Friday, April 17, 2009
New Beginnings in DC
I've been in DC for the past several months. I think that everything that has happened to me has made me more opinionated than ever. I'm hoping to trace the events in my life and the food leading up to them. I plan on this being a blog on politics, business, opinions, and recipes.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Barziman
Over the weekend we took a camping trip to Barziman, one of the parts of the Wahiba Sands Desert. Yet, the weekend was much more eventful than just the camping trip.
Early in the morning on Thursday, Sami, a local friend of ours, just comes into the house and asks everyone what their blood type is. Supposedly, one of Sami's friend's sister is in the hospital needing blood urgently except the blood bank is completely out. In the end, two guys and myself went to the hospital to donate blood. When we arrived there we found out that this particular woman needed specific type of blood that was a perfect blood match. None of us were compatible. This weird story was interesting for two reasons- why was there no blood in the blood bank, and the hospital. It was interesting to find out that the blood bank here is commonly empty and that there is always a shortage of blood. As an American, I would assume that such dire needs for blood would be reported on the news or written about in the newspaper. This definitely was not the case. When we arrived at the hospital it was eerily empty. A large, modern hospital with a lack of patients, a lack of people and staff. Why was a hospital built if there is obviously no need for it right now. I guess this is one of those things about Oman. The Sultan does a lot of good things and he has improved the economy by leaps and bounds, but sometimes I wonder about his priorities. Currently, he is building a classical music theater, but the roads are not well built or thought out. It is good that he is looking at the future, and realizing that more people will be coming into the country, but it is also like he is neglecting some of the urgent needs now.
Anyways, I ended up not donating blood since I wasn't a match and it was a bad idea to donate blood before being outside in the scorchign desert. We ended up going and having a traditional Omani lunch and then heading out. Upon arrival, we met up with a local bedouin, Hamden, who was a personal friend of Jihad's. We saw some racing camels that were going to be racing tomorrow morning and then headed to Hamden's family house. The house is actually a combination of two main houses surrounded by a gate. One of the houses is where people live, while the other is solely a majillis, a place where you host visitors. The majilis was nice and large and we had a good time chatting and eating delicious local fruits. I got to eat some really good pomegranates and a banana just plucked from a tree (it tasted slightly different than the usual one bought in a grocery store.) Hamden is a bedouin, but he was able to go to school and ended up going to university in Muscat. He speaks English well, but much worse than an Omani in Muscat. He got a degree in some type of business and now works back in the bedouin village raising racing camels. The camels can cost up to 1million OMR (2.6 million USD) although on average it seemed like they cost 200 thousand OMR. Still a pretty penny. Also, the girls were invited to go to the main house to meet the women of the family. We met an assortment of female relatives of Hamden. The most interesting thing that happened was that one of the women had just given birth to a baby. She introduced the baby and let us hold it, and then she took it. She started talking to us through Hamden (the only one of them that knows significant amounts of English), and midway she sticks out her boob and gives it to the baby. Right in front of us, the guy, and all the other girls.
Afterwards we chose a goat to slaughter for dinner, and tried a bit of completely fresh goat's milk. It was yummy although slightly fatty and had a gritty taste. We drove to the area which was chosen for us to camp at. The goat was slaughtered halal, and then skinned and cleaned and put into a large pot with water and rice. After 2 hours or so it was done. The meat was very good, although greasy and oily. It was interesting to eat something that had just been alive 3 hours ago or so. We had the option of either sleeping outside with sand blowing in the wind or cuddling up with people in small tents. I ended up sharing a tent with Katy and her bf Houssem. Surprisingly it was actually cool outside, and felt very nice compared to the blistering heat just couple of hours before.
After 3 hours of sleep or so we were woken up and we headed to the camel races. They were interesting and fun. The camels are lined up and then slapped with remote controlled whips that are attached to their backs. They start running and are kept on encouraging to run by cars that keep on screaming and honking their horn from either side of the track. They run really funny. Definitely cool to watch. We were also able to try some "extra-fresh" camel milk. It was mild and almost tasted like simple 1% milk except had an interesting aftertaste. Then we went and started to catch our lunch- local omani lizards. These lizards live in holes in the ground and you come up to the hole and insert a pipe of CO2 (attached to the exhaust of the car) and kinda smoke them out. They were small disgusting things that had extremely sharp tails and fluid bellies.
