We filled our time in Dubai trying to hit the highlights.
We spent a boring 2 hours at Dubai Mall, watching the aquarium, the women in abaya's passing by the women in the lingerie stores, and the water show behind the Burj Khalifa.
We splurged on tea at the Burj al-Arab. What?! Seriously, what is the draw to this hotel?!?
We did spend a wonderful afternoon walking through the older parts of Dubai and having lunch at the Sheikh Mohammed Cultural Center. Here we had emerati food served "emerati" style:
Lunch was followed by a presentation by a lovely young emerati lady. The floor was open to Q&A, and absolutely no question was off limits. There were about 25 of us, mostly European, and we peppered the guide with questions about dating, love life, marriage, divorce, and dress. She answered the questions frankly, and with a spirited embrace of her traditions. I found the answers really well grounded: the abaya as liberating for women as they don't have to dress to be judged, the hajib as liberating as women no longer have to spend hours at the salon...etc.
My wife bought none of it. She, who took the liberal gender studies classes at liberal university, told me afterwards "she suffers from cultural oppression and doesn't even know it. She must transcend her cultural confines to recognize her oppression." What?!? "Sure thing, tootsie. How did you like the briyani?" That's just what the UAE needs--overfed women's studies professors strutting around re-educating the oppressed masses.