August 17, 2008

• from the midwest, to the middle east

  DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | NURAN GREENS RESIDENCES, GF »

  a grueling two flights, thirty-eight hours, three holding patterns, weather delays, missed connection, unplanned rego park reunion with the ex, non-exit row seating, cute paleontologist, smart people/ there will be blood/ cloverfield/ the savages, and lost (and almost found) luggage later, and i’m finally in dubai.

  finally!  this was definitely my most stressful transit ever. let’s just hope this start to the dubai detour is not a premonition for things to come, though it will be quite difficult to top the unforgettable summer in the midwest.

  and unforgettable it was.

  goodbye, minneapolis

  my last few days in minneapolis were spent celebrating with great, newfound friends.  there was rose and ruby, my two incredibly patient roommates; anne, chris, bird, and liz–the OG midwesterners; su and ro, the kellogg girls; will, jess, and caroline, my healthy doses of skepticism and apathy; babs, personal shopper, “clerk,” role model, and cube mate extraordinaire; melissa and kirby, my dept 212 indulgences; and many, many others. 

  if anything, this was a summer of relationships, of shared experiences, and of photographs and music exchanges and the broadening of boundaries.  i felt it took to week five or six to really settle down and claim minneapolis as my own, and it was only in the past two weeks that i was beginning to feel more-than-superficially connected with folks.  of course, just in time for my departure.

  thankfully, i leave wanting.  there are few places in the world that leave me wanting, a phenomena i first felt back in 2003 when i finished out my year abroad in london.  it is better to leave when you’re at a high, so that all you’ll remember are the good times, and all you’ll want is to come back.  so it is.  i’ll be back to minneapolis sometime this winter (i know, i know), and am already looking forward to reconnecting with the midwest’s best.  here are a few photos from the final week, a few courtesy of the cookster:

  
  ANNE’S SAVORY CONES ON THE PATIO AT W A FROST IN ST PAUL

  
  THE JACKET COVER OF “SUNDAY/FUNDAY: TOP HITS” EN ROUTE TO FIGLIO IN UPTOWN

  
  THE LAST SUPPER, OR, THE FAREWELL PARTY I THREW FOR MYSELF AT PIZZA LUCE DOWNTOWN

   

  hello dubai

  after minneapolis, it was 48 hours at home before off-ing once again to dubai via new york.  and despite tribulations of the trying sort, i’m safely settled in my new digs off sheikh zayed road.  it’s a comfortable, well-equipped studio on the ground floor complete with broadband internet, satellite TV, full kitchen, and daily housekeeping service. 

  i know some of you will hate me for being uber-capitalist and saying this, but you really can’t knock big corporate.  i really appreciated seeing the driver waiting for me with my name on a placard–prefaced by the clearly-you-must-be-important salutation “MR.”–once i emerged from the DXB airport drained, sticky, delayed, and with just one of my two luggage bags.  (that’s right, i hit the double whammy: missed flight and lost luggage!)  hailing from the philippines, the driver gave me an energetic tour of the city’s numerous skyscrapers (and almost-skyscrapers, as dubai on any block is half-under construction), and drove past the UAE’s numerous claims to world superlatives.  there’s the burj al arab, the tallest and only seven star hotel in the world– and the burj dubai, the world’s tallest tower at [a vertigo-inducing] 160-some floors– and the mall of arabia, which with 10M square feet will be the largest shopping complex in the world– and there is ski dubai, the world’s largest indoor ski resort…

  the little i saw of dubai from arrivals to apartment was deeply intriguing.  stretches felt a bit like korea, with uncoordinated architectural adjacencies, flanked by equally non-intuitive retail shops, except everywhere beyond the commerce was sea or sand–literally. 

  this really is the desert.  upon exiting my apartment after a mid-afternoon power nap, i entered the hottest summer night of my life.  dark and breezy though it was, the temperature according to weather.com was still a blazing 101 degrees–and this was at 830pm.  i meandered my way to the greens centre, a neighborhood retail center with such familiar names as caribou coffee (ode to minneapolis!), wagamama (my absolute favorite brit-jap noodle house–just ask yune, david, or ed), and KFC (even the arabs like the colonel).  after a tasty solo dinner of chicken katsu curry and green tea ice cream, i took a stroll through choithram supermarket to pick up two bottles of water ($0.82), a six-pack of coke light ($1.57), honey-scented liquid hand soap ($2.04), and other household essentials, even doing a little comp shopping on the side (gregg steinhaffel would be proud).  afterwards, i headed home to make an almost-date with fellow gsb classmate ramy.  our post-work drink never materialized, but i’ll probably see him tomorrow at one of our mutual friend’s birthdays.

  by the way, it’s amazing how quickly people become nodes for information.  while noshing away at wagamama, toying with my new barclays-provided sim card, i asked my chinese-south-african waitress a flurry of mundane questions like “if someone calls my mobile, is it free?” and “if i send a text, is it cheaper than calling?”  turns out she studied hospitality and made the move to dubai to be around the action for a bit before returning to graduate work.  we hit it off and i told her i’d likely be visiting again, given my rather unsightly obsession with wagamama.  i didn’t get her name, though, which i regretted.  that would have given the exchange a nice closure.

  now i’m at “home,” it’s nearing 3 ante, and i’m not sleepy at all–which is bad, considering i need to be in the office tomorrow morning at 830, fully rested and ready to rock out in my $1800 suit.  turns out also that my luggage finally arrived DXB and missed the final delivery of the day, so i’ve requested the emergency-use-only delivery time of 4 ante, with an expected arrival time of 5 ante here in the greens (the name of this borough).  i explained to the emirates baggage services rep that i’d likely still be up, given the jetlag, and she chuckled for a slightly awkward fifteen seconds or so.  whatever.  at least the bag is coming, and it has such essentials as dress shoes, camera chargers, and target brand mouthwash–the citrus one.

  so, so far it’s been a pretty fun experience.  i realize i really enjoy ex-patriating (now one of my facebook activities, for those in the know), whether it’s in london, seoul, or shanghai.  i like the reminder of living in a truly global society.  i like meeting people from all over the place, and connecting nonetheless.  and i might even like the subtle anonymity, the challenge to make new friends, and the ability to test out different parts of my identity–some that need growing, and others that do not.  it’s really a life experience, above all else.

  to close, a few snapshots from my arrival into dubai.  hope you’re all doing well, wherever you are, and do feel welcome to come visit anytime!  i’ll be here through sept 16 and am happy to host visitors and other vagabonds.

  
  THE EX AND I AND THE UNPLANNED OVERNIGHTER AT SHALIMAR DINER IN QUEENS, NY

  
  THE SUNRISE FROM SEAT 43A SOMEWHERE OVER EASTERN EUROPE

  
  WONDER WHY WE TOOK THE FLIGHT PATH WE DID OVER IRAN

  
  A SILHOUETTED VIEW OF OLD DUBAI IN THE DISTANCE UPON LANDING AT DXB AIRPORT

  
  THE YET-TO-BE-COMPLETED BURJ DUBAI FROM SHEIKH ZAYED ROAD

  
  MY MODEST NEW ABODE AT THE NURAN GREENS RESIDENCES

  
  ALL THE ESSENTIALS: WAGAMAMA, GUIDEBOOK, SIM CARD, AND PER DIEM AT WAGAMAMA

  
  A LITTLE SLICE OF MINNESOTA CARIBOU COFFEE NEAR THE GREENS CENTRE

   

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