Dubai and Driving

This past weekend we hopped on a quick one hour flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) to explore a new city. 

 

Friday we went to the Dubai Mall which according to Wikipedia is the world’s largest mall based on area.  The mall is huge.  It has an aquarium, underwater zoo, ice skating rink, movie theaters, waterfall, and hundreds of shops.  I was excited about the giant chocolate tower.

 

 

Waterfall in Dubai Mall

Attached to the Dubai Mall is also the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.  Of course we had to travel to the top in an elevator that went 8 meters per second.

 



View of the Dubai Mall from the top

 

 

 

We also enjoyed a water show in the fountains outside of the mall.  Think the Bellagio in Vegas. 

View from the roof of the hotel.  The body of water is the Dubai Creek.  Notice the dhows on the water covered in lights. 



 

On Saturday it seems like we stepped back in time when we traveled to the gold souq in the Dubai Creek district.  There were men pulling carts and wooden ships getting loaded with goodies to travel to Iran.  

 

 

There are many places in Dubai to see, so we will have to come back and explore some more.

 

Thursday morning I woke-up bright and early to take my driving exam to get a Qatari license.  The test started at 5am, because that is definitely the time when people are the most alert.  Thursday is the female testing day, since men and women take the test separately.  The test began in a large room with 150 plastic patio chairs in rows (yes, the patio chairs were inside and I counted the chairs because I was that bored).  All the chairs filled up and women started standing around the perimeter of the room.  I am guessing that 200 women took the test with me.  All of the announcements and instructions throughout the day were spoken and written in Arabic, so this is simply my interpretation of the test.  I might have done everything incorrectly.  All day I just followed people around and listen for my name to be called.  Listening for your name is actually a difficult task.  My named was morphed into many different forms depending on who is reading it.  Generally my name resembled Elly Lee.  (Jonathon was Joseph Phillip.  Bible names are known.)

To start the day, all the women stood in a line to enter a tiny room where our paperwork was spread out on top of multiple tables.  The front page of our packet of paperwork was our photo so we could be identified.  After getting our packets, we went and stood in another line to take the signal portion of the test.  The signal test is conducted by an officer pointing to signs on a laminated poster and then you regurgitating the meaning of the sign.  This sounds simple, by I had to study for this test because British English is spoken here.  So instead of saying yield, they say giveway and passing is called overtaking.  There are also slight differences in the wording of the signs; our "Do not enter" sign here means “No entry for all vehicles."  After the signs test everyone went and sat down in the patio chairs again to wait to hear if they passed or failed.  Now everyone started chatting with their neighbor.  With all the 200 women talking in various languages at the same time, the room sounded like it was full of barking dogs.  Such a delightful sound.

After more waiting, the test administrators came out and called the names of those who had passed and could continue on to the parking section of the test.  My name was called, but I was told that I didn’t have to park because I had an American driver’s license.  I simply said thank you and reunited with my plastic chair.  Around 8am the road test began.  To conduct the road test, a bus filled with 20 ladies followed around a car.  A police man sat in the passenger seat of the car and the ladies rotated from the bus to the driver’s seat of the car for her test.  When a lady had driver her 90 seconds, she pulled over and changed places with someone else on the bus.  The final driver took us back to our patio chairs to hear our fate. 

Around 10am, a police officer stood at the front of the room and read everyone’s name followed by saying pass or fail.  If you passed then you were given a number and waited until your number was called to pay your fee and collect your license.  If you failed, then you were told to go home.  Everyone only has four chances to pass the test.  I took the test with 200 ladies and about 50 of them passed the test.  Most of the women taking the test were older than me.  About half were from Qatar and the other half were workers from various countries trying to earn some money to send back to their families.  To some ladies driving means freedom or the ability to have a better job.  I was humbled watching the ladies celebrate passing the test by dancing or some with tears of joy.  I have taken my past 10 years of driving for granted. 

I passed my driving exam on Thursday and Jonathon passed his test this morning.  I am looking forward to the gained independence.  Our driver is wonderful, but it will be nice being able to drive on our own.  We are slowly starting to feel like we belong.