Burj Khalifa says F*&ck You.

To be a tourist in your own city is one thing, to be a tourist in a city that has adopted you is another.  I have lived in Dubai since March 2009, a bad time, a time when layoffs and salary delays were common, jobs were scarce, abandoned cars were plenty and the Burj Dubai (now the mighty Burj Khalifa) was pending completion, with rumors that Dubai, the once glittering promising metropolis was sinking in debt. It wasn't really the most ideal time to look around aside from the fact that my early paychecks could not afford going on tours (this was during pre-Cobone and Groupon discount voucher deals).

I spent most of my time working. The Burj Khalifa was eventually completed, the metro was finally up and running, and things started to bustle again. I got a new job, I did get to go around more often than usual, but I no longer had the "tourist eyes". You know those fresh eyes that light up with wonder upon seeing something for the first time?  I was a semi-local, and pretty soon the Burj was just another tall building and the Dubai Mall was just another tiring walk, everything in the city was becoming a hyperbole bore, with only one exception, - the Dubai Fountain, swaying to Bocelli, that's the one thing that never fails to amaze my jaded city heart.

So this year,  as it was bound to happen, I had to play tour guide to a visiting friend and pretend that I know my city. It was the week before the big EXpo 2020 announcement and UAE National Day so there couldn't be any better time to get to know Dubai.

Golden City Dubai, as seen from the Dubai Metro.

My favorite building - the Twister at the Dubai Marina. 

A view of business bay from the Atlantis Monorail. 

Sunset at Jumeirah Open Beach.

From Jebel Ali to Rashidiya, Old Town to New Town,  from Burj Khalifa, to the Atlantis, from Irish Village to Global Village, from Souk Madinat to Bastakiya, we went to explore every nook and canny, with me struggling to explain the way of life, picking up interesting realizations along the way.

These walls could talk. Anonymous Grafitti artist "Arcadia blank"
captures the inner city soul.

Every day a different story, every day the city that I had grown indifferent to was looking better. I was like this bored boyfriend who was suddenly seeing how lucky he is to be with a nice beautiful girl everyone would want to have.

Of course Dubai is not without its faults - the silly rules, the annoying people, the expensive arrogance and daily luxuries, the lack of alcohol, real music and street life, but overall there is just this unique air of confidence, this overwhelming sense of pride coming from an accomplished, self-made, half-crazy, half-obsessed City who beat the desert odds.

Airshow at the Dubai Marina
celebrating Dubai's 42nd anniversary and Expo 2020 win. 

Young Camel Dancers chilling outside before the show.

What is Dubai if doesn't have a Gold Plated Mercedes
parked outside the Mall ? 

Dubai and the whole UAE may just be 42 and way too young to be in the 1^st world champion league, but what it lacked in history and experience it certainly made up in steel determination and discreet charm. I think of the UAE and of Dubai, and I think of Leo Di Caprio in Titanic or The Wolf of Wall Street. I see a young and ambitious first-time Wall-street hack daring to make a million on his first year, with many people envious and challenging, waiting for him to fail, but he goes around making it happen anyway.

I heard an old joke before that the BurjKhalifa is middle finger of the UAE. After winning the Expo 2020, I think it could very well be that fitting gesture from the Middle East to the rest of the world - and maybe, just maybe, there is rock and roll in this town after all.