Vacation, Day One: Dispatch from Room Cero Cero

Detail of the cathedral

I woke up very, very, very late. As late as I used to habitually wake up when I worked in a bar. It was wonderful, even though my feet were cold. This cheap hostel I’ve found, right in the middle of old Seville, does not have heat. My room is the size of a jail cell. I have a sink, but no toilet. That, and the shower (hot water, thank God), are down the hall. It suites my needs and actually reminds me of the circumstances I lived in while working in Antigua, Guatemala. This place smells better, however.

More detail on yesterday: the Americans I met immediately after disembarking my cab were two 20-year-old college girls. One turned 21 that night, hence me meeting all the friends showing up for the bash. I felt like the old guy in the club, but they were all very nice. The place we drank in has live traditional music and Flamenco dancing. It was packed. With Americans. Surprisingly, quite a number of locals decide to go there anyway. Maybe Seville isn’t as anti-American as I’d thought most of Spain has gradually turned, probably due to the revenue all the language students bring in.


North side of Cathedral

On to today: I went on a walkabout (once I got out of bed). Basically, I circumnavigated the old city, first looking for a place I’d heard had wireless, then walking back along the river once I found that said place did not open until the evening. While walking along the river (I must say, Southville’s is better), I met another American girl, jogging, who gave me some better advice in getting wired. This place is right across from the cathedral. Checked e-mail and Jabbered (inter-office instant messaging) with co-workers. It is amazing that stuff like that works instantly, even trans-Atlantic.


my hostel is the second down the row

(A note on walking in the old, old city of Seville: things are cramped. If you are claustrophopic, don’t come here. Many of these blocks are so closely spaced that you feel like you are in a large building, except the hallways have no roof, and cars and scooters occasionally drive through them. Oh, and the hallways don’t meet at right angles like they should.)

I returned to my hostel to shower. I could not do this before, as I had no soap or shampoo, which I bought on walkabout. There are no amenities here. It’s ok, I like being self-sufficient. I also fixed my shoe. Part of it had separated. Super-glue, bought with the cleaning products, fixed this. J. Crew, improve the quality of your materials.


Some King

I ate a dinner of tapas at a nearby establishment, then went to check e-mail again. After that I went to a grocery store. Met yet another American. As it was getting dark, I asked advice on where to go this evening. He told me. I’ll tell you later if the advice was good.

Back in my hostel room, I have a little one-man international party. I drink Russian vodka (Stoli), purchased in an Emirati airport duty-free, mixed with Spanish O.J. (Don Simon), and read a Brit current events mag (The Economist, best of the best). I am SO cosmopolitan. Now I write on a computer probably assembled in Asia somewhere. Tune in next time for the update on this evening’s adventures, and whether or not I actually decide to go anywhere else but Seville on my vacation.


Cathedral

P.S.
The Spanish is coming back. Feels good. I’ll need it for the fair in Madrid coming up.

Travel-o-rama (Day 23)

Flight from Dubai to Istanbul.

Flight from Istanbul to Madrid: Begin Vacation Time.

Bus from airport to the hotel I will be staying at in a few days. Here I grab clothes I'll need on my vacation travel out of my wet suitcase (Damn Turks left it on the tarmac while it was raining) then leave the rest in storage. I also send a packet of stuff back to my university.

Metro across town to train station.

Train through Cordoba to Seville. This place has a serious American college student infestation. I quickly make friends with some I meet after a cab drops me in the center of town. They help me find a cheap hostel and a cool bar. I meet dozens more Americans and drink all night without any worries of having anything to do in the morning. It is wonderful. Pics and such later. I will also be adding some to the previous entry, so re-check it also.

Modern Babylon (Day 21 & 22)

That famous hotel, the Buj Al-Arab. Seven stars. 50 bucks just to walk in the door.

At breakfast, I notice our hotel is overrun with Euro-trash. Seriously, by their dress, it’s obvious that none of them caught on to the fact that the Ali G show is a joke.

I notice this because I sleep in, still feeling sick. I feel good enough to catch a cab and meet the group at the second of three school visits. I’m happy to hear I missed nothing at #1. After number two and three, we head over to the American consulate, where we are subjected to much security and then given another briefing about how they are now doing much better with issuing visas quickly to students.


1

I take a nap before dinner. We all meet down in the lobby at 8pm and decide to go to the Terrace restaurant within some big hotel complex. It is a huge, gourmet buffet. How could it be anything other than bigger and better in Dubai? Good time for a segue…

OBSERVATIONS:

Dubai. How to describe it? If there is one city you must truly see to believe, this is it. To even try to convey what it is like, I must resort to many fictional and semi-fictional pop-culture contrivances…


2

The Architecture: T.R.O.N. and Metropolis beget a bastard child on the edge of the Arabian desert. Included: Three palm-shaped island communities jutting into the Gulf (plus one shaped like a map of the world); A five-star hotel entirely underwater; Forty-five towers being built along the beach, all at once; A mall with a ski-slope inside; Foundations of the world’s tallest building. They won’t say how high, because they don’t want to give the competition (NYC) a target to beat.

