Postcards from Deployment: Groundhog Day – Portcall Abu Dubai

Well it has now been about four days since we pulled out yet again from Dubai. This time unlike last time we were allowed into town. I have included some shots of the buses they used to shuttle us all over from our pier side location. As you can see these are pretty small buses. They look like and can carry about the same number of people one of those small airport shuttle buses that some major hotels use around the US to pick up people. Inside though they are not as comfortable, I think we fit about twenty-four people in a bus. That was using the optional middle seat of each row as well. So if you can imagine being on a bus with your best friend next to you and your knees up to your chest. Then that is what our trip from the sandbox to town was like.

The trip out was pretty long and tiring. I took my MP3 player and fell asleep against the window, listening to some classic soul along with R&B greats. I took a picture of what it looks like on the highway before we got on the UAE version of the Interstate. As you can sort of see from this picture there is nothing but miles of sand dunes and huge either factories or warehouses. It was something close to an hour just to head from the port of Dubai into town itself. The town has changed a bunch since I was last here in 2005. As I mentioned in an earlier post the UAE government spent money on building themselves their own island call “Palm Dubai”. Just before you hit the city of Dubai you see the turn off from the interstate and then from that side you see the huge condos, multi-story high-rise apartment complexes, etc that make up the buildings on this artificial island. Trust me it looks expensive and it is, talking to a local at a restaurant bar we were having lunch at, we were told that even the ground floor looking at the high rise across the street is something like 300,000 dollars. Not anything that I could even hope to be able to afford.

Once past that we arrive at this huge mall. It is called the Mall of the Emirates and it is something like two or three city blocks long. The biggest draw to this is something called “Ski Dubai”. Skiing? In the Desert? You ask, yes my friend they manufactured an artificial hill and create their own snow. Heck there is even a sledding thing off to one side that looks like a mini-luge course. I didn’t try it thought. A guy that works for me did try to snowboard and he unfortunately paid for it. While going down the hill he lost control and broke his collar bone. He did this on his first day out in town. We had to fly him off from the ship the day that we pulled out and sent him to a hospital in Bahrain. It is a shame, mainly because I am a little short handed on experience levels. This guy was one of those guys that is a self-starter. He honestly was on the quick track to get his CDI done, and probably be a useful detachment player. I don’t even know if I am going to be getting him back for the rest of cruise. The flight surgeon told me that his break was pretty bad and they might have to operate and probably is going home early. I hope not because cruise is where one learns how to fix the plane and learns the systems the best.

In the rest of this huge mall though is just like any normal mall or shopping center back in the states. There are book stores, music stores, restaurants, big name stores, little stores, etc. There is one slight difference though is off to one side there is a portion they called the Arabic Souk. This is where one can buy burkas, Arabic themed clothing, religious items, and in one portion there is a prayer room for the traditional call to prayer. Which is something that is piped over the general announcing systems in the mall. That was strange when I heard it, listening to some muzak being played and then all of a sudden some wails and singing as the call to prayer was made. I watched a whole bunch of stores close up shop as all the owners left to head off to do their prayers for the day. One of the more interesting stores in the Souk was this general nic-nac store. You all know the type of store; it sells tourist trap chic things to collect dust around your house. This one had on the outside of it a 6ft display of the thing from “Alien” made out of junk parts. I included a picture of it. It was really cool to look at, but where would I keep it on the ship? Let alone back at the house when I get home? There was also an amusement center in one end of the mall with an artificial rollercoaster called “RoboCoaster”, it throws you around like your an actually rollercoaster, just with out all the cars and the huge track. It is not my speed, so I didn’t try it out.

What is real interesting is this mall though is that for as much as the management stays along the Islamic and local customs, there are also a large majority of the stores that are English and a number of Indians, Pakistanis, or South Africans working in them to cater to the Europeans who are visiting to Dubai. I think a large portion of this comes from the fact that the United Arab Emirates use to be a British Colony at one time. So the government is more willing to hire from ex-members of the British Empire to work at their businesses.

I spent all day there with some friends and we probably spent about hundred dollars between the four of us. It is nice to be someplace where the US dollar is still sort of strong at. Now I just need to find room for it all in my lockers and start to get boxes together for shipping home.

One of the other really cool things that happened this port visit was the first day in Jimmy Buffet flew in and gave a free concert to us on the Truman. He even brought in Margarita mix and the beer tent was offering Margarita’s for folks to drink along with the usually mix of canned beers. According to Mr. Buffet he did this himself on his own dime. I tell you what, I really appreciated it and thought the concert was awesome. He covered a whole bunch of his hits in the two and half hour set that he preformed for us. Even better was that one of the opening acts was a squadron band, during one of the songs they snuck up on the stage and took over for his own band. He didn’t realize it until they were waving at him from in front of the stage. Mess deck rumors say that a couple of the ship band folks were offered a chance to try out for his house band at the bar he owns down in Key West.

Well that is what is going on out here right now. Half way point is almost here and I can’t believe that I am almost at the half way point. Wow time flies when your having fun.

Southern