That was pretty much the highlights of the day in a way. The small highlights along the way were driving related usually. The total number of people that went on this trip was 15. A HUGE number, and definitely too many for us to try to attempt to find 4WDs for. So, we had one car that was 4WD and the rest were crappy Yaris's and one Corolla. These cars were definitely not meant for off-roading. It was scary to feel the rocks hit the bottom of the car as we were driving, and then some fo the cars would end up getting stuck in teh sand. We would just have to lift the cheap car out but it still took up a lot of time.
In the end, I fully realized how much I hate taking trips with large groups. The inefficiencies were really starting to get to me towards teh end. I had a good time, but never again will i go on a trip with so many people. Most of this trip was waiting for people to gather or getting cars out of the sand. If anything, I was able to finally get time with the rockin MC.
Early in the morning on Thursday, Sami, a local friend of ours, just comes into the house and asks everyone what their blood type is. Supposedly, one of Sami's friend's sister is in the hospital needing blood urgently except the blood bank is completely out. In the end, two guys and myself went to the hospital to donate blood. When we arrived there we found out that this particular woman needed specific type of blood that was a perfect blood match. None of us were compatible. This weird story was interesting for two reasons- why was there no blood in the blood bank, and the hospital. It was interesting to find out that the blood bank here is commonly empty and that there is always a shortage of blood. As an American, I would assume that such dire needs for blood would be reported on the news or written about in the newspaper. This definitely was not the case. When we arrived at the hospital it was eerily empty. A large, modern hospital with a lack of patients, a lack of people and staff. Why was a hospital built if there is obviously no need for it right now. I guess this is one of those things about Oman. The Sultan does a lot of good things and he has improved the economy by leaps and bounds, but sometimes I wonder about his priorities. Currently, he is building a classical music theater, but the roads are not well built or thought out. It is good that he is looking at the future, and realizing that more people will be coming into the country, but it is also like he is neglecting some of the urgent needs now.
Anyways, I ended up not donating blood since I wasn't a match and it was a bad idea to donate blood before being outside in the scorchign desert. We ended up going and having a traditional Omani lunch and then heading out. Upon arrival, we met up with a local bedouin, Hamden, who was a personal friend of Jihad's. We saw some racing camels that were going to be racing tomorrow morning and then headed to Hamden's family house. The house is actually a combination of two main houses surrounded by a gate. One of the houses is where people live, while the other is solely a majillis, a place where you host visitors. The majilis was nice and large and we had a good time chatting and eating delicious local fruits. I got to eat some really good pomegranates and a banana just plucked from a tree (it tasted slightly different than the usual one bought in a grocery store.) Hamden is a bedouin, but he was able to go to school and ended up going to university in Muscat. He speaks English well, but much worse than an Omani in Muscat. He got a degree in some type of business and now works back in the bedouin village raising racing camels. The camels can cost up to 1million OMR (2.6 million USD) although on average it seemed like they cost 200 thousand OMR. Still a pretty penny. Also, the girls were invited to go to the main house to meet the women of the family. We met an assortment of female relatives of Hamden. The most interesting thing that happened was that one of the women had just given birth to a baby. She introduced the baby and let us hold it, and then she took it. She started talking to us through Hamden (the only one of them that knows significant amounts of English), and midway she sticks out her boob and gives it to the baby. Right in front of us, the guy, and all the other girls.
Afterwards we chose a goat to slaughter for dinner, and tried a bit of completely fresh goat's milk. It was yummy although slightly fatty and had a gritty taste. We drove to the area which was chosen for us to camp at. The goat was slaughtered halal, and then skinned and cleaned and put into a large pot with water and rice. After 2 hours or so it was done. The meat was very good, although greasy and oily. It was interesting to eat something that had just been alive 3 hours ago or so. We had the option of either sleeping outside with sand blowing in the wind or cuddling up with people in small tents. I ended up sharing a tent with Katy and her bf Houssem. Surprisingly it was actually cool outside, and felt very nice compared to the blistering heat just couple of hours before.
