The United Arab Emirates like to be the “-est.” That means that they like to have the biggest, tallest, bestest stuff on Earth. They have one of the largest malls, Dubai Mall. Emirates (the airlines) have the largest order, 90, for Airbus A380s. They have the tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, the largest dancing fountain, and the only seven-star hotel, and also the fourth-tallest hotel, on the planet (that would be the Burj al Arab).

Before that, though, we went to the Jumeirah Mosque. Our tour guide had moved to UAE with her Muslim husband from England. She became a Muslim and now makes jokes to the tourists. When she was demonstrating how close they stand when they pray, she talked about how men and women don’t mix.

“How hard would it be to focus with two strange men rubbing against you on either side?” she asked. “Unless, of course, it was George Clooney.”

We rode in a taxi to the Dubai Mall. It was our first non-Pakistani driver: he was from Afghanistan. The general opinion of our former taxi drivers seems to be that Dubai is a place to make a living but it’s not home.

Our time in Dubai ends tomorrow when we embark on a 30-hour plane ride to Argentina. The general air of Dubaians is “It’s good here if you’re rich. It’s a fun place to be and it’s great but it’s very artificial.”

Ciao!