Lebanon...
Oh! We are so sorry about what is happening in your country!
We heard this sentence probably 10 times!
The funny is we didn't know what was happening in Lebanon exactly...!
We knew the situation was very bad... at least for me... my brother told me that the situation calmed down within 24 hours.
Portuguese people impressed me; most of them were following Lebanon news.
The funny thing is that we were 4 Lebanese girls.
Lara living in Washington, zeina in London, dalal and me living in dubai.
After the "we are sorry for what is happening in your country..." comes OH! You are so lucky you live in Dubai! We heard it even in a small non touristic village. In a pharmacy where, the husband, the wife and everyone was interested to talk about Dubai. "El Dorado" of the Middle East. Even the old white hair woman who was dusting the pharmacy, and probably cleaned the counter many times, wanted to hear our conversation about Dubai.
Another city, Porto, where we met a group of Portuguese friends, sitting in the afternoon in a cafe waiting for the Benfica Setubal match to begin... Most of them were lawyers. Same reaction: Dubai! Oh! You are so lucky! You have Burj El Arab, Palm Island, Ski Dubai... it is quite amazing how Dubai marketing is very strong! I never imagined it could be that much!
Silvino, 29 years old lawyer, clever guy, forwarded to me an email showing the architectural achievements and the future projects too. The tallest tower, the desert ski dome, the Palm Islands...
As I understood from the group, Portugal is not a rich European country. The young generation is called the 600 Euros generation. Their salaries start with a minimum of 600 Euros! I guess it is quite few money comparing to the high cost of living. Lots of Portuguese go abroad to work as labours with very low salaries.
I tried to explain to Silvino that the grass is always green on the other side. I have been living in Dubai since 5 years; life in general is easy comparing with other countries. Lots of facilities are offered. On the other side as it is comes to "El Dorado" image, it is a bit exaggerated, maybe 5 years ago, situation was better, money wise. Prices increased in a dramatic way: rents, food, services, salik (toll gates), petrol... Except salaries! Most of Dubai expats are complaining about the cost of living.
Paris. Same idea! I wouldn't imagine French people loving Dubai, especially Parisians!
Ah... vous vivez a Doubai???!!! The smile is so big and they become friendlier!
I liked the fact of Europeans willing strongly to live here. At least Dubai booked its position on the world map.
Amina, a French forties old woman, who works in a socks shop, and who converted to Islam 20 years ago, thought we (Dalal and me) that we were Israelis when she heard us talking. She thought we were talking Hebrew. She wasn't the only person who thought that we were talking Hebrew... Do we look like Israelis?
I know lots of Lebanese people who came to Paris since 1975, but weird, she couldn't recognise your "Lebanese accent"! Amina said.
Jeremy, Air France counter employee at Charles De Gaulles airport was so happy to know we live in Dubai. I am going to resign from Air France and in July I will go to Dubai to find a job, he said with his very gay accent!
On the other side, lot of Dubai expats are living emptiness.
Roxana, 31 years old, emirates cabin crew, happy with her work, but after one year and a half, is living soul emptiness, complaining about superficial life and people here.
Jay, 35 years old yoga class mate, lives with her boyfriend, a musician, but working in a marketing magazine because he couldn't go for commercial music strongly appreciated here. Jay feels empty, she can't take a decision if she goes back to UK to do a Drama course, or to stay here with her boyfriend.
Utsav or Oz, a 28 years old financial consultant Bhutanese, likes Dubai. He has been to London, New York. He has the chance to meet lot of people from different nationalities, (as latest statistics confirm over than 200 nationalities live in UAE). Still, he feels empty too; he can't go in any deep relationship. "Why people are afraid to be open and close in relationships?"
why? Why? Why? I don't have answers, even me, I can't understand why?!
The problem I think is in our heads, we always see the grass is green on the other side! Is it true???
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