After 3 hours of sleep or so we were woken up and we headed to the camel races. They were interesting and fun. The camels are lined up and then slapped with remote controlled whips that are attached to their backs. They start running and are kept on encouraging to run by cars that keep on screaming and honking their horn from either side of the track. They run really funny. Definitely cool to watch. We were also able to try some "extra-fresh" camel milk. It was mild and almost tasted like simple 1% milk except had an interesting aftertaste. Then we went and started to catch our lunch- local omani lizards. These lizards live in holes in the ground and you come up to the hole and insert a pipe of CO2 (attached to the exhaust of the car) and kinda smoke them out. They were small disgusting things that had extremely sharp tails and fluid bellies.
That was pretty much the highlights of the day in a way. The small highlights along the way were driving related usually. The total number of people that went on this trip was 15. A HUGE number, and definitely too many for us to try to attempt to find 4WDs for. So, we had one car that was 4WD and the rest were crappy Yaris's and one Corolla. These cars were definitely not meant for off-roading. It was scary to feel the rocks hit the bottom of the car as we were driving, and then some fo the cars would end up getting stuck in teh sand. We would just have to lift the cheap car out but it still took up a lot of time.
In the end, I fully realized how much I hate taking trips with large groups. The inefficiencies were really starting to get to me towards teh end. I had a good time, but never again will i go on a trip with so many people. Most of this trip was waiting for people to gather or getting cars out of the sand. If anything, I was able to finally get time with the rockin MC.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Wadi Shaab and Wadi Beni Khalid
Wadis are the ultimately amazingly beautiful places to visit in Oman. The term wadi just refers to a dried up river bed. In reality, these simple dried up river beds have amazingly high cliffs that surround you from the side, and you hike and climb towards the center of where the river would have been. There are many Wadis, although the best ones have freshwater waterfalls and streams that you somehow find your way to.
The first wadi that I went to was Wadi Shab, a cool wadi that is fairly civilized. It has a footpath to get towards the water and is a long but pretty easy hike. There are places where you have to jump from rock to rock but overall it is easy and nice. The scenary is beautiful because you look towards the right and left and you see these huge cliff of reds and oranges surrounding you. In the middle where you are walking, you see a river and even palm trees. It looks and feels like an oasis from somewhere in your imagination. After hiking a while, you end up finding a good spot to jump into the semi-cool freshwater. The water is extremely clear and beautiful, and definitely drinkable. Wadi Shab has an interesting part where you go and swim between two extremely close boulders (so close that the only part that fits above water is your head- and snuggly at that). When you get inside, it's a small cave with a water fall and natural formations that you can sit and relax on. It was amazingly beautiful.
The second wadi within Oman that I went to was Wadi Beni Khalid. This wadi is extremely famous, except what many people don't know is that there are two ways to approach the wadi. One side is an extremely easy walk, while the other is definitely more challenging. My group, of course, took the challenging side. The challenging side feels like this is the way it has always been, almost like it has not been altered by mankind. There are huge boulders to climb and rocks to jump from one to the other from. It was extremely scary for me. I was with three guys, and as the only female I felt like i shoudl be brave. Although, I was dead afraid and there were probably 3 or 4 times where I was almost preparing myself for death. When we go to the water the only way to get in was to jump off the cliff. It was amazingly fun and exhilerating. We were soon joined in the small freshwater lake by local boys. These boys really seemed like they were injected with spiderman juice. They would jump from one rock to another and easily climb up and up. They were absolutely amazing. On the way back we were helped by the local boys, and it was greatly appreciated. Yet, when we got to the city we had a choice of either walking right in the heat and sun or walking through the village in the shade. We ended up getting lost in the village. The tiny town was extremely cool. From it we were able to see how the Omanis really lived traditionally. There were small streams that were being controlled through clay fellajes (way of controlling the water for agricultural purposes). It was cool to see it in authentic action. Also, there were some places where you walked and just saw a couple of wooden planks raised up to form a platform that had small mats where men prayed throughout the day. In my mind, this is the way that religion should be practiced. A place where you are one with nature and yourself. It's extremely peaceful and you don't need someone to guide you in prayer, it is just you and whatever god or gods you pray to. Something about the village was extremely calming and nice. :)
The first wadi that I went to was Wadi Shab, a cool wadi that is fairly civilized. It has a footpath to get towards the water and is a long but pretty easy hike. There are places where you have to jump from rock to rock but overall it is easy and nice. The scenary is beautiful because you look towards the right and left and you see these huge cliff of reds and oranges surrounding you. In the middle where you are walking, you see a river and even palm trees. It looks and feels like an oasis from somewhere in your imagination. After hiking a while, you end up finding a good spot to jump into the semi-cool freshwater. The water is extremely clear and beautiful, and definitely drinkable. Wadi Shab has an interesting part where you go and swim between two extremely close boulders (so close that the only part that fits above water is your head- and snuggly at that). When you get inside, it's a small cave with a water fall and natural formations that you can sit and relax on. It was amazingly beautiful.
