It’s taken me some time to get this account up and running (for the record, I am not the most tech-savvy person), but I am so excited to begin my Tacos + Takeoffs blogging journey here with my first post about the highlights of my recent trip to the United Arab Emirates!

About eight weeks ago, my boyfriend Saúl and I boarded an Emirates Airline flight to Dubai, unsure of what to expect but certain we would find adventure. Emirates Airline customer service was top-notch, and 14 hours later, we landed in the desert oasis known as the United Arab Emirates!

I was thoroughly unprepared for the heat of the Emirates. I grew up in Florida, and spent eight weeks last summer living in Haifa, Israel, yet I was shocked by the heat in Dubai. When I stepped out of the terminal at DXB, the heat hit me in the face like a wave, and I had difficulty breathing the first night I was there. My friends who live in Dubai assured me that this was normal, and sure enough, I felt fine the following day.

We stayed for the week with our generous Mexican expat friends and were surprised and impressed to learn that the expat community in the UAE far outnumbers the native Emirati population – 80 to 20 percent!

On our first full day in the UAE, we woke up early and took a surprisingly inexpensive Uber from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, where we visited the breathtaking Sheikh Zayed Mosque. It was without a doubt the most beautiful building that I have ever visited, and I felt incredibly fortunate to be there.

The mosque is open to visitors of all faiths, as long as you are respectful and follow the rules. For women, this means donning the traditional abaya, which will cover your entire body and hair. I borrowed the one I wore from my friend, but discovered that there are many available to borrow free of charge at the mosque.

Over the course of our week in UAE, I noticed a definite separation of the native Emirati population and the predominately-expat workforce, which made our afternoon coffee with an Emirati business contact all the more special. A friend of a colleague from home picked us up and treated us to cappuccinos in the gilded lobby of the Emirates Palace Hotel. The cappuccinos were crested with 24-karat gold flakes, to match the flashy décor of the venue. We discussed life in the UAE (shopping malls are popular places to avoid the heat; the government provides housing and education to its citizens) and new projects (the UAE Space Agency plans to launch a Mars orbiter in 2020; Abu Dhabi will soon be home to the second Louvre art museum).

That afternoon, Saúl wasted no time in organizing a 5-star desert safari experience. I cannot recommend Platinum Heritage tours and our guide, Paulo, enough. Paulo told us that Adrianna Lima, Christopher Lloyd, Selena Gomez, Ja Rule, and a number of other celebrities had taken advantage of this tour. We took a private (highly air-conditioned!) Land Rover drive through the sand dunes of the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, spotting Arabian Oryx and Sand Gazelle along the way. After some time, we stopped at a quaint set-up of carpet and plush pillows to watch a falconry demonstration and enjoy a sunset toast of sparkling apple and date juice. This was followed by a camel ride to our dinner site – a private encampment in the dessert where a chef prepared a delectable six-course meal, an artist expertly applied a stunning henna tattoo in a matter of seconds, and a belly dancer twirled under a full moon. It was picture-perfect, and after such a long day, we slept very soundly on the ride home.

Our dating anniversary was a day of “Burjes.” We began the morning with a relaxing couple’s massage at the Talise Spa at the seven-star Burj al Arab. UAE law dictates that women are attended by female spa attendants and masseuses, and males by males. This did not affect our plans at all, but may be unusual for some travelers, so just a heads-up! After our massage, we were given free reign of the infinity pool and whirlpool on the “mixed” side of the spa (there is a women’s-only side too). We were incredibly fortunate that during our time there, a few other people stopped by for photos but otherwise, we had the pool to ourselves. The water was warm, the views were splendid, and we certainly felt like royalty!

After lunch we spent some time at the Dubai Mall, which amazed me with its offerings, including an aquarium with sharks and a dinosaur skeleton! I succumbed to a super touristy gimmick and coughed up $12 for a 3-D gummy rendering of our faces (yes, really – I “needed” a self-portrait from the “world’s first 3D gummy printer”; no – it looked nothing like us). The Dubai Mall was one place where the contrasts of Dubai were readily apparent. At five times throughout the day, speakers from mosques around the city chant a beautiful call to prayer for Muslim worshippers. In the Dubai Mall, there are separate prayer rooms for men and women next to the restrooms, so shoppers can comfortably practice their religion without leaving the comfort of the A/C (or the allure of the luxury stores)!

I was a bit reluctant to set aside time to visit the top of the Burj Khalifa. Yes, it’s the tallest building in the world, but having been crammed into one too many elevators to reach the top of other buildings in major cities (#firstworldproblems), I felt our time and money could be better invested. Saúl bit the bullet and got us tickets, opting for the fast-pass option, and I am so glad he did! The ground floor entrance of the Burj Khalifa is actually in the Dubai Mall, where we were welcomed with traditional Arab hospitality – strong coffee in tiny cups and towers of dried dates. After taking two separate elevators to the top floor (148 stories up!) we found ourselves in a sunny room being offered juices, coffee, tea, and pastries. Saúl outdid himself – he made sure we’d be at the tallest point right as the sun slipped below the horizon.

Then we made our way to dinner at Thiptara Thai restaurant at the Palace Hotel, where he had reserved a table on the patio overlooking the incredible fountain show in the water outside the Burj Khalifa. Although it had “cooled down,” it was still incredibly warm outside, but the food was delicious, and the view made sitting out there worth it!

One of the items on my Dubai bucket list was visiting the Old City and traditional souks (markets). Comically, Dubai’s “Old City” is comprised of buildings newer than most buildings in my hometown of DC. I arrived at the Gold Souk ready to aggressively barter for incredible deals on gold jewelry, expecting to leave loaded down with sparkly trinkets. I was surprised to find that the shopkeepers seemed reluctant to offer deals, and I left empty-handed. After doing some research and speaking to a friend who lives in Dubai, it seems that my mistake was not arriving earlier in the day, when the shopkeepers are more eager to make deals to meet their quotas. Oh well, live and learn!

During our weeklong stay in Dubai, we enjoyed delicious food from all over of the globe, but one of our favorite meals was a peaceful waterfront dinner on our final evening in Dubai, where we used the last of our UAE Dirhams to treat our hosts to Arabic fare beachside at the Palm, a manmade island shaped like a palm tree.

The photo above is the most accurate depiction of Dubai’s contrasts that I captured the entire trip: old and new, religion and secularity, business and pleasure, luxury and dust.

At night, light emanates from only a fraction of the windows in the residential high rises, indicating a rate of investment that outpaces immigration to the Emirates. If anyone has a statistic about the ratio of competed to in-progress construction, I’d be very curious to see it!

To sum it up: It must be very difficult to impress an Emirati. The Emirates are developing at a rapid pace, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what other treasures are dreamt up and brought to life by the next time I visit!