What Really Happened on my Birthday... pt 1

Disclaimer: real names are not used.

June 11, 2023

6:45am

I'm in DUBAI!!!! My first day is technically today, I arrived last night after a long 16 hours direct flight from LAX. I'm so excited!

I'm currently at an Airbnb watching the VGK game out on my balcony. I slept about 4 hours so I could be up at 4am to watch it.

I'm on the 35th floor, and I feel like somehow this is my castle.

It's really hot out here, no wonder random people keep saying I came during the "worst" season, the hot & humid summer. I went to Orlando last year and it was definitely not as hot, but the humidity feels the same. Also, being from El Salvador, I'm a bit used to humidity.

Today I'm going to Burj Khalifa, the indoor aquarium, Dubai Mall, going to have lunch with my friend from the plane and later on I'm going on an excursion to the red sand dunes! I'm so excited!!!

I never thought a trip like this would ever happen to me. Every time I travel I think of how grateful I am to be able to work hard to do things like this. About ten years ago, undocumented me could have never began to even wonder about leaving the country, now all I think about is... Where to next? Also, my flight ticket is very number-licious! All of my special numbers in one.... flight number EK216 switch it around and it's my birthday 612, my special 1555, and lastly but not least my "this is the route you have to take in order to be where you need to be" number 620.

Back to VGK!!! We just won!!!! The score was 3-2!!!! That literally means just one more win and the Stanley Cup is ours! The next game is the day after my birthday, and what better gift than the first VGK Stanley Cup championship?

1:56pm

I went out! I went "At the Top" of Burj Khalifa! To get there, I had to go through part of the Dubai Mall. Which by the way, even though it was a ten minute walk from the Airbnb, Dubai is just NOT a walkable city and you need to use taxi/uber everywhere you go. I was using the Careem app and always chose the "Hala Taxi" option for cheaper fares. Back to the Burj Khalifa, the views were insane! Of course I was on the 124th floor, and yes this is the tallest building in the entire world! AND I GOT TO EXPERIENCE IT?!!!!!!! Anyways, I'm pretty sure I got scammed for pictures. I'm traveling alone so I don't have many picture taking options, so I ended up buying a photo package at Burj Khalifa that cost me $80. It included one physical photo, and all of my digital photos. Which, they pretty much did me dirty because in one of the photos they edited me being super happy to fall off the building?! lol welp.

After the Burj Khalifa, I went to the indoor aquarium that's also inside of the mall. The first part of the aquarium is walking through a tunnel where you're surrounded by sharks, fish, turtles, and even string rays! The second part of the aquarium had penguins, birds, more sea creatures, crocodiles, and hello waving otters! When I was done at the aquarium, I was stopped to see if I wanted to purchase the photo package. I asked, "how much?" and the girl replied, "70AED" which comes out to about $19. I told her no because it's too much, and that's when I learned everything is negotiable in the UAE. She offered the photos for 50AED, about $13, and I agreed! Usually in the USA, prices are set and there's no negotiating unless you're at a swap meet.

I then met up for lunch with my plane friend Isaac, whom is a Dubai local. Funny enough, we went to P.F. Changs which is such an international restaurant, but we were very hungry and hot so anything would do!

Isaac taught me that it's not pronounced Doo-bah-ee, it's Doo-bey. He told me it's pretty impressive that I'm traveling on my own to experience a new culture, so he gave me a few tips. One of those super wonderful "tips" was that I should be ready to not be impressed by the red sand dunes, and that I should cancel my excursion (an excursion I've had planned since February) to hang out with HIM instead! THE AUDACITY!!!!! He even said that I should extend my trip so I could have time to hang out with him! Not even 24 full hours in Dubai and I've already got the ick! Of course I told him I couldn't extend my trip, and that I wasn't going to cancel my excursion, so he asked to hang out after my excursion, SO AFTER 10PM!!! No, thank you!