The second wadi within Oman that I went to was Wadi Beni Khalid. This wadi is extremely famous, except what many people don't know is that there are two ways to approach the wadi. One side is an extremely easy walk, while the other is definitely more challenging. My group, of course, took the challenging side. The challenging side feels like this is the way it has always been, almost like it has not been altered by mankind. There are huge boulders to climb and rocks to jump from one to the other from. It was extremely scary for me. I was with three guys, and as the only female I felt like i shoudl be brave. Although, I was dead afraid and there were probably 3 or 4 times where I was almost preparing myself for death. When we go to the water the only way to get in was to jump off the cliff. It was amazingly fun and exhilerating. We were soon joined in the small freshwater lake by local boys. These boys really seemed like they were injected with spiderman juice. They would jump from one rock to another and easily climb up and up. They were absolutely amazing. On the way back we were helped by the local boys, and it was greatly appreciated. Yet, when we got to the city we had a choice of either walking right in the heat and sun or walking through the village in the shade. We ended up getting lost in the village. The tiny town was extremely cool. From it we were able to see how the Omanis really lived traditionally. There were small streams that were being controlled through clay fellajes (way of controlling the water for agricultural purposes). It was cool to see it in authentic action. Also, there were some places where you walked and just saw a couple of wooden planks raised up to form a platform that had small mats where men prayed throughout the day. In my mind, this is the way that religion should be practiced. A place where you are one with nature and yourself. It's extremely peaceful and you don't need someone to guide you in prayer, it is just you and whatever god or gods you pray to. Something about the village was extremely calming and nice. :)
Cars in Oman
Cars here are interesting. I guess I never really paid much attention to cars just because overall I view them as nice ways of getting from point A to point B. Here I've paid more attention to them. We currently drive a Yaris, a nice car considering we're on a tight budget. Except we also have a corolla and another Yaris. The cars have no power and are unable to brake well. The Corolla also doesn't have anti-lock brakes which has proven to be an issue in bad times. Yet, the Yaris's are pretty new, probably only 1-2 years old or so. Overall, in Oman you will never see old cars. It's a weird phenomena to be constantly surruonded by new cars. Also, most of the cars here are nice. There are many models, like Lumina, that they have here that most Americans have never heard of. Yet, these models are mostly from well-known American and Japanese brands.
Talking about Japanese cars, Toyota owns this town. The Bahwan Group (2 brothers) own one of the largest Toyota dealerships in the world, and the largest Toyota service center in the world. It really is that Toyota owns this town.
These cars though have rules to maintain their integrity. It is not allowed to drive a dirty car, and you will be fined by police if your car is dirty. The police here are both male and female, something I did not expect. To get your car washed by someone during work hours is only 1 riyal or so, very cheap. Something else that is cheap here is gas. We fill up the car on only 4 rials. This is the equivalent of 10 USD. VERY CHEAP! The cheap gas also means that there are many people here that drive 4WDs and SUVs. Except, unlike in the US many people actually do offroad with these cars. Or if you're an Omani, and you rent a car (even a Yaris) you still take them off roading. Most of the used rental cars have major damage from people just trying to off road with cars that were not meant for it.
