OMG, Saigon. I've been reading through this thread. It's like a slapstick comedy.
Over and over again you try to correct these people and give them simple facts, over and over again they ignore you and bombard the thread with ridiculous, nonsensical falsehoods.
They want to be ignorant. They want to believe the lies that support their version of reality. They do not want to know the truth, don't want to know it to the point they will ignore it even though it seems completely bizarre that they do ignore it.
They know nothing about the ME at all except what they've seen on Faux New or read on rw blogs, and what they choose to believe, all colored with their blind hatred of Islam, and though they have someone right before them who has been there repeatedly, or even lived there, they tell YOU that you are wrong and they are right.
It's bizarre and frustrating and you can't get them to change their so called minds for anything.
This is so clearly manifested in this thread it is laughable: it's like a farcical scene from the theatre. Black comedy.
It's alternatively hilarious and depressing.
Depressing, in that it really bothers me how tightly people like Jeremiah will cling to myths they have picked up off the internet, e.g. Muslims have taken over the Philippines, a myth repeated even after I explained that the country is 90% Christian.
But my favourite line is this:
The one thing I notice about Dubai advertisements is there is never anyone in a bathing suit on the beach. Not one! Look at most of those photos and they look like ghost cities.
We need another look at these ghost cities:
I lived in the UAE for two years, as a single woman. I dressed the same exact way I would living in the West, every single day. There are so many foreign workers living in the UAE, they comprise about 70-80 percent of the population. Most of those come from India, Pakistan or the Philippines. Some come from Afghanistan and other ME countries, those which are not rich. These are mostly the taxi drivers. The other Asians work in just about every other area. About 15% of the overall population are Westerners.
There are public beaches, but most Westerners go to private beaches, either those owned by hotels or private beach clubs. On those beaches you see exactly what you would see in the US, women wearing bikinis. And the beaches are packed. I know, I belonged to a beach club the two years I lived there. One cool thing about the UAE is that you can go to the beach about 10 months or more out of the year, every day, unless it gets too hot. Winter lasts about 2 weeks in late December and early January.
Night life in the UAE is a big deal. Everyone comes out at night, including the Arabs. It is a culture where much life is lived at night because of the heat, and everything is open, shops, etc., until about 11 pm. Westerners go to hotel restaurants to eat but mainly because the hotels have bars. Most big hotels have two or three bars, sell all the alcoholic beverages we have in the West, and have music and dancing. There are also many fine restaurants, but as far as I'm aware, only the big hotels sell liquor. You can get food from all over the world. The hotel bars close very late, just like in the West.
For those who live in the UAE, there are supermarkets which sell pork and pork products to non-Muslims. There are liquor stores for non-Muslims. Women dress as they would in the West, as long as it isn't too risque or revealing. I saw plenty of young women in tight skirts and blouses, very high heels, lots of make-up, etc. You can't wear shorts except at the beach, nor skirts that are too short. It's just something to respect because you are in a different culture. Women, including non-conservative Arabic women, wear capris instead of shorts in town, and no one has a problem with that. There are nearly as many Starbucks cafes as there are in Seattle!
Women drive. Women live alone in their own apartments. Women drive, walk around, and live normally without a male companion. Just like in the West. There are many churches and many Christians going to those churches. No one objects to that or bothers them. You can wear a cross as jewelry, as a necklace, pen, bracelet, earrings, etc. No one cares. Many of the women living in the UAE are Arabic women who are not that conservative. They do not 'cover.' They dress like modern Western women. They have college degrees and professions. They wear make-up, nail polish, etc. Often they are married to a Western man and have a 'mixed' family. There are many 'mixed' families with one parent being from the West and one from the ME.
English is spoken widely, so widely, a foreign traveler or worker does not need to know any other language. The supermarkets sell Western food. In fact, it is easier for a Brit or American to live in the UAE than in an Asian country or, because of language, many European countries.
And Saigon is right: a Western tourist is safer visiting Dubai than visiting Miami.
