Late in the afternoon, Jay and I had a bit of a nap while Nazeer and Jay's sisters walked to the Karama branch of Day-to-Day. It is an enormous building that is a mixture of a department store and a five and dime. (Okay, the modern equivalent is probably a dollar store at home) It also has with gifts and groceries too. It took a while for us to find them as there were five floors to check!
We caught up mainly so we could help carry back the huge, plastic shopping bags. They'd been inside for around four hours.
The government and businesses of Dubai have created something quite unique here.
National citizens are a very small percentage of the population. Rather than investing in foreign entities, they've created their own expansive market in this desert home. A large portion of the items bought today were of a foreign origin. An increasing number of products are also being packed or produced here with the help of foreign workers. Nearly all the employees one sees in retail are foreign employees from other countries. Airplanes take off and land, one after another, day and night. Lastly, nearly all the customers we saw are here on short visits to stock up on items from basic staples all the way through the estimated 20% to 40% of the world's gold that flows through the market in Dubai.
It's a brilliant scheme that has put this place on the global map. They're created a sprawling urban center most literally out of dust and in record time. It's strategic location has cemented it as a business and technological hub between Europe, Africa, and Asia.