emir-avci-blog

[emir-avci-blog]

Dubai

Although I was born in Baghdad, I do not have much memories of it because I left Iraq at a very young age due to the war. My family decided to move to Istanbul, Turkey where the rest of my relatives lived. I spent around 2 years there until I was 6 years old. My father then found a job in Dubai, UAE and decided to take a life changing decision and move there, and he took us with him. I have since spent the majority of my life living in Dubai, until I moved to Vancouver 2 years ago. 

Initially, moving from Istanbul to Dubai was a challenge for both my family and I because we were living away from all our relatives and close family members in Turkey. This however did not stop us from visiting Istanbul every summer. Living in Dubai was like a dream come true. As I grew up, I realized how lucky I was to live in such a beautiful and multicultural city.

#dxb #skyline

Many people who live outside the Middle East think that Dubai is a country. I have been asked countless times as to which city I lived in back in Dubai. First and foremost, there are seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, and Dubai is one of them. Dubai is an emirate as to Vancouver is a city. Although I have been to several places in my life, Dubai is the most developed in terms of architecture and innovation. I used to live in an apartment building which was quite new when we first moved to Dubai. It looked like a modern building as it was completely covered in glass and it was always shining. 

#downtown #dubai #burjkhalifa

I used to live in the city centre of Dubai, meaning that it was always crowded and noisy. However, thanks to its relative location, it had many benefits such as the close proximity to shopping malls, grocery stores, my soccer club, and even my school. I used to live in a building which was 15 floors high. My family still live there. Back when I used to live with them, we constantly had family friends over at our house. There were countless gatherings, food preparations and card games involved. It is a part of our culture to have family and friends at our house and serve them the best meals and give them the best hospitality. I have not come across the warm and family oriented culture here in Canada yet. I also visited shopping malls quite often to hang out with my friends and to relax. Unfortunately, shopping malls were places where we spent most of our free times because of the unbearable Dubai heat. However, the location of my house made it slightly more bearable because we lived on the 14th floor which made us prone to cool winds because we were not far from the ocean. I also impacted my house in many ways, one of which was helping serve the guests. It was crucial to serve your guests in the best manner so they could leave satisfied, and so they would do the same when you went over to their house. I helped around the house and made sure the guests were content with their visit. I am trying to integrate my culture here by inviting friends over to my dorm room so we could have a small gathering and play card games. Besides my culture impacting me and teaching me to be a good host, it has influenced me to be kind and giving, too.

#citycentre #deira #home

Most people in Dubai usually need a car to travel from place to place. I say usually because not everyone can afford a car in Dubai. The public transport runs mainly through the inner city, and not the suburbs. Dubai’s public transport system is basically seen as a low-class means of transportation. This is because most of the minimum wage workers use the public transport. Compared to Vancouver, Dubai has massive traffic problem. This is because of the amount of cars there is on the road. During rush hours, it can take you up to 3 hours to get to work or school, and unfortunately I had to go through that for the 12 years I lived there. Sometimes, tragically, there would be an accident, and that would make EVERYTHING worse. The [already long] 1 hour commute turns into 2, then 3. At that point, you start questioning life and wondering whether all this stress and hassle is worth it. In the moment, it probably wasn’t, but now it definitely is. My school was close to my home in terms of distance. It was approximately a 15 minute drive on a weekend, when there was no traffic at all. However, this time increase to one and a half hour in weekdays. I think that I used to hate going to school because of traffic. It would have been much more different if I lived in a place where I could walk to school. Luckily, I could catch up on my interrupted sleep in the car, that is until I started driving. My father used to drop us to school, and no, he did not like the traffic either. I mean, at 6am in the morning, who does? He could definitely have sent us by public transport, but even he felt bad for us because taking the metro on a Monday morning would be worse than being stuck in traffic for hours on end. My father was very excited that I got my license, probably more excited than I was. He was quite relieved that I could now drive to school by myself and he wouldn't have to drop me off. Although he stopped driving me to school, he bought me my very first car and this meant that there was one more car on the road which contributed to the traffic problem in Dubai. There is no doubt that car culture exists in Dubai. The main reason people buy cars in the first place is convenience. Secondly because Dubai is mainly based on a highway-style infrastructure, meaning that a person usually needs to use the highway in order to get to their desired location. Cabs are quite expensive and public transport isn't as reliable. Therefore, people opted to spend their money on cars. Quite honestly, I prefer the public transport system that Vancouver has easily adapted to because for me, it is more reliable and hassle-free, and cheap too.

