Dubai Proper

Hello Friends! 

It's been almost two weeks since my last post as my dear husband whisked me off to Dubai... 

I've always wanted to say "whisked"... 

He accumulated enough miles to bring me along so I could have fun while he worked. 

There is so much to share about this wonderful trip

that I am going to divide a few posts by subject instead of time line. 

Today's subject is mostly about what people wear over there...

A very proper flight attendant from Etihad Airways guided us to our seats. 

Have you heard of this airline? 

Apparently they are the third largest in the world....who knew? 

The flight attendant's uniforms were quite unique... 

I want the company-issued red lipstick....so chic... 

After the flight leveled off, they removed their luminous, white scarves and chapeaus

and donned pinafores and snappy red silk neck scarves... 

Although the flight was 13 hours, it was bearable,

what with screens at each seat where you could view tons of movies,

tv shows, play video games or listen to music. 

Noise cancelling headphone marginally help the scores of screaming kids...

So, back to the dress code... 

We Americans have a pretty basic view of what we think the Middle East is about... 

Where Dubai is concerned, we have no clue.... 

With regard to the dress code, yep, there are plenty of Emeratis

in the traditional white dish-dash and ladies in the black burkhas... 

However, a large proportion of the population are ex-patriots from Asia,

other parts of the Middle East and Western Europe, so anything goes. 

Not once on my trip did I feel like I needed to wear a scarf over my head and shoulders,

but I did pose for one pic to feel "When in Rome"...   

There is a pleasant proper-ness to the UAE, as uniforms are everywhere... 

Cab drivers, construction workers, everyone wears uniforms. 

It's kind of nice.... 

The slobs are the Americans, slogging around in flip flops, baggy shorts and

t shirts that expose fat bellies or butt cracks. 

So not pretty... 

And let me tell ya, never again will I shy away from wearing a bikini... 

Post kids, I have stuck to the one piece/tankini... 

Apparently, the rest of the world missed the memo on common decency... 

No one wears one-piece swim suits, not even the 70 year old, 400 lb Russian nana. 

She is flaunting her stuff on the beach along with her pot-bellied papa wearing his Speedo. 

Oooooo.....not good.   

Then there are the burkhas... 

We saw all states of covering, from head to toe black covering,

even the eyes, to long, colorful tunics with no head covering. 

A lot of the burkhas have sparkly details on the sleeves. 

I saw one very chic lady in a black burkha,

carrying a large, expensive red handbag and wearing some hot shoes... 

You imagine that under that burkha some serious fashion was happening..... 

So I over packed and made a few mistakes (especially in the footwear dept),

but overall, it didn't really matter what I wore. 

It was fine...   

 A friend of ours had an Arabian Nights party last year and I wish I had been to Dubai before then because I saw some rockin' Arabian garments that would have been perfect.  

Next post:  What's to eat in the UAE?