Booh-Bai*

*Dubai as said by a 23 month old

Seth had a training in Dubai this past week, so Benjamin and I accompanied him.

We headed out on Saturday, October 15th to the Cairo Airport.  The streets were quiet, so traffic wasn't bad at all.  A trip to the airport can either take 20 min or 3-4 hours depending on when you leave.  Seth flew back to the US on the first day of Eid last year and it took him 3 hours, poor guy.  Driving past The Citadel and Mokattam without the tons of Mini Busses, guys on scooters and pedestrians dodging cars is a bit eerie.

Benjamin is in a "what's that?" phase (wass-thaa?), so you're constantly saying things like "that's a mosque", "that's a car" and (especially in Cairo) "that's a donkey".  He will then repeat what the thing is, which is really cute. We play the wass-thaa game a lot in the car and on the plane.

TWCW (Travelling While Clearly Western) will get you some special VIP treatment in the Cairo airport.  For example, you're singled out at the airport by the porters, and they cut you in front of people waiting to get through security.  On this trip two guys took our suitcases and put them on the belt for us while other people were waiting in line.  And by "other people waiting in line" I mean one person, and their family, and possibly their neighbors all going to the airport to see one person off; meanwhile looking like they're standing in line.  The people who will get you up front don't just do this out of the kindness of their heart.  They expect backsheesh for their help, and we're happy to oblige.

Looking at the air-panes with dad

So off we head to Dubai.  We were on a brand new Egypt Air plane which had tons of leg room. Benjamin was actually really great on this leg of the trip.  The plane was basically empty and we were right next to the bathrooms and access to juice ("joooce", sometimes extra o's are added depending on how badly he'd like the juice).  He put his head down in my lap and drifted off into a nice nap.  It was heaven.  Egypt Air, the airline we flew, is great to use with little ones.  Egyptians love children, and know that they're going to act out.  They really don't fret over kids being loud, spilling stuff, and all the things that go along with having a small child on a plane.  I can take the dry flight (no alcohol served) and the bad movie selection (like straight to DVD movies from the US) for a flight attendant staff that's kind and patient with my little guy.

Pretending his remote is a phone.  He made sure to order cookies and some juice.

Arrived in Dubai and loving this new concept of moving but not having to do any physical work to move.

The coolest part about the plane trip to Dubai was getting to see the Sinai Peninsula  from above.  It looks amazing and the coast on the Red Sea looks gorgeous.  A trip to there is in the works.  Then you go from an amazing view of the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia, which looks like a barren waste land of heat and nada.  Not one city could be seen from above, just desert.  

Here is where I'll mention how I didn't take many pictures while we were outside in Dubai.  Two main reasons being 1.  You can't take pictures of things and watch a toddler run around at the same time and 2.  Dubai had this thick haze in the sky.  Is it sand? Is it humidity?  No idea, so due to those things your view of outdoor scenery is pretty limited.

So, here is a picture of a terminal in the Dubai Airport (used from Google Images):

The airport was our first taste of what was to come in Dubai.  The airport was clean, really cool looking, and you didn't sit back and wonder how in the heck the thing actually ran. The Dubai staff was actually doing their jobs, and not in what looks like some heated brawl with a traveler.

We were picked up to head to our hotel in a Range Rover.  I told Seth "this is my next car" and he just gave me in your dreams,woman look.  It felt very luxurious to be driven in not only such a cool car, but also a brand new one. In my taxi trips out of the hotel Benjamin and I rode in top of the line Camry's- and that's a taxi.  We're not in Cairo anymore...


First impressions of Dubai en route to the hotel were: What's this haze in the sky?  I can't see anything.
They have grass and beautiful landscaped scenes on the side of the highway and exits. That actually deserves some serious reflection.  Dubai is in the desert.  Like desert-desert, and they have a system set up to water grass and trees along the interstate.  There is some serious planning and serious cash going into everything in Dubai.  Also, there isn't a speck of trash to be seen anywhere, nobody is trying to cross 6 lanes of speeding traffic (on foot) with a baby and 5 other people; and every car is brand new and doesn't have a scratch on it.

We got to our room and decided to leave the site seeing for the next day.  I was fading fast due to my Dramamine coma and Benjamin was in a cranky mood.  Plus, and I can't believe I forgot to mention this, it's really. freaking. hot.  and really. freaking. humid.  You think it's humid living in the Gulf South.  You only think you know heat and humidity.  It's nothing, no exaggeration, nothing like Dubai.  So we ordered some burgers for us and chicken nuggets for Benjamin and turned in pretty early.

Cool buildings across the highway from our hotel.

Room Service is something that's just necessary when you have kids.  You pay way too much for the food, but the convenience of not having to chase your kid around a restaurant or have them scream because you took a steak knife away from them is worth every penny.

Dad, thanks for the dinner roll.  It's tasty.

I'm just going to go ahead and toss it on the floor.  

What is the name of that fruit? Lychee?  Whatever it is it's really good.

