After several years of living in the USA, I managed to escape to visit my hometown of Moscow… After staying in my homeland for a month, I went back via Dubai, taking my mother with me to show her this Arab miracle built in the desert in just 40 years.
It turned out to be hot in the Emirates, and I gladly took off the warm clothes I had flown in from Moscow. I ordered a taxi at the airport using the American app, and a foreign driver met us.
“The Russians?” “What is it?” he asked in heavily accented English.
– Yes, from Moscow. And where are you from?
– I’m from Pakistan, I work here, like many from my country. My family lives there, I send money, and once a year I visit my family.
– Wow, are there any children?
– Yes, the five children are all there.
– Are you bored?
– Of course, but what should I do? Someone has to provide for their family, almost everyone from my country works like this all their lives. And here is your hotel – let me recommend the Indian restaurant on the ground floor, they are very tasty.
I chose the best hotels in the center for us – with a rooftop bar, swimming pool, etc. I wanted to show my mom that I could afford to take care of her at the highest, five-star level.
–Good afternoon, welcome to Dubai, you have two nights booked, a suite,” a girl with a strong Indian accent said at the reception – it was impossible to make out some of her words, which was slightly annoying. We checked in and went to explore the city. In Dubai, even if you are in the center, it is inconvenient to walk, it is not suitable for hiking: construction sites, dead ends and endless interchanges of roads are everywhere.
The first thing we did was head to the most famous place, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper. The taxi driver stopped at the main entrance to a huge shopping mall. We walked through it (there was no other way) and saw Dubai’s most famous skyscraper. There were a lot of people standing around, all of them waiting for something.
“I’m sorry, but what’s going to happen now?” I asked the man dressed all in white.
– Well, the famous fountain show.
And then the music started playing, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper began to shimmer with different colors, and the fountains began to dance to various well-known melodies. There were more and more people. I had already seen similar shows in Europe and America, so pretty soon I offered to go out for dinner – the cafe seats were about to be vacated. We chose an American cuisine restaurant. The hostess kindly greeted us, expressing her joy that we were from Russia, and invited a Russian–speaking waiter to join us.
It’s an interesting feeling that living in the USA far from my homeland, I’ve always been nostalgic for Russian food, and after a month at home, I wanted American food, which I got used to over the years of living there. And I ordered burgers and fries. They brought us huge sandwiches and very large portions of potatoes, in the best American traditions. After dinner, I wanted to call a taxi to the restaurant, but as it turned out, only local official taxi drivers have the right to drive up to the main entrance to pick up guests, in the end we had to walk 15 minutes to the called “Uber”. How inconvenient, I noted to myself, comparing it to America, where a car can drive up to any point.
The next day, we set off to explore the desert, booking a special jeep tour. We were met by another driver from Pakistan, who was very kind and friendly.
“Would you like some water?” Take as much as you need in the jeep door. Now we will go to a high–speed truck – there you can rent cars and ride on the sands, and after that we will go for a ride with me on real sands.
– And how did you learn to ride on the dunes, is it probably difficult?
– No, years of practice – I’ve been driving tourists for 15 years now.
We pulled up to the speedway – mom wanted coconut water in a coconut and ordered a drink without specifying how much it cost. I went to watch people riding quad bikes – this piece of desert looked lively. A salesman came up to me with a handkerchief: “for you at a special price” – well, it’s like everywhere else in the East.
Mom was waiting for me under the tent, finishing her coconut.
– We need to pay. How much?
–20,” the waiter said impudently.
– what? $20 for a coconut? I only have 15.
– Okay, 15 will do too. – The waiter took the money and left with a displeased look.
Later, I found out that it was possible to bargain even more – the locals deliberately inflate prices so that if a tourist does not agree with the price given to him, there will be some kind of backlash for trading.
We got into our jeep and went for a ride on the dunes – the driver deftly drove the car. When the car stopped, he announced that we were going to go sand surfing, and gave us a board, my mother refused, but I decided to go for a ride and immediately fell headfirst into the sand.
– Get up, try again, – the driver was not at all surprised by my failure.
I climbed the dune and rolled down again, headfirst into the sand. The third time, exactly the same thing happened – having decided that I would not be a dune charmer, I stopped at this attempt.
The day was nearing its end, and we were taken to dinner at the oasis, an outdoor buffet with a fire show. We sat down near the stage, and we were immediately surrounded by a dozen local seals, who were waiting for the tourists to start feeding them. And, of course, we waited.
The next day, I had to move to another hotel. In the morning we went to the old district of Dubai, where there were no modern skyscrapers and where it felt like you were entering another century. When I saw the pharmacy’s sign, I decided to look for some lozenges – apparently, the temperature drop made my throat hurt.
– Are you from Russia? – the seller asked, having heard how my mother and I were talking.
– How did you guess?
– My wife is Russian. I came here for a vacation, we met, and we’ve been together for 10 years now. She’s at home right now, taking care of the kids. Russians are the most beautiful wives.
Then I received a call from my husband, who informed me that his twin sister had just died in Vienna (her husband’s family lives in Austria). He stated:
– Most likely, there will be changes in our lives. We may have to leave America for Europe. I need to think about it. I’ll let you know.
In the evening, we moved to another five-star hotel, the next day my mother flew to Moscow, and I flew to New York. When I handed over my credit card at the reception, I heard that it wasn’t working. OK, the other one worked, but I immediately called my husband.
– Why didn’t the card work?
– As I told you, changes are coming in our lives. I sent the money from the shared card to my parents for the funeral. Go back to Miami, pick up the cat and take it to Moscow, and you and I will move.
“Where to?”
“You’ll find out soon enough. You’ll need to pack our things quickly–we have to vacate the Miami apartment on the 20th.
Mom listened to our conversation worriedly, realizing that something unplanned was happening.…
The next morning, I accompanied her to the airport, and I went for a walk around the city. It was Independence Day of the United Arab Emirates, and Arabs in white clothes were dancing in the streets, and airplanes were flying across the sky, spraying bright colors into the air. I sat down in the Russian district for a cup of coffee. It’s amazing how Russian businessmen have created so many wonderful places in an Arab country in a matter of years. Dubai is generally a city of Russians, Pakistanis and Indians. You won’t find many indigenous people on the streets, either migrants or tourists from Russia are around.
I didn’t really like Dubai as a city: it was some kind of artificial metropolis. I would not like to return here – to this combination of skyscrapers, busy highways and empty streets with a minimum of vegetation.
In the evening, at customs control at the airport, they asked me where I live. She replied: “While in Miami,” realizing that soon I will probably answer this question differently…
Dubai – Moscow
