Dubai Is Amazing...Or Is It?

Hello everyone,

Christian here again. I'm grinding out a 24-hour layover here in Dubai and since I decided to leave the airport yesterday afternoon and evening, I thought I'd share a few of my initial impressions on the City of Gold. (My KCHAG blogs part 2 and 3 are on their way, so don't worry).

First off, if there is one thing you need to know about Dubai (you may already know it), it's that the city only speaks the language of flashiness, luxury and wealth.

What do I mean by that?

Everything has been built, designed, and created to satisfy some material purpose. For example, if you fly Emirates first-class, on arrival to Dubai you are greeted by chauffeurs who take you to the swank Emirates First Class Lounge, where you are presented on arrival with a gold-encrusted iPad and an array of expensive cheeses, wines, and other fancy dishes to enjoy while you are there. Beds and sleep pods are available at no additional charge so you can unwind and relax on your layover, no matter how short or long.

If Dubai is your final destination on your travels, should you request Emirates' signature chaffeur-drive service, upon exit of the airport you will be greeted by any one of a number of luxury cars to take you to your final destination. These include Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins and Maseratis, by the way.

Or listen to this one. I think you'll like it.

The famous Dubai Mall, located near the also-famous Burj Khalifa, doesn't just have every shop you could ever possibly want to visit inside it. It does, but it also has a LOT more.

By a lot more, I mean a gigantic aquarium on one level, that will come to host over 33,000 animals over time, with over 400 sharks and rays alone making their home there. It features an enormous glass viewing window and viewing tunnel where amazed crowds can gawk at all sorts of sea creatures gracefully gliding through the azure-blue water.

By a lot more, I mean that there is an ice-rink on another level within the mall. AN ICE RINK. This is a city that experiences sickeningly-hot summers, a city that was still sitting at 100°F (38°C) when I stepped outside at 10pm yesterday. It's in a desert, Yet within this one mall is an ice-rink the same size as the one in Rockefeller Center in New York City, where hundreds of Emiratis and other tourists can enjoy a skate with family or friends, no matter the heat outside. 

By a lot more, I mean there is a cinema with over 22 different screens, the largest in Dubai. There is an indoor theme park called Sega Republic located on yet ANOTHER level. A THEME PARK, PEOPLE. The size and scale of this mall is something incredible to behold. 

There is every shop and store you could possibly think of within this city. From Louis Vuitton and Armani to H&M and Mango, you can find something for every taste and price range. The whole culture surrounding the city is one of owning the most luxurious items, the most exotic cars, the biggest properties. With all the stores surrounding the people here, it's no wonder they are so in love with pursuing their materialistic, vain, shallow goals. It is encouraged and welcomed here.

The Dubai Metro is another good example of the luxury Emiratis have become accustomed to. 

The driverless, incredibly smooth-riding trains are constantly air-conditioned to provide relief from the crushing heat outside. 

For a small extra fee, you can get your train ticket upgraded to Gold Class. This gives you access to a cabin with plush leather seats, footrests, and a huge panoramic window at the back of the train to let you gaze at skyline passing you by. 

There is a seperate cabin for women and children, which can either be viewed as a sexist thing or you can view it as providing women comfort and safety when using the train. 

The trains are always sparkling-clean, and there are heavy monetary penalties imposed for everything from eating and drinking within a train to entering the wrong cabin at the station. 

It's quite an impressive metro system.

Also, All the buildings around the main city center are all built out of incredible futuristic-looking glass and shiny metals with incredible designs, giving off this weird Tomorrowland/Looper/Blade Runner vibe (if you haven't seen either of those 3 movies, I highly suggest you go and do so. At least Google it so you know what I mean). 

You just can't wrap your mind around it; somehow, in the vast emptiness of the unforgiving desert, one of the world's leading cities has sprung up from seemingly nothing. Not only that, but it continues to provide unparalleled luxuries and amenities to its residents, making it one of the most desirable places to live in the world for many people. 

However, with that being said, I would never want to live in Dubai, nor stay here longer than I really needed to. 

It is so fake. 

Everything is so cold, all glass and metal and marble and shiny surfaces. 

This isn't somewhere that makes you feel at home, that is warm and welcoming. This isn't somewhere people want to stay forever. This is a transient city, with people leaving and coming every few years and no one ever establishing any deep, meaningful relationships with one another.  

Everything in this city pampers and spoils you and makes you numb to the hurt and suffering of others around the world. You become discontent with everything and nothing satisfies you for very long, because you are used to constant stimulation of the senses here in Dubai. In short, you become an unfeeling person.

Although seemingly a vibrant, busy city, in Dubai you must remember that a few miles outside the city are endless stretches of barren desert. You are surrounded by absolute nothingness; you really are on the edge of the world, in the middle of nowhere, so to speak. That alone would be enough to drive me insane. 

I need life around me, I need warmth and comfort and a sense of community. 

That's what I love about being Armenian so much: we have such a strong sense of family and community. Go anywhere there are Armenian communities around the world, and you are welcomed home as if you had never lived there your whole life. Family is of utmost importance to us, and so are the relationships we build with the people we love.

Although I'm sure Dubai has this just as many other cities might, for some reason I felt that the city was devoid of all that I just spoke about. 

It sucks the life out of you until you are someone you never thought you would be.  


