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Sent:Sunday,
October 19, 2008 2:59 PM
Subject: UAE
Extradition
Name: "Tina
Tahar"
Email:
Response ID191020080259
I am
waiting for your replay almost 3
weeks. (UAE Extradition). Please let
me know.
Living in Dubai is
not wonderful and glamorous, as many
would have you believe. Forget
about what you’ve read, seen, and
heard; those shiny buildings and
manmade islands are all just smoke
and mirrors. There are so many
things wrong with this place that I
have decided to compile a list, a
must read if you are considering a
potential move to Dubai.
1.
There is no standard address system
making mail-to-the door delivery
impossible. In fact, it makes
anything nearly impossible. The
taxi driver, here for only two days,
and having learned English from old
Beatles albums has no clue where
your house is. He won’t tell you
that of course, he’ll just keep
calling and saying, “Okay, okay.
Yeah, yeah.” When you purchase
something that requires delivery
they do not have an address line,
but a box where you are expected to
draw a map.. Not able to draw a
map? Explain like this: I live on
the street after the airport road,
but before the roundabout. Go past
the mosque and make a U-turn.
3. It
is really hot outside. Not Florida
in July hot; Hot as if you were
locked in a car in Florida in July
with sufficient humidity to make it
feel as though you are drowning.
Hot as in 120 degrees with nearly
100% humidity. Do not look to the
wind for relief. This is the
equivalent of pointing a hairdryer
on full blast directly at your
face. Pour fine moon dust-like sand
over your head as you do this and
you get the picture.
4.
There are too few trees, plants, and
grass – or living things aside from
us crazy humans, for that matter.
Ever see a bird pant? I have.. In
my opinion, human beings were not
meant to live in such a place. If
we were, there would be sufficient
water and shade. The only greenery
around are the roadside gardens
planted by the government, who
waters the hell out of them in the
middle of the day. Thanks a lot!
Didn’t you say we should cut down on
our water consumption because you
are unable to keep up with the
demand? I have an idea: let’s all
move someplace where it’s not 120
degrees outside.
5. This country
prides itself so much on its glitz
and glamour that it put a picture of
its 7-star hotel on the license
plate. Yet, the public toilets in
the king-of-bling Gold Souk district
are holes in the ground with no
toilet paper or soap. Hoses to
rinse your nether regions, however,
are provided. This results in a
mass of water on the floor that you
must stand in to pee. Try squatting
without touching anything and
keeping your pants from touching
anything either. Oh yeah. It’s 120
degrees in there too.
6.
This country encourages businesses
to hire people from other poor
countries to come here and work.
They have them sign contracts that
are a decade long and then take
their passports. Even though taking
passports is supposedly illegal, the
government knows it happens and does
nothing to enforce the law. These
poor people are promised a certain
pay, but the companies neglect to
tell them they will be deducting
their cost of living from their
paychecks, leaving them virtually
penniless – that is, if they choose
to pay them. Companies hold back
paychecks for months at a time.
When the workers strike as a result,
they are jailed. Protesting is
illegal, you see (apparently this
law IS enforced).
These
people will never make enough to buy
a ticket home and even if they do,
they do not have their passports.
They live crammed in portables with
tons of others, in highly unsanitary
conditions. The kicker: they are
building hotels that cost more to
stay in for one night than they will
make in an entire year. Things are
so bad that a number of laborers are
willing to throw themselves in front
of cars because their death would
bring their family affluence in the
form of diya, blood money
paid to the victim’s family as
mandated by the government.
7.
Things are not cheaper here. I’m
sick of people saying that.. I read
the letters to the editor page of
the paper and people say to those
who complain about the cost of
living rising here, “Well, it’s
cheaper than your home country or
you wouldn’t be here.” The only
thing cheaper here is labor. Yes,
you can have a maid – but a bag of
washed lettuce will cost you almost
$10.
8. There are traffic
cameras everywhere. I consider this
cheating. Where are the damn cops?
I drove around this city for weeks
before I ever even saw a cop. Trust
me, they need traffic cops here.
People drive like idiots. It’s
perfectly okay to turn left from the
far right lane, but speeding even
just a couple of kilometers over
will get you fined. These cameras
are placed strategically as you come
down hills, or just as the speed
limit changes. Before you know
it…BAM! Fined. Forget to pay the
bill and your car will be
impounded..
9. The
clothing some of these women wear
makes no sense to me. I understand
that as part of your religion you
are required to dress in a
particular way, but a black robe
over your jeans and turtleneck and
cover your head when it is 120
degrees outside? In the gym some
women wear five layers of
clothing…sweatpants and t-shits over
sweaters with headscarves. Yet the
men’s clothing makes absolute sense:
white, airy, and nothing underneath
but their skivvies.
10.
People stare at you. I am sick of
being stared at. I’m stared at by
men who have never seen a
fair-skinned blue-eyed woman before,
or who have and think we are all
prostitutes so it’s okay to stare.
They stare at me when I am fully
covered or with my husband, and even
follow me around. It’s beyond
creepy and has brought me to tears
on more than one occasion. The
staring is not limited to men,
either. I’m stared at angrily by
female prostitutes who think I am
running in on their territory by
having a few drinks with my husband
at the bar.
