Winter in Dubai

Winter has arrived in Dubai. It has been raining for the last three straight days and today it has been POURING all day... I didn't think it was supposed to rain in Dubai. I thought that was like, one of the maybe three good things about living here. I've been told it usually rains only 5 times a year but it has rained 4 times in the last two weeks here (three over the last three days), so I guess this is abnormal, or else we will have filled our water quota for the year in another 12 hours. And since this is clearly not the norm, absolutely no one has a clue as to how to drive in the rain (think Southerners in the snow) and the infrastructure is in no way equipped for this much precipitation (flooding and mudslides everywhere... no drains are built into any of the roads). People continue to cruise as their normal 100-120 kilometers an hour, despite the 2 inches of rain on the road and are hydroplaning everywhere. Additionally, people here don't really feel the need to turn on their lights while driving in the rain, and continue their behavior of not signaling when changing lanes. Driving to work today was taking my life in my hands (even more than it is on a normal daily basis) and it took me 3x as long to get there. Quite interesting, although I did enjoy seeing precipitation again since all I've seen is warm sunny weather for the last three months...

Our festive Costa Mince Pie... It was so pretty we had to try it, but it turns out, Jared and I do not enjoy them... Silly Brits and their crazy Christmas 'treats'...

1 Week.

We will be home for Christmas 1 week from today! I am so excited, and especially in light of recent developments with my job. Things have gone from good to bad to unbearable and I am trying to psych myself up to make it through 5 more work days (if I can do it). I will fill everyone in on the details when I see them, but self-destruction seems a certainty in the company's near future. I have never had another work experience (or experience really) like this in my life and I am trying to keep positive and chalk it up to another life experience which will not dramatically impact my life in the long run, but just makes daily living at the moment quite stressful. My love for home and stability increases daily. I am fantasizing about stepping off the plane in DC (where we land first from Zurich, from Dubai... not exactly a direct flight. Tickets were expensive this time around) and the euphoria that will ensue when I can cruise through the US citizens customs line and finally feel at home again.

Sick

Last Thursday I came down with the nastiest cold. Quite unpleasant and very difficult to tutor children while sneezing and coughing continuously (not to mention blowing my nose). I was pretty much on the couch all weekend under a blanket and continue to feel lousy today, despite popping copious amounts of Advil Cold & Sinus. December usually is the prime time for colds, but come on now, I live in the desert. This is like having a cold in the summer, which completely sucks. I haven't been able to run in 4 days and the only reason I am grateful to not be heading state-side sooner is that hopefully this cold will be kicked before we come home so that I can enjoy all the delicious American food waiting for me (and actually taste it)... Grrr... I knew working with children was going to catch up with me sooner or later with all their disease carrying capabilities... For now I guess, more OJ and homemade turkey soup...

'O Christmas Tree

Our Little Dubai Christmas Tree... Very non-traditional for me in every way (fake, tiny, none of my own unique ornaments), but we maintained the popcorn and cranberry homemade garland, and threw in a bit of Middle Eastern flare with the star ornament on the top coming from Muscat, Oman.


This weekend we decided to get into the holiday spirit a little bit and decorate for Christmas! As I have previously mentioned, I LOVE all holidays and really enjoy decorating for them, probably more than the average person. So, one of the hardest parts about living here for me is not having all my accumulated holiday decorations (from the last 8 years or so from mid-college onward, and especially in the last couple years in Boston). And Christmas decorating is definitely my favorite because it's not just the decorating itself, but it's the whole process and activity of going to pick out our tree at the tree farm (I've gone every year for the last 4 years with my little cousins), putting on the lights, stringing cranberries and popcorn, then putting on the ornaments all the while listening to Christmas music and/or watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." It makes me so happy and I absolutely love it!

