Abu Dhabi: So Blindingly Rich It's Almost Sickening

Abu Dhabi: So Blindingly Rich It's Almost Sickening:



"First, a disclaimer.



I suffer from blue collar anger, which is a bloody curse in this Age of Entitlement.  Mom didn’t graduate high school. Dad got laid off from a defense contractor and I clawed my way through bachelors and masters degrees on my dime.  There you have it.  So one look at Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, has a guy like me feeling shut out. And that’s okay. I’ve accepted my ninety-nine percenter caste. But wherever you look in Abu Dhabi — with its artistic sky scrapers so 21st C it makes the United States look worn out — you subtly understand that there are parts of this world that are not for the riff-raff to experience. Luckily, I am a journalist, so I can poke around where I don’t belong, far adrift from Manhattan.



Sand, Sand and More Than Sand



There are seven different types of sand in Al Ain.  It’s not Abu Dhabi, but it is the region’s oasis and former home to its founding father. It’s surprisingly green here, for a desert. Al Ain is old school. It looks emerging market rustic and historic in that way cultured travelers appreciate."



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