A Day in Dubai

When I got of the plane I felt a wave of heat crash into my face.  I started to walk down the stairs with my small carry-on bag feeling the sun burning through my skin.  As I walked to the airport I knew this would be one of the craziest decisions I've ever made, moving to Dubai, UAE.  When I walked into the airport I felt a breeze of air cool on my hot skin.  As I walked to the baggage claim I noticed that the heat didn't seem to faze the rest of the people.  After getting my two maroon bags from the baggage claim I went outside to the front of the airport to see if I could quickly flag down a cab.  To be honest I think I looked like a crazy person, waving rapidly at different cabs with tons of stuff in my hands.  Eventually a cab pulled over and offered to drive me to my hotel.  After a half hour drive I arrived to the hotel, I felt the hot air when I got out the cab to get my stuff.  I walked to the desk and told the receptionist my last name.

“I'm sorry but I do not see a reservation under Jean.”

“I’m very sure that I booked a room for two weeks.”

“Ok. I will see what I can do.”

“Thank you.”

I was very sure that I had booked a hotel room, but I had to wait almost two hours for them to check and see if I had made a reservation.  Then the lady walked up to me, “ Excuse me, I want to apologize for the wait. We found your reservation, it just hadn't been put into the system.” Finally, they found my name in the system and led me to my room.  When I got to my room I went to check the view and discovered that I had a view of the Burj Al Arab hotel which was said to change colors at night.

After dropping my stuff in my room I grabbed a cab.  

“Could you take me to the Dubai Mall.”

I entered the mall only to be greeted with a big sign that suggested to print a small paper that told me where I had parked.  The mall was so big that people actually have forgotten which entrance they came from or where they parked.  I immediately went to locate the aquarium on the map because it was said to be not only beautiful but gigantic.  When I saw the tank it was overwhelming to see a big aquarium-over 27-feet in a mall.  I saw all types of fish and I also saw many sharks.  Next, I went to search for a good restaurant in the huge food court and ended up eating at a small cafe.  By the time I finished and shopped around a little it was 10:30p.m. but the funny thing was that just then, the mall started to get packed.  I found this a little funny but when I went outside I noticed it had cooled down a lot which made it easier to walk around and go to the outlets.  Conveniently the mall had a car rental which I gladly went to so I wouldn't have to rely on cabs.  The only cars they had available were Rams and Jeeps because some of the roads were not exactly paved or smooth.  After I rented my car I parked in a vacant spot in the parking lot and remembered to print the piece of paper that tells you which entrance you came from.  I got in the car and rolled down the windows feeling the slightly cool breeze as I was driving.

I looked outside and I saw a sea of lights and lots of people walking.  It seemed that at night Dubai came alive and everyone became party animals.  Just as I got to the hotel I saw the Burj Al Arab changing into different colors.  It looked so pretty in the pitch black sky and the lights from the streets and other places almost highlighted the hotel.  I really wanted to get a room there, but at $24000 per night for the Royal suite, it would cost me an arm and a leg.  After admiring the colorful lights, I left the baking heat and and went back to the cold air conditioning of my affordable, less colorful, hotel.

What do you think? Feel free to give suggestions and/or advise.