We took the Metro whenever we needed to get around town (except for Meydan racecourse, which is not on the Metro line). This not only saved us a significant amount of money vs. taking cabs. Two day passes were only $44 AED, which is $12 USD.
We found out that the "locals" really aren't local at all. We were told that 70% of Dubai residents come from somewhere else. Cab drivers, and our desert safari driver, were from Pakistan. We had waiters and store clerks from Syria, the Phillippines, Egypt, and India. And the fellow tourists mingling with us were primarily European; we saw lots of British, Aussies, and a few Germans. We only met one other American! All this being said, Dubai is a VERY cosmopolitan city!
The Emiratis (the "real locals") women don't usually work, and the men certainly don't work in service occupations. We did see a lot of them out and about. The men usually wear the traditional white robe, with the red and white head scarf, and the ladies wear a black abaya dress, and a
head scarf. (It's up to their husband whether they cover their face or not; that was 50/50.) I didn't take pictures of them as that is not a polite thing to do. Some of the more "modern" women dress in western clothes and just cover their hair.
The Muslim religion is definitely dominant here, but that doesn't mean that other religions don't exist. We met a Catholic man who came here from India, and the Filipinos are also primarily Catholic. Many of the Indians are Hindu. Again, it's a very mixed place.
We did find some unique things. For example, there's the Dubai version of the American Gideon Bible in your hotel room: a Quran and a prayer rug!
The malls and airport all have prayer rooms, and my flight tracker on the way over had a compass to help you find the East, and a timer to tell you when you needed to pray! At dinner this evening, when the mosque started the evening call to prayer, the restaurant turned off its own music, and the wifi. I loved this picture of the mosque, a new yacht, and a vintage dhow boat all together on the river!
And we found some funny things! Carrefour, which is the Middle East version of WalMart, has a "pork section" of the store where non-Muslims can buy all things pork! I did find it odd that PopTarts were sold only in that area...?
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