DXB International

Just had a long wait for a friend at the arrivals hall at Dubai Airport. While this observation surely isn't unique to Dubai, this section of the airport is a microcosm of sorts for the city. Families separated, then reunited. Friends from the West visiting friends living here for the first time. Large numbers of Indians and Pakistanis coming and going. Young, dressed-up Lebanese hailing a taxi and heading straight to town for a night out. Emiratis returning from a jaunt to another Gulf state. British girls in tank tops imagining their first day on the beach. Of course, all of these ideas are merely my imagination based on loose stereotypes I have developed being here. But having these thoughts in the first place made me realize I was starting to get a feel for the population here.