The cars here also have specific license plates. The license plates are a way that people use their disposable income. License plates here have numbers and letters separate. The numbers range from 1 to 6 digit numbers. When you get a new car you get a license plate with probably 6 numbers. Yet, you can pay and get a "prettier" number. A number that has less digits is considered better. Also, the smaller the number is the more expensive it is. This has its exception though, people will also pay more for a number that looks good. This would mean something like 454 would be more expensive than 452 just because the first number looks better. Also the number affects the price of the license plate. A license with an A or AA would be better than other letters. It is ridiculous how expensive these license plates can be. Something like a 2 A might cost several hundred thousand rials (times 2.5 for USD). Also, the best way to show your wealth is to have an expensive license plate on a cheap car. This implies that you have better cars waiting for you in the garage. It's a weird world over here.
Talking about Japanese cars, Toyota owns this town. The Bahwan Group (2 brothers) own one of the largest Toyota dealerships in the world, and the largest Toyota service center in the world. It really is that Toyota owns this town.
These cars though have rules to maintain their integrity. It is not allowed to drive a dirty car, and you will be fined by police if your car is dirty. The police here are both male and female, something I did not expect. To get your car washed by someone during work hours is only 1 riyal or so, very cheap. Something else that is cheap here is gas. We fill up the car on only 4 rials. This is the equivalent of 10 USD. VERY CHEAP! The cheap gas also means that there are many people here that drive 4WDs and SUVs. Except, unlike in the US many people actually do offroad with these cars. Or if you're an Omani, and you rent a car (even a Yaris) you still take them off roading. Most of the used rental cars have major damage from people just trying to off road with cars that were not meant for it.
The cars here also have specific license plates. The license plates are a way that people use their disposable income. License plates here have numbers and letters separate. The numbers range from 1 to 6 digit numbers. When you get a new car you get a license plate with probably 6 numbers. Yet, you can pay and get a "prettier" number. A number that has less digits is considered better. Also, the smaller the number is the more expensive it is. This has its exception though, people will also pay more for a number that looks good. This would mean something like 454 would be more expensive than 452 just because the first number looks better. Also the number affects the price of the license plate. A license with an A or AA would be better than other letters. It is ridiculous how expensive these license plates can be. Something like a 2 A might cost several hundred thousand rials (times 2.5 for USD). Also, the best way to show your wealth is to have an expensive license plate on a cheap car. This implies that you have better cars waiting for you in the garage. It's a weird world over here.
Dubai
Ok so this is my overdue Dubai post. Or as how the locals pronounce is, Dubei.
We left for Dubai late in the afternoon on Thursday. To get there it was a 5.5 hour drive. We didn't have much issues at border control but we weren't driving that fast which made the drive longer than necessary. Also, we had to stop many times for restrooms. In Dubai we were staying at a very nice and new Holiday Inn Express. Felt weird to stay in such an "American" place. Anyways, we had 2 rooms with 4 people to a room. In the morning we woke up and decided to tour around the historic part of town. We parked the car in a central location and walked around the different souqs. A souq is pretty much a market, with some of them tailoring to a specific good. We initially went to a textile souq...it was filled with mostly small shops selling large quantities of fabric. There were a couple of shops selling overpriced, bad quality pashminas. It was disappointing to see how commercialized and touristy it had become. It was interesting to note that most of the stores had their signs in three languages: Arabic, English, and Russian. Who would have thunk that Russian would have been the third language. We toured the souq and then went to the Dubai Museum. A cool new museum that is housed half underground and half in the oldest building in Dubai, a fort. It showed how the people used to live and how different areas of the UAE differ in their living conditions. Overall it was interesting and gave a perspective of the history of the country. Only in 1948 was the first bank in Dubai opened. In 60 years it has become such a hotspot for money.
