First notes from Dubai - Dec 2017

Random thoughts from the first day of the Dubai trip -

• ​English is very widespread in Dubai, much more so than Japan - but it has been tough to understand the spoken English at times here.
• I flew Emirates air to Dubai. I wasn’t as overwhelmed by the airline as I thought I would be. The seats were actually very small with almost no legroom. ANA, which flys from Tokyo to Chicago, was much better. But, Emirates food was pretty decent.

Dinner on Emirates

• Visited a Mosque that had a cultural demonstration. Some points learned -
  • Women will typically wear black because it allows them to wear thinner material than if they wore white. If they wore white, they’d need to wear a thicker material in order to prevent it from being see-thru.
  • You’ll also see women wear a face covering for several reasons - one is that it’s a religious choice that helps the woman feel closer to God. The speaker compared it to a Christian wearing a cross.
  • Overall, modest dress is encouraged, for which the full covering allows. Further, belief is that beauty comes from the head and more specifically the hair, so Muslim women will typically cover their hair.
  • One of the pillars of Islam is charity, which requires that followers engage in acts of charity. The rule given here is that a Muslim must contribute 2.5% of his/her savings to charity which must go directly to someone in need. If they don’t know of any one in serious need of charity, they give the money to an actual charity with the instructions that the money be given to someone who has an immediate need.
  • Pilgrimage to Mecca - required if you have the means to do so. You are not to take a bank loan or borrow money in order to take your pilgrimage.
  • Islam and Christianity share a lot of the same key figures. Moses, Abraham and Noah were ones mentioned.
• Subway system was very clean with a specific set of rules/fines to be aware of. There’s no chewing gum on the metro!