The middle east follows a different weekly schedule than the western world. The work week is generally Saturday through Wednesday, and the weekend is Thursday and Friday. Thursday is actually somewhat of a mix, as some businesses are open to better match the timing of their western partners. Nonetheless, Friday is the holy day in the middle east. In the morning, almost everything is closed until 1:00pm, which is after everyone has gone to the mosque.
While laws are still very Islamic based, prohibiting anything anti-Islam from entering the country, and harsh laws against converting a muslim to another religion, it has become tolerant of other religions and does allow them to practice. Oman is similar in this regard. I imagine Dubai in particular liberalized itself due to its reliance on a huge expat labor force from non-muslim countries.
I thought it would be great to attend a Christian worship service in a non-Christian country on my trip, and in Dubai everything fell into place to do so. I found a 3 different Christian churches-two nondenominational and one Catholic. (No Lutheran churches though….) I attended a service at Holy Trinity in Deira, only a 10 minute drive from my hotel. It was a sizeable church, that seems to have all sorts of things going on. There were probably 400-500 people in the courtyard, but only 200-300 in the service I went into. The style was similar the traditional Lutheran services I grew up in. Liturgical, and organ driven. Attendees were a mix of various ethnicities. I saw Indians, Africans, Anglos, Phillipinos and various other races. It was however, heavier on the Indian side, perhaps 50-60%.
The one thing that truly amazed me, was the volume of the singing. Now perhaps this is due to my Lutheran background, but I’m used to hymns being “sung” where just about all you hear is organ, and the occasional group “ssss” when an s is sung. Not here. Loud. Very loud. It seemed like the congregation was singing with all of their lung power. And its not that the hymns were exceptionally peppy hymns, they weren’t. On top of that, whether it was simply the very poor acoustics, or a poor organist, it seemed liked the music and lyrics weren’t always in sync, but yet the congregation kept the song together on their own. It was a very nice experience worshipping with people of the same faith but living in a vastly different world and environment, especially as it comes to how their religion is viewed once they walk out the church doors.
I believe there was a reception somewhere after the service that I really would have liked to attend, but I needed to rush back to my hotel and check out before noon. I requested an extension, but they said they were very busy today and needed the room quickly.
I didn’t take any pictures of the church, as I felt a little awkward doing that, so if your interested in anything more about it their website is http://www.holytrinitychurchdubai.org/.
I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the rest of my day. I had my free ticket to ride the dhow, which would take up an hour. I figured I’d get something to eat, and perhaps wander the gold souk, and then head over to the wharf.
I wandered the area by my hotel, walking past a restaurant that I walked past once before. The front windows are open, and their grill is right by the window, and it always smelled very good. It was a very local looking restaurant, didn’t at all seem to be trying to attract tourists, (not to mention the section of Deira where my hotel is really didn’t have much of anything for tourists besides the hotel. The street had two types of store fronts: cell phone dealers, and very dingy internet cafes. About 65% cell phones, and 35% internet. And at least 100 total shops between the two types.) The restaurant was Iranian: Layaly Tehran Restaurant. I’ve never had Iranian food, but it smelled darn good, so I went in, and asked if they had English menus. The guy said no problem, and asked me to take a seat. I sat down, and he came over and recited what they had to offer. I chose a chicken curry plate, with white rice.
While laws are still very Islamic based, prohibiting anything anti-Islam from entering the country, and harsh laws against converting a muslim to another religion, it has become tolerant of other religions and does allow them to practice. Oman is similar in this regard. I imagine Dubai in particular liberalized itself due to its reliance on a huge expat labor force from non-muslim countries.
I thought it would be great to attend a Christian worship service in a non-Christian country on my trip, and in Dubai everything fell into place to do so. I found a 3 different Christian churches-two nondenominational and one Catholic. (No Lutheran churches though….) I attended a service at Holy Trinity in Deira, only a 10 minute drive from my hotel. It was a sizeable church, that seems to have all sorts of things going on. There were probably 400-500 people in the courtyard, but only 200-300 in the service I went into. The style was similar the traditional Lutheran services I grew up in. Liturgical, and organ driven. Attendees were a mix of various ethnicities. I saw Indians, Africans, Anglos, Phillipinos and various other races. It was however, heavier on the Indian side, perhaps 50-60%.
The one thing that truly amazed me, was the volume of the singing. Now perhaps this is due to my Lutheran background, but I’m used to hymns being “sung” where just about all you hear is organ, and the occasional group “ssss” when an s is sung. Not here. Loud. Very loud. It seemed like the congregation was singing with all of their lung power. And its not that the hymns were exceptionally peppy hymns, they weren’t. On top of that, whether it was simply the very poor acoustics, or a poor organist, it seemed liked the music and lyrics weren’t always in sync, but yet the congregation kept the song together on their own. It was a very nice experience worshipping with people of the same faith but living in a vastly different world and environment, especially as it comes to how their religion is viewed once they walk out the church doors.
I believe there was a reception somewhere after the service that I really would have liked to attend, but I needed to rush back to my hotel and check out before noon. I requested an extension, but they said they were very busy today and needed the room quickly.
I didn’t take any pictures of the church, as I felt a little awkward doing that, so if your interested in anything more about it their website is http://www.holytrinitychurchdubai.org/.