We took an arba boat to the other side of the river to see the other souqs that were available. An arba boat is a small fisherman's boat that has a car seat for the driver and then everyone sits all around. They were cool and it was nice to be in a boat for a change. The other side had the spice souq and the gold souq. Both of them were interesting. Of course, I was more interested in the spice souq and nearly bought a couple of things that I would have never been able to get through border control in the US. By this time it was nearly 3pm and the street shops were mostly closed with the locals finding any flat surface they could to take a nap. It was hot and a nap would have definitely been a good idea. Within the gold souq I saw some amazing jewelry, such a glistening palace. Sadly, the wonders of the souq were interrupted by guys coming up to us and saying "Gucci, Prada, Fendi, fake watches we have them all." They wouldn't go away either and as one gave up the next one came up. I ended up getting so tired of them that I just started talking Russian to one, and to my surprise that didn't help cause he knew Russian also. I should have known.
The historic part of town was nice. Yes, it was touristy already but you could somehow see how it would have been several decades ago. The next part of the day was mostly taken up by everyone getting ready to go out. I agreed to go to a place to meet up with Cliff and also to eat dinner. We went to Wafi Mall, one of the many malls within Dubai. The mall itself is made out in the style of an Egyptian tomb. Definitely one of a kind. It had so many expensive stores and had tons of great restaurants. As we parked in the underground parking we were just surrounded by expensive cars like lambourghini and maseratis. It was absolutely crazy. The restaurant we went to was a tapas bar that had good yet expensive food. I think it was the first time since I've gotten to the Gulf that i had pork. Can't say that I miss it that much though. The atmosphere was very nice yet to me it was disappointing to be surrounded by all westerners. The group broke up and I went with Cliff, Muff, and Hijo to a shisha bar and just relaxed while the others hit the clubs. It was nice catching up with Cliff and just relaxing. There I realized that it was already weird for me to see mostly westerners, yet within Dubai I hadn't seen many Emirates. Interesting how a city so close could be so different. We drove Cliff back to his hotel and were able to see the huge amounts of construction that was going around in the center. So many huge buildings yet the horrible roads make you wonder if the infrastructure would ever be able to support the numbers of people that they want to move into these huge high rises.
In the morning we woke up to go to the Jumeirah beach and just relax. The water was amazing as always and it was a fun time. Cliff joined up and a good time was had by all. After the beach I changed in the car on teh way to the Mall of Emirates. The mall was the first time I experienced the horrendous traffic that everyone always complains of when talking about Dubai. We had to drive around the parking lot for a good 45 mins to find a place. And this was with the signs that showed how many free parking spaces were available in each lane. We parked and John, Muff, and I raced over to the Ski Dubai area. The mall was incredible with synchronized swimmers performing for the enjoyment of the crowd. The mall had around 3-4 levels adn was beautiful. At Ski Dubai we geared up and went out. The hill is pretty small but very amusing. The snow was icy, but considering it was my second time out downhilll skiing I wasn't about to complain. In the middle there is a small TGIFridays so that you can relax with hot chocate if you get cold from skiing. I went down several times but ended up getting bored. I would usually have fun going down only to not be able to stop and end up falling down. It was cool. Definitely a memorable experience. I left earlier than my alloted time and was able to walk around the crowded mall. The mall was the first and only place where I really saw a good amount of Emirates. The mall has really become the social gathering place for people. After the mall we all joined up and went to a club. It was fun to get out and enjoy the night. In the morning John, Hijo and I woke up early and drove back down to Oman. The trip probably took under 4 hours and was a good time. We barely stopped and sped along to make good time. We arrived, changed, and then went to the CEO's house. My last remark about Dubai is that it's a great city with a lot of things to do. Yet, it lacks personality or flavor. It seems so fake and such an artificial city. I guess I can't fully appreciate it because I think my tastes are not rich enough to fully enjoy the city.
The CEO's house was great. It was a gathering in honor of how well my department has performed lately. Food, alcohol, drinks, and good conversation. I liked getting to know my coworkers better.
