I landed in Dubai, well specifically Sharjah which is another Emirate, around dawn during the end of Ramadan. Thus, the traffic was much better and I was able to catch a shared private driver with another local expat. I had contacted Pud on couchsurfering while I was still in Turkey and he had agreed to let me stay there initially since all my friends were on vacation for Eid. Pud is an Aussie living in Dubai working as a teacher.
I arrived in Al Quais which is located in Dubai bordering Sharjah, the emirate that I flew into. Things are really quiet and there is hardly anyone out. His apt is provided as part of his compensation, which I’ve read to be the norm here in Dubai.
The first night Pud and I ended up going to one of his friend’s birthdays at an Irish Karaoke bar. This bar like most drinking establishments is in a hotel. It was really entertaining. I remember sitting there at one point drinking a Stella, listening to ridiculously hilarious rendition of “Back to Good” by Take That, surrounded by pissed (aka wasted) brits, and thinking “wow, this feels like London” Yet in the back of my mind I know I am in the middle east.
Pud’s friends are all teachers at an American school at Al Quais. One of them happens to know the girl that is playing host for Karaoke night. Basically her job is to sing a song between the customer’s songs to keep the party going. We ended up at an after-party at her place. The apt was pretty nice, the view wasn’t the greatest but there was plenty of room and everything like Dubai is new. At the party I discovered that most of the people that have jobs out here in Dubai also have accommodations provided. I also met a lesbian girl living in Dubai and she explains to me how she lives in fear as same sex marriages are strictly forbidden. Well why do you live in Dubai instead of Canada? I asked her. “Oh the money here is good, there’s no taxes” she replied. Weird, but interesting conversation none the less.
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