AT SEA (day 97)                                                                             day 96 DUBAI continued

DUBAI, the worlds most modern city is a limited Constitutional Democracy.
Meet the most important men in DUBAI...

SHIAKH  KAILFA BIB ZAYED BIN SULTAN AL NAHAN

The Emir of ABU DABI has spent over 460 million in humanitarian projects from his personal fortune

HIS HIGHNESS SHAIKH MOHAMMAD BIN RASHID AL MAKTOUM
HIS BELIEF IS THAT THE SHOW MUST GO ON
He is living proof that with money and a vision you really can construct anything.
In addition to the continuous construction of housing and office buildings they are in the middle of dredging canals in and around the city, to be completed by 2020, so that DUBAI will become an island and have a system of internal canals like VENICE ITALY.
FOR THE SHAIKH THE WORD " IMPOSSIBLE" DOES NOT EXIST

THE SON OF THE SHAIKH BIN RASHID 

HIS FATHER HAS NAMED TO BE THE NEXT SHAIKH OF DUBAI

THE EMIR'S YHAGHT DOCKED NEXT TO US IN THE HARBOR

DUBAI is inspiring an incredibly picturesque. Since their oil reserves are limited, at this time tourism drives their economy. DUBAI is designed totally to impress visitors. It has luxury resorts, a ski slope in the desert, & the biggest and the best of everything. From a desert village 60 years ago, with the population of 500 people, DUBAI is becoming the business capital of the world. Since the 1980's DUBAI has been evolving, it's growth strategy is "to reach for the sky". It is all about money. Conspicuous consumption is out of control.

THERE ARE MORE BRAND NEW RR'S THAN YOU CAN COUNT

60% of the population are SUNNI Muslims. SUNNIS make up 85% of the MUSLIMS world wide. In DUBAI, however, culture takes a back seat to tourism. Nevertheless, they do have daily calls to prayer and prayer rooms in all public areas.  DUBAI is the most populous city in the UAE, for 2106,177 people, not all off them MUSLIMS, there are more than 700 MOSQUES.

Dubai is a cosmopolitan city in that there are 200 nationalities and there is a great deal of religious tolerance.

IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN BARELY MAKE OUT THIS MOSQUE TUCKED IN BETWEEN ALL OF THESE SKYSCRAPERS

THE NATIONAL BIRD IS THE "CRANE"

3.4 PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY ARE FOREIGN WORKERS

The foreign workers, mostly from INDIA, earn about $250.00/mo. They get free health care and room & board. They live in camps outside of the city and can only stay for 2 yrs. Our tour guide rationalized the low standards in the foreigner's working & living conditions as being acceptable, by telling us that they have more work in DUBAI than they would have in their own country.

There are 1.2 million EREMITES living in  DUBAI. Only they can be citizens. Citizens get very special treatment from the government i.e. housing and stipends. Only they can sponsor  a person from another country who would want to live in DUBAI. The EREMITE is allowed to charge the "visitor" whatever he can for the VISA which has to be renewed every 2 years. Expats can never become citizens.

Stay tuned more DUBAI on the following post...