Dubai is a city that initially leaves you feeling easily impressed, awed, and in love but, like a seductress, ultimately leaves you feeling empty, lost, lonely, and discontented. 

PS-Sorry for the weird highlights on most of this post. I have no clue what that's all about and I;m trying to fix it as soon as possible. 

The Kchag Experience: Part 1

Hello everyone,

Christian here, running on a minimum amount of sleep, as usual. 

I'm back (finally connected myself to some half-decent wifi), but to be honest, not sure if I'm the same person I was a week ago. 

I just sat down on my couch, and as I let out a huge sigh of relief, I feel like something inside of me has changed. I feel like throughout this week, I've been exposed to people that have helped me not only humble myself and grow in my faith but also helped me to realize I am just one tiny human in a sea of billions of people; I've never seen such a diverse and an incredible group in my life.

If you're wondering where all this enlightenment has come from, let me fill you in. For the past week, I've been an arachnort (leader/counselor) at the famous Camp KCHAG in the mountains right outside of Beirut. This year the badaniats hamakoumar (13-17 years old) had 78 kids and over 15 arachnortner. This past week spent with the leaders and campers has been filled with countless laughs, mispronounced words in multiple languages, and an amazing time of fellowship with people I’ve come to truly love. 

I wanted to write a few recap blogs to really express my feelings about the week and give you a little insight into what went on and why I enjoyed it as much as I did. Each part of my KCHAG recap blog will focus on a different aspect of the camp. For this first part, I want the focus to be on all the wonderful people that I met while serving as a leader.

It was a weird feeling being the only person that really stood out from the rest of the camp because I’m from America. Everyone that attends KCHAG is used to having leaders that know the same languages as them, live in the same city and country as them, and possibly even attend the same church as them. 

But when I came, I flipped that all upside down.

I don’t know the languages (Armenian and Arabic) that well, and I am certainly not from anywhere close by, nor do I attend the same churches as them. They had literally never seen me before, and suddenly I was among them, making conversation in broken sentences and laughing and learning the whole way.

What blew me away was that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was so incredibly kind and caring in accepting me as one of their own.

 One of my biggest fears going into this week was that I would be viewed as an outsider, a pariah, and wouldn’t be able to connect with either the campers or the leaders. My grasp of Armenian has always been a source of frustration and embarrassment for me, and now suddenly I’m thrown into the lion’s den with a group of people whose main language I can only speak semi-well. It was an extremely humbling experience to speak and continually be corrected by kids far younger than me or by leaders with far more experience than me. But the funny thing is, they each did it in a loving way, in a way where they WANTED to see you benefit and succeed from listening to their wisdom and advice. By the end of the week, I was speaking with more confidence and connecting with so many of the kids and leaders on a deep, meaningful level. Everyone treated me as if I did speak the same languages as them well, as if I did come from the same city and country as them, and as if I did go to the same church as them. 

Second, the questions. 

Oh man, they did not stop. 

From the time my feet hit the ground and the kids arrived at camp, I was bombarded with question after question about America, Los Angeles, soccer, girls, my Armenian language skills, and A MILLION OTHER THINGS. I think I got to now myself better after answering all these questions about myself. Even if at times I thought the questions were annoying, I answered and enjoyed it because I loved seeing the curiosity and sense of adventure sparkle in the kids’ eyes when I opened their eyes to a whole world outside of the one they have ever experienced. There is something so cool about trading experiences with kids thousands of miles away from you, only to find out that you are all so SIMILAR. You both cried when a soccer team you loved didn’t win a big game. You both loved the same movies. You both had a desire to travel and see the world. It was just incredible to experience that. Having a cabin full of curious, intellectual guys that were teaching me new words in Arabic and comparing stories about about their life here in Beirut and mine in LA was something I won’t forget.

I enjoyed it even more so with each of the leaders. 

I love every one of them uniquely. Each one has something special about him or her; they are beautiful, hilarious, caring, creative, intelligent, well-spoken, and most importantly, followers of Jesus Christ. Having long conversations with some of them about our biggest fears and losses we suffered and the changes and life decisions we make made me appreciate that type of intimate conversation SO much more. It is a very satisfying feeling to trade answers back and forth on the differences between Lebanon and California, to compare and contrast and criticize or compliment and to just sit and laugh with each other about life. I had barely met these people a week before, and by the end of the week we were talking and hugging and laughing like we had known each other forever. That is the power of fellowship in Christ. 

This whole camp experience was particularly memorable and emotional for me because I don’t know when I will see any one of them again. Leaving camp at the end of a long week is always a bittersweet feeling, but this feeling of emptiness and loss and the uncertainty of our next meeting has really hit me hard now that I’m back home, in my room, just sitting alone. It is a completely foreign feeling being in such a crowded, vibrant, busy city and yet feeling so lost and lonely. It is so hard to establish a “home” here and leave your heart with the people here only to have to go back home and rebuild again. 

If you’re reading this, I’m thinking and praying for all of you, and I hope its only a VERY short time before I see you again. There are so many relationships still to be built, so many jokes to be told, so many stories to be shared, and so much coffee to be drank at 7:30 AM leader devotionals. 

Read on, my friends.

Love, Christian 

P.S.-I want to include some pictures of the people I met during this week. Hopefully the moments and emotions I’ve captured help you understand why I fell in love with KCHAG and will dearly miss everyone from there. Part 2 will be coming soon.