Angad tells me that the mall is *the* major hangout here in Dubai for locals and expats alike. It's like the town square, the promenade, the gathering point for people of all ages. Though everyone at the mall gets along pretty well, I've heard that it's very important for expat kids to have "backing" from locals...otherwise they'll get beatup. So interesting. Also, did you know there's a new sect in highschools these days called "Emos?" The "Emos" are hyper sensitive kids who listen to sad songs and wear black eyeliner. They hang out at the mall too. The photo above shows one of Dubai's largest malls--The Mall of Emirates. It's like the Mall of America in Arabia. That strange silver, slide-shaped thing on the roof is an indoor ski-slope. No joke. I decided to investigate.
On the second floor by the foodcourt there's this huge glass wall, and behind the wall this is what I saw:
"Ski Dubai" covers 22,500 square meters (3 football fields), has 5 ski-slopes going up to 25 stories high and 6,000 tons of real snow created year round. Visitors can buy a skiing day pass for 230 Dirhams (about $62). Right next to the ski slope is the "St. Moritz Cafe" which has wood walls, bear-skin rugs, and a faux fireplace. People eat and drink while watching the skiers on the other side of the glass window. To make it all the more authentic, while I was sipping my coffee a group of children had a snowball fight and excitedly slid around on snowboards. This European guy on the table beside me couldn't stop mumbling to himself, "Thees eeezz crazy...just crazy..."
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