Day #2 of the trip has us ready to see the sites.  We took the Dubai Metro this day.  It cost 16 dhs = 5 usd for a day pass.   It was probably the cheapest thing we bought the whole time we were there. The Metro is brand spanking new, everything in Dubai is brand and spanking new.  The stations area really cool looking too:

They have air conditioning in the metro cars, which is highly appreciated and necessary.  They're also really clean.  This couldn't be more the opposite of the Cairo Metro.


First we went to the Dubai Mall.  Any ounce of being homesick for the US went away when we stepped indoors and into wonderful, lovely air conditioning.  Have I mentioned the heat yet?  Just so you don't forget...it's super hot in Dubai.  They have every brand of clothing you could possibly want here.  There were honestly times when I forgot where we were and thought we were in the Houston Galleria.  We went to The Gap, Gymboree and the other usual places you go when you're at a mall.  There are also cool stores like Dean and Delucca (a place I've always wondered about thanks to it being in the background on The Today Show) and Bloomingdale's.  We got cupcakes from the Magnolia Bakery  at Bloomingdale's which was just about the only thing we could afford to buy there anyway.  They were great.  They also have a Hamley's which is a toy shop in London that has been open for 250 years.  Wook and I did some damage to Dad's credit card there.  We also took the opportunity to play on their displays...

This is probably not encouraged.  I've been in Egypt too long.

The Dubai Mall also has the Dubai Aquarium.  It's the largest suspended aquarium in the world.  Benjamin loved looking at the fish ("fees"), so he and I spent a great amount of time there.  Like every day.  Because it's seriously hot outside.  It's also next to H&M, so that's a win for mom.

Dad and Benny in front of the largest viewing panel in the world

In the tunnel

Checking out the colorful fish

According to Benjamin that corn looking thing on the door was the best thing in the aquarium. He loved that.

Another view of the largest viewing panel in the world

Next was our trip to the Mall of Emirates which has the famed Ski Dubai...

Little kids going to ski school

One huge downer of the trip was that Benjamin got sick.  I don't know if it was his body going "what the frick with this water in the air?" or if he was getting sick right before we got on the plane.  So due to his being sick we really didn't hit the town as much as I would of liked to have done.  It was also really hot.  Really hot (just in case you forgot), so it was unbearable to do outdoor things.  We didn't go to the beach or the top of the Burj Khalifa.  We really hung out at the Dubai Mall (which was really close to our hotel) and stuck to the indoors.  Cause the heat, man.  My God, the heat!  Actually, much to our ignorance we thought you just walked into The Burj and hopped on an elevator to take you to the top.  Uh, no!  You have to get tickets and most times that we could make were sold out.  It's also $80 for one ticket. Just so you know it's not like you just walk up there like you own the place (like we thought).

Also, Dubai isn't a great place for toddler tourists.  There isn't much to do with them there.  It's kid friendly, no doubt.  A ton of cool once in a lifetime things to do with a 6 year old+ are over there.  But, with a toddler who hates swimming, is sick and being grouchy, you pretty much stick to strolling him around a mall and checking out fish.

And hanging out in The Rainforest Cafe, first milkshake

Despite Benjamin being sick we did have a great time.  I was able to go to Ikea and get some much needed storage items, we got Benjamin's 2nd Birthday presents, Seth got to get much needed things for his bike, and I got to treat myself to some things at H&M.

Also, the fountain show in front of the Burj Khalifa is pretty cool...

What the area looks like in the day.  Instead of dark and extremely hot it's daytime and extremely  extremely hot

Some things we liked about Dubai:
It's amazingly clean
Everything seems brand new
The buildings are amazing, such attention to detail and cool designs
The cabs are very clean
Everyone speaks English, so you don't feel stressed to get around
Tons of American brands and easy access to get them
New roads
Everyone obeys traffic laws and lights
Ikea! (the one in Cairo was supposed to be finished Spring 2011- as of Summer 2013 it's still being built)


Some things we didn't like about Dubai:
It's gross hot
It's stupid humid
Yes, the American brands (Gap! Gymboree!) are there, but you're paying a lot more for them
Locals are not very friendly (I don't think anyone is as friendly as the Egyptian locals)
It's very expensive

We arrived to Cairo and got right back into the swing of things.  Me getting the "rapist stare" from locals, people going out of their way to say hello and be kind to Benjamin and people trying to hustle Seth into getting a cab, a limo, whatever.  Plus, as we stepped outside we were greeted with absolutely beautiful weather.  Dry, cool and windy.  Plus the Cairo smell that I actually love.  It's a mix of spices and sand that I've grown to really love.

The best part of arriving home was the surprise that Sara left for us.  On the stove was a pot of duro wot, in the fridge was some freshly made injera and on our table were some beautiful roses.  It was such a nice way to come home.

Now we're sitting in our flat in Maadi.  It's 11:30 am and we're still in our pajamas.  Benjamin is watching Elmo, Seth is on his pad thingy and I'm at the computer.  All recovering from our travel and drinking a lot of water.  Windows open to let in the gorgeous cool weather in the place we now call home.

Thanks Dubai, we had a great time.  Mumkin, inshaallah, we'll see you again.