We left for Dubai late in the afternoon on Thursday. To get there it was a 5.5 hour drive. We didn't have much issues at border control but we weren't driving that fast which made the drive longer than necessary. Also, we had to stop many times for restrooms. In Dubai we were staying at a very nice and new Holiday Inn Express. Felt weird to stay in such an "American" place. Anyways, we had 2 rooms with 4 people to a room. In the morning we woke up and decided to tour around the historic part of town. We parked the car in a central location and walked around the different souqs. A souq is pretty much a market, with some of them tailoring to a specific good. We initially went to a textile souq...it was filled with mostly small shops selling large quantities of fabric. There were a couple of shops selling overpriced, bad quality pashminas. It was disappointing to see how commercialized and touristy it had become. It was interesting to note that most of the stores had their signs in three languages: Arabic, English, and Russian. Who would have thunk that Russian would have been the third language. We toured the souq and then went to the Dubai Museum. A cool new museum that is housed half underground and half in the oldest building in Dubai, a fort. It showed how the people used to live and how different areas of the UAE differ in their living conditions. Overall it was interesting and gave a perspective of the history of the country. Only in 1948 was the first bank in Dubai opened. In 60 years it has become such a hotspot for money.
We took an arba boat to the other side of the river to see the other souqs that were available. An arba boat is a small fisherman's boat that has a car seat for the driver and then everyone sits all around. They were cool and it was nice to be in a boat for a change. The other side had the spice souq and the gold souq. Both of them were interesting. Of course, I was more interested in the spice souq and nearly bought a couple of things that I would have never been able to get through border control in the US. By this time it was nearly 3pm and the street shops were mostly closed with the locals finding any flat surface they could to take a nap. It was hot and a nap would have definitely been a good idea. Within the gold souq I saw some amazing jewelry, such a glistening palace. Sadly, the wonders of the souq were interrupted by guys coming up to us and saying "Gucci, Prada, Fendi, fake watches we have them all." They wouldn't go away either and as one gave up the next one came up. I ended up getting so tired of them that I just started talking Russian to one, and to my surprise that didn't help cause he knew Russian also. I should have known.
The historic part of town was nice. Yes, it was touristy already but you could somehow see how it would have been several decades ago. The next part of the day was mostly taken up by everyone getting ready to go out. I agreed to go to a place to meet up with Cliff and also to eat dinner. We went to Wafi Mall, one of the many malls within Dubai. The mall itself is made out in the style of an Egyptian tomb. Definitely one of a kind. It had so many expensive stores and had tons of great restaurants. As we parked in the underground parking we were just surrounded by expensive cars like lambourghini and maseratis. It was absolutely crazy. The restaurant we went to was a tapas bar that had good yet expensive food. I think it was the first time since I've gotten to the Gulf that i had pork. Can't say that I miss it that much though. The atmosphere was very nice yet to me it was disappointing to be surrounded by all westerners. The group broke up and I went with Cliff, Muff, and Hijo to a shisha bar and just relaxed while the others hit the clubs. It was nice catching up with Cliff and just relaxing. There I realized that it was already weird for me to see mostly westerners, yet within Dubai I hadn't seen many Emirates. Interesting how a city so close could be so different. We drove Cliff back to his hotel and were able to see the huge amounts of construction that was going around in the center. So many huge buildings yet the horrible roads make you wonder if the infrastructure would ever be able to support the numbers of people that they want to move into these huge high rises.
In the morning we woke up to go to the Jumeirah beach and just relax. The water was amazing as always and it was a fun time. Cliff joined up and a good time was had by all. After the beach I changed in the car on teh way to the Mall of Emirates. The mall was the first time I experienced the horrendous traffic that everyone always complains of when talking about Dubai. We had to drive around the parking lot for a good 45 mins to find a place. And this was with the signs that showed how many free parking spaces were available in each lane. We parked and John, Muff, and I raced over to the Ski Dubai area. The mall was incredible with synchronized swimmers performing for the enjoyment of the crowd. The mall had around 3-4 levels adn was beautiful. At Ski Dubai we geared up and went out. The hill is pretty small but very amusing. The snow was icy, but considering it was my second time out downhilll skiing I wasn't about to complain. In the middle there is a small TGIFridays so that you can relax with hot chocate if you get cold from skiing. I went down several times but ended up getting bored. I would usually have fun going down only to not be able to stop and end up falling down. It was cool. Definitely a memorable experience. I left earlier than my alloted time and was able to walk around the crowded mall. The mall was the first and only place where I really saw a good amount of Emirates. The mall has really become the social gathering place for people. After the mall we all joined up and went to a club. It was fun to get out and enjoy the night. In the morning John, Hijo and I woke up early and drove back down to Oman. The trip probably took under 4 hours and was a good time. We barely stopped and sped along to make good time. We arrived, changed, and then went to the CEO's house. My last remark about Dubai is that it's a great city with a lot of things to do. Yet, it lacks personality or flavor. It seems so fake and such an artificial city. I guess I can't fully appreciate it because I think my tastes are not rich enough to fully enjoy the city.
