I’m starting to feel that the “real” Dubai is in the past. That the real heart of this place has been lost in the sands of time. Everywhere you go, everything is new. Breathtakingly new. It seems the past has been bulldozed.
When I get to a new place I like to try to get a feel for it. I like hearing about the history and going to the older parts of town. Everyone always wants to show off what’s new and shiny in a place. I always feel like they’re trying to keep me away from the real soul of a place when they do that.
So I have been looking for the “real” Dubai.
Videographer Alberto Moreno and I heard about the Gold Souk in the “old part of town.” A “souk” is basically a market. The Gold Souk is where you buy gold jewelry in Dubai. It’s a tradition that goes back “years and years,” according to our wonderful guide Donald.
We’re bouncing through the streets, I keep looking for something that looks old. Old like it looks in Spain. Old the way it looks in Rome. You know, “old!” So we get to the Gold Souk. It is old. The buildings go back 30 years! And I thought I felt old before I got here…
We get some video of people shopping and wander around looking at every kind of gold thing you can imagine. Gold watches, gold necklaces, small (and large) gold bulls. Anything you want in gold, it’s at the Gold Souk. And it does feel old. At least it feels older than the rest of the areas we’ve seen in Dubai. But it still doesn’t have the authentic thing I’m still looking for. That area you get to and go, “Oh yeah. Now THIS is Dubai!”
Men and women are dressed traditionally all around me. The men in their glowing, white Dishashas, the women in their perfectly black Abayas. They seem to clash with so much newness. Their older way of dressing in such contrast to the gleaming glass and steel.
We drive on.
We drive and drive a lot on these trips. I’ve worked all over the world making television shows. It’s always the same; get in a van, drive all over creation trying to get the shots you need to tell the story of the place. Whether it’s Dubai or Cuba or Los Angeles or even Yaak, Montana, it’s always the same. You’re trying to get the best possible shots of the most interesting places. And you don’t want to shoot everything at noon, or when the light is harsh or makes things look ugly. Or ugly-er. You’re always chasing the light to make sure it looks good on video.
So we’re chasing the light and banging around inside the van, the way we’ve banged around inside vans all over the world.
All around me are the clear signs of a place on the rise. I mean that literally as well as figuratively. The buildings are going up at an amazing pace, but it seems Dubai is rising as well. This is a place of business. I keep hearing over and over that trade is the main business. Dubai doesn’t have much oil and not many natural resources. But goods and supplies are moving through here fast. Basra was one of the main ports before 9/11 and the wars that followed. When that area got too hot for easy business, things moved to Dubai. So the ports are bustling and people are coming here from all over the world to do business. To “trade” one thing or another. Mostly what changes hands here is money.
Tom Miles, the MSU grad who runs Festival City, says this place feels a little like post-war America in the 1940’s. “It feels like a place where anything is possible,” he says. “And, really, it is.”
The Michigan State University campus fits right into that notion. People here have told me it makes perfect sense for MSU to open a campus here because the need is huge. One of the men who runs the educational system here told me it’s time to focus on the people of Dubai. He talked to me about how the making of money has long been the goal here, but that it’s not enough. He talked about how people need quality education. And no education is seen as more valuable than an American education here in Dubai, and around the world for that matter.
The fact that MSU Dubai is a non-profit makes a big difference. It means something to the parents who want to send their kids here. They know Michigan State is trying to provide the best learning experience and not line its pockets. We may be one of the few places here providing something you have to pay for, but can’t buy.
I am thinking about all of this as we careen through the streets of Dubai. We’ve just driven through a maze of construction. My head is spinning at the number of fantastic cars around here. It’s almost impossible to look around anywhere and not see Aston-Martins and Ferraris, Bentleys and Lamborghinis. This whole place seems like a sort of catwalk for car models.
Finally we slow to a stop at Jumeirah Beach. It’s one of the first places where I can look in at least one direction and see no cranes, no scaffolding. It’s beautiful. We all pile out of the van and get the gear set up. The sunset should be awesome because there’s a bit of haze in the sky. Clear skies make for lousy sunsets. A little haze or smoke…perfect.