I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the rest of my day. I had my free ticket to ride the dhow, which would take up an hour. I figured I’d get something to eat, and perhaps wander the gold souk, and then head over to the wharf.
I wandered the area by my hotel, walking past a restaurant that I walked past once before. The front windows are open, and their grill is right by the window, and it always smelled very good. It was a very local looking restaurant, didn’t at all seem to be trying to attract tourists, (not to mention the section of Deira where my hotel is really didn’t have much of anything for tourists besides the hotel. The street had two types of store fronts: cell phone dealers, and very dingy internet cafes. About 65% cell phones, and 35% internet. And at least 100 total shops between the two types.) The restaurant was Iranian: Layaly Tehran Restaurant. I’ve never had Iranian food, but it smelled darn good, so I went in, and asked if they had English menus. The guy said no problem, and asked me to take a seat. I sat down, and he came over and recited what they had to offer. I chose a chicken curry plate, with white rice.
My Lunch Stop
The meal was introduced with a salad just like the Omani one I had in Nizwa. Some sort of stiff, somewhat bitter lettuce (maybe even more of a cabbage…) carrots, and halves of small limes to use as dressing. The chicken and rice was very good. My only complaint (and this is my issue-not the restaurant) is the chunks of chicken were cooked on the bone, so I had to work around those. I’m sure this complaint is no surprise to those who have eaten with me on a few occasions.
Next I went to the Gold Souk, where supposedly you can get the best prices on gold anywhere. I was honestly shopped out, but thought I had to at least look. Apparently it is also a good place to get knock-off purses, watches, bags, and sunglasses. About every 5 feet, someone would approach and whisper, “Rolex watches, coach purses, designer sunglasses.
Gold Souq
I ignored 10 of them or so, but then I heard one hawker say sunglasses. Now I had just misplaced my new sunglasses (near as I can figure I dropped then in a taxi yesterday night-(perhaps related to the multitude of Valentine’s-Day-By-Yourself shots at Long’s Bar), so my ear’s perked up, and he quickly said follow me. Suddenly, I was out of the crowded souq, and being ushered down an empty alley for a couple blocks. Then it was into an open doorway that led to a dark staircase. My guide apologized for the lights not working. Then we climbed a stair case a couple floors. Then we went down a hallway and rang a doorbell. Someone answered the door. The next thing I remember is a door opening, and behind it were thousands of watches, purses, sunglasses, diesel bags, covering every square inch of every wall, a small couch to sit on, a small desk, and a video monitor showing a picture of the hallway outside. I liked very little of what I saw, except for one pair of sunglasses….that maybe I own now….
Window full of Gold
After the gold souq, I meandered through the spice souq. This was useless to me as I don't cook. One merchant with a traditional long muslim beard tried to pull me into his stall, but I told him as such. We got to talking, and he asked if I was german. I told him I was American, and his face lit up, and he exclaimed how happy he was to meet me. As we talked more, he mentioned that he is from Iran. He told me I should go see his country, I said I'd like to, but I didn't think it was safe for me. He agreed. He said he really looked forward to the day when the US and Iran could be friends again. I agreed.
Spice Souq
After this, I continued on a long walk to the dhow wharf. It was about 4:30, and the next boat was at 5:30. I got their at 5, and they ushered me on and embarked right away (still confused on the timing). Very nice, one hour audio guided tour of Dubai creek. And a little more info on the buildings and boats there. Pleasant surprise, once they left the dock, they began serving beer! Score.
Dhows on Dubai Creek
After this trip, I only had a few hours until I thought I should pick up my bags from the hotel and head to the airport, as I knew it would be mobbed.
There was a creekside café that served a wide selection of tropical (although nonalcoholic of course) drinks. They also had a wide array of sheesha selections. I had yet to try this, but they are all over the place, and my guide book says it is part of the Dubai experience, so what the heck. For those no in the “know” a sheesha is essentially what I grew up knowing in slang as a “bong” (only secondhand of course). They put all sorts of flavored tobacco in it, and you sit there and puff on it for quite a while. The pipes that they bring, look just like the one Sammy Davis Jr. had I the Alice and Wonderland live action movie 20 years ago or so.
I chose Strawberry. Definitely interesting. This is actually the first time I’ve every smoked anything meant to be inhaled (I’ve always smoked cigars though…) So it felt rather naughty.
After this trip, I only had a few hours until I thought I should pick up my bags from the hotel and head to the airport, as I knew it would be mobbed.
There was a creekside café that served a wide selection of tropical (although nonalcoholic of course) drinks. They also had a wide array of sheesha selections. I had yet to try this, but they are all over the place, and my guide book says it is part of the Dubai experience, so what the heck. For those no in the “know” a sheesha is essentially what I grew up knowing in slang as a “bong” (only secondhand of course). They put all sorts of flavored tobacco in it, and you sit there and puff on it for quite a while. The pipes that they bring, look just like the one Sammy Davis Jr. had I the Alice and Wonderland live action movie 20 years ago or so.
I chose Strawberry. Definitely interesting. This is actually the first time I’ve every smoked anything meant to be inhaled (I’ve always smoked cigars though…) So it felt rather naughty.
I think this was the first time in the last 3 weeks that I just sat and did nothing. I watched the boats pass on the creek. I watched the people pass on the sidewalk, and I enjoyed my sheesha. At about 8:00, I decided I better pick up my bags and head to the airport.
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