Officially Savoring Expat Life in Dubai

I knew there was a reason I kept the pop out map of Dubai from my travels last summer, and not just for nostalgic purposes. If you refer back to blog post #8 titled “Update”, when I said I loved Dubai, and wanted to live there one day..well HERE I AM. Here I am for the summer doing an internship at a management consulting firm and still quite shocked at how I ended up here.

You are probably wondering what’s so great about Dubai? First and foremost it is the cultural diversity of the people who live here. I have met interesting folks from all around the world, who all share a sense of adventure and inclination to party hard. When I go to lunch with my co-workers, there is never 1 person from the same country. Not to mention the blend of languages heard, my heart flutters every time I hear French spoken in the office. Conversations always somehow converge to travels and adventures in various countries or to the nuances of certain cultures. Being that the office is nearly 25% Lebanese, some of the consultants joke that they always feel that Lebanese folks are trying to rip them off and coined the term “Sleazy Lebanesey”. Other than that, the second reason is the SUN. My mood is directly linked to the sunlight and even if I am stuck it an office and working for hours, as long as I see the sun I’ll be happy. The heat is suffocating, but I don’t mind. You don’t end up lounging around outside too much other than getting in and out of taxis.

Here’s a commentary on the culture and lifestyle that is Dubai. Overall it is a mall culture where anything and everything you want is inside a mall. This is mainly due to lack of the strip mall concept since the heat is just unbearable for even a few minutes. They even have “mall jogger” groups in Dubai Mall, which gives you a sense of how enormous the malls are and that people would actually run around it for exercise. The nightlife here is rather pretentious and wild. It is dress to impress and pretty difficult for guys to get into clubs without buying bottles or coming with a cohort of females. Lots of the clubs have mesmerizing decors and themes. Boudoir is a club located on the second floor of the outdoor area of a hotel and has a French Palace theme. With a cushion like ceiling, it literally feels like you are in a French jewelry box. Cavalli, opened by designed Roberto Cavalli is probably the sickest club in Dubai..next to People in Wafi. One word to describe this place..”chandeliers”. I have never seen so many large chandeliers in one place and the minimum for the elevated lounge table area, a mere 15,000 AED (approx $4,000).

So far so good in the summer of “anything goes”…