I’m just wandering along the beach and picking up seashells for my kids. I’m thinking about how this place can be so confusing. I guess I feel a little confused because I haven’t been able to get a handle on Dubai. Usually I’m pretty good at that in new country. But as I’m walking along the beach, dusting off shells and tucking them in my pockets, I start thinking about all the running around we’ve done trying to make sense of this place and tell its story for our show. It seems to me that Dubai is a place of motion, a place where things change rapidly. An area unveiled as “New Dubai” is old in a few years and replaced with a new “New Dubai.” But I think that’s the way it’s been out here forever. The shifting sands meant the people who lived in the desert moved around a lot. They moved to find water and food. They moved to trade with other nomadic people. So maybe the “real” Dubai that I’m looking for is all around me. Maybe the “real” Dubai is about change, constant change. Perhaps the true spirit of this place is in the people who live here and their customs. You see it in the way they dress. The long white robes for men, the black for women. They are Muslim and pray five times each day in a tradition that stretches far into the distances of history. Maybe the “real” Dubai is there, in things like traditions and customs. In religion and belief. The buildings come and go. They get torn down and newer ones sprout up. Roads are built, used, abandoned and new ones take their place. As I walk along the beach I’m thinking about how the people here seem to take the best of what’s new while trying to retain their sense of the old ways. I suppose this fits in with what MSU’s doing here and why Dubai welcomed the school with open arms. They want what’s best to be available for their people here. Whether that’s new buildings, fast cars or American education.
I don’t know. I’m just walking on the beach, picking up shells. I look up and the sun is just setting behind the Burj Al Arab, the iconic hotel of Dubai. The first seven-star hotel in the world. The one with rooms that come in at more than $25,000 per night. It’s the one you’ve seen. So I’m going to take some pictures and post them here. It’s a scene that’s both timeless and brand new. The old sea, our ancient sun and a stunning creation of man unbound.
So is this the “real” Dubai?
I’m not sure. I’m still trying to figure it out.
When I get to a new place I like to try to get a feel for it. I like hearing about the history and going to the older parts of town. Everyone always wants to show off what’s new and shiny in a place. I always feel like they’re trying to keep me away from the real soul of a place when they do that.
So I have been looking for the “real” Dubai.
Videographer Alberto Moreno and I heard about the Gold Souk in the “old part of town.” A “souk” is basically a market. The Gold Souk is where you buy gold jewelry in Dubai. It’s a tradition that goes back “years and years,” according to our wonderful guide Donald.
We’re bouncing through the streets, I keep looking for something that looks old. Old like it looks in Spain. Old the way it looks in Rome. You know, “old!” So we get to the Gold Souk. It is old. The buildings go back 30 years! And I thought I felt old before I got here…
We get some video of people shopping and wander around looking at every kind of gold thing you can imagine. Gold watches, gold necklaces, small (and large) gold bulls. Anything you want in gold, it’s at the Gold Souk. And it does feel old. At least it feels older than the rest of the areas we’ve seen in Dubai. But it still doesn’t have the authentic thing I’m still looking for. That area you get to and go, “Oh yeah. Now THIS is Dubai!”Men and women are dressed traditionally all around me. The men in their glowing, white Dishashas, the women in their perfectly black Abayas. They seem to clash with so much newness. Their older way of dressing in such contrast to the gleaming glass and steel.
We drive on.
We drive and drive a lot on these trips. I’ve worked all over the world making television shows. It’s always the same; get in a van, drive all over creation trying to get the shots you need to tell the story of the place. Whether it’s Dubai or Cuba or Los Angeles or even Yaak, Montana, it’s always the same. You’re trying to get the best possible shots of the most interesting places. And you don’t want to shoot everything at noon, or when the light is harsh or makes things look ugly. Or ugly-er. You’re always chasing the light to make sure it looks good on video.