And last year was particularly special because it was the first year that Jared and I lived together. So we went together to pick out our tree, and inevitably Jared demanded a tree that was entirely too big for our apartment (so that the top scraped the ceiling when we brought it in... even before it was in its stand) and then we sat all day on a Sunday watching NFL and stringing popcorn and cranberries together (which is another one of my family traditions that Jared has so sweetly embraced. I love that boy!)...

But alas, this year, we live in Dubai, where there are no real evergreens to be seen for thousands of miles (although the rumor is that some live trees do get shipped in which you can get for $$$$$), and since my enormous stash of tree lights and ornaments are all in storage at home, we had to go a bit non-traditional this year. Jared was a little reluctant to decorate at all, since we will be leaving on December 17th and get to enjoy Christmas trees and festiveness at our family's and friend's houses, but not having my own tree just wouldn't be the same... So, we compromised and bought a 2 foot artificial tree for about $5.00 (plus a strand of 100 tiny white lights and much to Jared dismay just a few very cheap ornaments). It was a little depressing that the tree is so short that it looked weird to put it directly on the floor (it only came up to my knee and Jared refused to string lights on a tree while crouched over on the floor) so we had to put it on a little table from the garden. And to keep at least one of my traditions alive, we bought some needles and string along with cranberries and popcorn. So, Saturday afternoon we turned off the tv, cranked up the Christmas music and strung popcorn and cranberries together and decorated our little tree. Then, most oddly, we headed out to the garden to grill cheddar guacamole burgers for dinner... Never before have I put up my Christmas tree and barbecued on the same day!

When it was done though, I really think it was worth it and brings a little bit of home to Dubai while hopefully getting us into the holiday spirit (despite the fact that the weather continues to be mid-80's during the day). The only thing lacking is that Christmas smell of pine, but my wonderful Mom helped me out with that by mailing me a package with a balsam scented Christmas candle... So I can pretend I'm snuggled up at home in Boston with a live tree while snow gently drifts down outside my window.... Only 12 more days until it's true...

UAE National Day

Us and our UAE National Day swag... Please notice that my hat says, "I Love UAE"

Today, December 2, 2009, is United Arab Emirates National Day (the equivalent of the 4th of July for the UAE), celebrating 38 Years as a united country. Coincidentally, it fell immediately following the long Eid weekend, so I only had a 2 day work week (my office was only open Tuesday and Thursday). In celebration of National Day our friend Clare (who is also our neighbor) hosted a BBQ in her garden. The weather is getting to be absolutely perfect for barbecuing and it was a lovely afternoon to be outside enjoying grilling and drinking with friends... I guess there are benefits to living in the Middle East and barbecues in December is definitely one of them...

A Dubai Thanksgiving!

Happy Dubai Thanksgiving! This year we celebrated our second Thanksgiving in Dubai. Our first one was when Jared lived in Dubai before in November 2007. When we had our first Dubai Thanksgiving we didn't really have any friends here, and so did a small intimate Thanksgiving with just the two of us and Jared's roommate at the time Ananda. It was lovely, but I pretty much did everything on my own and then there were only the three of us to eat it (and Ananda is a vegetarian), so not quite as much fun or rewarding to make a huge meal for so few people.

So, this year we decided to host a big Thanksgiving with all our friends here. We invited about fifteen people and eleven people came! Because we were having such a big crowd we decided that we needed at least a 20 pound turkey. One of my student's parents had told me that there was a market that we could order a fresh turkey from, so the weekend before Thanksgiving we decided to check it out. Well, when we got there, they informed us that we could indeed order a fresh turkey to be picked up Thanksgiving morning, but that the biggest turkey we could get would be 10 pounds (not nearly big enough), so we started to panic a little and started looking for a frozen turkey that would be big enough. The market we were at (Spinney's) only carried 10 pound frozen birds and then we tried Carrefour, which also only had small turkeys. Finally, we turned to our old standby Safest Way (the Korean market, which coincidentally carries the largest variety of American products we've seen in Dubai). Luckily for us, Safest Way not only had a 21 pound Butterball frozen turkey, but also all the other American products we needed for our feast: Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, stuffing mix, Ritz crackers, Corn Flakes, Mott's apple sauce, Grand's Biscuits, Green Giant frozen corn, and French's fried onions.

