When author Steve Burton heard the plan for transforming a relatively untouched bird sanctuary in the Middle Eastern emirate of Abu Dhabi into a complex, global entertainment and premier yachting destination within thirty months, he thought the idea wa
Staying Afloat
Three Years in Abu DhabiBy Steve BurtoniUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Steve Burton
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4759-3651-3Contents
Preface....................................................................ixAcknowledgments............................................................xiiiPart One The Right Place at the Right Time.................................1Prelude....................................................................3Dateline: California, April 2007...........................................6Verdict....................................................................14Part Two Very Bare Essential History.......................................31United Arab Emirates.......................................................33Emirate of Abu Dhabi.......................................................34Part Three Dateline: Abu Dhabi, June 2007..................................37Touchdown or Fumble........................................................39Tough It Out...............................................................41Department of Higher Complexity............................................42Home Sweet Home............................................................49Part Four "Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! It's off to work we go".....................55If You've Got It, Flaunt It................................................57Fearless and Innovative....................................................59Baling Wire and Duct Tape..................................................60Momentous Yas Island Project...............................................66Part Five Red Flag.........................................................69Class-Based Society........................................................71Part Six Cultural Immersion—Vignettes................................79Brits and Webster..........................................................81Crescent Moon..............................................................84Melodic Call to Prayer.....................................................88Purity and Discipline......................................................89Clean and Cleaner..........................................................95Passions and Pastimes......................................................98Part Seven Meanwhile, Back on Yas Island...................................105Think Big..................................................................108Beacons of Eminence........................................................116Ticktock, Ticktock.........................................................120Just Do It.................................................................121Jump First, Look Later.....................................................123More and More..............................................................127Part Eight Onward and Sideways—Vignettes.............................129Spice and Life.............................................................132Survival of the Fittest....................................................140Why Make It Simple When Complexity Works Just Fine?........................145Rules of Engagement........................................................147Part Nine Checkered Flag...................................................155Part Ten "The sky's falling! The sky's falling!"...........................165Who's Holding the Old Maid?................................................167Pleasure Boating?..........................................................171Part Eleven Entrepreneurial Nomads.........................................177References.................................................................187About the Author...........................................................193
Chapter One
Part One The Right Place at the Right Time
Prelude
The global economy was in the fast lane from late 2005 through mid-2008, immediately prior to the bankruptcy declaration by Lehman Brothers, the largest bankruptcy filing in US history. The economy in Abu Dhabi and Dubai redefined robust. Money from oil-thirsty countries was propelling this land from third-world to future-world status without a stopover in between. Visionaries and highly skilled individuals were in demand. My wife, Pamela, and I believed we were both. It was early 2007, presumably an opportune time to visit the country and observe firsthand what the media hype was all about.
We both held stable and initially challenging jobs in Northern California, but they had begun to lose their glamour. We'd been accused of being a go-for-it couple, and we were impatient to see what further chapters lay unread. Apprehension had never been much of a roadblock. The halfway point in our lives had been well exceeded, as documented in medical journals and mailers soliciting cemetery plots. As best friends, we had taught ourselves to view as many of life's experiences as possible with an air of lightness, particularly during moments requiring patience to retain sanity. We would soon relearn the value of that virtue—in a big way.
Moving to a sandbox in a Middle Eastern desert was not in the top one hundred on my want-to-do list. Make that the top two hundred. My soles had accumulated a fair number of travel miles during twenty years of marriage, but never had I envisioned that we would pick up and move halfway around the globe, from California to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. And certainly I had never imagined that I would soon become an integral player on a team tasked by the highest level in the government to undertake one of the most ambitious construction projects in the twenty-first century, which included a luxury yacht marina—in the desert.
What seemed to be an impulsive decision to relocate to the Middle East was, in fact, just that. The decision was not made without careful analysis, facilitated by a notebook of lined paper and a pencil. The line items consisted of an abbreviated list of our life's immediate priorities followed by brief justifications. This approach made it difficult to elaborate on pesky details that might spoil the party—quite scientific. Listening to our souls and following our intuition, the pencil moved with surprising ease. At that moment, we could not envision the extraordinary rewards that an odyssey to this land of superlatives would offer. Picture a child's first step into Toys "R" Us.
My background includes twenty years in the real estate development and construction industries in Northern California, followed by eight years in the maritime industry, my passion, in the San Francisco Bay Area—dissimilar careers.
My wife's background is equally diverse. Following a career as a real estate broker for fifteen years in Northern California, she pursued her passion and began her current career as a freelance photojournalist in the equestrian world. She was invited to cover both national and international horse racing events beginning in 1997. Her comprehensive coverage proved to be a fast-track route to international recognition, and many of those invitations were to the United Arab Emirates. Horse racing and breeding are passions of the Emiratis, and Arabian horses are their heritage.
After making a dozen solo trips to Abu Dhabi and Dubai over ten years, Pamela succeeded in making a convincing case that I should ignore my list of the top one hundred places I'd prefer to see and accompany her on the next trip. I acquiesced—a sign of an exemplary husband. The one-week venture would quickly make my list obsolete.
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