only the best of my life, but it was also the best spa I've
been to in my life). We get complimentary cocktail/hors d'oeuvres. And, if all of that is not
enough, we have 24-hour butler service. I put this to use the other day. I was on a mission to
see more camels. I just didn't feel like I had gotten my fix yet. (Meghan-take my fascination
with the moose when we were in Banff and multiply that by 10 and then you have my affection
towards the camel). Well, our "butler" did the research and found where I could see my camel
friends. I had to wake up very early because this didn't seem like it would be too fun in the heat.
My Egyptian cab driver Mustafa became my new BFF. When we got to Nad al Sheba (where the
camels were practicing at the racetrack) we went to some outer areas and he talked them into
letting me get on a camel. Extremely scary when there's no saddle or anything. Mustafa insisted
on getting up with me so I wouldn't fall. Mustafa got much closer to me than I thought people
were allowed to get in this region of the world. But I didn't fall as the camel came down (which
happens in 4 very jerky positions - almost like riding the bull at the Saddle Ranch....Kat-and you
remember just how good I was at that the last time I did it...but with this, there is no padded
mat on the bottom. And no alcohol to decrease the pain if/when you fall). The only casualty was
my pair of pants that I was wearing. The light pink was now a nice shade of brown. And I also
now smelled like a camel. After this, we looked at other camels during feeding time. Too cute.
We went to another guy who had camels and then Mustafa's cab got stuck in the sand as we
were going up the hill. It was just a two-man operation to get it unstuck so that wasn't too bad.
Now to more about Dubai. Just to keep you all in-the-know. This is seriously the future city of
the world. I mean I would start booking tickets for 2011 because it's just going to be crazy out
here! They're building two "Palm" developments. These consist of islands that make up a palm
tree that will be detectable from space (right now the Great Wall of China and a marina in
Dubai are the only two man-made things that also have these bragging rights). There will be
tons of shopping, resorts, multi-million dollars homes, offices, etc. If that wasn't crazy enough,
they're building a "World" development. This will be approx. 200 private islands that form to
look like the world map. Depending on where an island is located on 'the map', that will be the
style of the island. Each island will only be accessible by private yacht. In 2008, the world's
tallest building...the Burj Dubai (burj means tower in Arabic) will be complete. 150 floors.
There will also be tons of other big building right around it with a lake, shopping, residences,
etc. Literally resembles an entire skyline of a big city and it's literally going to be going up
overnight. Right now there's only 4 buildings being worked on. They also have projects like
Dubailand, International City, Festival City, etc. and two indoor skiing areas. They just don't
stop! Anyway, Dubai is going to be running out of oil in 30 years and that's their reason for
turning to tourism to prosper economically.
Geez, there's just so much other stuff we've been doing. Been hanging out with Bill's (Lea's
husband) friends and friends of friends. Totally cool hearing the locals' perspectives of things.
(A couple of them are living in Dubai, a few of them live in Saudi though they're from CA.) I
went with a few of them to go see one of their friends in one of the high-rises on Sheikh Zayed
Rd (the main drag). The guy is a Canadian who works for Emirates airlines and they put him up
here. The view from the balcony looks right onto the Emirates Towers--the tallest buildings in
the Middle East at this point. Just awesome.
Oh! The word on the rumor mill out here is that Sheikh (pronounced 'shake') Zayed has passed
away. Nobody has confirmed this. I just heard that they want to announce it during Ramadan
because it's believed that the person then goes straight to heaven when they pass away during
this period. This guy is totally loved out here. I guess he made the UAE what it is. The country
will go into mourning for 5 days when it's announced, so I've been told.
Well, now it's off to England. I might just cry. Really, I might. But I guess it was inevitable that
I would have to go back to reality at some point. But I think it was good for me to have this in
the meantime since things will be pretty tough in the near future at home. There's nothing
wrong with a little escape every now and then...
Thanks for listening to this adventure! I have a new one in mind for sometime in the next year
or two....some of you will think I am out of my mind....but I want to go to Beirut, Israel and
Egypt. Everyone over here says how amazing Beirut is....the Paris of the Middle East that has
totally gotten rebuilt since the war. Any takers??? I have a feeling I might be doing this one
solo! Hehe. But I promise...it would be amazing!
See you all soon! With the time difference, I'll be home technically tomorrow night!
:) Jen
