Dubai – December 2021
On 2 December 2021, the United Arab Emirates celebrate the 50th anniversary of the union of the 6 emirates Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Fujairah, Um Al Quwain and Ajman. I am lucky enough to be living in Dubai during this monumental milestone for the young country. And even weeks before the actual celebrations, it’s impossible to escape the anticipation. As the government (e.g. the royal family) is doing the utmost to bring as many people as possible to Expo 2020, and the place is laid out to welcome hundred of thousands of visitors, it’s a no-brainer to hold the main festivities there. Ah, and to mark the occasion, the tickets on the day are given out for free.
For me, this means that basically, the majority of the UAE’s population is coming to my workplace. And this on my last day of work before a desperately needed vacation. Only the imagination of what this day would be like was enough to get me sick the evening before. I let my boss know I wouldn’t be able to work and got a good night’s sleep. In the afternoon of the next day, I was feeling a lot better. Having seen videos of the insane amount of people on the Expo site, and with my boss already not counting on me, I am definitely not going to go into the office. I remember a friend from Switzerland telling me about a Rugby tournament she was playing at that day. So, I text another colleague who is also off today and ask if she wanted to go. Coincidentally, she was going to go there anyway, because her cousin is playing too.
So, a half hour later we are in her car, driving out to the Dubai Rugby Sevens stadium which is located in the middle of the desert. We pass the place where we were stuck in the desert a few weeks before and make a pit stop at the Motorcity African Eastern store to buy some beers and rum according to friends’ requests. Buying alcohol is a hassle in the UAE and whenever someone gets their hands on a car and drives somewhere with a liquor store, a collective list is made. With a good stock of booze in the boot, we continue our journey into the desert. And suddenly it appears in the middle of nowhere, just off the Dubai – Al Ain Road. The Sevens Stadium. The poly sports stadium’s premises are lined with high palm trees, and the giant floodlight installations can be seen from far away.
After almost driving around the whole site, we finally find the enormous parking area. There are no individual parking spots marked on the plain sand. However, most cars are parked in a somewhat orderly chequerboard manner. We lock the car and can only hope to find it again when we‘re heading back later because there is no way of pinpointing its location. The walk in the sun from our car to the entrance of the stadium takes us a good 10 minutes. On the way, we spot the UAE’s usual huge pickup trucks. The only thing missing is the big families who usually own these cars. Thinking that everyone is watching the games, we make it to the entrance, where we have to simply show the online ticket confirmation to the security guards. They don‘t ask us about covid vaccines like it‘s usually done. And it‘s here that we spot the first rugby fans.
We soon notice that the crowd is very international. There are no abayas and kanduras in sight, and the majority of people are holding onto a refreshing beer. While we see people from everywhere at Expo every single day, the sheer amount of foreigners dressed in short clothing is a small culture shock for us to say the least. As my friend is playing first, we ask around for the women’s game. Conveniently located close to the entrance, we soon find the pitch and witness the Swiss team‘s defeat to the French. The girls aren‘t as sad as one would expect, though. They say they are here just for the fun of it and don‘t care about winning. So it‘s not surprising that they are more interested in finding the next bar that sells beer, rather than reminiscing over the lost game.
Well hydrated, we find a spot in the shade from where we can watch the next game, which is professional men‘s one. Nubya and I absorb all the girl‘s rugby knowledge, so we can brag later at her cousin‘s game, in exchange for insights into the Expo life and Dubai. It‘s good to be talking to people outside the bubble we live in, to get some neutral perspectives. But when we show them the videos our colleagues are sending us of the national day events on the site, we all agree that it‘s better to be here today. When the girls finally get ready for their next game, Nubya and I head over to the next pitch, where her aunt and uncle are already cheering on their son‘s team. And so we move on from the Swiss tourist crowd to the Dubai expat community.
Amidst the international crowd of Swiss, Bolivian, US-American, British, South African, and New Zealand parents supporting their kids who grew up here, we watch Nubya‘s cousin win one game after the other. Even though all of them have been living in the UAE for several years, nobody seems to be too sad to miss out on the national day celebrations. And when asked if they have visited Expo 2020 yet, most say no. They wanted to avoid the crowds during the opening day and felt like they still had enough time to visit until it was closing in a few months’ time. Nubya and I promise everyone to provide them with fast access and a private guided tour of the Swiss pavilion if they come to visit and give our personal opinion on the must-see attractions on the site.
A little hungry, we go on the hunt for some food in between games. What we find doesn‘t quite surprise us, but we chuckle a little. It‘s a small food court with stands that sell burgers, German sausage, sauerkraut, fries, hot dogs, and sweets. None of it has anything to do with Middle Eastern cuisine, and most of it is not halal. I decide to get a hot dog and Nubya goes for the only vegetarian option, which is a veggie burger. Then we head back to watch her cousin’s last game. And as the sun sets, we finally say goodbye to her family and my friends. In the dark, we try to find our car on the massive, now a little emptier, sand field. Luckily, we do find it and make it back onto the highway safely. Realizing that we‘re now going back into our very real Expo 2020 world, we decide it‘s best not to tell anyone who was working today about the relaxing break we just had from that rollercoaster.
thattravelstory 