This city is ostentatious and opulent and absolute flash, but there are thousands upon thousands of Indians living here that aren’t a part of it. Most of them work as second-class citizens in the service industry. It’s disgusting actually, the kind of racism that is created here. Just like everywhere else in the world, the darker your skin is the more inferior you are. At the mall they don’t sell bronzer, they sell whitening cream.
But this is true in most countries out of the US and Europe.
Yesterday I went with my Dad and his friends to the Gold Souk (gold market), and all around it were stalls and people and food that belonged to India. The Gold Souk was ridiculous. Apparently all the gold in Dubai is super, super tacky because it’s 22 karat (as opposed to the 14 karat in the States, and 18 karat in India). This means it’s all gross and overly shiny. I’m not really attracted to gold like that. I thought this market was going to be an open-air type thing with gold spilling off of wooden carts and glinting in the oppressive Dubai sun. But, it was just a bunch of jewelry stores with gold stuff in the windows. Kind of pretty, but mostly tacky.
This photo: That’s me behind a bunch of necklaces. GOLD
I really like this picture!!