It's been a bit of a bubble really. My father went out to the Gulf in 1948 as a cargo superintendent and my mother followed a year later. I grew up in Bahrain in the 1960s and 1970s, while my brother was born in Abadan in Iran, and my parents had also lived in Basra and Kuwait City. Abu Dhabi and Dubain were quite honestly a bit of undeveloped backwaters; Dad was in charge of Dubai port services in the 1970s and it was starting to develop from a backwater creek full of dhows. It was only in the 1980s and 1990s that it turned into a flash money-rich town, and some of the expatriates it attracted really didn't know how to behave. Dad's best friend, who'd been out also since the late 1940s, was based there and had several stories about the goings on and tacky behaviour. There always have been links with western women throughout the Gulf (we all knew about the current Emir of Bahrain's father having "Mrs Manchester" installed in a seaside villa next to his) and Saudi used to be a bit stone faced about all the people going over to Bahrain for the weekend and having to be poured back with hangovers (Bahrain had off-licences too!) but Dubai seems to have become a haven for tack, flash, naff and in effect prostitution. Obviously this doesn't apply to all the residents but I simply don't see the attraction in the place.
A friend teaches in Muscat, which is still in lockdown with the borders closed, and it seems a much nicer, quieter and more restrained place. She loves it.
