I said bye bye Dubai not long after getting there honestly! I was extremely excited with my trip to Dubai, not only because it was my first time overseas, but because of the social media exposure of celebrities traveling there and showing how gorgeous Dubai is with their posts. So yes I was excited and I would get to have my passport stamped for the first time! In about two years it will be time to renew, so almost ten years with my passport and no overseas travel; bummer! But I was still hesitant and nervous since again it was my first time to travel abroad and I didn’t know what to expect.
So when I traveled to Dubai, I prepared myself mentally and I did a lot of praying and research of the place. My husband met me at the airport, since he was traveling from a different country himself to meet me there. When we went to get my visa at the designated area in the airport, the immigration officer looked at my passport, and he looked at me, and he looked back at my passport, then back up at me, and then repeated this again. After these repetitive steps he said “Not look the same” and I said to him that the passport photo was taken almost 10 years ago and I had braces on my teeth and nose surgery since that time and I thought at first that he had an impression that all black women looked the same. 🙄
I was so eager to get out of the airport and settle down in our hotel. The resort we stayed at during the visit was nice, but although it was more American-ized, it still felt awkward wit the stares of those who are dressed in their outfits, (not sure what their called, because I don’t want to say they are Burquas as I know there are different types and names for them). For the most part, the stay at the resort was much more calming than being away from it and going into territories where the standard is being covered up.
When we went to Mall of Emirates, we went to the indoor ski experience. I was wearing a Victoria Secret crop top and Victoria Secret leggings, but I had sweater on because honestly I get chilly in air conditioning no matter how hot it is outside. A girl’s gotta be prepared! There were 3 men looking at us and was constantly pointing at me. So they made it obvious that they were talking about me and I felt so dirty and so uncomfortable. They looked at me pointed directly at me, and then at my husband. They might have mistaken my husband to be an Arab guy because of his features. As for me I was assuming that they were saying how can the man allow her woman to dress like that?
I didn’t think it would effect me like that, but it really did. At the indoor Ski Experience we got gear to wear, so obviously I wasn’t dressed that way in there (Plus I would have froze my butt off! LOL). But when we were leaving, as we were walking my husband said we needed to leave, because he didn’t realize my stomach was showing. I was like WTH! Seriously?! But he has more experience in these countries than I do, and he said if someone reported me to security because they felt offended by my outfit, I could get locked up! I was like kind of checked out after that. Like get me the heck out of here!
So I thought of the women who are in their burqas and coverings, and my opinion is that it’s not for their protection but to prevent other men from looking at their property! I don’t feel like any woman should feel like property and I feel like the women there are treated as property. Men there can engage in multiple marriages but you will not see any women with multiple husbands!
Even with the luxurious and beautiful places in Dubai, I wanted to say bye-bye Dubai right away! I don’t get the point for women to shop for clothing but be unable to show them off in public. I know that there are a lot of ethnicities that practice similar, and there are others that live there that do not. But being there made me feel like women are only treated as property and social media had only hyped up this place.
When you get to a different country, you have to be prepared emotionally being in a place that has different norms and customs than you do. I don’t know if I want to go back there actually but if ever I do, then I have to be more prepared. More prepared emotionally and I would avoid the places that I needed to avoid. So Bye-Bye Dubai! I’m thankful for the experience but having the experience again is certainly not on my bucket list, nor on my list of places I’d like to own property.
Wishing You a Successful Beauty-Filled Journey,
