Well, officially Eid is over, but we enjoyed it! We had our first (and potentially only) house guests come to visit us over the holiday. My wonderful friend Leslie and her dad Duane spent 10 days in the UAE with us, and it was great! Guests for that long...yikes! But, it worked out perfectly. Jason was a good tour guide, Duane was a good Papa to the girls, Leslie and I were able to hang out and talk, and we all sang along to some Garth Brooks in the van on the way to Dubai. I am not joking.
We were able to be tourists in our country of residence. When we first moved here, we visited places and saw things, but then got bogged down with the daily minutia of life and kinda stopped paying attention to the world around us. Leslie and Duane helped us go to places we hadn't been in a while and some places that we've never been before at all.
 |
| View from Jebel Hafeet at night |
Duane's cowboy hat was a hit everywhere we went. "Hey Cowboy!"
 |
| One of the Gold souqs |
 |
| Guiness Book of World Record's biggest gold ring |
 |
| Burj Al Arab at sunset |
 |
| Jumeirah Beach at sunset |
We went to Jumeirah Beach for the first time. We happened to get there at sunset, and were able to watch the sky turn beautiful shades of orange, purple and yellow. We'd never been to a beach in Dubai, and hadn't realized that the sand was perfect and the water warm. Leslie, the girls, and I put our feet in the water and watched a bunch of men in their whitey tighties get in the water before we were oogied out and had to leave. Yuck. Saggy, wet, whitey tighties are not attractive. But, the water was beautiful and calming despite the surrounding scenery.
 |
| Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi |
 |
| Compulsory Abayas |
We went to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi because everyone HAS to go to this place. It is amazingly beautiful. There is so much love and beauty built into every single detail. Granted, we were so hot that we may have, in our haste to cool off, not appreciated every single marble tile. As a matter of respect, they make all women wear abayas with their hair covered. It is amazing that with all the planning that went in to this beautiful structure, they didn't plan for the fact that every woman will have to be given and return an abaya. There was one room with one desk handing out abayas. It was hot, stinky, and overly crowded. To avoid the possibility that we would have to come back to get an abaya for Ava to cover her bare arms and shoulders, we got her one. She may or may not have needed it, but I was not standing in that line again. Ava said she felt like she was in Harry Potter and was going to see a quidditch match.
By the end, we were getting "Hangry" as Leslie put it. So hot and hungry that we were getting frustrated. We went to Cantina Laredo and had tableside guacamole with lunch. Tableside guacamole makes everyone happy.
Recharged, we went to the Abu Dhabi Corniche and took great pictures and absorbed the atmosphere.
 |
| Emirates Palace hotel on the left, and the Sheikh's Palace on the right |
Our last few days together were spent on a desert safari and chilling at a UNESCO World Heritage site that also has a nice park. My desert safari pictures have yet to be uploaded, and I can't promise I'll remember to blog once they are. Just imagine a cowboy riding a camel, a provocative belly dancer, a full moon, and crazy driving over sand dunes. It was great.
I was very happy to be able to spend time with Leslie and Duane. I've known them both for so long that it was like family came to visit.
So...who's coming next?
Ma salamah!
Jaime and I are on our way
ReplyDelete