Having spent a good deal of time in the Middle East—especially in Qatar—I’ve come to learn a lot of the good elements and bad elements of the culture here. There are many fascinating things, of which I hope this space will shed light upon many, but there are also some incredibly disturbing elements to the way people live here. Human rights violations are rampant, because people are not equal. I don’t bring these up to portray any Middle Eastern countries or cultures in a negative light, because most of what I’ve seen and heard are reflections of individuals and not the country or culture. But by shedding more light on them, I hope they can eventually be discovered and eliminated.

In most cases, the problems that exist are based on class and racial differences. The skyscrapers that you see here were all built by day laborers from India, Nepal and surrounding areas. The service industries, like hotels and restaurants, are being run on the backs of young men and women from Thailand and the Philippines. And the majority of children here are not raised by their own parents, but by nannies that are brought in from Southeast Asia specifically for that purpose. While this diversity is in and of itself a good thing, unfortunately these people are not accepted as anything more than the servants they are to the rich locals, and are treated as such.

With this prelude, stay tuned to this space for a series of stories of things that will hopefully not occur here for too much longer.

One of the places to be in the DXB!

My ID:  8:05am, Saturday, 09 May 2009:  Muscat Seeb International Airport

Oman Air flight WY602 from Dubai

Coming from the hustling, bustling, steel-and-glass metropolis of Dubai, my Initial Descent into Oman had me expecting more of the same. Sure, I had heard that Oman seemed to preserve more of its traditional heritage than its more famous neighbor to the north, but given that Muscat’s arrival onto the international scene along with the rest of the major cities in the Gulf region, I was skeptical.

From the design of the airport itself to the slower pace of the immigration and Arrivals halls, I immediately understood that this wasn’t the same as Bahrain, Dubai, or even Doha. This place indeed marched to its own rhythm, and I was going to enjoy it.

Muscat Seeb International Airport

Even the ride into town was different. There didn’t seem to be the maddening traffic prevalent in the other cities here. There were surely signs of Western influence—your occasional American restaurant chain or hotel—but it seemed more understated and subtle. Upon landing in my fifth city in the Middle East, I finally felt as though I was really in this part of the world.

Traffic isn’t a problem here–yet, at least

This is from the Emirates Airline in-flight entertainment screen–the Burj al Arab graphic represents Dubai information…(apologies for the poor image quality).

I had heard a lot about Dubai before I landed here for the first time. I had heard about the architecture, with buildings like the Burj al Arab being the talk of the architectural world. I had heard about the parties, with the hotels here housing some of the regions hottest and trendiest clubs. I had heard about the international nature, with expats living and working here from all corners of the world.

Dubai’s Gold Souq

One thing that was conspicuously absent from my preconceptions was any mention of anything actual traditionally Arabic. Any semblance to what the culture here was like before the 21^st century—I mean, surely this place existed before 1995, didn’t it?

After a few days here, I realized that it was exactly what I had expected. Until I had the good fortune of stumbling across the Gold Souq in Deira. I had no desire to buy anything—most of the 300-some stalls here are selling jewelry mixed in with the occasional typical souvenir shop selling magnets and t-shirts graced with smiling camels. But walking through the halls of this semi-open air market made me feel, for the first time, that I was really in the Middle East. Of course I hadn’t been here before, but this made my mind flash back to ancient times, when Dubai was simply a trading village leveraging its strategic central location and proximity to waterways.

Dubai’s Gold Souq

Speaking of which, after making my way out of the Souq, I made my way to the water taxi to cross Dubai Creek. And that happened to be the perfect compliment to a stroll through the Souq, until I got to the other side and was met with glowing skyscrapers and whisked back into modern-day Dubai.

Water taxi across Dubai Creek

My ID:  7:40pm, Saturday, 11 August 2007:  Doha International Airport

Qatar Airways flight QR52 from Washington-Dulles

My Initial Descent into the Middle East came by way of Doha, Qatar. Sent by my employer of the time for a business meeting, I wasn’t really sure what to expect on the other end of my 14-hour flight. I knew I was excited—a kind of excitement I had not felt since my Initial Descent into Asia a few years earlier. The feeling of embarking on a new adventure in a place completely opposite to everything familiar to me.

Qatar landscape

I remember following the course of the flight on my in-seat map, and noticing (as it would turn out later, in both directions) that we avoided flying directly over Iraq. I wondered if it was still some fallout of the political confrontation started by the United States. I remember looking down as we descended below the clouds and seeing nothing but yellow sand, stretching in every direction into eternity. I remember popping over a glowing sea of blue as we approached Doha, and seeing half-constructed buildings sprouting out of the desert like pine trees against the edge of the water below. And then I remember being on the ground.

The Doha skyline against the water

Doha skyscrapers sprouting like new trees

Funneling out of a massive, state-of-the-art 777, into a little bus, it felt like the airplane I had just flown on came from the future and the airport I was now walking into came from the past (this is very soon to change, as New Doha International Airport nears completion). I began to sweat immediately upon feeling the August desert heat (my boss had warned me about this), and followed the queue into a glowing white immigration hall. After clearing customs and collecting my duffel bag, I will never forget walking around the corner into the Arrivals hall and being met with a wall of men—all men—all dressed exactly the same. The men were different colors—some very light, some very dark, and some in the middle—but all were dressed in white robes and sandals, with headdresses that were either white or red and white. If I didn’t know I was in a different world from the view out the window upon landing, I definitely knew I was now.

Qatar Airways 777-300ER