Two Villages: Pearl Divers and Great Dancers

I had such a lovely night yesterday, with Ali, Khawla and her sweet little cousin. We went to the Diving Village and the Heritage Village to see a folk dance performance. Very different than the other places we have been to, the majority of the crowd this time, was Emirati origined.  Meanwhile, I suppose it is worth to give a little bit of Wikipedia information about the population:

Deniz, Khawla and Ali

  

The modern emirate of Dubai was created after the UK left the area in 1971. At this time Dubai, together with Abu Dhabi and four other emirates, formed the United Arab Emirates. Then construction of the new nation, and the big transformation of the pure sand dunes to an urban jungle entailed quite a lot of work force to be imported:

“According to the census conducted by the Statistics Centre of Dubai, the population of the emirate was 1,771,000 as of 2009, which included 1,370,000 males and 401,000 females… As of 2005, 17% of the population of the emirate was made up of UAE nationals. Approximately 85% of the expatriate population (and 71% of the emirate's total population) was Asian, chiefly Indian (51%), Pakistani (16%), Bangladeshi (9%) and Filipino (3%) and a sizeable community of Somalis numbering around 30,000. A quarter of the population however reportedly traces their origins to Iran” (Wikipedia)

I suppose it wouldn’t be wrong to claim that Dubai is the most multicultural city in the world, with a remarkable superiority of the male population, over female.

I enjoyed so much at both of the villages. I witnessed great craftsmenship, tasted amazing traditional food and watched spectacular performances. I also bought some materials for my work as well. I have got two hand forged coffee mixers and a traditional chisel for palm trees. Khawla was again very hospitable as ever; she bought us little traditional treats and a burka for both Ali and me.

From left to right: sour pomegranate, sunflower seeds, beyaz leblebi, famous Oman chips, my beloved handmade chisel,  two hand forged coffee mixers, a tiny brass hatchet piece, dried cheese called Yıgat, Misvak to clean teeth, sour mango and burka

We also met the very first photographer of the emirate. Her name is Sheikha Al Suwaidi, whose daughter explained the stories of each photograph exhibited in the room. I met very friendly people there, and still cannot believe the level of English spoken in Dubai! 

 I also recorded some sound for my third tower. Great rhythm… I could hardly stop myself from dancing!