Karama & Culture

What a crazy week it has been! Other dorm students began arriving on the 14th of September, and the campus has gone from feeling completely deserted to busy and colorful in just a few days. I have already met tons of new people--I never thought I'd get to relive freshman year, but that's pretty much what I'm doing.

At Lewis & Clark, we have lots of foreign exchange students coming to study. It often seems as thought they hang out exclusively with each other, especially based on geographic regions and cultures. While I know that this isn't always the case, it just feels that way, and I often told myself that when I studied abroad I would branch out, trying to become friends with people of all different nationalities. But of course there is a reason why we associate with the people we do. We find comfort in shared experiences, shared values, shared language. And especially when you're in a different country, feeling like you're in a different world, comfort is what you need. I'm trying the best that I can to meet all the people I can who aren't American or European. I love that my roommate is a Syrian Christian living in Saudi Arabia, and her core group of friends are girls from Lebanon and Afghanistan. It's not easy to throw yourself straight into the mix of people with darker skin and hair than you, who don't easily speak your first language and you much less easily speak theirs. It's uncomfortable more often than not. But I didn't come to Dubai to feel comforted, I came here to be enriched, enlightened, fulfilled. And that's what I'm planning to do.

A few days ago a new friend, Julia (from America), and I went to a very tourist-oriented shopping center called Al Karama. It's where people go when they want to find fake watches, handbags, sunglasses, shoes, and the like. Mainly Indians, Pakistanis, and Iranians run the shops there, and it's a shady business. Men sit or stand outside their shops to say as you pass by, "Excuse me, madam, you want copy bags, copy watches? Genuine fake!" I love this phrase, "genuine fake." I've heard it in Dubai several times. I remembered that phrase when I visited the Bastakiya Quarter of Dubai, with its clear history as one of the oldest parts of Dubai, its architecture preserved to show tourists what it was like originally. But it's fake, now, too--it's been restored, air conditioning added, brand-new restrooms put in, and the wind towers closed up with plexiglass.

One thing I've found especially interesting as I've been meeting all of these new people are the notions of nationality or origin and what these mean to people. When you meet someone new in your first year of college in the U.S., often one of the first questions you ask is "Where are you from?" When I went to Lewis & Clark, the answer was obvious: I was born and raised for 18 years in Wichita, Kansas. That's where I was from. Pretty simple. Now that I'm in Dubai, people may ask me that question, and it's more complicated. First of all, it must be established that I'm from the U.S. For some people, that's enough. When a couple American friends and I visited a small supermarket in the Marina, the cashier, who was from Pakistan, told us, "America! It is an honor to have you in my store!" Others might ask, "What state?" Or more directly, "Oh, New York?" I like to keep things simple, so sometimes I might say I'm from Kansas, other times I say I'm from Oregon, or that I grew up in Kansas but go to school in Oregon. Neither of these states have much recognition abroad, so it doesn't get me very far. When I ask the same question, "Where are you from?" to someone else, their answer also often sounds simple, but it's often not so. If someone is "Iranian," it probably means that their parents came to Dubai thirty years ago, and they've never actually been to the country with which they identify. Similar story with younger Indians and Pakistanis whose parents live here but they have not spent much time in those countries. My roommate, interestingly, first identified herself as Syrian, but she has spent almost all of her life living in Saudi Arabia. I haven't yet met anyone who identifies as Emirati. UAE citizens are hard to come by, and citizenship is not just given to anyone. Even those who all they've ever known is UAE are not afforded citizenship. Dubai is a grand mixture of cultures, but I wouldn't call it a "melting pot." Different nationalities have so far maintained their identities here, unlike Americans whose ancestors might come from all different parts of the globe but ultimately identify as "American."

9/11

It's hard to believe that it was nine years ago today when those airplanes took down the World Trade Center towers in New York City, throwing us into the "post-9/11 era" and changing the United States and the world forever. I remember it, even though I was only eleven years old and didn't have the slightest clue what it meant. With each year, as I grow older and wiser, I understand more and more just what that day means for citizens of the world, Americans, me, and how we all fit together in this astoundingly globalized world.

In this context, a couple current events from this past summer have shown me just how far we haven't come since 9/11.

1. The "Ground Zero Mosque" - Several weeks ago, the media blew out of proportion a plan to build a community center in New York City, a few blocks from the site where the World Trade Center once stood. Inside that community center, there happened to be a place where Muslims could gather to pray. It's not a plan to build a "mosque," and it's also not directly at "Ground Zero." Those planning to build this community center were demonized for desecrating the memory of the lives lost on 9/11. It has been painful watching this debate play out--because to me, it's so simple. Islam is a global religion with billions of followers around the world, and yet we still allow those few men in the fringes of the religion dictate our concept of all Muslims. Our country was founded on the idea that everyone has the right to peacefully practice whatever religion they wish, and 9/11 should have only reminded us of the importance of that principle.
2. Plans to burn the Quran today - Just as Islam has its crazy fundamentalist fringe followings, so does Christianity. One such example is Terry Jones, the pastor who decided it would be a good idea to burn the Islamic holy book today. Of course this kind of stuff happens, some people are nuts, and there's not much we can do about those few people. But the media decided to give this man coverage, blowing it into a national story and inciting outrage and violent protest overseas. Why justify this story with coverage? The story only gave Mr. Jones the attention and consequent leverage with people who shouldn't have even justified his actions with a word.

These stories are only recent examples of the Islamophobia that continues to run rampant in the United States. We've come along a bit since 9/11, but it's hard to imagine a day when the image of the majority of Muslims will ever be positive in the minds of Americans.

Here, in Dubai, a Muslim state, people have adopted many aspects of Western culture. People of all different colors and religions walk the streets in this city, and it's so interesting to watch. The other day, I traveled to Bur Dubai, one of the oldest areas of the city. I walked along the Dubai creek and through the Bur Dubai souk, where mostly Indians sell clothing, bedding, fabrics, and other kitschy souvenirs. Capitalism runs at full force in Dubai, and here in the souq I watched it, and participated in it. The shopkeepers try to wrangle as much as they can get from people they know are tourists, and the smarter tourists try to get what they want for as little as possible, knowing that perhaps they could afford a little more. I can't imagine living the life of a small shopkeeper in Dubai.. the competition is fierce, and the profits can't be more than what it takes to get by. Tourists shell out hundreds of dollars for luxurious hotel rooms, and will only give you one or two for a cushion cover or scarf. What a life.

Bur Dubai outdoor souq

AUD & the Dubai Metro

Now that I've had a chance to explore the American University in Dubai's campus a bit, I thought I'd share a few pictures. Even though it's squeezed into a relatively small area in a bustling city, the campus really is beautiful. It's completely the opposite of the campus I'm used to--Lewis & Clark College, which has expansive acreage, vast greens and dense surrounding forest. AUD is brand-new (founded in 1995), sharp, clean, and a fresh take on a familiar style of architecture. Here's what AUD writes about the campus:

The campus of The American University in Dubai is the material expression of the university’s mission and character. Two words come to mind in describing this campus – American and world-class: “American” because of its sobriety and Jeffersonian architectural rigor, “world-class” because of the notable quality of the physical plant and accompanying facilities.

I don't know of many universities in the U.S. that boast about "sobriety"... but you can definitely see what they mean:

AUD Academic Building

Here's an image of the AUD soccer field, showing the close proximity to the city skyscrapers (complete with the moisture that kept fogging up my camera lens):

AUD Soccer Fields

And a classroom with a great view:

AUD classroom

Not only have I had the chance to explore the campus, I also decided a few days ago that I would master Dubai's public transportation system, hoping that it would prove to satisfy my transportation needs. I wouldn't call myself an expert yet, but I think I've gotten it down pretty well. Even though the metro station right across the street from the campus isn't yet open, the next station, I've found, is a short bus ride or a semi-long walk from campus. Dubai's metro system is probably the most extravagant public line with the lowest trip fares you'll find anywhere. All stations look like shiny gold pod-type things built above the roads. Inside, there are gleaming floors, moving walkways, escalators, video monitors, automatic doors, and all of the high-tech equipment you'd only expect of the best. Here's to hoping that all of the stations will be open soon (the government has said they will by October, we'll see).