It was time to pay and I made the huge "American" mistake of taking out my wallet and offering to pay for my part. I say mistake, because he said it's a big insult in UAE, that men always pay for women, he even looked very mad at me. I wasn't sure how to react so I just said okay, thank you. Either way at this point, I was just waiting to get the heck out of there. I've never ghosted someone so quickly in my entire life. He kept asking if we could hang out after my excursion, so I finally said "sure" knowing damn well that was never going to happen.

And now I'm back in the Airbnb, writing, and about to get ready for the excursion I'm super excited about! I have a feeling I'm about to make the best memories EVER. Talk soon!

June 12, 2023

1:53am

I came back to the Airbnb at around 10pm, so a few hours ago, but I've just been sitting here... Thinking about the most wild and beautiful day that I just had!

The excursion was the most unique, out of this world, extraordinary experience I've ever had. From the tour to the people I was with. The excursion was $41, excluding the $55 ATV fee, every penny was worth it!

The wind and the sand blowing through me made me feel like I was meant to be there, something about the sand felt like home and I was genuinely happy. Of course, happy after I finally learned how to work the ATV! It took me about 10 minutes just to get it moving correctly and my original tour guide gave up on me and I ended up getting a private guided tour away from my group... Embarrassing I know, BUT the tour guide was taking so many great photos and videos of me! So.. Oops oh well, I suck at ATV riding! In the end, once I got the hang of it, it ended up being super fun, I was riding the ATV pretty fast, but I had to chill because I almost flipped the ATV... Oops again... The lyrics "I used to switch out these Kens, I'd just ghost!! Rip the band-aid off and skip town like an asshole outlaw. Freedom felt like summer then, on the coast! Now the sun burns my heart, and the sand hurts my feelings!!!" by Taylor Swift kept replaying in my head, in a happy upbeat way.

We then pet the baby camels, and rode the adult ones. Getting off of a camel is pretty gnarly though! I'm used to getting off of horses, but camels are WAY bigger! We rode fast through the sand dunes, kind of like off-roading but in the Dubai red sand. The girl that was in the car kept screaming, and we were all laughing, it was the absolute best vibes.

For dinner, the tour guide took us to a "camp", where many other tour guides took their groups. We watched three dancers, one of them was drinking gasoline to blow flames?! The next performer was a belly dancer, which I completely fell in love with, and lastly the light up-dress performance!

I think it's time to finally talk about the people that I met during this excursion.

Marcos and Mona, a couple from Austria that got married about a month ago. If I ever thought I make friends easily, Mona is two or three times more than that, she's outgoing, real, friendly and respectful. She’s honestly every great thing you can think of and everyone is attracted to her persona! I was definitely one of those people. I instantly wanted to befriend her, she just gave off that VIBE. Her husband Marcos, didn't speak English well but he said some of the funniest things ever! We still tried to connect, even if it meant Mona translating and we just had the laugh a minute late!

Then there was Dane. The guy that came into the car, completely matching my outfit and saying he's from Los Angeles, just like me. Like, how did we end up here at the same time? Looking the same?

"I was just in Bali, I didn't want to go back to LA yet, and everyone was telling me to come here so I just came here!" He said and I immediately realized there are others like me out there! The "F*** it! Lets do it!" type. His vibe was comforting. During dinner at camp, he negotiated two gold-inspired necklaces for 120AED, one with his name on it, and one with mine. Well, I HOPE that's what it says... My tour guide kept joking that it says Alina, not Miley. I may never know the truth!

We all enjoyed the performances, ate together, talked, easily a new core memory. We exchanged Instagrams and said that maybe we would hang out tomorrow, I guess today... FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Time difference is crazy. I can't even make my twitter post yet, because it's June 11th back at home, but if I post at 12pm my time, all my friends will be sleeping. Me and my attention right? I'll figure it out!

Happy birthday to me, cheers to Mastermind beginnings.

Wow, I've been up for almost 24 hours. I should go to bed. Talk soon!

-M