#traffic #rushhour #stress

Growing up, I loved soccer. It was a cultural thing because I learned from my father and uncles how fun it is to go to matches and have passion for the team you support. I played soccer every weekend since I joined the soccer club in Dubai. I still play on weekends here in Vancouver, even if its just kicking around for half an hour. I feel the urge to play soccer because for that time being, your mind is focused on something you enjoy doing and passionate about. Joining the soccer club in Dubai changed everything for me. It was called Al Shabab Club (which, from Arabic, translates to The Youngsters Club). It was very close to my house, and not very far from my school so I used to take a cab with my friends after school to go to training, or just walk if I were at home. It was the best way to escape my studies and homeworks after a long tiring day in school. It just made me feel relaxed. I made a lot of friends in the club and enjoyed going to tournaments and winning trophies for my team. It made me feel good because I felt that I was giving back to my soccer community because they accepted me to play and showcase my skills and passion for soccer. I still keep in touch with my team mates from the club and we sometimes tease each other about the mistakes we made and the opportunities we missed in important matches. Al Shabab Club also helped me develop a healthier lifestyle because of the way we trained and ate. I started eating healthier foods and exercised more regularly. In doing so, I also benefited from the healthy food options our whole food grocery stores had to offer. I also learned about discipline and respect. They told us that we could only be better players if we had these two traits and that our skills didn’t matter if we were disrespectful to others. 

#team #club #soccer

I attended Al Salam Private School in the Nahda district in Dubai. I studied there for 12 years, meaning I attended only one school in my life. In Dubai, the education system is such that a school can consist of pre-school, primary school and secondary schools all in one building, belonging to one owner. Al Salam was a place where I made many special friendships which I still cherish today. I keep in touch with most of my teachers and make sure I am in contact with them, because again, they have known me for many years. I have also served as the Sports Captain of my school, and have represented the school in many sporting events such as soccer tournaments and sports days. I was also the soccer team captain for many years. This made me quite popular amongst teachers and students and I earned the respect I wanted mainly because I wanted to leave behind a respectful school career. Younger students were always asking me questions about sports and how they could become better athletes. This made me realize how much I impacted my school community and probably even helped students follow their passions and dreams.

#school #12years #lastday

Dubai has a bright side, and a dull side too. Not many people talk about the latter. In fact, it is kept away from people so that the media only focuses on the luxurious and lavish life in Dubai. The city has many expats. They are mostly from the Middle East and South Asia. Some people from South Asia come to work dirty and risky jobs such as janitors and construction workers. The majority of these workers send a part of their salary back home to support their families. Many of these workers stay in their designated areas of living, which is on the outskirts of the city. These places are quite far from the ‘bright’ side of the city, making them almost invisible. They are roughly 20-30km far from the downtown area. Some of the things my school taught me, that no one else did, was that these people were the ones helping build Dubai and developing the country as a whole. Ironically, they are the ones who make sure the lights are working and the city is brightly lit, and they are also the ones who live the in the dull and dark areas on the outskirts of the city. In school, I learned that these workers were as important to us as any other person making a change for a better Dubai, and a better world. Therefore, we were continuously encouraged to give them food and water so that they could at least save their minimal salary to support their families back home. Even giving a cold bottle of water to a worker working a long shift in the heat would be counted as help, because you are telling them that people actually recognize their effort and appreciate their work. If it weren’t for my school, I would not have seen the darker side of Dubai. My school helped me appreciate the workers’ efforts. I gave back to my community by helping the workers. Thus, this made me a better citizen and a far better person.