Outside the Dubai Marina metro station

Inside a metro station

High-rises and beaches

After being in Dubai almost a week, I am continually impressed by the scale of this city. Everywhere I go there is skyscraper next to skyscraper upon skyscraper, and the shopping malls are nearly too large to fully cover in four hours' time. The view outside my dorm room window is an example of the sheer momentum with which Dubai's physical creation is propelled forward--the construction here is never-ending, and once one crane has completed its project, it is snatched up to begin work on the next.

Within my first couple days here I saw another great example of the size, grandeur, and audacity of Dubai and those who run the city: the Burj Al Arab, the most globally recognizable symbol of Dubai. In a book I just finished about Dubai called City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism, I learned that there are rumors that the hotel cost so much to build that even at full occupancy for a hundred years, its owner (Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammad) will never recoup the investment. The Burj was designed to be as easily recognizable as other world-famous structures like the Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, and Sydney Opera House. The Burj's opulence can be seen both on the outside through its unique structure, and on the inside in its $7,000-a-night suites. The Burj is physical manifestation of Dubai's dream to be the next New York, London, Paris or Tokyo.

Dubai's Burj Al Arab hotel

I've not only been impressed by the size of Dubai, but also the mixture of cultures that settles here. Women in burqas and men in traditional Emirati dress stroll the shopping malls right alongside Westerners in their shorts and tank tops. A couple days ago I decided to sit for a while at Ibn Battuta shopping mall and people-watch. My favorites were the Emirati fathers dressed in the traditional kandura long white robe and guthra headscarf--they could have been from several centuries past--pushing their children in bright pink and patterned plastic strollers, as well as adolescent girls with open abayas and slipping sheer headscarves carrying designer purses and Forever 21 shopping bags. The amazing part about all of this is how accepting and encouraging the society and government is of this multiculturalism. Dubai thrives on expatriates touring, living and working here, a fact that Dubai's government has recognized and capitalized on by opening up visas and property ownership to pretty much anyone. Of course there are undersides and exceptions to the apparent acceptance of all cultures, but out in the open it's refreshing and encouraging to see such a progressive diversity in a Muslim, technically authoritarian country.

Last night I decided to take my first trip to a Dubai beach to watch the sunset. I set out planning to walk to entire way--the beach was less than a mile away and the setting sun meant that it wasn't as hot as during the day. Unfortunately, I didn't get very far when I realized that it really wasn't possible to walk there without risking my life darting in and out of traffic. Road construction near the university has rendered streets already not conducive to pedestrians completely unwalkable. This is one truly unfortunate thing I've found about Dubai--while everything is relatively close, there are very, very few accommodations for pedestrians and bikers. The cars drive too fast and there are too many highways and interchanges to make it even close to a safe means of getting around. Construction of a high-tech metro system is chugging along, but unfortunately the station right next to the university is one of the last few holding out on opening. Taxis, luckily, are cheap, but they strain my desire to hold my carbon footprint below the average Dubaian (whose emissions, incredibly, exceed those of the average American). Ultimately, for this trip, I was forced to opt for a short taxi ride the rest of the way to the beach.

The beach was nice, but my desire to watch the sun set was foiled by a haze along the horizon. I haven't yet figured out yet what that haze is, which also clouded my view of the Burj al Arab; I have no idea whether it's natural or human-made. Regardless, the beach was certainly a sight not to be missed. Shoreline apartments, swanky restaurants (open now only for grand iftar buffets after sundown) and luxury hotels lined the area in all directions.

Open beach near the Jumeirah Beach Residence

I still have a couple weeks before classes start, and I feel there's much of the city I still haven't seen, including the Burj Khalifa (the tallest human-made structure), the original city center, and the Dubai creek.