We were so excited to find a big enough turkey that we didn't even consider what we were going to do with it until Thanksgiving. When we got it home we realized that it was waay too big to fit in our freezer (which is one of those little ones below our refrigerator that has drawers). In a panic I called my Grandmother in Florida at 7am her time. I had memories of going to the Plainville Turkey Farm the weekend before Thanksgiving every year as a child to pick up our fresh turkey. So, since I knew we bought a fresh turkey and kept it refrigerated for 4 days before Thanksgiving, I was hoping we could do the same with ours (if it would fit in the fridge!). My Grandma assured me that we could slowly defrost it in our fridge (which would take about 4 days given its size) and that it would be fine. She also advised me to check and make sure it would fit in our oven! Luckily it fit in both our oven and fridge (after some major rearranging).

So, when the big day came, our beautiful turkey was completely thawed and ready to go! Both Jared and I had the day off (coincidentally, the Muslim holiday Eid also fell on Thanksgiving..). We got up early and went for a run in Al Safa before beginning our day of cooking. We made our Apple Pie fresh that morning (complete with homemade crust, since you cannot buy store bought pie crust here) and then made our homemade stuffing (Jared's Mom's recipe) and put the bird in about 1:30 (my office was actually open on Thanksgiving, despite the holiday, so we planned to serve dinner around 8:30pm so that my work friends could arrive in time). Then after the bird was in, Jared went to town making the many side dishes that could be made in advance -- mashed potatoes (also Jared's Mom's recipe with melted cheddar, sour cream, and butter), squash, and sweet potatoes, while I ran out to the store for last minute items. And, as we were getting things ready, we were delighted to discover that we actually got the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and all the American football games for the day... Having them on in the background definitely increased the festive mood!

Preparing such a large meal is certainly a lot of work (and stress!), but we had a great time, and ultimately everything turned out perfectly and a great time was had by all!

Jared prepping the green beans... we intended to make green bean casserole, but the only ingredient we couldn't find was Cream of Mushroom Soup, so ended up just sauteing the green beans.

Our festive table settings and me moving the table to fit all our guests.

Our Patriotic butter that our friend Elizabeth so kindly sculpted for us... She thought it was appropriate for us to have the US flag in our butter to appropriately celebrate such a special American holiday.

The Festivities...

We had 11 friends over (13 people total with Jared and I), many of whom had never experienced an American Thanksgiving before. We had friends from all over the world, including from: England, Ireland, Australia, Germany, Egypt, and the Philippines.

Amazingly, we were able to have a pretty traditional sit-down Thanksgiving, even despite our small apartment. We can seat 6 at our dining room table, and then brought in our garden table which can seat 4 more, and to fit the final 3 people we moved and turned a portion of our couch (which is a sectional that breaks into pieces). It was lovely, and much to Jared's chagrin I made everyone go around and say what they're thankful for (my family's Thanksgiving tradition) before letting everyone make their plates.

Me & Jared. :)

Clare, Mahmoud, Me

Me, Phil, and Apple

Chatting between courses.. Since we were having such a non-traditional Thanksgiving this year, we asked everyone to bring a traditional dish with them that might be served on a special occasion or holiday in their family. Ironically, with the exception of our friend Laith who brought a delicious Iraqi rice dish, everyone else brought desserts, leaving us with the biggest dessert buffet ever!

The Desserts...

The dessert spread and chefs (minus Jared who made the delicious Pecan Pie) -- Clare, Mahmoud, Me, Diana.

