‘The Cultures That Produced Dubai and Las Vegas Surely Must Have Something in Common’
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 01.09.07 | 8:40 AM ET
Photo of Dubai: Seth Stevenson believes Dubai’s “media moment” has passed. “The flurry of breathless write-ups —in Sunday travel sections and glossy lifestyle magazines—has come and gone,” he writes in the latest edition of Slate’s Well-Traveled. “We’re on to the next destination already. (Laos. Yemen. Low-altitude space orbit.)” Yet Stevenson couldn’t resist Dubai’s “profound wackiness,” and set-forth on a trip that, in typical Stevenson fashion, he mines for insight and laughs.
The only hint I’m somewhere unfamiliar is the gold-colored arrow affixed to the desk in my hotel room. It points to Mecca—unless perhaps a Hindu maid has unknowingly shuffled the room’s furniture, in which case the arrow might well point toward some alternative holy shrine. (Jerusalem. Stonehenge. Jim Morrison’s grave.)
Around dawn, I’m awakened from my fitful, jet-laggy sleep by the sound of prayer. It blasts from a loudspeaker mounted atop a nearby mosque. I love this sound—the calm, low voice intoning “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.”
But while I strive for respectful tolerance in all things religious, I take issue with the final line of the morning prayer. It makes a controversial claim: “A-aalaatu khayrun mina-naum”: “Prayer is better than sleep.” I’ve no doubt Muslims truly believe this as they chant it each morning (still bleary eyed, not yet having enjoyed their first sumptuous gulp of Moroccan tea). But me, I could never pledge fealty to such a notion. I honor the infinite by yielding myself to the spirit realm of dreams. (Also, I’m really lazy.)
The first two dispatches are live at Slate, along with slideshows. Other stories will be posted daily the rest of the week.
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Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
