I just returned from a quick business trip in the United Arab Emirates.

I went to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, almost 10 years since my last visit there..

I was honored with a golden residency...

On my way from the airport to the heart of Dubai, my eyes kept staring at everything around me.. After a period of silence, I turned to my wife, saying inadvertently:

"The people working on coordinating everything around us aren't just employees!"

My wife asked me curiously:

"What do you mean?"

I replied with the same spontaneity:

"The ones who did all this are surely people who "love their country deeply."

A long period of silence took over both me and my wife for contemplation..

An endless inner dialogue began, as I recalled all my travels in which I've nearly visited most countries in the world, from north to west to east over my lifetime..

"I've never seen such quiet harmony in New York, London, or even Paris.. Perhaps only in Bern, Switzerland..

I was reminded of how the concept of humanity and embracing its principles are in Bern.

The idea of comparison flashed before my eyes..

Yes, "humanitarian principles," this is what the UAE was built on..

Principles that the world has forgotten and forsaken in the power of wars

And dealing with double standards, turning a blind eye to the destruction and demolishment of countries..

But I quickly woke myself up:

"Adel .. You're in an Arab country... wake up... don't just consider the appearance"

My mind was back to questioning..

"How do nearly 138 nationalities live and work in this country?!"

I arrived at the hotel.. and went through the routine that precedes a new and challenging workday, preparing myself for a large number of work appointments, as usual in my travels.. and they were punctuated with government errands

To finish the paperwork for my golden residency..

And I won't hide that the worst thing in my life that has caused me a "complex psychological trauma" is the mere thought of an appointment to complete governmental paperwork, whether in Egypt, France, or even the United States..

I quickly went with my wife, who always accompanies me on these government errands because she deeply knows what anger, annoyance, and so on may come from me...

Over two days, I made only three errands.. None of them took more than 8 minutes.. Most of them were to approach the person in charge or ask about the steps !!!!

"Does this mean it's done?!! I can go?!! I can leave now?!

You're sure you don't need anything else?!!"

Those were my words every time I finished dealing with an employee...

And the reply, in a mimic of the Egyptian accent with a friendly smile:

"You honor us... all is good now."

Here, I looked at my wife as if my phobia of government paperwork had left me.. and I smirked with exaggerated confidence:

"See, I finished everything.. you didn't need to come with me."

My wife smiled in turn.. She knows how easy these transactions are here as she had come a month before me and completed her transactions with the same ease..

But she didn't want to ruin my joy and the state of bragging I was in...

I finished several intensive work appointments.. and my trip ended in a flash..

Here I am, back in the taxi to the airport..

And I am daydreaming again...

And the words spontaneously come out of my mouth after a period of silence, contemplation, and this time sorrow over my departure..

"The people here... God will honor them... because whoever eases a matter for a person

Surely God will facilitate all matters of his life..

This is a mercy from our Lord..

Bless you, Emirates of goodness..