Jared's delicious Pecan Pie (his traditional favorite)

Clare's Australian Pavlova

Mahmoud's Egyptian Um Ali

The Whole Spread, which included the above dishes + Pumpkin and Apple Pies (made by me, with Jared's help on the Apple), Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (made by me), and Rum Balls made by Diana. Probably the most delicious and versatile Thanksgiving dessert spread in my life...

Safa Park

My new obsession is running in Al Safa Park. I discovered it about 2 weeks ago and I absolutely love it! Running outside again is so nice after doing 45 minute treadmill runs for the last 2.5 months. Al Safa is a huge green park in the middle of Dubai. Something I never imagined would exist in the desert, although not completely surprising for the place that prides itself on superlatives (which may or may not be currently overlooked given the recent debt issues with two of the biggest state-owned companies here)...

The park itself is a square that runs the 1 kilometer from Sheikh Zayed Road to Al Wasl Road and then width-wise about .6 kilometers (which breaks down to 3,418 meters around (3.418 kilometers), or 2 and 1/8 miles around). There is a great running track around the outside, and on the inside there are lots of built-in barbecues, benches, sports fields, a pond, and even 'allegedly' a waterfall (which coincidentally was not turned on the one time I've gone in).. There are also TONS of flowers! Lots of flowering bushes with pink and orange flowers creeping up the wrought iron fence around the perimeter, and there are marigolds planted everywhere! The smell of marigolds fills my nose as I run around, reminding me of planting flowers boxes with my Mom every Memorial Day weekend when I was a kid.

The running track and parking are free and the cost to get in is only AED 3 (about 80 cents or so). I love it so much and I've been going every morning after I drop Jared off at work. It's on the way home and I get there around 7:30am which is perfect because the sun isn't really out yet and the temperature is cool. Surprisingly (or not), there are a lot of people out running and walking around the track at that time.. Lots of women in abayas too and men in dishdasha. Also, lots of little boys in traditional dress as there is an all boys Emirati school on one side.

And the added bonus is that there is an area where they have animals (horses and camels) hanging out to entertain people (with rides, etc.) on the weekends. So, nearly everyday I get to run by this friendly camel as I am completing my daily 6.5 mile run. Most of my run I am able to forget I am in Dubai and pretend I am somewhere much more lovely and lush.. until I get to my friendly camel, who brings me back down to earth and reminds me that, alas, I live in the Middle East. Oh well... at least I am running in shorts and a t-shirt, whereas if I were living in Boston right now I'd probably be wearing a hat and gloves every time I go out the door... So goes life.

The Race to Dubai

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Jared and I had the opportunity to go to the Dubai World Championship Golf Tournament aka "The Race to Dubai." I was very excited because it is a huge tournament and actually the last tournament of the European Tour Season (comparable to the Tour Championship in the PGA Tour... I think). I had never been to a big golf tournament before and was so excited to get to see all the big European golfers (some of who I had actually heard of..) Rory McIlroy, Ernie Els, Lee Westwood, and Sergio Garcia.

It was a four day tournament and we went for the third day (tickets were free though, so we could have gone all four days, but obviously had to work, etc, and I also thought that one day of golf was probably enough for me). We were fairly under the weather from the night before (our friend Ebi got a private room at a bar called Left Bank in Souq Al Bahar with tons of apps and bottles of liquor to celebrate his birthday), so we didn't get as early of a start as we hoped. We got to the tournament about 2pm, which was actually great because all the leaders were on Hole 10 by the time we got there and so we were able to see their second nine, but not have to be there all day (you can see my interest level in the tournament out was quite high... now, if Tiger was playing on the other hand, I might have demanded we get there early).

So when we first got to the tournament we decided to chase the leaders around for awhile and walk from hole to hole. The course was so pretty and some of the more centrally located greens were set up with couches and bean bags for people to picnic and luxuriate on the course (which Jared loved... bean bags are big here for some reason). Then, after we got sick of running around the course we strategically placed ourselves by the green to Hole 17 (the island green seen below) at a bar they had set up on the course and had a beer while we waited for all the leaders/famous golfers to pass through and then were able to follow them to 18. The whole experience was a lot of fun and definitely worthwhile... It kind of turned me on to professional golf, although I actually think it might be more fun to watch on tv (because you know what's going on... it's easy to get distracted and just watch the guys holding up the 'Quiet' sign when you're there)... Lots of fun though and I'd definitely go again!

Hole 18 Green..

The Island Green, Hole 17

Random Hole.. I can't remember which, such a pretty course though, and weird because it's literally in the middle of the desert so everything had to be brought in and built up from the sand.

Welcome to Dubai.

This is a statement I have heard waaay too many times in the last few weeks, and not for good reasons. We have been having all sorts of bureaucratic issues in Dubai lately, that leave me wanting to scream at the top of my lungs, "I JUST WANT TO GO HOME!"

Example #1 is the lovely picture of the scaffolding you see above. We both left for work last Tuesday with everything fine and dandy, and then when Jared got home discovered a giant scaffolding inexplicably erected in our garden. Now, no one was home during the period of time when said scaffolding appeared, which obviously meant they climbed over an 8 foot wall and hauled tools and scaffolding over the wall in order to erect it. Not OK. So, for 2-3 days we battled with the building maintenance to get it out, spent countless time on the phone with our landlord's personal assistant, and in the building maintenance office screaming at the building manager and his secretary. We explained that we were perfectly happy to accommodate necessary maintenance, but that breaking and entering into our terrace was really unacceptable. They claimed to have knocked on our door to ask permission, but when no one answered decided to go ahead and build it anyway. I tried to explain how disturbing that whole concept was, because there could have been any number of reasons why no one would answer the door (in the shower, etc.) but that no one answering does not open the door to then climb over a wall to get in. I was horrified that I could have walked out of the bathroom after showering to find men staring at me through my sliding glass doors. Quite disturbing, and after battling for most of the week, it was removed and they put all our furniture back and cleaned (surprisingly well).

Example #2 of bureaucratic hell in Dubai is our rental car. The lease was about to be up and so we had been talking to the company about extending our one month rental into a year long rental. We came to an agreeable price (actually a very good deal) and arranged a time to go swap out the car (because they wanted to give us a 2009 Lancer - classy, instead of the 2007 we were driving since they were concerned about the reliability of a 2007 for such a long rental). So, on the planned day and time, Jared and I drove to Sharjah to sign the new contract and make the swap. We went during Jared's lunch hour, so needed to be quite quick about the whole thing, and because we were in a hurry, of course chaos ensued. They tried to give us a car that was missing a hubcap, which Jared deemed to be unacceptable (oh the trashiness of driving around for the next year with a car missing a hubcap!). So, after debating with the rental car guy about how to handle the situation we finally agreed that they would let us keep the current car (with which we were perfectly happy) for another day and they would then deliver a new car to us the following morning (before noon when I leave for work). So, needless to say, they obviously didn't show up before noon as planned (and despite several phone calls that morning to ensure it's delivery). So, as I was leaving for work (in the old car) I called and told them they would then have to deliver the car to my office. So, about an hour later they called to tell me they had arrived outside my office with the 'new' car. Well, the 'new' car was filthy on the inside and reeked of cigarette smoke and the rear-view window appeared to have been smeared with a dirty t-shirt on the inside, deeming it impossible to see out of. Oh, and it was not a 2009, but upon checking the registration, it was either a 2007 or 2008 (it was unclear). I was mid-lesson and pretty stressed that I had to leave in the middle of teaching one of my students, so I signed off on the car and they swapped it, but called the rental car place as I was walking back inside to complain. Oh so fun. So they said they would call me back within the hour with details of how they planned to replace the car. No call back, of course, so the following morning I called to complain, yet again, and was told, yet again, that they'd be dropping off a replacement to our apartment that morning. Of course, that did not happen and they told me they'd have to drop it off at work, again. So, now into Day 3 of the rental car saga, they dropped off a car at my office (this is following about 15-20 phone calls made by Jared and I). Finally, new car #2 was actually an acceptable car. 2010 Model Mitsubishi Lancer with less than 2000 kilometers on it and actually smelled like a 'new' car, however was full of crumbs (as in someone just ate an extremely crumbly samosa all over the car (picture greasy crumbs everywhere). But, at this point, I figured there was no way I was getting a nicer car than this (despite the crumbs) and complaining would get me no where (I could clean the car myself). So, after three days, the rental car saga was finally resolved.

