I am learning a lot in the UAE, though it mostly involves being invisible. I hate it here. I count the hours until my return flight home, and so far it is 5.5 days away. I have little spending money and being as I booked a hotel outside of Dubai, I can not afford to take a taxi back and forth. So, I have found an uncomfortable solice in book reading and bad television show watching. A little before noon, the electricity in the city went off and I spent the next three hours lying on the tile of my room, soaking up its chill and praying for the air condition to go back on.
I have developed a greater understanding of how blessed my life has been as I have never gone a day without people that love me and friends I can trust. I think this is a kind of fortune that not many can say they have had. I have been granted a plethora of opportunities to travel the world where I have developed families that would care for me instantly in the event that I ever sought help. I have seen things that I never imagined would exist and I have tasted food of such variety that my palette for world cuisine has become insatiable. I was born to a country of privledge where women are treated as equals and are allowed to walk the streets with bared shoulders or, heaven forbid, exposed knees. Every moment of my life has been a treasure. These things that I know and embrace are from the 36 hours that I have been here, without all the above.
I will not discredit Dubai for my bad experiences as they may have been due to the poor luck of the draw. I picked a bad hotel whos water runs tan and constantly hot, I mismanaged my funds and I exhausted myself in the prior weeks. Or, after traveling Italy, France and Thailand with friends and family, I may simply be extraordinarily lonely.
But I am not disheartened as toil brings personal growth if one seeks it.
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