To live or to pay rent?

Picture taken from the Jumeirah Beach play park.

Burj Al Arab, the 7star hotel, is probably emerging to be the most photographed landmark in all of Dubai, and soon the world. I haven’t gotten the chance to even get near it, but P-wee said she will try to sneak us in and maybe take pictures.
A few days back, we drove to IKEA, one place that certainly feels like home. It’s almost the same as walking in IKEA in Espoo, except none of the posters bears Finnish or Swedish writings. Most of it is in English with some translations in Arabic. The building itself is one that you can identify as Swedish, for it is the color of their flag just like the buildings in Scandinavia. It stayed true to its culture. Showroom is definitely the same designs. Food is of course great, but to our dismay, the meatballs aren’t the Swedish flavour it is so famous for. It has a bit of cumin that clearly states its been adjusted to middle eastern palate. Nevertheless, it was good.

Ikea in Dubai, obviously...

Dubai is a city on an upswing. Constructions are everywhere. I read in one newspaper that there are about 800 people setting up camp in Dubai everyday. And there’s a great influx on residential spaces to house these people. That’s one of the reasons why rents are skyrocketing. Our 25sqm. room right now in a villa with own toilet but no kitchen, pays 4,500Dhs. That’s about 900€ a month. No wonder some of my fellow countrymen who earns below 5,000Dhs has no choice but to grab bedspaces. Or they share rooms with 3 or 4 others. At the end of the day, once the rent has reached its maximum, when no one can afford it anymore, where else is it going but down. But it will perhaps take another 3 to 5 years. Because if the skilled workers aren’t paid enough, they will leave the country and find work somewhere else.

Picture taken at Peewee's work place. (Where Peewee holds her power class)


Sure Dubai is a great place to work in, if you find the right employers, the right job for you and if you have the right papers. But this is no place to raise a family. A schoolmate of mines been living here for almost 9 yrs now. She met her husband here and they now have two beautiful kids. After that many long years, they have decided it is best for their children to leave Dubai and stay in the UK, where her husband is originally from.
But for the moment, this is where my family will probably set up camp as well. Maybe next year, if all goes well.