This blog was actually created nearly four years ago, when
its name was inspired by a summer in Cairo. The phrase “everyday absurdities”
seemed to perfectly encapsulate the quotidian Cairene life – where chaos is
constant and so therefore expected, and you can depend on the unpredictable.
The phrase “everyday absurdities” still very much applies to
Dubai, though in a completely different way. Is it normal to have indoor ski
slopes, and build skyscrapers half a mile tall? No. But this form of absurdity
is much different than the antics that result from a city of 9 million
operating without traffic lights and tell a bunch of guys in their late teens and early 20s to, you know, do something about it.
My initial reaction to Dubai (subject to change, of course) is that it’s something akin to a teenage
city: it fancies itself a mature metropolis, ready to rise among the ranks of
the greatest cities in the world, but in reality, it’s still sort of going
through an identity crisis and some growing pains, and lacks a certain depth
that can only be achieved with age - though of course, Dubai would never admit
any of these things. But like a coworker said to me on my first day of work
(I’m paraphrasing), the Emeratis have had their snafus over the past several years
– but at the end of the day, you have to look at this city, this skyline, and think: none of
this existed 40 years ago. You have to give them credit for that.
