Dubai

Dubai. Let's talk about Dubai, specifically the region of Jebel Ali.
First off finding it on your map indicated the precarious location of this particular port visit, and it's been an interesting one. I haven't really been able to write about it until now, since we've already left it behind us and have moved on. In order to get to this port, we had to travel through what is known as "the straights of ??????" and it a tight, dangerous section of water for us to go through. Tensions were high around combat all night, and as the ships defense systems tech/operator, let me tell you it was a long night and one where we were all very alert. However other than the occasional odd vessel trailing us, we made it through clean and with no issues at all, and into the main gulf of this region. The day we were to pull into port, the admiral came over the ship's announcement system, and told us that due to a threat that was discovered, our port visit would be delayed 24hrs, or cancelled all together. So, my first impressions was not very good let me assure you. However about 24hrs later, we did decide to pull in.
The first thing I noticed about this area is the heat. And saying this place is hot is like saying the ocean has some water in it, it's pretty much the understatement of a lifetime. It's insane how hot it is here, and isn't something you can understand till you get here, especially on a massive ship made of solid steel. Average temp while we were in port was 110degrees during the day and 92degrees at night. Good stuff. Due to a religious holiday known as Ramadan, our dress code and conduct is very strict over here. No shorts out in town (that's right long pants
only) and other things like you can't show the bottoms of your shoes in public. This was hard for me, cause normally when I sit down, I prop my ankle up on my knees like a normal person, but that's a major no no and people get very angry about it. Things like that.

So, first day out, here we go. We were all a little nervous about leaving our base and going out in town both because of where we are, and the perceived threat against us before hand. So when my friends and I got on the little weird bus that takes us to town, we were all wary.
About halfway, traffic slowed dramatically and we were nearing an overpass. One of my friends pointed and jokingly said hey man, think we have reason to be nervous? So I look where he's pointing and there is a small group of local men gathered on the overpass directly above the road. So everyone on the bus is looking around, and the same friend stands up and loudly says, "dude there's a body in the road". He repeats, shocked, and we all start looking around and trying to see what he's talking about. Sure enough as the bus drives by, there is a dead body in the road, and yes a human body. He was a local man with no shoes, and there's no way he was hit by a car crossing the road. Due to the massive amount of construction going on EVERYWHERE, the roads are mostly fenced up real high so no one can cross it on foot. The only way for this guy to be there is if he came from the overpass onto the road, or if someone pushed him out of the car while they were driving down the road. There was blood everywhere and it was really quite graphic. The thing that struck me the most, was the fact that all the cars were just driving around like there was some trash in the road they didn't want to hit with their cars and just continuing on. It was only a traffic delay of 1 or 2 minutes. Tell me a dead body in the middle of the road in the states only caused a delay of a few minutes in traffic and I'll call you a crazy person. So we just drove on. After that tension in the bus was really high and some of us were considering going back to the ship. We didn't however, and continued driving through construction land. I swear this whole country is under construction.

We decided to hit the mall and do some shopping. We picked the biggest one we could find. Calling this place a mall is like calling North America an island. This place was massive. For those of you in Nashville, imagine Opry Mills. Double that, and then make it go up 4 floors. Then make the outside look like the Taj Majal but with no budget limits. That was this "mall". The "food court" was more of a megaplex of actual restaurants. It had the biggest and baddest movie theater I've ever seen. It had a bowling alley, an amusement park and an indoor ski slope. That's right, indoor skiing, like on ski's....with snow.....and a ski lift.....indoors.... We had lunch at TGI Fridays and our booth looked right out over the slopes. I got some cool pictures of that. It was crazy. (Oh yeah as a side note, I'm not a big drinker, but I like to drink now and then. They don't serve alcohol here. By here, I mean this country. You want alcohol, you buy it from a liquor store, which has armed guards out front and you have to have a special license to get in... All the drinks at TGI Fridays were non-alcoholic including the beer and margaritas. Anyway back to the mall..) Now think of every single major store / designer you can think of and give it the biggest store they could use to sell their stuff. Dolce and Gabbana, Kate Spade, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton, Etc. That was the ground floor. Let's see what's on the first floor shall we? More restaurants and so many little stores it was unbelievable. We spent the entire day in this one mall, we did everything in that one place. Also worth noting, is that out of all the ports I've hit and all the places I've seen, Dubai has the most gorgeous women ever. I mean it's ridiculous. Next time instead of a collared shirt I'm just going to tie a bib around my neck and hope for the best cause, uh, wow. Wasn't expecting that. It was also the most diverse group of people I've seen.
In other countries, it's mostly local people with a good mix of others.
Japan was the most diverse until now. It was much more Americanized that I expected as well, lots of British and Swedish people here. Dunno why Swedish, but there were. We found a "grocery store" and by grocery store of course I mean household goods spread across an area equivalent to the surface of the planet Jupiter. They had little stands at the ends of some of the aisles giving away samples. Well there was this one stand that was more of a permanent addition, and they were giving away Swiss Chocolate, the people behind the counter were actually Swiss, like, they came from Switzerland with their chocolate to sell in this mall. I had 6 samples and proposed marriage to the woman working the counter before my friends dragged me away. This place is loaded. The entire mall was marble inside from floor to ceiling, there were fountains everywhere with water dances and lighting all the time, fire bursting up through the water in time with music. These people can shop.

After it started getting late, we noticed an influx of what we called "the turban people" and so we felt very outnumbered. So we left a little earlier than we planned and came back to the ship. I didn't buy as much stuff as I wanted to, mainly because I can't manufacture pure gold from the oils in my skin and so couldn't afford hardly anything I wanted. I did manage to get my nephew a birthday present tho! So we left and came back to base, otherwise known as "the sandbox". There are a few vendors inside the sandbox, and we had DJ Scribble fly in from New York and DJ for us all night, so we danced and drank the only alcohol in the country until early in the morning, then came back to the ship and slept in the AC. The next day and a half I was on security detail, and let me tell you again about the heat. Full cami uniforms with sleeves rolled down around the wrists, full flak jacket and carrying a 9mm and an
M16 all day you get hot. I have a new respect for our Marines out here who carry more gear than we do and who actually work here day in and day out and don't get to pull out after a 4 day port call. It's amazing.
We had a bunch of Marines on base helping us with our security detail and they are all awesome, it was humbling working with them. Quite a group of men and women we have serving over here. I was proud to be working with them. So over the next day and a half for this port I broke up a few fights, one big fight and arrested a few people. It was a pretty busy port, people get a little wild when we don't hit a port for awhile, and this was no exception.

Well that's all for now, headed off to my next destination on our way back to the states. It's been a long deployment and I'm ready for it to wrap up.

-Wilson