#workers #midday #break

#construction #speed #workers

My life in Dubai was quite comfortable, to be honest. This was mainly because I depended on my parents for everything. These included my basic needs such as money, food, gas (for my car), and some of the things I wanted too, such as clothes. However, here in Vancouver, I am a self-dependent type of person now. Well firstly because I work and earn my own money, and second because I learned to be independent through the difficulties and challenges which moving to a new country, at the other end of the world, gave me. My daily routine back in Dubai consisted of me waking up early in the morning, getting in my car and driving to school. Then, I would go to my soccer club if I had any practice sessions that evening. Later, I would go home and have a descent home-cooked food made by my mother’s precious hands. We would of course sit at the dinner table as a family, and started eating only until everyone was seated. This is the culture and routine I was used to. I was a part of that family routine for over a decade. I helped around the house, supported my father with his work, and sometimes even cooked. However, coming here to Vancouver, everything changed. Firstly, and sadly, I do not own a car (I am saving up for it though). Secondly, working and earning money at a reputable pizza shop is now a part of my weekend routine. Last but not least, I have to eat alone most of the time, unless my friends are available to join me. These experiences have made me a stronger and more independent person because I learned to cope with managers, professors, and, of course, life.

#mustang #mycar #memories

#pizza #work #job

Ultimately I think that I have impacted the world in many ways, and the world has shaped me in many ways too. Moving from one country to another, learning to communicate and write in new languages and adapting to a new culture and being a part of it adds to the society and culture I live in and the new ones I visit. This becomes even more impactful when I start behaving and compromising to the cultures’ expectations. I also believe that joining the soccer club has had an impact on my society. This is because my club taught me not only to be a better soccer player and team mate, but also a better human being, which ultimately spreads into the larger communities in the long term. Although my contribution to the community has been insignificant in terms of size, considering the world is a place with over 8 billion people, it has developed my sense of the world and how to be a better citizen. Being a member of my house, living with my family, being present in family gatherings and social events has also impacted my community because I believe that I also influence younger people to be active and get involved in such important life long relations. Being a part of my school was also a huge impact, because I had been studying there for over a decade. This showed my commitment and respect to the school because I would eventually leave my comfort zone to take my first step into post secondary education. I believe that this showed the younger people in my school that stepping out of your comfort zone is good and helps you be independent. I still visit my school every time I go back to Dubai, just to keep in touch with my teachers and talk to younger students about my experience living and studying abroad. Overall, I think that I still have lots more to learn and take in what the world has to offer me, and I am not going to spend a single second living in boredom or disinterest. I live my life to the fullest, and will continue to explore and visit new places once I get the opportunities to do so.

Image References

https://www.theweek.in/youzone/triptease/triptease-dubai-a-land-of-superlatives.html

http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/transport/dubai-s-traffic-travails-in-depth-look-1.2140259

https://fanack.com/migrant-labour/migrant-construction-workers-in-the-uae/

The team photo and my school’s entrance picture belong to me.

I retrieved the GIFS from Tumblr.

Map References

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/United+Arab+Emirates/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x3e5e48dfb1ab12bd:0x33d32f56c0080aa7?sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj11e2S9pXaAhUKw2MKHaykCVwQ8gEI_QEwDg

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Deira+-+Dubai+-+United+Arab+Emirates/@25.269022,55.2905838,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3e5f434f37cdae93:0xde756363a1b78491!8m2!3d25.2788468!4d55.3309395

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Al+Salam+Private+School+%26+Nursery/@25.2888215,55.3675683,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3e5f5c68a9949ae1:0xf4dc2489cdaef1b6!8m2!3d25.2888215!4d55.369757

         All images and maps were retrieved on March 30th 2018