I arrived in Dubai and hour later than planned due to a late take off in New York. Geoff (an old friend from high school who lives in Dubai) had invited me for a visit and had given me directions to his apartment. He is a pliot for Emirates Airlines and they provide accomodation for all their foreign staff...crazy nice accommodation too!! Once I was through customs in the ridiculously spacious Dubai international airport, I found my way to the taxi ranks outside. In Dubai there are three different cues for taxis: for men, for foreigners and families, and for women. The women's taxis are pink and are driven by women....pretty cool for a country where women's rights are questionable. After a 20 minute ride, I arrived at Geoff's tower of an apartment building and went up to the 20 somethingth floor. It was great to reconnect with Geoff after 15 years!!! crazy. We chatted and caught up on what we've been doing all this time and he showed me the view from his balcony which was quite something. We could see the tallest building in the world from there...which was weird to tell you the truth. It was a thin spindly building (I guess I need to get a little closer to it to really appreciate it). Geoff was saying that most of it is rebar and concrete but that when they tried to pour concrete for the top little bit (several storeys) there was complications with the concrete due to the change in atmospheric pressure...So, they had to build the remainder out of steel. (Was it really that worth it?)
After great chats, good wine, and a short sleep, I woke early the next morning and made my way to the airport to check in for my flight to Cape Town. As noted in my last entry, the airport was really busy at 7:30am and after an hour walking back and forth looking for something reasonable to eat I boarded my plane for Cape Town.
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