Dubai – September 2021 – Part 1
Until the day of my flight to the United Arab Emirates I didn’t really believe that it was happening. I have been offered the position in the communications team at the Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai back in March. However, due to the pandemic, contracts were delayed and the whole process leading up to our departure was kind of messy. But here we are. My parents drop me off at Zurich Airport, I check-in for the flight and drop off my 36 kg of luggage (fortunately they don’t make me pay for the extra 6kg).
The first person I meet at the departure gate is Alina. We already got to know each other during a team Zoom call a couple weeks before and immediately get talking. We realize that we’re not only going to work but actually also live together. While we wonder who the third person in our apartment might be, a voice from behind us asks if we’re also going to be working for the Swiss Pavilion. It’s Janis, who’s in the Guest Relations team. And so during the course of the journey, I meet more and more of my future colleagues.
Sitting next to me on the plane is Liana, also from the Guest Relations team. We spend the flight talking between watching movies and I learn that she hasn’t figured out her apartment number yet. After landing, we walk through the whole of Dubai airport together. On the way, we gather more and more pavilion staff. We’re all a bit unsure about entering the country with a work visa which might or might not be existing yet. But all of us pass the check by the men in Kendoras and we proceed to the baggage area.
Once we make it to the Arrival hall, it’s already 1 am. Of course the girl who picks us up is standing at the very end of the line and we have to walk yet another mile or so. But, Chiara is the minder of the secret of whom we will be living with, so we stay humble. Liana and I are both pleasantly surprised when we learn that we’re actually going to share an apartment. And so we stay together while walking out of the air-conditioned Arrival hall into the heat of this late summer night.
When we finally make it to the bus which is waiting for us in a distant parking lot, we drop our bags for the driver to stuff into the luggage space and find 2 seats in the back. I spot Alina boarding the bus soon after and call out: “I’ve found the missing roommate! And guess what, she’s half Egyptian!”. As Alina has spent a few years working in Cairo, this is an immediate conversation starter and we don’t stop talking during the whole bus ride (and for the weeks to come).
Of course, we’re the last apartment to complete our check-in at the Expo Village as we’re still caught up talking and giggling – by now only running on sleep deprivation. We take the (still unfinished) elevator up to the 4th floor and are at first a bit bewildered by the sterile, hotel-like look of the hallway. But once we enter Apt. 406, we’re blown away by the huge kitchen and living room as well as the fact that we actually have a bathroom each. In retrospect we were probably acting like contestants at the Bachelor when they enter the villa they stay at for the show haha. When the porter brings up our suitcases, we finally decide it’s time to go to bed.
Meeting point for the next morning’s getting-to-know-each-other gathering is down at our residence’s pool(!). Tho it’s only 9am, it’s already scorchingly hot. While the circus tent shaped canvas over the playground protects us from the sun, it also keeps in the humid Dubai air. The group is split in two and set up in two circles. The idea is, that the people in the inner circle rotate every 5 minutes, while the outer circle stays in it’s place. After the second 5-minute conversation with one of our new colleagues, we’re already covered in sweat. So the second game is kept short and we soon after can head back to our air-conditioned apartments for lunch (and a quick shower or nap).
Head over to part 2 in which I introduce you to Expo 2020 Dubai and our first outing to downtown Dubai.
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