Delirious Dubai

Dubai is out of control. After a couple days in this city, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), I can say this with extreme confidence. Why, you may ask, have I come to this conclusion? Well, maybe because roadside development billboards make claims like this:

or you not only see thousands of skyscrapers either completed, nearing completion, or just started...everywhere...you also view the almost-completed Burj Dubai, a super skyscraper that is the tallest man-made structure on earth (2,700 ft and 160 stories):

(Shout out to Chicago's own Skidmore Owings & Merrill, the designers of Burj Dubai)

Now if that wasn't enough to convince you, trust me, there's more. But before we get to that, a few more pics of the cranes that appear to be inhabiting incomplete structures around every corner in Dubailand, a city where even a world economic crisis does not stop the growth, it only slows it to a modest 2-4% growth (really? really Dubai?):

Now, you may be thinking I am being a bit rough on old Dubai. Let's dig a little deeper, as I mentioned Dubai is one of the seven emirates that makes up the UAE so it is ruled by a sheikh, and the people over here love the sheikh, based on the number of roads and structures named after the fellow. The sheikh has been the leader of some of the er, more unique claims to fame and developments in Dubai over the past 15 years including:

> Mall of the Emirates where you can ski and snowboard on complete slopes, indoors, at Ski Dubai, and then shop at the Middle East's largest shopping mall

> The World Islands - a man-made archipeligo of 300 islands in the shape of a world map

> The Palm Islands - three separate man-made groups of islands off the coast that appear from above in the shape of various palm trees

> The Universe - islands in the shape of the solar system (notice a trend here)

> the list continues with the largest man-made harbor, the first full-automated subway system, the Dubai Metro, with gold plated subway stations, and the last three are my favorite:

1) Dubai is already building a new airport, and it will be the largest in the world, and at a cost of $82 billion making it the single most expensive project in the world...ever, with the exception of...

2) The Dubai Waterfront, the largest man-made development in the world and the new downtown center for Dubai on the last remaining land along the Persian Gulf, but no talk about the extreme and wacky Dubai developments would be complete without mentioning...

3) Hydropolis - the world's first underwater luxury resort currently under construction 66 feet below the surface of the Persian Gulf - I mean, who does that? Where am I?

The people in Dubai are some of the most boisterous and proud people I have ever met, they are just elated about these developments no matter how bizarre or apparently wasteful they may appear. And if you think stuff like this is just restricted to megacity Dubai, well think again.

The emirate about 90 km to the west of Dubai is Abu Dhabi, a much more established city and the capital of the UAE. My favorite fact learned on this trip so far is the trip between the former seaside villages of Dubai and Abu Dhabi used to take 5 hours by camel, through the desert:

Today the trip takes 2 hours by car, and most of that is due to traffic despite the fact that the expressway connecting the two cities is 8 lanes total. Abu Dhabi is a little slower pace than Dubai, it is the wealthiest emirate still modern with broad boulevards, lots of green lawns, tree-lined streets, and a gulf shore with waterfront parks - all very organized, not to mention the third largest mosque in the world:

Before traveling there today my only knowledge of Abu Dhabi came from Garfield comic strips as Garfield was always theatening to ship Nermal to Abu Dhabi. We visited three schools and the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi before returning to Dubai this evening. The U.S. Embassy was a giant building built to resemble a sand dune but due to the multiple signs prohibiting photographs there are none here of the building or the cool sign that had "Embassy of the United States of America" written in both English and Arabic. I asked the embassy staff if there were any exceptions and they told me that on a previous tour two counselors had taken pictures of the sign and they were arrested - yes, arrested - by the Abu Dhabi police. While that does sound like an adventure I figured it wasn't worth it, this time.