So we’re chasing the light and banging around inside the van, the way we’ve banged around inside vans all over the world.
All around me are the clear signs of a place on the rise. I mean that literally as well as figuratively. The buildings are going up at an amazing pace, but it seems Dubai is rising as well. This is a place of business. I keep hearing over and over that trade is the main business. Dubai doesn’t have much oil and not many natural resources. But goods and supplies are moving through here fast. Basra was one of the main ports before 9/11 and the wars that followed. When that area got too hot for easy business, things moved to Dubai. So the ports are bustling and people are coming here from all over the world to do business. To “trade” one thing or another. Mostly what changes hands here is money.Tom Miles, the MSU grad who runs Festival City, says this place feels a little like post-war America in the 1940’s. “It feels like a place where anything is possible,” he says. “And, really, it is.”
The Michigan State University campus fits right into that notion. People here have told me it makes perfect sense for MSU to open a campus here because the need is huge. One of the men who runs the educational system here told me it’s time to focus on the people of Dubai. He talked to me about how the making of money has long been the goal here, but that it’s not enough. He talked about how people need quality education. And no education is seen as more valuable than an American education here in Dubai, and around the world for that matter.
The fact that MSU Dubai is a non-profit makes a big difference. It means something to the parents who want to send their kids here. They know Michigan State is trying to provide the best learning experience and not line its pockets. We may be one of the few places here providing something you have to pay for, but can’t buy.
I am thinking about all of this as we careen through the streets of Dubai. We’ve just driven through a maze of construction. My head is spinning at the number of fantastic cars around here. It’s almost impossible to look around anywhere and not see Aston-Martins and Ferraris, Bentleys and Lamborghinis. This whole place seems like a sort of catwalk for car models.
Finally we slow to a stop at Jumeirah Beach. It’s one of the first places where I can look in at least one direction and see no cranes, no scaffolding. It’s beautiful. We all pile out of the van and get the gear set up. The sunset should be awesome because there’s a bit of haze in the sky. Clear skies make for lousy sunsets. A little haze or smoke…perfect.I’m just wandering along the beach and picking up seashells for my kids. I’m thinking about how this place can be so confusing. I guess I feel a little confused because I haven’t been able to get a handle on Dubai. Usually I’m pretty good at that in new country. But as I’m walking along the beach, dusting off shells and tucking them in my pockets, I start thinking about all the running around we’ve done trying to make sense of this place and tell its story for our show. It seems to me that Dubai is a place of motion, a place where things change rapidly. An area unveiled as “New Dubai” is old in a few years and replaced with a new “New Dubai.” But I think that’s the way it’s been out here forever. The shifting sands meant the people who lived in the desert moved around a lot. They moved to find water and food. They moved to trade with other nomadic people. So maybe the “real” Dubai that I’m looking for is all around me. Maybe the “real” Dubai is about change, constant change. Perhaps the true spirit of this place is in the people who live here and their customs. You see it in the way they dress. The long white robes for men, the black for women. They are Muslim and pray five times each day in a tradition that stretches far into the distances of history. Maybe the “real” Dubai is there, in things like traditions and customs. In religion and belief. The buildings come and go. They get torn down and newer ones sprout up. Roads are built, used, abandoned and new ones take their place. As I walk along the beach I’m thinking about how the people here seem to take the best of what’s new while trying to retain their sense of the old ways. I suppose this fits in with what MSU’s doing here and why Dubai welcomed the school with open arms. They want what’s best to be available for their people here. Whether that’s new buildings, fast cars or American education.
I don’t know. I’m just walking on the beach, picking up shells. I look up and the sun is just setting behind the Burj Al Arab, the iconic hotel of Dubai. The first seven-star hotel in the world. The one with rooms that come in at more than $25,000 per night. It’s the one you’ve seen. So I’m going to take some pictures and post them here. It’s a scene that’s both timeless and brand new. The old sea, our ancient sun and a stunning creation of man unbound.
So is this the “real” Dubai?
I’m not sure. I’m still trying to figure it out.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment