Newsletter 11 - Part Two - Trip to Dubai

Sep 15, 2005

Newsletter 11 - Part Two

Attached is part two of my first trip to Dubai.  I

hope you still remember the first part so that this

one will make sense.  It was a great trip and quite a

cultural experience.  I have to admit, though, that I

must not be a big city girl because I still much

prefer Al Ain!

I keep hoping to get a digital camera but I just don't

know enough about them to choose a good one.  (Any

suggestions will be gratefully accepted!)  When I get

one, I'll take plenty of pictures of this lovely city

so you can enjoy it, too.

Enjoy the latest installment!

July 15 – Thursday – TRIP TO DUBAI, PART TWO (Mercato photo)

After lunch we started on some serious shopping. I was mainly in the market for a bedspread and knew only that I wanted it to be some kind of textile (although that term is confusing here because whereas I use the word to mean something handcrafted, here it means material or fabric, and is the word they use for the shops that sell bolts of fabric/material for making clothing or whatever). But in this souq (market) were antique shops, shops selling interesting things from all around the world, furniture stores selling unique items, boutiques selling specialty items, etc. We went into one antique store and I got to witness Rebecca bargaining. It was definitely an education.

She saw an item she had seen in there before and had liked very much. It is an incense burner in the shape of a peacock, about 5 inches high and made in Oman, a next-door neighbor to the UAE. She asked its price. When she heard it she sharply said, “No!” put it down and turned away. The price was lowered; she shook her head and didn’t turn back. The price was lowered again. She paused, slowly turned back to look at it, seemed to be considering the price, suggested an even lower price. It was rejected. She pressed, the price was lowered but not to what she wanted to pay. The proprietor picked it up, began explaining all its fine points, but she was unswayed. Finally her price was agreed to (half the original stated price). She paid it and walked away gloating.

I took every opportunity to look at prospective bedspreads but found nothing I liked well enough or at a price I was willing to pay but got a good idea of what was being asked for the kinds of bedspreads I was interested in. Finally we had looked through all the shops in that area and went to a more modern, upscale area with brightly lighted, glittering jewelry show rooms. We window shopped there, neither of us being interested in buying such things that day. In the final area were stores of upscale clothing at upscale prices. Rebecca wanted to look at clothes but was waiting to find some end of season sales.

Then we caught a taxi to go to the Mercato Shopping Mall. This ride cost less, 20 dh, and took us back in the direction we had come from earlier and closer to the bus station. This complex is in the Mediterranean style, with each store having a façade different in design and color than its neighbors (along the lines of the paintings on the walls of the food court at Columbiana Center in Columbia, only these were the architectural styles on the outside of the complex). Inside, Dubai Summer Surprises was in full swing! This event, celebrated throughout the city, is designed for families and for bringing in tourists from all over the world during the hottest and muggiest time of the year.

Each participating business features incredible sales, there is a different theme each week and each place puts on entertainment and has raffles and drawings; an entire spectrum of events. This week must be Disney week because when we walked into Mercato, straight ahead in the vast open area leading to two huge escalators and beneath a magnificent glass dome, was a stage. Hanging from the dome and from the upper balcony were masses of balloons in bright primary colors and huge posters of Disney cartoon characters. A little later, there was entertainment on the stage by characters from the Disney Aladdin hit movies – very popular here because, of course, Aladdin was Arabian. I saw the genie, Aladdin, Jasmine and other characters on the stage later and Rebecca took some pictures to send to my darling grandchildren. I might attach them to my newsletter, too.

When we got there, nothing was happening on the stage so we turned down the first hallway to the right and walked directly into a store called Mango (MNG for short), a women’s clothing store that was having a massive sale. Rebecca had told me she wanted to buy clothes and she was hooked. Sale prices were on everything, from 75% off down to 25% off. She looked at me and said, “I’ll be here at least an hour!” I said, “Go for it. I’ll go look for a bedspread.” So I wandered around the mall on my own, happily observing all the people from many parts of the world, most wearing western style clothing. I finally found the section of the mall where the “interesting” shops were, the ones having traditional or international inventories. I went into several and looked at and priced bedspreads. The prices were all about the same as they had been in places I’d looked in Abu Dhabi and at the Madinat Jumeirah souq. Then I went into a little store featuring handmade items from the Kashmir district of India and found that it specialized in the kind of textiles I liked. The clerk willingly took unpackaged folded bedspreads from the shelves and spread them out on a display carpet on the floor for me to see. For me, as it had been all along, it was a situation of “I’ll know it when I see it.” For lack of a specific approach, I concentrated on green (my favourite color) and gold/rust colors which I also like, but didn’t see The One.

After I’d seen several and possibly to find a queen sized one (most were king size), the clerk spread out one that was most unusual in color and decoration. The best description I can give, but which won’t do it justice, is that it’s in block sections similar to an American quilt with identical-pattern squares, each bordered in a solid color and separated by strips in another solid color. The fabric is stone washed; the back side of the bedspread is one solid color, a medium grey. The squares on the top have the same color background as the back, with hand embroidery forming a square border around a rosette (think rose windows not roses, the flower). It’s embroidered in mustard, olive green, rust and purple, with tiny circular mirrors surrounded by the purple stitches. Each square is bordered by reddish/rust colored fabric and the strips between the bordered squares are dark brown. The combination probably sounds a bit odd, if not really ugly, but it isn’t at all and I really liked it. I also thought it would go well with my bedroom furniture – reddish/rust brown wood and the bed’s black wrought iron head board and footboard. I got him to come down from his original price, which was extremely reasonable and much less than similar items I’d priced in two cities, and bought it. I also got a free (something) the word starts with a P and is about 10 letters long, probably an Indian word. The thing is a long rectangular shawl or table scarf (not sure which, if either), of smooth, tightly woven fabric with a lovely border pattern and having a long fringe on the narrow ends. I got to choose the color and chose green (surprise!).

I was dazed with my success and pleased with my purchase so I went back into the open area between shops – this area with heritage type shops is in a little cul-de-sac, walking toward a major intersection where the escalators were and passed a little area sectioned off by stanchions where two low couches faced each other across a coffee table. There, a woman wearing a traditional black abaya (robe) and shayla (head scarf) was drawing decorations of henna (a brown paint made from the henna plant) on the hand and arm of a little girl while the girl’s mother sat on the couch across from them, watching.

I walked close and watched. The henna artist held an applicator that looked like a cake frosting tube, long and triangular in shape, wide at the top side with a narrow pointed bottom end where the henna came out, the tube being filled with henna preparation. She wielded the applicator like a pen, drawing intricate flower and leaf shapes intertwined in an artistic pattern. Seeing my interest, she gestured, inviting me to have a turn. I didn’t know if there was a charge or if it was a free part of the ongoing Summer Surprises but I really wanted to wait until an auspicious time to try it. My colleagues at the library have suggested a particular time to have this done and I am pretty sure I’ll do that, but perhaps at another, sooner time I’ll do it, too. The henna takes a while to dry after being applied and so the arms or hands or feet – whatever has been decorated – must be held out in the air until dry. L, one of the lady library employees, told me that for her wedding, she had her feet, hands and arms up to the shoulder hennaed. “I had to hold out my arms for two hours. It nearly killed me!” She said. B, who will be married in two weeks, told me she would have only her hands done. “That’s all!”

Then I went to the open area overlooking the stage, where I’d seen the Aladdin characters while on my way to the heritage area and that’s when I saw on the stage the original Disney characters including Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Donald Duck on the stage. With the Aladdin characters, it looked like a photo op session was being held at one point. The most interesting thing about Jasmine was that she wasn’t an oversized, cartoon-like character like the Genie; she was a real Arab girl who looked amazingly like the Jasmine in the Disney movies.

I gave Rebecca a call from my mobile to hers to see how she was doing. She said she was in the dressing room trying on clothes and said she’d probably be at least another hour so I continued my tour of exploration by seeing what stores were there and going into stores with household furnishings and furniture. There is a Home Center store there which is a little smaller than the one in Al Ain but where I saw an end table and a coffee table I’ve never seen in Al Ain and that I really like. I think I’ll see if I can get them through the Al Ain store, which will give me free delivery and set up.

I reached the point where I had drunk all the water in the liter bottle I’d brought with me and was tired, thirsty and had protesting feet. I decided to go down to the main floor to a café I’d seen and get something to drink while I waited for Rebecca. There, I ordered a freshly squeezed tomato juice and it was just being served when my phone rang and Rebecca announced that she had finished and asked where I was. I told her and she said she’d be there right away. When she arrived, we decided to eat dinner there and both decided on English-style fish and chips. A mistake! It was delicious but the fish was two huge pieces of batter-covered fried fish served with a mound of “chips” (French fries, of course). Watching Rebecca as we ate our repast was an education. She seems to savor each bite and hovers over the choosing of the piece of food, spearing it with the fork and placing it in her mouth, then chewing slowly and with great respect and enjoyment. I, on the other hand, think of eating as a way to get as quickly as possible from the thing I was doing to the next thing on the agenda. I wonder if that is why she is thin and shapely and I’m definitely neither? I had to slow down my eating style or I’d have been through before she reached the half-way point. For her drink, she chose the daily special, freshly squeezed lemon and cucumber with seltzer water. She said it was most unusual and very refreshing. I truly enjoy the availability here of fruit juices, all freshly squeezed and in great variety.

After our meal had been enjoyed, we exited the Mercato, found a taxi and rode to Heritage Village. By then it was about 8:00 PM and it was very dark outside as well as very hot and humid. This place is a government sponsored living museum with a section where there are shops offering tourist-type items and some very interesting things as well. Most seem to be shops featuring Indian or Iranian goods including some textile type items of the kind my bedspread is. I’ve made it a rule here that once I purchase something, I will not look at another thing of that type to compare the price, the quality, or anything else. Once it’s over, it’s over and I’m not going to waste time agonizing or gloating over what “might have been.” I remembered, however, that I also wanted to buy a small wall hanging to cover the fuse box just inside my front door so I looked at some of these as we went, but didn’t see anything I couldn’t live without, even when one seller offered a very reasonable price for either of the two I had been contemplating.

Then we walked over to the heritage portion of the area, but it was late and so hot that only a couple of the many, many structures built in the traditional manner from date palm fronds and wood were in operation. We watched briefly as two women, completely swathed in black and wearing burgas (partial face masks made of metal) sat over hot low stoves placed on the ground, cooking wide, circular, flat (very flat!) bread and deep frying some small balls of dough. We had missed the mixing of these goods, if that had been part of the demonstration, and then one of the women seemed to be arranging some of the finished products to serve to the audience while the other woman continued cooking. I was so full from dinner I couldn’t even think about eating anything else and Rebecca must have felt the same way, so we wandered away.

We found one other lighted stall on the far side of the grounds where there were some very interesting traditional craft items either for sale or on display but no one was around either to explain them or sell them, so we bought a drink from a stand (water for me, a pineapple flavoured drink in a can for Rebecca). Sipping and talking, we walked out of the Village and across the brick paved area to the edge of the Dubai Creek where we saw large traditional boats, outlined with lighted strings of tiny white lights, plying the water. Rebecca said there are sightseeing tours and dinner tours offered on these boats. Sometime, probably in the winter when the temperature is pleasant, I’d like to take one of those.

We finished our drinks, disposed of the containers in a trash receptacle and started walking along the brick-paved shore discussing whether to take a taxi to the bus station or to walk there. Rebecca pointed out where the station was from where we were and since it wasn’t far we decided to walk. It turned out to be more of a marathon that we anticipated because of the heat and humidity, however, and we arrived at the station perspiring heavily and gasping for a breath of fresh air – we weren’t out of breath, just reacting from breathing in the hot, wet air. We were in time to catch the 9:30 PM bus!

We walked to the ticket booth. I’d heard from several people the lament that although a ticket from Al Ain to Dubai costs only 20 dh, the ride from Dubai back to Al Ain costs 30 dh. This was viewed, naturally, as inequitable and was much complained over. To our great astonishment, when we bought the tickets, the charge was only 20 dh each! We were exclaiming over this as we got on the bus (in the front row behind the driver – ladies only!). The driver was standing inside the mini-bus near the door and welcomed us aboard and graciously took the heavy bag I was carrying my bedspread in and placed it on the raised place between the driver’s seat and another seat opposite it (where a male passenger sometimes sits if the bus is full or is near the passenger’s stop). I think the motor is under the raised place because sitting on the aisle seat directly behind it, I can feel heat coming from it.

There were only a few minutes left before 9:30 and while we waited I tried listening to the conversations going on around me and watching the activity outside the bus. When Rebecca and I boarded, for example, some men were already on board and they started making quite a bit of noise, saying something in their own language and laughing. The bus driver spoke to them sharply in English saying something like, “Be quiet right now. Don’t make noise because girls are here. I will put you off the bus!” They calmed down right away. There was quite a bit of adjustment of seating directed by the driver as different people came aboard. A National woman boarded and sat in the row in back of Rebecca and me and I don’t think anyone else ever sat on that row during the ride. Then an American-looking woman started to board, carrying a couple of small shopping bags. The driver said something to her I didn’t hear and she replied to him in clear American English. He told her she needed to buy a ticket and took her bags from her and while she went to get a ticket, he chose a place for her on row behind the National woman and placed her bags there. I think he might have had to move some men from that row to do so. Outside the bus was a young female probably in her late teens or early twenties talking to a male about the same age. She was obviously planning to ride the bus. He was on the other side of the railing and apparently was not going to ride. I noticed that it was quite a bit past 9:30 by this time and mentioned it to Rebecca. We decided that the buses from Dubai must leave on the top of the hour whereas those from Al Ain to Dubai left on the half hour.

