It’s been nearly 3 years since I moved to Dubai. Coming from the West, it was pretty easy to cope with “Dubayy’s culture”, initially.
Or so I thought! The first One year, or as one would call it “the honeymoon” phase felt good. I enjoyed the city’s shopping malls, beaches, nightclubs & the likes. At the end of it, harsh reality hit me when the money crunch bit me!! Sky-rocketing rents, damn expensive transportation, plus a long list of miscellaneous bills. Talk of burning a hole in the pocket, ha!
The culture shock came a year down, after the ‘feel good’; I became aware of a certain trend ‘barter’ system which I grew to hate. People were ambitious, avaricious & cut-throat; willing to bend any which way and break every rule to get ahead or get material gain. This city was the height of ‘Impersonal’, where nobody helps, nobody cared, nobody gave a damn for anybody else. Call it just the ‘way of the world’ but when vital things like jobs went through reference-only, it sucked big time!
For a young person like myself, with true potential; I wasn’t willing to compromise my dignity & Dubai became too much to take. I’d just say ‘overwhelming’.
The cut-off began thereafter; I distanced myself from most people, & kept just a few true friends. I got focused in my job & closed my eyes on the surroundings, didn’t compare who else was doing God-knows what else, I minded my own business.
Today, I’m just surviving. I guess part of the 30% Dubai population who take this path apart from rest of the whole bunch who are called “successful” though riding on someone else’s shoulders. But, I will add, when I walk around town or I’m at the mall, anywhere public, I am impersonal too, even at the office.
I guess I also got TDS- ‘Typically Dubai Syndrome’ & well the only place I find comfort in is the space I call home, my lil apartment in one of the world’s trickiest metropolises. How Typical is that!
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This article has been submitted by Chanel Faym.