It's an odd place, Dubai. It could be LA or Phoenix, except that the buildings are taller and more futuristic. Only a tenth of the population is native Emirati. They're the guys in the spotless white dish-dashes, and the women in their black abayas -- their heads covered; though their faces not necessarily veiled. All the rest – from cabbies to store clerks to contractors – come from someplace else: India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Eastern Europe, the USA, and Canada. We were there for a week last May, waiting to catch a ship bound for Istanbul via the Suez Canal. We stayed in Bur Dubai, an older neighborhood on the west bank of Dubai Creek. Our hotel, The Arabian Courtyard, was situated just across from the Dubai Museum and Cultural Center where,
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