Excess

One of my favorite books is Eat, Pray, Love. Perhaps coincidentally, but probably not, it is about a woman who loves to travel. I recently saw the movie made with Julia Roberts as the lead (not as great as the book) and it reminded me that in the book, the narrator has a word for every place she visits. It made me think a little bit about what Dubai's word is. I didn't have to think very hard, because it's obvious: Dubai's word is, undoubtedly: excess.

Dubai is a place of superlatives. The tallest tower, the most man-made islands, the most luxurious hotels, even just recently the longest line of sandwiches. People don't come to Dubai just to live, they come to thrive. They don't come just for a vacation, they come for a taste of pure luxury. When you look around, everything you see literally sparkles with excess.

Dubai's man-made islands are one case in point. Dubai is home to many islands that were entirely constructed by humans. The World Islands comprise a cluster of several islands designed to look like a map of the world. There are two islands (Palm Jumeirah & Palm Jebel Ali) that are shaped like date palms, with the leaves extending out into the ocean and crammed high-end condos. The crown jewel of Palm Jumeirah, which is just a few minutes' drive from campus, is the Atlantis Hotel at the very end of the island. It is a spectacular underwater-themed hotel complete with its own aquarium with the props to make it look like a fallen city. Inside are several restaurants, bars, a huge nightclub and, of course, some very expensive hotel rooms.

Lobby sculpture at Atlantis Hotel

This past weekend I had the opportunity to experience this excess first-hand. One of my friends here invited me to meet with another friend of a friend. We were to spend an evening at a five-star hotel.. with the owner of the hotel. The night began with drinks in a ritzy bar/lounge. After a drink or two, we moved upstairs to an upscale Japanese restaurant. This was some of the best food I've ever tasted, and it just kept coming and coming, course after course. Salad, tempura, tons of sushi, and the hands-down best cod I've ever had in my entire life. Afterward, more drinks in another bar of the hotel. Of course, no checks were brought, no credit cards yielded.. we were, in fact, guests of the owner.

This is all very different (and fairly shocking) to me. Where I'm from, people work hard for their money and don't earn enough to live like this for more than a night or two's vacation from reality, if at all. In Dubai, someone might spend hundreds, even thousands, of dollars for just a night of fun. I talked about this with one of the friends I've made here, telling him that it seems like people throw money around in Dubai like it's just paper. His response was, "In Dubai, many people don't really earn their money, it just falls on them."

>>> And by the way, Mom & Dad, I'm doing my best not to be excessive myself......... :)