11. Prostitutes? Oh hell yes, there
are prostitutes. Tons of them. So,
let me get this straight, I can’t
look at a naked picture of a person
on the Internet in the privacy of my
home, but it is okay to go out in
public and buy a few for the night?
12.
Alcohol can only be sold in hotels
and a handful of private clubs. A
person must own a liquor license to
consume in the privacy of their own
home. To obtain a liquor license
you must get signed approval from
your boss, prove a certain level of
salary that determines how much you
are allowed to buy, and then submit
several mug shots (aka passport
photos) for approval. Pay the fee
and the additional 30% tax on every
purchase and you may drink at home.
Then again, you can just pick up a
few bottles in the airport duty free
on your way in to the country, but
two is the max. Why not just drive
out to Ajman where it’s a
free-for-all and load up the SUV?
It’s easy enough, but crossing the
Emirates with alcohol is illegal –
particularly in the dry emirate of
Sharjah, which just happens to lie
between Dubai and Ajman. Go figure.
13.
Not only do you have to get your
boss’s approval to obtain a liquor
license, but you must also get the
company’s approval to rent property,
have a telephone, or get satellite
TV.
14.
Back to the craziness on the roads:
If I see one more kid standing up
and waving to me out the back window
while flying down the road at 160
kph…whatever happened to seatbelts?
15.
When is the weekend again? Let me
get this straight: the weekend used
to be Thursday and Friday, but no
one took off all of Thursday, just a
half day really. Now the government
says Friday and Saturday are the
weekend, but some people only take
off Friday, others still take a half
day on Thursday, but some might just
take a half day on Saturday
instead.. Anyway you slice it,
Sundays are workdays and little
business can be accomplished
Thursday through Saturday.
16.
There are few satellite television
operators:. The movie channels play
movies that are old and outdated.
Many of them went straight to video
back in the States. Every sitcom
that failed in the US has been
purchased and is played here. Old
episodes of Knight Rider are
advertised like it is the coolest
thing since sliced bread. The TV
commercials are repeated so often
that I am determined NOT to buy
anything I see advertised on
television here just for thee
principle of it. When I say
repeated often, I mean every
commercial break - sometimes more
than once.
17.
The roads are horribly designed.
Driving ten minutes out of the way
to make a U-turn is not uncommon.
People are not able to give
directions most of the time
(remember reason #1), and the maps
are little help because most have
few road names on them, if any.
Where is interchange four? You just
have to hope you got on the freeway
in the right place and start
counting because they are not
numbered. Miss it and you’ll likely
end up on the other side of town
before you are able to turn around
and go back.
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18. Taxi drivers are
dangerous and smell. Taxi
drivers work very hard here
to earn a living because
travel by taxi is still
relatively inexpensive, even
though the cost of living is
not (see reason #7).
Because of this you may have
a driver who has had little
sleep or the opportunity to
shower for several days.
Many of these drivers have
just as much difficulty
finding their way around as
you do, but add to this a
third-world country driving
style and extreme exhaustion
and, well, remember to
buckle up for safety.
19. Speeding is an Emirati
sport and Emirates Road is
just an extension of the
Dubai Autodrome. I know I
keep mentioning the roads,
but really, much of this
city’s issues are
encompassed by the erratic
and irrational behavior
displayed on its streets.
Visions of flashing lights
on even flashier,
limo-tinted SUVs haunt me as
I merge on to the highway.
Local nationals are somehow
able to get the
sun-protecting dark window
tint denied to us lowly
expats and use it to hide
their faces as they tailgate
you incessantly at
unbelievably high speeds,
their lights flickering on
and off and horn blaring
repeatedly. It doesn’t
matter that you can’t get
over, or if doing so would
be particularly dangerous,
they will run you off the
road to get in front of
you. Don’t even think about
giving someone the finger;
the offense could land you
in jail. Tailgating is,
unbelievably, legal.
20.
Dubai is far from
environmentally friendly.
Ever wonder how much damage
those manmade islands are
doing to the delicate ocean
ecosystem? Coral reefs, sea
grasses, and oyster beds
that were once part of
protected marine lands lie
choked under a barrage of
dredged up sea sand.
Consider the waste that
occurs from erecting
buildings on top of these
sand monsters and from the
people that occupy them
coupled with the lack of an
effective recycling program
and you have an
environmental disaster on
your hands. Add to this
more gas guzzling SUVs than
fuel-efficient cars on the
road and the need for
24-hour powerful
air-conditioning and its
evident that the environment
is not high on the priority
list of the UAE.
So while I’m sure there are
benefits to living in Dubai,
tax breaks, multi-cultural
environments, and beautiful
buildings aside, reconsider
your plans to move here if
any of the above mentioned
reasons strikes a chord
within you. Dubai is a city
caught in an identity
crisis. Struggling
somewhere between its desire
to be a playground for the
rich and its adherence to
traditional Islamic roots,
rests a city that lacks
sufficient infrastructure to
support its delusions of
grandeur. Visit if you
must, but leave quickly
before you are sucked into
its calamitous void.
Tina Tahar
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