CeaCea and the SandMan perform
their Two-Person Comedy Hypnosis Show
at the Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai, U.A.E. in 2000

CeaCea and Alan were invited to perform three Comedy Hypnosis shows a day for 10 days at the Dubai Shopping Festival in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) in March 2000. The shows were a total disaster! It was a very educational trip, however. ...

A contrast of old ways and an extremely modern city. The most modern buildings with the latest architecture were being built everywhere, yet these smaller boats were used as local transportation to cross the rivers, and these larger boats – still made of wood – were ocean-going cargo ships in the Trade Capital of the Middle East.

The shows were unsuccessful because the people have a very limited English vocabulary. They don't "dream" in English, so Alan's attempts to perform a hypnotic induction were almost always unsuccessful; the language barrier got in the way.

The people there speak conversational English, but if you ask "Where is the bathroom?" They don't understand. If you then say, "Washroom?" again, they don't get it. If you say, "Restroom?" they still look at you puzzled. If you say, "Toilet?" their eyes light up and they tell you where the bathroom is.

Therefore, when Alan did his induction, very few people went under. They speak English, but there is definitely a language barrier.

Carls Jr, anyone?

Men in the marketplace

By the way, we carried toilet paper in our camera bag everywhere. It rarely existed outside international hotel bathrooms, and I never quite got used to the 'spraying myself with cold H20 from a hose' thing.

Alan learned about "SHAME." It's a cultural thing. In America, we have "GUILT." In the Asian culture they have "FACE." In the Arabic cultures they have "SHAME." Imagine attempting to do a "comedy hypnosis show" without making anyone shame themselves. A "hypnosis show" didn't work. After failing to even pull off an induction, show after show, we finally had a show were a family of high school kids who attended an 'American School' volunteered.

The teens spoke fluent English and Alan was successful doing an induction and getting a few of them into a great trance. They were really animated and began to perform great, when suddenly Big Brother, dressed like Aladdin, walks up to the edge of the stage and says, "Get them off the stage now!" What a shock, to say the least. Our producer, a Saudi, later explained about SHAME. So, now I know.

Dubai Historical Museum

So, we had lots of time for sight seeing. Our 30 shows became eleven, and we had many days off.

Here we are at the Dubai Historical Museum. The building was a reproduction of a fort destroyed in the late 1800's by British gun boats back when Britain ran around doing that all over the world ...kind of like what the USA is doing now in the same region.

We went for a ride out into the wilderness. The scenery was so unique; like nothing I have ever seen before. Wild Camels!? It was funny to see signs along the roadways that had pictures depicting "Camel Crossing" and "Goat Crossing" images -- like we have deer crossing signs in America. I tried to get close to the camels, but they apparently didn't like my smell any more than I liked their smell.

We visited a local restaurant with excellent local food, along a river with a beautiful view, and it was a favorite place to smoke the traditional hookahs with flavored tobacco. I think I tried Apple.

Markets everywhere. Outdoor Flea Markets, shopping centers and malls, horse stalls were changed into rows of shops. In Dubai, there is no tax. No sales tax, no income tax, no import taxes, no export taxes, NO TAXES! And it attracts shoppers from around the world. Dubai has everything! Gold jewelry is one thing worth buying there.

CeaCea liked this old guy for some reason. He sold a lot of tourist stuff, but had a bunch of international coins. And being an expert numismatist (coin collector) myself, I got really excited when I found a whole slew of 1932 George Washington Silver Dollars in his collection. I bought them all. What a steal! I think I paid about $3.00 US for each of them, and I bought the whole lot - about 100 of them!

That night I woke up in the middle of the night and suddenly realized -- "SH-T!!! Silver dollars didn't have George Washington on them in 1932!" If anyone would like one, just let me know...

But the one image that really remains is the sight of the sun setting over the Pursian Gulf.

I do not remember ever seeing the sun look like this...

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Updated last March 30th, 2011 sitting in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada