On our free night in the city, we headed to yet another ginormous mall whose claim to fame is .... AN INDOOR SKI SLOPE!! Yes, it is true. Dubai houses a place where you can ski inside and tobaggen and play with snow, in the middle of the desert!!!! Nothing could be crazier than this city.
I really enjoyed my time in Dubai. It's an incredible city, really energetic and fun. The pace of the trip has meant that we're in meetings usually from 8 or 9 AM until 11 PM, so my abilities to enjoy the nightlife have been limited. I'm usually exhausted by the end of the day! It's great incentive to come back however, to spend more time exploring this incredible place, which I'm sure because of the speed of development will be realy different in even one year's time.
Yesterday, we traveled from Dubai to Al Ain, where I saw a replication of the Jet d'eau! Yay, Geneva! We visited an Islamic Center, where an American Imam gives presentations to traveling groups on Islam. It was really interesting and hosted in the most beautiful tent in the world. At all of our meetings, we've been continusouly plied with juice, tea, coffee, etc... This could rightfully be called the land of juice, and coming home to my barren pantry is going to be a shock!
We visited the American Embassy next, where our hosts were really gracious and the house was decked out for Christmas. Muslims are celebrating Eid here, which is a holy holiday marking the end of Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. I didn't realize our holidays fell so near the same time this year. Our Emirate friends fasted yesterday in preparation for Eid. I was trying to think of times in the Protestant Christian calendar where we fast, but I associate being Lutheran with cookies, jello, and glorified rice too strongly to remember any time I went hungry for my faith.
The night ended with a Dhow cruise against the Abu Dhabi skyline at night. We exchanged gifts with our hosts and toasted the organizers and planners. I certainly owe a huge thanks to the Emirates Foundation for making this trip possible. Today is my last day in the UAE. I'm in Abu Dhabi, enjoying the sun, the beach, and (of course) the mall connected to our hotel. Really, if you're thinking about a vacation destination... the UAE is the place to visit.
2 comments:
Well, that fasting business really is more of a Catholic thing. And, Lord knows, us good Protestants surely don't want to be associated with THEM!
A little something called Lent?
We give things up for Lent, that's true, but it's not the same as fasting... Unless you give up eating entirely.
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