Article by Sarakshi Rai and photographs by Bernie Debusmann “Alhamdulillah! Badiya! Shahbash!” are just some of the words you can hear being yelled by a crowd of Pakistani expats gathered in a field in Deira at 5:30 PM on a Friday evening. Citizens from Pakistan usually come together on Friday to battle it out on … Continue reading
Article By Bernie Debusmann Dubai means many things to many people. There is the Dubai of the Burj Khalifa, of seven-star resorts, of drunken western tourists and of rich young Arab men with expensive cars and pet lions. There are the vibrant neighborhoods of Dubai’s largest diaspora communities, where you are more likely to hear … Continue reading
Merchants In One Of Dubai’s Souqs Photo by Eleonora Giuliani Continue reading
On my return to California from Afghanistan, I had a layover in Dubai. So, I decided to extend that layover to a week and explore the U.A.E. And I can tell you exactly why. Not long after graduating from high school, I was in a used book store and came across a 1970s novel about … Continue reading
It feels a little schizophrenic to travel from a war zone in Afghanistan where there were literally firefights in the street when I was leaving (more on that in future posts) to shopping for expensive clothing and hanging out at an ice bar in Dubai just a few hours later… Fortunately, embracing such ambiguities in … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 