By amberherrle
Differences between the UAE and Jordan
Food
From my experience there, Emirati food is vastly different than the food that you'll find in the Levant and Jordan. For example, I ate about 10 different types of breads while at the Prince's house that were all "traditional Emirati". In Jordan, you're hard pressed to find something outside of pita and pita with thyme on it.
Dress
As I mentioned in my last post, the dress varies from emirate to emirate but notable one of the biggest differences in Gulf attire is that men wear Kandoras which are long white robes that tend to have a tassel towards the collar. This tassel has interesting cultural roots - it was originally used be nomadic peoples to swish away the bad smells that came from camels when they were riding from place to place. The men would dip the tassle in perfume and then when they needed to get camel-smell away, they would simply wave the tassel in front of their face.
From what I saw, abayas and hijab were more common among women in the UAE than in Jordan. While Dubai is clearly the outlier, in the other emirates most women were hijab and many women wore abayas with hijab. Abayas are beautiful black shear robes that you wear over other clothing. Typically, abayas will have intricate designs and patterns on them.
Things to do in Dubai
As the commercial capital of the UAE and potentially the world, there's a slim chance that you've never heard of it. The souring skyscrapers and beaches make Dubai a perfect destination for tourists and great home for international headquarters. Here's what I did in Dubai and what I loved about my time there.
The Old Market and Gold Market -
We took the skytrain to a river-taxi stop just across the river from an expansive spice market. The market represents old Dubai and is a great way to see how the Emirates hold onto traditional marketplaces. The river taxi costs 25 cents per person and leaves every five minutes. These relatively small boats that carry anywhere between 10-20 people, these older taxis (shown in the picture below) provide a great juxtaposition with the souring skyscrapers that draw visitors to this city.
Rent a yacht
Yes, in the UAE anything is possible. We rented a yacht for about $30 a person for ten people. We had our own private 50 ft yacht to sail away on and it was just as cool as it sounds. Dubai has an amazing skyline so seeing the skyline from the Arabian Gulf is just amazing.
Eat stellar Indian food
Indian residents make up Dubai's largest diaspora population. If you're in the more commercialized area of Dubai you can get an unreal Indian meal for about $10 but venture farther out and you can get a meal that feeds 4-5 people for about $6.
Overrall, I really enjoyed my time in the UAE and I can't wait to go back. I hope to write a bit more on the other emirates that I visited so I can look back at these in the future (and so the readers can enjoy them!). The UAE is full of opportunity and is a great look at rapid development in the Gulf.