A typical day in Dubai
Trip Start
Mar 18, 2008
1
4
5
Trip End
Mar 31, 2008
Dubai,
United Arab Emirates
Monday, March 24, 2008
First, I went to return the faulty SIM card at Carrefour. It turns out the card wasn't faulty at all; they simply couldn't activate it because, for some inexplicable reason, Carrefour gave me the store's copy of the form, as well as the xerox of my visa. They needed both of these things to activate it; when my SIM card didn't work, I was forced to buy a new one. The people behind the counter weren't going to give me my money back either. I asked them, how is it my fault that they screwed up the form? Carrefour made the mistake, so Carrefour ought to pay.
And they did.
Boring, I know. I went out to the American University in Dubai, but I couldn't find my way around as easily, because somehow, within the last 9 months, they added all these other skyscrapers and nothing seemed to be where it should. I was warned about that, but crimony. Dubai, the Instant City.
I went out to dinner. If you read my other blog, you might be familiar with the fact that I painted the floor of the Nuevo in the DIFC. This is where the whole "Instant City" thing has its weaknesses--apparently, the building was not made waterproof, and during a severe rainstorm last month, the entire place flooded. Ruined the mural of the map we painted and everything. So much for Liz's immortality. So much for all the hard work (much of which was done while I had a case of Salmonella), so much for 24-hour shifts, and so much for my professional experience.
That was demoralizing, but I still had to get home to Sharjah before midnight, because that's when the hostel closes, and I would be locked out. I took a bus, but it left me somewhere unfamiliar...I had to take a taxi to the hostel, but they didn't show up, and didn't show up. Finally, this guy gave me a ride. He was an old-school Arab who insisted on buying me lots of food (I just ate an hour earlier) and lots of fruit juice. While I am touched by his hospitality, I was aggrivated--it was 11:50 pm, and I couldn't seem to communicate the fact that I was in real danger of being locked out all night, and that I really didn't need to eat food. I did in fact made it back, by the way, with a cup of fresh orange juice. So I guess it all works out in the end.
Well, I admit it. This is another boring journal entry. Boring, and negative; exactly the things I'm supposed to avoid. But maybe somebody somewhere will learn something useful from it--mostly that we can push our way through some things in life (such as demanding a refund) but ultimately our time here is not our own. There is very little we have control over--such as the weather, other people's restaurants, and curfews. I guess that's why the Arabs always say "Inshallah"--God willing.
