Dubai flashbacks

Dubai was a unique experience. How could it be any different - it was a place, culture and customs that my only touch with, prior to my visit, has been random, 2-dimensional and impersonal. I only had two days so I saw... not much - just this and that and, besides, I took it slowly, the last thing I wanted was to run around like crazy on a sightseeing spree. When at a new place it is the atmosphere that I need to feel, I want to have a taste of what you can't get from Internet. The scale of everything in Dubai is, by all means, impressive - too impressive that is - at some point it starts to seem overwhelming and even intimidating. So what I remember from Dubai the most is the interaction with people. Some episodes stuck in my mind.

I stopped at a coffee shop:
"- Small Americano and two oat cookies, please."
"- OK. Your eyes!"
"- What about my eyes?"
"-They are beautiful!"
"- ?!?!?"

On the day of the concert at the Dubai world trade center:
I rushed to the ladies' room ( under these circumstances you don't go there in a relaxed manner, you always rush because you never know how much time you have). Of course, afterwards I washed my hands and, as I stood there with my hands wet, I tried to locate where the paper tissues where but there were none so I used the hand dryer. The whole time, between the sinks and the hand dryer, stood a girl who was obviously working there as a cleaner. She was not more than twenty years of age, maybe from India or Pakistan judging by her facial features, wearing a head scarf that covered her head and neck. She must have noticed my searching look because, without saying a word, she approached me, in a rather shy manner, and handed me some unwrapped toilet paper. I thanked her and rushed out. Three hours later I returned and she was still there. And this time, when I went to the sinks to wash hands she was already prepared with unwrapped toilet paper to give me the moment I was done washing. It was really, and I mean really strange because there were over a dozen girls there but she was obviously waiting for me - she had her eyes fixed on me, she didn't look at anyone else, and the way she was looking at me was...it sounds crazy but she was looking at me with something that resembled adoration (why?!). I wiped my hands with the toilet paper and smiled at her as brightly as I could. "Thank you!" And her face lit up. I still have no idea what to make of it but the whole scene was really moving!