Before boarding the plane and saying goodbye to Dubai, we went back to Dubai Mall to meet up with Nduku and Mutethya’s cousin Nyiva. I can’t say enough about how huge this mall is. At 12.1 million square feet, it is the world’s largest mall in total area. One thousand ...

Before heading back to the pad, we drove out onto The Palm. Really, from the ground you can’t see much. From above it’s an amazing construction project, but driving it’s a long road to the end and a lot of gates preventing you from checking out the villas on the ...

The day started with a quick trip to the store, but there’s nowhere in Dubai where there isn’t something to gaze at. One of the world’s most recognizable skyscrapers has been duplicated in Dubai, then duplicated right next to it. Not only does Dubai have two buildings styled after the ...

Later in the evening, Stephen wanted to take us out to an Arabic restaurant for dinner. Nduku asked if it was a fancy restaurant, but Stephen insisted there was nothing special about it. Nduku and I wanted something more, well, different. Something indigenous, more adventurous as far as the environment ...

You know, I used to think that the United Arab Emirates was a part of Saudi Arabia. Seriously. I thought it was a special part of Saudi Arabia set aside as a tourist destination, free from the Wahhabi influence from the main, uh, desert. I mean, who names a country ...

Since Nduku’s sister and brother-in-law had to work, they got us tickets for the hop on hop off Big Bus tour so we can get a little taste of everything Dubai. We caught a cab to Emirates Mall where the indoor ski slope is. Normally the thrill seeker in me ...

When I finally woke up, not sure what time it was nor what time my body thought it was, I went to the bathroom and wasn’t sure if I was seeing double or if there really were two toilets. Or is that a knee-high sink? And what’s up with the ...

It’s been years since my last international flight. Pre-9/11 actually. Back then, though, the traveling abroad was back and forth to Germany where my dad was stationed at Karl Schulz Kaserne in Bremerhaven, of what was then called West Germany. I barely remember the flight back to the states, but ...