A note from Juliana Garcia herself

 My friend Juliana finally made it to me! To my very big surprise, she brought Leeann our other best friend with her.. I was in mental shock at the airport and so confused seeing her walk out, the surprise really couldn’t have been any better. Having their company makes me feel so cozy inside 🙂  

I asked Juliana to write a blog post for me.  I wanted to show someone else’s perspective of this amazing place.. So over and out Katie: Jules taking over! 

 A Note From Juliana Garcia Herself

First impressions…  wow!  That is the only response I have because I can not believe that I am here!  I realized about one day into the trip that I did not come with the same intentions as most tourists.  I came with the intentions to reunite with friends and bring a little bit of Austin to a beautiful homesick girl that is very missed and could use a familiar, brown Texas face.  About eighty percent of the people here, however, is here for the glitz and glam, some are here to assimilate and become citizens and even fewer are locals.

To start with the majority… bigger, glitzier and more extravagant.  I am pretty sure that is their motto.  It’s not Real Housewives of Beverly Hills keeping up with the Jones’s style though.  Its more extreme and so built into the culture that here it is pretty normal.  To be honest though, it has made my first couple of days here truly awesome.  By “awesome” I don’t mean loose, cowabunga surfer style, overused “awesome”.   I mean take your breath away, don’t blink so you don’t miss a thing AWE-SOME.  We all had dinner at a lounge on the 68th floor of The Address and experienced the infamous Dubai fountain for the first time here.  While beautiful, it seemed so effortless from so high above.  The spirals and streaks flourished from one end of the marina to other in coordination with the colored spot lights whirling at one end which I thought was incredible.  Then we saw it again having dinner at sunset and…

WOW!  I realized some really passionate person (probably more like a very reliable computer program) choreographed a multitude of tiny individual jets that shoot up at different heights and paces to create an amazing show that is perfectly synchronized with booming music and vibrant lights.  What Vegas water show?!  😉

Not only does the Dubai fountain blow away the Bellagio fountains in Vegas but also the boats and yachts here…  ridiculous! For my birthday I was surprised with an amazing yacht party included with balloons, cake, delicious food, a captain hat and an amazing group of people resulting in an unfathomable day all together.  The boats that we saw, of course, were decked out to the max.  They do not compare to the usual maybe two or three storied yachts I am used to seeing out on the lake in Austin.  They were basically water hotels that could house a small village in a five star kind of way!  Then there is the architecture.  We cruised around to see the skyline from the sea which completely lays out the extravagance of Dubai in a panoramic view.  The buildings are so new and clean and detailed in a way that each one seems to exude its own personality among a forest of skyscrapers that just keep growing.

Aside from the eighty percent that come here for its lavish luxury, there are the people who actually consider this their home.  There are two distinct groups from what I have been told.  There are the people who have moved from other countries not only for the monetary benefits but to actually stay and establish their family roots here AND then there are the people who were actually born here.  This blend of status and culture creates an interesting experience of personalities.  This is the part that I have found so interesting, but I am still exploring so I am holding off on assessing until further investigation.  The scientist part of me is still conducting experiments on the reaction to me as a female, low key Texan and even more generally an American.  🙂  I’ll elaborate more once I have a better hold on the matter.  It is very complex and I haven’t even broken the surface.