Since I moved to Al Barsha almost three months ago, I had unconsciously fallen to a morning routine, so precise in fact that I only need to look at the people around me to know what time it is.
Alarm starts ringing at 5:00 am, after which I tumble grumpily out of bed to cook rice in my baby rice cooker (it can only hold 3 cups). If I feel extremely industrious, I put my laundry in the washing machine for 50 minutes. I then collapse in my bed for another few minutes before I finally "wake up" at 5:45 am, cook my food for breakfast and for work, eat, watch the Bold & the Beautiful rerun (my morning guilty pleasure), take a bath, get dressed, and hang my clothes. I shut the door of my room either at 6:50 or 7:00 am.
I hail a cab for a 5-minute, 10-dirham ride to the Mall of the Emirates Metro Station. I can catch either the 7:01 or the 7:11am train. Maybe I should not be surprised that other people succumb to the same morning routine as I do. If I catch the 7:01 train, I will be on the same train as the light brown-haired girl who works at the Dubai Aquarium. If I catch the next train, I would be sharing the ride with an African Muslim girl wearing a fancy pair of shades, a tall skinny girl who works at the Dubai Mall and a blonde European girl in a suit who listens to her iPod while reading a magazine or an Economics book. If I see the oriental guy who always wears a white shirt & black pants to work (and he apparently works at the Burjuman Centre) walking, that means it's about 7:05 and we will both have time to catch the 7:11 train.
At 7:23, the train stops at the Dubai Mall/Burj Khalifa Metro Station. I reach the bus stop some 3 minutes later. After about 5 minutes, the bus takes about 15 minutes to reach my stop at the Palace Hotel, after dropping workers in the Dubai Mall. I know it is already 7:45 when I see the tall Japanese woman dressed in chic black clothes waiting at my bus stop. Sometimes there was even enough time in between to exchange polite smiles with her. Everything works like clockwork, at least in the morning. I wonder if they also feel disoriented as I do when I miss the train I usually take. There is comfort in seeing the same faces, taking the same places in the train and knowing you're right on track to start another day.
Alarm starts ringing at 5:00 am, after which I tumble grumpily out of bed to cook rice in my baby rice cooker (it can only hold 3 cups). If I feel extremely industrious, I put my laundry in the washing machine for 50 minutes. I then collapse in my bed for another few minutes before I finally "wake up" at 5:45 am, cook my food for breakfast and for work, eat, watch the Bold & the Beautiful rerun (my morning guilty pleasure), take a bath, get dressed, and hang my clothes. I shut the door of my room either at 6:50 or 7:00 am.
I hail a cab for a 5-minute, 10-dirham ride to the Mall of the Emirates Metro Station. I can catch either the 7:01 or the 7:11am train. Maybe I should not be surprised that other people succumb to the same morning routine as I do. If I catch the 7:01 train, I will be on the same train as the light brown-haired girl who works at the Dubai Aquarium. If I catch the next train, I would be sharing the ride with an African Muslim girl wearing a fancy pair of shades, a tall skinny girl who works at the Dubai Mall and a blonde European girl in a suit who listens to her iPod while reading a magazine or an Economics book. If I see the oriental guy who always wears a white shirt & black pants to work (and he apparently works at the Burjuman Centre) walking, that means it's about 7:05 and we will both have time to catch the 7:11 train.
At 7:23, the train stops at the Dubai Mall/Burj Khalifa Metro Station. I reach the bus stop some 3 minutes later. After about 5 minutes, the bus takes about 15 minutes to reach my stop at the Palace Hotel, after dropping workers in the Dubai Mall. I know it is already 7:45 when I see the tall Japanese woman dressed in chic black clothes waiting at my bus stop. Sometimes there was even enough time in between to exchange polite smiles with her. Everything works like clockwork, at least in the morning. I wonder if they also feel disoriented as I do when I miss the train I usually take. There is comfort in seeing the same faces, taking the same places in the train and knowing you're right on track to start another day.
