Growing Up In Dubai

Living & growing up in Dubai in the olden era (well definitely after 1985) had me thinking about a lot of things happening here. The immigration building in Deira was once the longest building in the UAE... I could see World Trade Center all the way from my little one story villa in Jumeirah along the beach road (now known as the Jumeirah Road). Al Ghurair Center was one of the only malls around. 

Hanging out with friends from school meant only a few things, either play CS!! (Counter Strike) in some small internet shop with your friends, or go bowling on SZR or watch a movie! 

Unfortunately the luxuries of all those activities were attainable for only a few. For me, fun meant something different while growing up. It meant spending more time with my dad, helping around my mom and being a (quite literally) "home" boy. 

Life as you know it now in Dubai, was quite different then. I was quite different then, simply untouched by the materialism in those days, i would find pleasure in little things. I would be happy if i got a nice ink pen for my birthday from my parents. I would be happen when i got a nice book to read as a gift. I would be happy with a new pencil case. Things changed, upon getting into university at Penn State, i believed my future had changed for the better. Dubai had evolved, so had i. Dubai was on the verge of modernization, and i was leading to a more open-minded life. Accepting who i was, who i am because my only goal for that moment. 

Who knew that the decisions i make in life, would directly affect my future? Well now it seems all realistic and logical to think that decisions you make early in life affect your future, but in the age, when you are still maturing and trying to find yourself, you tend to make decisions unknowingly and blindly. I would never regret my decision, but I do think that i could have taken more wiser choices, if given a chance again. 

Who knew that a small dot in in the world map would one day become a world renown tourist destination?

That is the old SZR... miss the times when going from point A to point B in Dubai wasn't such a headache! Miss the times when making a personal decision wasn't such a task!!