The CEO's house was great. It was a gathering in honor of how well my department has performed lately. Food, alcohol, drinks, and good conversation. I liked getting to know my coworkers better.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Beach
Today we went to the beach...it was my first time so far in Oman.
Well, the day started with a breakfast at a crepe restaurant with Nura, Shamsa, and her fiance Adil. It was sooo nice. Just sitting there chatting over delicious crepes. Yummo.
I then changed and we went close to the marina in the historic part of town. There we met up with some Omanis that are friends of the AIESECers here. They took us to a small fishing village only 20 mins or so away from the historic town center. There were only a couple of houses, a mosque, and a marina. We took a small fishing boat that was only meant for probably a max of 7 people, yet there were probably 15 of us plus food and bags. The scenery was gorgeous! and then we arrived at the beach and it was a small nook surrounded by high cliffs and the bluest water you've ever seen. The sun was amazing and i'm really surprised that i was probably the only one that did not burn.
Anyways, there were two highlights for me.
1) The water was incredibly warm and I ended up swimming out to snorkel. The water was incredibly clear and the fish were cute. There was a small cave that I swam into...it was sooo cool. I really need to get a camera that is water proof. Also, I dove down and touched the bottom of the sea floor. I ended up really hurting my ears though. I guess it was all worth it in the end. Just incredibly beautiful.
2) Along with the typical group of AIESECers there were 4 others that came along. One of them was the fisherman guy that was in charge of the ghetto boat. Other than that was Hasan, a guy that works at HSBC and is a good friend of the organization, Hussein, Hasan's brother, and Chris, an American who has been working in Oman for the past year. Chris ended up being a really cool guy. He's in real estate development and has just started a 250 Million USD fund. He was just a really chill and nice guy. And then I also had a great chat with Hasan. I like being surrounded by nice yet also successful people.
Well, the day started with a breakfast at a crepe restaurant with Nura, Shamsa, and her fiance Adil. It was sooo nice. Just sitting there chatting over delicious crepes. Yummo.
I then changed and we went close to the marina in the historic part of town. There we met up with some Omanis that are friends of the AIESECers here. They took us to a small fishing village only 20 mins or so away from the historic town center. There were only a couple of houses, a mosque, and a marina. We took a small fishing boat that was only meant for probably a max of 7 people, yet there were probably 15 of us plus food and bags. The scenery was gorgeous! and then we arrived at the beach and it was a small nook surrounded by high cliffs and the bluest water you've ever seen. The sun was amazing and i'm really surprised that i was probably the only one that did not burn.
Anyways, there were two highlights for me.
1) The water was incredibly warm and I ended up swimming out to snorkel. The water was incredibly clear and the fish were cute. There was a small cave that I swam into...it was sooo cool. I really need to get a camera that is water proof. Also, I dove down and touched the bottom of the sea floor. I ended up really hurting my ears though. I guess it was all worth it in the end. Just incredibly beautiful.
2) Along with the typical group of AIESECers there were 4 others that came along. One of them was the fisherman guy that was in charge of the ghetto boat. Other than that was Hasan, a guy that works at HSBC and is a good friend of the organization, Hussein, Hasan's brother, and Chris, an American who has been working in Oman for the past year. Chris ended up being a really cool guy. He's in real estate development and has just started a 250 Million USD fund. He was just a really chill and nice guy. And then I also had a great chat with Hasan. I like being surrounded by nice yet also successful people.
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