I am inconsistent at blogging, so I never got around to finishing my first narration about my June trip to the UAE and Oman. How do people ever manage to write their first novel while holding down a full time job? I can't even keep a silly blog up to date. So it came to pass that I completed my second trip to the Middle East; this time, only to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE. I supposed I'd better try to capture some of my thoughts and impressions on a more timely basis. :-)
My Emirates chauffeur was scheduled to pick me up for my flight at 5:45 AM on Saturday morning, so I was at home on Friday night, November 13, getting packed and ready to go, when I found out about the Daesh terror attacks in Paris, France. The situation was still unfolding, but I couldn't do anything, and I had to get some sleep, and I went to bed not knowing how things would turn out. It wasn't until Saturday morning at the airport that I could find out how things had ended, and I sat in the business lounge, watching the news reports with tears streaming down my cheeks.
Fortunately, I had planned on arriving at the airport a full 3 hours before my flight, and as would be expected, the queues were long and security was very tight. It never crossed my mind to be concerned about flying or traveling to Dubai, though. Airports are no longer favored terror targets, because the security is so good and there are so many armed guards. And oddly, the UAE is actually safer than most major European cities right now. Go figure.
I had a nice, uneventful flight, and we arrived into Dubai at 7:45 PM Saturday night. I continue to be very happy with Emirates equipment and customer service. True, any airline that generously plies me with French Champagne will earn my appreciation. The Emirates planes are also beautifully appointed, though. This Boeing 777-300ER had lights in the ceiling like stars for when the cabin lights were dimmed.
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| See the "star" lights in the cabin ceiling? |
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| View of the Jumeirah Walk on a Saturday night. Taken from my balcony at the Hilton. |
Geographically, the UAE is close enough to be a favorite winter holiday spot for European tourists, pouring in to soak up the sun, to enjoy the 20 to 28° C winter temperatures and to swim in the Persian Gulf. The high season runs from November to April. Given the recent terror attacks targeting holiday-makers in Tunisia and Egypt, I am guessing that the UAE will have a banner season for tourism.
From a business perspective, the major difference in business norms is the Sunday through Thursday work week. In Muslim countries, Fridays are for prayer. There are many ways that Islamic countries are adapting to do business in the global market, but I cannot imagine Friday Prayers ever being changed. So if you are working in the UAE and you want to get in a full, productive, work week, you have to work their Sunday through Thursday work schedule. Hence, I was up and heading to our distributor's office on Sunday morning.
Sunday we just worked in the office, catching up on general business and administrative items. Most people in the UAE work very long hours. Granted, they will generally take a long afternoon dinner break as well as the breaks for prayer times, but the hours are still very long.
The Islamic prayer times vary based on the sun and are determined depending on the date of the year and your geographical position. It can get complicated, and there generally are not any mosques in the industrial zones, so of course, there's an App for that. I was startled the first time a push notification with a call to prayer came through on one of my colleague's mobile phones. Modern technology makes everyone's lives easier. I do not mind hearing the calls to prayer, either coming from a mobile or being broadcast from a minaret. I think the calls sound peaceful and beautiful. I also like Gregorian chants, medieval polyphony and church bells. It's a music thing.
The first time I visited the UAE, I had sort of expected people to stop everything for prayers, the way workers in some manufacturing plants (especially Japanese ones) stop everything at a periodic alarm for ergonomic microbreaks and exercises. However, from my observations in the UAE and from my one day in Oman back in June, prayer times during the day and at sunset are ignored as often as not. Part of that is undoubtedly due to the high number of foreign workers, the majority coming from India. But India has a lot of Muslims, and there are also large numbers of foreign workers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Egypt -- all Muslim majority countries. My impression is that most of these people, although Muslim, follow the daily prayers about as much as modern Christians follow the Liturgy of the Hours.
Considering that an estimated 90% of the UAE's population are foreign workers, and the population is estimated to be growing by 7% each year primarily due to immigration, you have to wonder how the Emirati people intend to keep their culture alive, or if that is something they even worry about. In the UAE, there is no possibility of becoming a permanent resident, and there is no clear path to citizenship. Only a child born to an Emirati father can claim citizenship with any certainty. So they do lock these foreign workers and their families out of the full guarantee of Emirati protection and participation in local government. I am not sure that actually accomplishes anything other than disenfranchising the very people powering the engine of their economy. Thinking on it now, it brings to mind how citizenship worked in ancient Rome. The Emiratis are like the Cives Romani with full civitas optimo iure. They may be able to preserve their privileged political and legal status, but their culture will be like a grain of sand on the beach in the face of a tsunami. Maybe that doesn't bother them.
Immigration is such a highly charged topic in the USA and Europe that it's surprising to see a country that seems to know they cannot grow without immigrants. Keep in mind, though, that the UAE immigration process is extremely rigorous, difficult and time-consuming, and you can have your visa revoked and be kicked out of the country with relative ease and for a variety of reasons, some which are shocking to the Western mind. Take the case of the American who posted something negative about his UAE-employer online while he was on home leave in Florida, and when he got back to the UAE, he was arrested for slandering his employer. No more visa for him. There are also no social or benefit programs for foreign workers. You pay your own way, or you are out, period.
Our distributor's office is 100% foreign, which is not unusual. Apart from Immigration and Customs workers at the airport, the only other Emirati I've met in person was the top executive of one of our suppliers. Our partner's office is comprised of a German, a Syrian, a Pakistani, two other gentlemen that are either Indian or Pakistani (I'm not sure) and the new administrative assistant, who is an Egyptian woman. The one gentleman from Syria has lived in the country with his family for I think 9 or 10 years, and he has been dealing with visa renewal issues, requiring multiple court appearances and updated medical and blood tests. Anyone found HIV+ or with AIDS gets deported.
That's probably enough rambling for today. After a day in the office, Sunday night I enjoyed a pleasant evening at the hotel's Wavebreaker Beach Bar & Grill, eating a delicious grilled salmon for dinner and watching the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix (which to be honest was a snoozer) on their large, outdoor TV screen. They had a Wither Hills Marlborough-style Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand that was wonderful. And who could complain about eating dinner beachfront in 26° C and low humidity?
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