My first week in Dubai

So, I’ve been here just over a week. What fun and exciting things have I seen and done so far?

Well, truthfully, not much. This is a business trip, after all; it’s not a vacation. I’m here to work, and so far that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing. I expect to be working six days a week while I’m here, and even on my day off (which is Friday in the Islamic world) I’ll at least spend part of my time checking my work e-mail and doing other work-related tasks (today, however, is a holiday, which is why I’m writing from my hotel right now).

So I haven’t made it to the beach or to any of the upscale Jumeira Beach clubs yet. I haven’t so far found time to ski at the indoor ski slope at the Mall of the Emirates, nor have I made my way over to any of the traditional souks in the old part of the city. No road trips to Abu Dhabi or Umm Al Quwain yet, either; all of the sightseeing I’ve done so far has been field visits to a few of the Dubai Metro station sites we’re working on.

These are all things that I’d like to see and do at some point, of course, and since I’ll be spending most of the fall here hopefully I’ll have time do so, especially as the weather gets cooler and things at work become settled. I’m actually planning to bring Lori out here for a week or so in November so she can see Dubai for herself, and if that happens I’ll probably be doing a lot of these things with her. There’s a good sightseeing tour that the two of us might enjoy, for example, and she’d probably also like to go on a Dubai Creek dinner cruise one evening.

Otherwise, my options for fun and excitement are, for the time being, limited. Today, for example, I’m doing laundry, and this afternoon I’ll probably go pick up a few groceries.

There's no reason why I can't have little bit of fun today, though. I might go for a swim in the hotel’s nice rooftop pool this evening.