My (weird) Dubai Bucket List

This is my life in Dubai... right?

My (weird) Dubai Bucket List

In a few months time I’ll be back in the land of Oz, and our three years in Dubai will feel like a dream. I’ll start to forget about the heat and the rude drivers, and remember only the good stuff – the smell of frangipani by the pool, the taste of freshly made manakeesh and the way you can organise a party without a wet weather back-up plan.

And, of course, the wonderful, funny, kind, fascinating people. (Sob! I’ll miss youse all.)

So, I decided to make a list of a few things I really must do (or do again) before we leave the sandpit for good.

And when I sat down and really thought about it, my list did not look at all like the typical ‘bucket lists’ you see on your Facebook feeds.

I don’t want to have afternoon tea at the Burj al Arab.

I don’t want to spend a day (and a fortune) lying by a pool on the Palm drinking ‘grape and hops’ beverages.

Ditto driving like a maniac over sand dunes (once was, most emphatically, enough).

Probably outside my skill set...

So here are a few things I want to make happen before January 3:

A day in an abaya

I just really, really, want to know what it’s like to go about my day dressed in the clothing of a Gulf Arab – including a niqab (no half-measures for me). This will include a walk on the beach (women do it everyday in abayas, so I will too), a large grocery shop at Carrefour, eating and lots of driving.

I checked with my friend Fathima that this was not culturally insensitive, and she thought it was such a good idea she’s offered me her own clothes. Even though Fathima doesn’t cover her face, she thinks she can lay her hands on a niqab for me, too. So this is actually going to happen – I’ll blog about it when it does.

Initially, I wanted to do it while the temperature was still over 40, so I could get the full experience, but I didn’t get organised in time. I’ll just have to put up with 36 degrees and 90 percent humidity, like it was this week. Oh well.

Have a proper conversation with someone who wears a niqab

Please explain...

This is a long-held intention of mine, but you just wouldn’t believe how hard it is to strike up a conversation with someone whose face is covered. I’ve never made it much past ‘Excuse me’ and ‘Thank you’ in the school corridors and shopping aisles. I’ll do my best.

Have a conversation with someone who doesn’t make their children wear seatbelts

I know you’re out there. I see you multiple times a day, with your toddlers capering about the car while you drive. But I just never seem to have got to know any anti-seatbelters well enough to ask them about it. I don’t want an argument – I just want to hear your views. Please get in touch.

Photo day

I'll never forget you!

When we leave Dubai, we won’t be like the usual ex-pat family who continues to wander the world. We probably won’t be travelling much at all (except for camping in Queensland, maybe) – Australia is just too far and too expensive for us to travel from.

I don’t want to find myself one day remembering how much we loved a particular place, then realizing we never took a photo there. Because there won’t be another chance.

So I have actually scheduled a day in my calendar to spend driving around to all our favourite bits and taking family photos there. They will be a visual reminder for my family of our experiences here – the good, the bad and the very ugly (this last including, but not limited to, the enormous row of electricity thingummies that march through the suburbs). Aah, memories.

It's not too much to ask, is it?

Visit a wadi… with actual water in it

We’ve only managed this once (thanks, Richard Scott) very early on, but our few wadi adventures since then have been mostly dry or full of garbage. This plan may be slightly hampered by the fact we have just sold our 4WD. Hmm. I’ll get back to you on this one.

Just one more time...

Dinner in the desert

Once again, this could be scuppered by our distinct lack of a 4WD. But the evenings we have spent eating under the stars with friends and fires and the occasional crying child with sand in his eyes have been some of my favourites. I’ll make it happen, don’t worry.

Most of all though, and I feel this almost goes without saying but I’ll include it because it’s good to cover your bases, I want to spend as much time as I can consolidating friendships that I hope will last across the continents and over the years and through tough times. Let’s have coffee (at Tom and Serg, of course) while we still can…