Disney World!

Wait, I thought we were supposed to be in Dubai. This place sure does feel a lot like Downtown Disney. Strange.

Simply put, Dubai is surreal. Everything is brand new. Literally, sparkling and shining brand new. The buildings glimmer. The sidewalks are spotless. Even the streets are perfectly clean. If you have ever played the computer game Roller Coaster Tycoon, you know that you can hire handyman. When you hire a new handyman you carry them with these large claws by the shirt until you drop them in the desired place and they begin to sweep the sidewalks. Well, that is Dubai. There are people in uniform sweeping the streets. These people work 24 hours a day. They sweep the streets, sidewalks, even the beach paths, and put everything into a dustpan and then the trash.

After being in South America with history and culture, this feels like a large amusement park. It's very interesting, because I don't know if there is any place in the world quite like it. Even my little town of Saratoga has history! One of the oldest buildings in the area is being knocked down right now to build a new beach resort. The building was 8 years old. While taking the Big Bus City Tour yesterday we got a very good taste of the city. Basically, we toured all of the malls of the city. Yes, we stopped at a small museum and saw the gold souk, but that is where the history ends. Everything here is located in a mall or a hotel. Five star hotels are about as common as sea lions in the Galapagos. You can't get away from them. Dubai is also home to the very first 7 star hotel. Oh, and the tallest building, the tallest hotel, the tallest fountain, the largest water park outside of the US, and about one hundred more Guinness World Records. There is indoor skiing here! It is amazing to be here, just because I wouldn't have believed any of it without seeing it.

I have seen my share of rich people. I have seen expensive cars, fancy houses, and clothing, but I have never seen anything like the people in Dubai. The value of money means absolutely nothing. Forget Mercedes and Bimmers, the streets are filled with Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, Lamborghinis, and Maseratis. Even the cabs are all matching 2009 Toyota Camrys. My friend, Megan, who is putting us up in her apartment told us stories of people she works with. She told us that on more than one occasion, someone has driven super fast, crashed his car, and simply went out to buy a new one the next day. As we left a hotel lobby we saw a Range Rover with its back hatch open revealing shopping bags like I had never seen before. The back row of seats had been folded down, and the car was filled from top to bottom and front to back with matching maroon shopping bags. I now have a scrape on my chin from walking with my mouth hanging open. The craziest part is all of this is normal here. People don't bat an eye at the cars, the shopping bags, any of it.

Tomorrow Garvey and I are headed to Wild Wadi Water Park. That is what you do here! Everything costs money and everything is a tourist attraction. I think Garvey would be happy sitting by the pool and saving the money, but this is a fight worth fighting, I am going to that water park! Oh, and Megan has given us full access to her Entertainer book, so it is buy one, get one free at the park! Garvey hasn't let us eat anywhere without a coupon. Gotta love him!