As I looked out the window beside Rebecca at the bus next to us that was also loading passengers, I saw a young man carrying a computer hard drive and bag like a duffel bag. The bus’s driver was remonstrating with him. I said to Rebecca, “I think that guy wants to take his hard drive on board the bus!” She looked over and watched for a while, then announced, “They’re putting it [the hard drive] into the luggage compartment!”

Suddenly our driver sprang into action, going to the back of the bus to collect tickets from everyone. When he got to us he asked for our tickets. I was surprised because I had tried giving them to him when we boarded but he had waved them away. Rebecca and I each obediently dug out our tickets and he collected them. (I wanted it for a souvenir not only of my first trip from Dubai to Al Ain but also because over the printed price of 30 dh was a fresh stamp in blue declaring 20 dh!) Then the American woman came back with her ticket and the driver got off the bus and walked with her toward the back of the bus. I could only guess that she had something large that needed to go into the luggage compartment. A few minutes later she boarded and then the young female who had been standing outside got on, too, and the driver seated them together on the third row. He ordered everyone to sit down, then got off the bus and went around to the driver’s door and got into the driver’s seat. It was 2 or 3 minutes before 10 at that point. He drove out of the loading area and got into a line behind a full sized bus. When the large digital time display on our bus (located at the top center front of the inside) read 10:00, the bus ahead of us took off and ours moved up, the driver got out and went somewhere, maybe to turn in the tickets he’d collected, and then hopped back in and we were off!

The ride back was basically uneventful except that at one point a man came to the front of the bus to ask the driver a question or something (they were speaking Arabic) and then the driver sharply ordered the man in English, “Go back!” So the man went back to his seat. There was no half way stop for food or prayer. We went directly to Al Ain. I kept trying to lean over far enough to see on the speedometer how fast the driver was driving because it felt like we were tearing along the freeway, but wasn’t successful. Once back in Al Ain, I got off at the roundabout near Sheikh Kalifa’s palace (he is the president of the country and his lavish hometown palace is prominently located near the center of town, is completely surrounded by a high, solid but beautifully decorated wall and takes up what is probably the equivalent of a city block in area; he was born in here Al Ain so this is him hometown). I walked on the sidewalk around the curve of the palace wall and waited for a taxi. It took so long I was beginning to wonder if one would come when finally one showed up and I was home in a matter of minutes.

I entered the flat on tired aching feet but when I took off my shoes, just inside the front door, and switched to my slippers, my feet didn’t hurt any more. I took long enough to fill a bottle with water and drink most of it before going to my bedroom and putting the new bedspread on my bed. I was afraid I wouldn’t like it once I had it in situ (in it’s place – on the bed) because it is so unusual but I was delighted and relieved that it looked just fine and in fact goes nicely with the furniture as well as giving a restful feeling to the room – just what one wants in a room used primarily for sleep!

It was just after midnight when I was ready to get into bed and barely got through my prayer without falling asleep. I slept long and well before getting up at 8:30 to get ready for a gathering with church members. Afterwards, I called a taxi driver who had been highly recommended by Barbara and who is one of those discovered by Bonnie, to pick me up there and drive me to my flat. He was there within minutes and now, having delivered me to the door of my building once, he knows where I live and will be able to come pick me up if I call him from home to take me somewhere. The advantage to this is that one can arrange ahead of time for him – or one of the others discovered by Bonnie and who are all related to each other – to pick you up at a certain time and place and take you to a specified destination and they will be there. They will even help with things like bringing in groceries or waiting for you while you shop, helping load purchases into the taxi and then carrying them into the house for you upon arrival there. The charge is greater than a normal taxi ride, of course, but it is door to door service and is reliable and the charge isn’t unreasonable.

After I got home, I ate lunch and then started putting things into my new dresser (actually I’ve had the dresser for several weeks but keep forgetting to move things into it!) and then I loaded the Internet software onto this computer and was going to go online until I realized I didn’t have a cable for hooking up to my phone line. I have one that goes into the computer but on the other end is a three-pronged plug which I have no idea of the function of, instead of another piece that goes into the phone jack. Tomorrow at work I’ll ask the IT person what it is for and see if I can get what I need. Now it’s time for dinner and since I’ve typed 8 A4 pages (longer than standard US 11-inch pages) worth about my day yesterday and a bit about today, I think it’s time to stop!