I'll start with a quick mention on how the social scene between the LT's here at the hotel (there are about 120 of us) has turned into one that's very similar to how it is in high school. Though, you may meet new people everyday, you generally hang out with the same one or two groups of people on a daily (or cliques, as it is usually called in high school). Especially on trips out in town like to the mall, store, etc. I have two groups that I primarily hang out with, group #1, as I will refer us, consist of 4 people including me, majority male with just one female. The other group, group #2, consist of 5 or 6 people, all women except me, the lone guy in this group. Now you must think that I would feel out of place in this group, me being the only guy and all (and heterosexual). Being a male teacher has kind of taken the awkwardness out of situations like this because my profession is dominated by women, so whenever I have professional development trainings and we are grouped, I will more than likely be the only guy in the group. There may be one other guy but its not something you can count on. (By the way, quick side note, in a group professional group when projects need to get done and the number of women dominate the group, they will usually dominate the task itself, particularly with brainstorming, creativity, and strategy, ironically all things I consider myself pretty good at. They have the lowest expectations of men both as far as intelligent input and work ethic, which I assume has been conditioned from their previous professional, and probably personal, interaction with men, and understandably so. Its just funny how any valid suggestion I make is an unexpected bonus that endears me to the group. I have experienced this dynamic in almost every collaborative group that I have been apart of even in my college days at FAMU, a historically Black college. I have seen other guys, no matter their race, treated same way. It just further lets me know that women, in general, initially think that guys are lazy idiots by default until its proven otherwise. Its like reverse sexism. Just saying.)
Anyway, I thought it was important for me to mention some of the social dynamic information because someone reading this might think why is a married guy hanging out with all of these women. The day before, I hung out with group one and the next day I got together with group two for a birthday celebration. Luckily I have the greatest wife in the world (she will be coming to Abu Dhabi in October) so she understands and is okay with me going out with both groups. She trusts me and knows that I am not interested in doing anything that would disrespect her or our marriage. And of course its the same the other way around. Besides I like to play the silly, funny, brother role in situations like this. Its what I'm used to and is more fun.
As I mentioned before, one of the ladies in group two had a birthday. Yeah you can see where this going. We started out in one of the restaurants in the hotel, Coopers. We all met up, birthday girl came, the cake was there waiting for her, happy birthday song all around, drinks to follow. I believe the most important piece of information I learned tonight is that being a girl on ladies night leaves you never wanting for drinks. I may or may not have been the beneficiary of these free beverages a time or two via one of the ladies in the group.
So after a about an hour, we head out and plunged ourselves into the Abu Dhabi night scene. Apparently all of the clubs are in hotels, and we went to the Intercontinental Hotel. I have heard this was a pretty lavish hotel because some of our LT's are staying there, and it did live up to the billing. Very nice place. We headed to the club downstairs either in basement or first floor, I'm not sure. In getting out of the elevator and turning to enter the club, you kind of had your typical menacing muscle bound bouncers in suits on either side of the club entrance, with a red velvet rope hung across blocking your way in. And just like in the movies, one of my group members threw out a "they're with me," and lo and behold the rope is up and we are inside. Not sure if there was a cover, for girls I know there wasn't because it was ladies night apparently here too, but for guys there may have been.
In looking around the club I decided it is pretty much exactly what you would see in the states. DJ on a elevated platform against the wall doing his thing, house music booming, hypnotic blue light draped the room, several people hanging out at the bar, the bartender making drinks, tables set up across the club, most of which had people sitting in them sipping drinks, girls with typical club clothing or perhaps better put lack of clothing, depends on how you look at it, the same that you would expect to see in any club in the U.S. (but on the more upscale side though, nobody looked too cheap or unclassy). There was a good vibe overall. We stayed for a while, sat, danced (no touching), laughed, and then I was informed that we are going to make our exit from this here to head over to the Emirates Palace.
I had been wanting to make it over to the Emirates Palace for a little while now, so this was good to hear. The Emirates Palace is a huge and beautiful landmark here in Abu Dhabi. Some have declared it the most extravagant and luxurious hotel in the world. At night it is lit up with soft white lighting and the hotel itself is massive and ornate, so it is like this huge, gorgeous building perched prominently on the coastline (or corniche, as it is called here, which as far as I can tell is like a boardwalk along the beach). The hotel is breathtaking at night, and almost looks like it is not real when you pass it because of its size and beauty.
We hop in a car of some friends of one of the girls in the group, and when we pull up, one of the first things I start to notice is that the Kelley Blue Book value of the cars here at this hotel has significantly increased in comparison to the ones at the other hotel. I'm no car expert but I can kinda tell when a car costs twice my salary, or as much as a my house (if I had one). I saw much more of this one the way out as the valet brought the cars around for departing patrons, but I'll get to that. So we walk through the lobby to get to the club and wish I could tell you more about it but to be honest, I can't recall the specifics that I would like to recount here, and for those that may go out much more than me, you probably understand why, with it being much later in the night at this point. Fret not however, I will eventually make a trip later where I can more vividly describe the hotel, the pictures I have seen are immaculate.
We enter the club and it was a similar scene to the entrance at the other hotel. As we step inside, I immediately notice this club is a lot more focused on dancing. The Intercontinental had several tables around the club, constricting the dance floor. Not the case here. However, I also thought that the club was smaller than what I expected. The may have more than one club there, I don't know, but I was expecting a grand hall of some sort, but the place was about the size of the Intercontinental's club. The girls seemed to disperse, most talking with guys at a table or bar (they would introduce me to these guys they meet as their big brother- which I would expect probably confused that heck out of these Emirati guys because all the girls in the group are white; most of the guys were really cool and friendly to talk to, though needless to say, we were probably all a little more relaxed than we normally are). I danced by myself just enjoying the music and the ambiance. You had people from all over and they were really dancing, it was fun. I saw a girl with a Phillie's hat and sneakers, and some other guy with a Yankee's cap. They danced like they were from the states, more urban and....on beat. Anyway, I'm not sure how long we were there but the club eventually began to shut down and ushered everyone out to the front. So we waited a while, just hanging out in the front, talking and laughing with a couple of the guys the girls met. I noticed the valet pulling the shiny cars around: flashy sports car here, Bentley there, car name I can't pronounce and have never even heard of here. To be fair, I only truly remember seeing one Bentley, but again I may not have been the most astute observer at this point. In fact, I was later told that a pretty important person was at the club the whole time we were there (of whose specific name or position I will refrain from mentioning because I kind of work for them now, but think royal). I can't imagine how I didn't notice that... Anyway, we all made it back to the hotel safely (taxis) and that was it. Great night. Good times.
That was one wonderful night. Sounds a lot of fun too. I like the way you tell the story, it was like I was there too physically. So Abu Dhabi really does not disappoint.
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