Dubai

After the business with the stolen phone I flew from Georgia to the Emirates. One night in Abu Dhabi, then a taxi across the desert.

I reached the outskirts of Dubai at about one in the afternoon. The sun stood over the Burj Khalifa in the middle of a skyline of meticulously designed towers that appear to have arrived out of nothing in twenty years.

The air outside was past bearing. The wind felt like a hairdryer held at full power against the face.

„What brings you to Dubai?“ the driver asked.

„I'm starting a new chapter.“

The city pulls in an unusual class of person from everywhere: businessmen, YouTubers, adventurers, mercenaries, gold dealers, visionaries, optimists, spiritual teachers and their followers, influencers, connoisseurs, millionaires and billionaires.

Until today I was certain that too much money is bad for a character. Since I started taking my convictions about money apart, I have met people who are in a position to correct me.

I enjoy being wrong. It is one of the few pleasures that gets cheaper with age.