The Social Atmosphere: Jabba the Hutt’s Star Wars hover-ship smashed up with a Sting video. Rather than bizarre races from distant stars, you have a mélange of races from all nations, each speaking their own brand of English, along with various native tongues. Regardless of national origin or social class, everyone knows how to dress (except the Euro-trash tourists in my hotel).


3

Transportation: European roundabouts and feeder roads on an American scale. Massive amounts of cars never having to stop at a light, yet going way out of their way to reach a destination in eyesight, all navigating through double-digit lanes. “Look Rusty, the Burj al-Arab.”

Prices: Predictably inflated, but somehow oddly justified. This is not the same as being trapped in an airport or movie theatre. Being gouged is the only sane thing happening here.

Religion: $ $ $ $ $
I don’t know how the mullahs across the Gulf can call America the Great Satan, the Corrupter of Islam, and keep a straight face, when Dubai is in their backyard.

Slavery: Legitimized by capitalism. Actually, more like indentured servitude. After all, it’s their choice to leave Bulgaria or the Philippines under iron-clad contract and come here to work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, right? When the masses revolt, it will be a mess. Native Emiratis only compromise around 15% of the population, and they wear dresses. Spartans would cringe.

Future: my prediction is that the city-state of Dubai will leave fantastic ruins that will someday be confusingly excavated by either a post-apocalyptic human civilization or interstellar intelligent beings many, many millennia from now, wondering what the hell could have possibly been going on here to produce an amount of conspicuous construction not seen since the Pyramids, the Hanging Gardens, and the Colossus of Rhodes.


Back to who, what, when, and where. After dinner most of the other reps are catching a flight to Baku, Azerbyzan, so we say our goodbyes. Nasser, who lives in Dubai, is staying, so we hit the hotel bar for a drink. After this he takes me on a tour of all his favorite Dubai watering holes. At one, inside the Inter-Continental Hotel, we see three Filipina singers that make all previous Filipina singers look like crappy tribute bands. I am smitten. We end the night at a birthday bash at another hotel bar (as you can tell, lots of bars are located inside hotels). We stay with the Filipino theme. There are hundreds of them here. Nasser knows a lot of these guys through frequenting the spots where they work. He seems to have dated most of the females. Then to bed.


Nasser's pad in Dubai

Up in the morning for one last school visit that I set up myself. Dubai College – A Brit system secondary school. I get a student led tour, and have lunch with members of the faculty. I think I’ll end up getting some kids from here with a bit of diligent follow-up.

From the school I go to Nasser’s apartment to mooch off his wireless and do laundry for free. Thank God. I was wearing my last undershirt and pair of boxers. We both do catch-up work for several hours, until his internet connection mysteriously cuts out. It was time for another drink anyhow. This time we go to Wafi City, a huge mall, where I can first get wireless at a café and wrap up a few loose ends. We then navigate a warren of inter-connected restaurants and bars, finally settling on the first one we originally walked into. There is a great band and a favorable guy-girl ratio. I actually spark up a promising conversation with a dark-skinned beauty from Birmingham, England, but of course I have a 3:30am plane to catch and we have to leave. Nasser takes me back by my hotel to check out and then to the airport.

My Head Hurts, My Clothes Stink, and I Don’t Love Jesus (Day 20)

The title, by the way, is a rip from a lesser-known Jimmy Buffet song (he says “feet stink”).

Wow, I really felt bad when I woke up. This cold I've been fighting to a stalemate for the past few days has finally overtaken me. Headache? Check. Sore throat? Check. Icky green snot? Check. I get some drugs from Nasser and take twice the recommended dosage. In a few hours I feel much, much better. Maybe now that this sickness has knocked me down, it will go away.

I'm also almost out of clean clothes. It is WAY expensive to have the hotel do it here ($3 for a pair of socks!), so I am holding out until Dubai to see if it is cheaper there.

We have another late flight out. As we have to go ahead and check out of the hotel, this necessitates a lot of sitting around in the lobby and in the airport. Novotel, our lodging in Dubai, is European shi-shi to the max.

Oman, or Middle East: the Movie (Day 19)

So we get up. Honestly, one good look at the beach, in the morning light, tells me this is where the Mid East meets the Caribbean. This is the Hollywood version of the Middle East. Rugged hills, sleepy town, etc, etc...


His highness

The school we go to is impressive. These kids are young, but know what they are looking for (even at 7th!). These are the ones that impress you and keep you on your toes at the same time. I feel good about it even though it is not swamped.


The ruggedness

We go back to the hotel. I actually go for a run on the beach. So proud. It has been so long.


The starkness

The fair is better that anyone imagined. Joseph went all out with the ads in local newspapers. I’d say it was 50%, 50%, Indian and Omani attendees. Afterwards we all go to eat at the hotel grill.


The playfulness


The inlaid mapness

The Rain in Bahrain Falls Mainly on the Plane…(Day 18)

Woke up to rain. Yes, rain. Crazy, man. That’s like snow in Southville.

Other than rain, one more thing was weird today. In the airport, I randomly ran into Babish, the guide from my previous Mid East tour with ISN. We chatted and agreed to meet up in Dubai, where he is moving.

We got in after midnight. Our hotel is magnificent (see pics). Early school visit, so straight to bed.