Visiting & "Working" in Dubai

Everyone told me that Dubai was impressing, amazing, astonishing... even someone used the word "awesome"... WHAAAAT????? Or at least I should say "my whaaat???"

As for the previous business trip in South Africa, this one in Dubai came after one week. So I had the time to wash my summer clothes, take my cap and of course... the protection cream!!! And on Sunday the 18th of February I took my flight to Dubai (United Arab Emirates). I landed the next day and first thing: veeeeeeerrrryyyy hooooot!!!! Travelling like that during the wet and cold winter season makes time go by faster.
I took the first cab available to my hotel and first problem: the taxi driver didn't know where my hotel was! I had already discovered the first lesson: new buildings (hotels, malls, appartments, parks...) are built in this city at the speed of light!!!! So he lied to me and threw me out of the cab at a point (where of course... I didn't understand the pannels). I had to ask to 10 people for the hotel and finally, I found another taxi driver that had to pick up a customer at that hotel.

Once I was there I visited the Old Town, not very far from where I was staying. And I took a little wooden boat to cross the Dubai Creek. Take a look by yourselves on the kind of boat that I was! lol
On the other side of the creek, the old town was expecting me with all the different quarters, each one specialized ina different product: the aromathic species that filled in all the streets with sweet, sour, deep flavours; the loooong silken rolls with thousand of different colours and textures...
For the next 4 days I worked a little bit and we went to have dinner in fancy restaurants, having gin-tonics in fashion&chic clubs, huuuuge malls with ski resorts inside and all the American and European brands, ... You get the impression that everything is artificial (which it actually is).
So if you go to Dubai don't imagine the kind of cultural trip with lots of museums, beautiful places, small quarters with charming coins, ...

As I told everyone Dubai is a city with huge contrasts: wealth... and poorness, desert and lots of fountains, huge buildings and small little apartments, a 50 km. city with residential zones and lots of buildings that are still to be built, clubs with the most international DJ's and people listening to their stereos in the street...

Plou a Girona...

Coses de la vida... ja ho diuen ja, que "a l'abril, aigües mil".
Aigües que venen de la pluja, del mar, de l'oceà gèlid, del llac omplert per la neu que fon després d'un hivern dur i fred, del glaciar, dels vapors dels geisers, del riu, de l'osasis... del fons del cor


Tempesta

Puc sobreviure amb poca cosa, i ara,
quan preveig que l'oratge portarà
perfums tal volta torbadors, m'aclofo
per oferir un xic més de resistència.
Del desamor que em ronda, algu, llunyà
com l'ull remot del temps, se n'aprofita
per inventar-se un amor fet a mida.
Es bo complaure, i és cansat. Tants limits
per transgredir agoten les paraules.
Trec el cap al carrer i ningu m'hi espera.
Ara passa més gent pel pont i em sembla
que tots estan molt més atrafegats
que anys endarrera. Fa molt temps que trona
pel canto de ponen, pero el gran xàfec
no arriba mai. Tancaré amb pany i clau
el calaix dels projectes. Tant se val
que em comparteixi amb mi mateix per si
no hi ha esperança, ni retorn, ni ruta.

Miquel Marti i Pol


Sort que després de cada tempesta... un raig de sol il.lumina qualsevol raco.