Observations

1. When walking out into night from an air condition space, you feel as if you walk into wall of humidity.

2. In Abu Dhabi, you very rarely see litter on the ground.

3. All the taxi drivers seem to like living and working in Abu Dhabi.

4. Restrooms in the malls all have attendants. They especially come in handy when you have rushed into a stall and found the toilet paper roll empty.

5. After two weeks, women in sleeveless shirts and shorts stick out like a sore thumb.

6. The whole city is a construction site.

7. Everyday, you interact with people from all parts of the world.

8. Fadi has also noticed how the mosque are not as colorful as in Syria or Lebanon.

9. Personal space here can be tiny compare to personal space in America.

10. The architecture is incredible!

11. Most days the sky is hazy. I am told this is sand that blows in from either Saudi Arabia or Iran.

12. Malls are "playgrounds" for  individuals and families.

13. After riding with some of the taxi drivers, I am prepared to go to Ferari World and ride the roll coaster.

14. When looking for a parking place in the mall parking garage, there are red or green lights at the end of each spot. So, if you spy green, you know there is an open place to park.

15. People are generally friendly and helpful.

Dubai

Monday, the EMTs had the opportunity to take a chartered bus to the Dubai . Of course, we were dropped off at the Dubai Mall (where else, but another mall). Following is some of what we encountered during the almost 8 hour stay.

As we walked down the side of the mall, we came to this setting with the Burj Khalifa in the background. For some reason, I just couldn't fit all 2,715.5ft of it in the picture. Currently, it is the tallest building in the world and  you'll get see the rest it later.

Walking into the mall, we were met by a spectacular waterfall with 

statues of  divers.

No matter what country I have visited, there is always a Texas

restaurant, and the U.A.E. is no different.  However, I have 

never seen an Asian waitstaff break out into line dancing...

Our group was LOL!. Just so you know, we actually ate at a 

sushi restaurant.

 

After getting lunch, we decided to head out of the mall and go to the souks. It was suggested that we go the "Silk Souk" and take an abra (boat) to the "Gold Souk." Some of the shops were closed, but we kept exploring and found some open. Shon, one of the EMTs, made it by at least four "salesmen" before getting halted and dressed by this one.

I will definitely be back this way again.

We  took an abra across the Dubai Creek to the "Gold Souk."  

This is  certainly not like any "creek" I have known.

 At first, I thought someone had hung laundry all over this boat. But, upon closer inspection the clothes appeared to have yellow sales tags on them. I wonder how many customers shop this
boat? 

The heat was too much  for all of us. We stopped

for water, crossed the "creek" again,  had a 

snow cone, and hightailed it back to the mall.

Arriving at the mall, Emile found a car he liked.

The Souk section of Dubai Mall. My, how things

change.

Ducati Cafe

Versace sofa anyone? 

E kept wanting to go to the third floor, we 

soon found out he spied the Build-A-Bear 

Workshop where he built Chameau...his camel.

Delice Chocolatier

And here is the rest of the Burj.

Dubai is still busy building and expanding.

  As we left Dubai, here is one of the many complexes we saw 

  which houses laborers. As we passed, there were groups of

  men either  playing cricket or soccer outside their buildings. 

Time for some fun...especially for E and friend or Frick and Frack as they are now being called.

Play time at Fun City in Marina Mall...all the malls have large play areas for kids.

Then, off we went to the ice rink for bumper cars. I couldn't wait!

Next, we explored the Emirates Palace Hotel.

Domed courtyard in the Emirates Palace

After dinner at Al Mushrif Mall, we made our final stopped at Cafe Noir for strawberry ice cream and crepes. I should not have had that latte. It is 2:48am and I am still posting pictures and blogging...I better go to bed.

By Thursday, it was time to get the laundry done. We are waited inside the lobby for our taxi instead of going out into the sauna.

The view on the way to Marina Mall which is close to our hotel.

Marina Mall has a hypermarket called Carrefour  in the basement (this has been our grocery store while staying in the hotel) along with plenty of retail shops, restaurants, and ice skating rink on the upper floors. We went today in hopes of catching the shuttle to Ikea, but we happened by during their break. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

Under one of the Marina Mall tents

Looks like a fun place to come for dinner in the near future.

After a 2 hour nap and hanging out at the hotel, we took in a late dinner at 9pm. We decided to skip the rush hour dinner time at sunset for all those fasting and go later. We ended up at the Lebanese Flower.

Some things are almost the same wherever you go!

 Since our apartment is unfurnished, we have been doing quite a bit of comparative shopping. We have AED 20,000 or approximately $5,000 to purchase everything from kitchen to bed and bath. We were a bit worried, but we have found very good prices on all items.

After getting a recommendation on a store that had good discounts on beds and sofas, we think we found one possibility. Can you guess which one we may go with out of the three?

On Tuesday, we had no obligations, so we headed out to the Grand Souk. Great design ! We negotiated the purchased a couple of poufs for the apartment (we are going to eat Emarati style at home...on the floor), checked out the perfume and spice stores, and bought some food to eat back at the hotel. No eating, drinking, or gum chewing out until sunset, since it is Ramadan.

Grand Souk 

Mosque across the street from the Grand Souk.  Mosques are everywhere.

Windows inside the souk.

Corridors in the souk

E's photo of items he liked 

Finally, we arrived late Saturday after delays and having been rerouted through London!

The view from our room at the Intercontinental Hotel.

The view from friend's room (Emirates Palace Hotel is in background).

Monday... almost time to leave our hotel  for a day trip to Al Ain (our placement) to check out our accommodations. I do not know anything about my school assignment as of yet.

Fadi rode up front in our bus for  the leg room.  He didn't know he would be of  help later when our driver was left behind by the lead bus. Yes, we were lost and literally driving around in circles. Fadi was able to talk to the organizer on the phone. We had to wait for someone to come and lead us to Mawaiji Village. There was much waiting around on the bus this day. Did I mention it was about 120 degrees?  

                                                

     

The trees and dunes as we near Al Ain.

Our building is on the right.

Front of our building with other EMTs (English Medium Teachers).

Our kitchen has no appliances, so we will budget our housing allowance very carefully. I opt for a hot plate and toaster oven instead of a stove and oven. I am sure that doesn't surprise many of you. 

Here is one of the two bedrooms in our apartment. They are both a good size. We will  need  wardrobes, since there are  no closets.

Two and a half baths...yea,  no sharing!