Example #3 would be some issues I have been having with work in terms of still lacking a work visa and possible lack of payment. I won't get into detail on this issue on here, but suffice to say, my stress level has been high enough with the bureaucracy in Dubai that I have never been a more patriotic and US loving American before in my life. All I can say is, GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Lovely scaffolding which could be seen in our garden for about 4 days...

Grilling in the Garden & Almost Thanksgiving

Jared with his new toy... in absolute heaven... beer in one hand, pork ribs in the other, and wearing his bathing suit from just coming out of the pool... what could be better?

So, I've been a little lazy with my blog... It's hard to be motivated to write everyday, and we've actually been pretty busy. Plus, a lot of not so fun stressful things have been going on (scaffolding appearing out of no where into our garden, work and rental car issues), so I've been a little pre-occupied and not so excited about Dubai and therefore, not all that enthusiastic about writing about it. But, we did book our flights home this weekend, so I am pretty excited to be heading back to Boston for Christmas exactly one month from today!

And while, we have been a little stressed dealing with bureaucracy in the last week (maybe more on that later..), it hasn't been all doom and gloom because we've been absolutely LOVING our new grill! For our inaugural grill, we decided to go as American as we possibly could and made barbecued pork ribs (which were delicious once Jared got the hang of the heat level controls). And now we are pretty much trying to grill almost every night. So far we've done whole fish (Jared and his love of picking bones out of fish. yuck), chicken kebabs, veggies, HOT DOGS, and even German Curry-wurst. So, you could say we've been enjoying the grill.

This weekend, we were quite busy (as per usual) and headed back to our favorite brunch place, The Lime Tree Cafe for Friday brunch (breakfast bruschetta for me, yum), and then went to a UAE Handicrafts and Art sale to see about starting our Christmas shopping. We were successful on the Christmas shopping front, but also got a little carried way with stuff for us too, and ended up buying a painting... oops. It was too nice to pass up though because it is a painting of the Dubai skyline with the Burj (something that will mean something to us when we leave Dubai -- hopefully sooner rather than later), but done in a more modern art style, so it won't look all Middle Eastern where ever we hang it. Jared also got a little carried away with the homemade chutneys and dips this woman was selling and had to buy some tomato chutney (which was delicious) and then go back to her stand later to buy the delicious little crackers she was selling as well to dip in the chutney.

After we were able to pull ourselves away from the craft sale, we headed home and hung out at the pool for a bit, before cleaning our garden and getting ready to have our friends Melissa and Dom over for a BBQ. Melissa and Dom were running late though, so we ended up just having a couple drinks and nibbles in the garden first while we were waiting for Melissa and Dom to arrive and start the grilling. Soooo relaxing to just lounge in the garden and watch the sunset with a glass of wine, cheese & crackers (with REAL pepperoni), and fresh hummus and tabbouleh with flat bread.

Then when Melissa and Dom arrived we fired up the grill and had some chicken kebabs and German sausage that Dom had just brought back from his trip home to Germany. It was white sausage that he prepared by cutting it up in little pieces after it was grilled, and then covering it with ketchup and curry powder. He called it "Curry-wurst" and kept telling us it was the national dish of Germany... It was very interesting and surprisingly not bad... but not as good as the delicious German potato salad he also brought. So we chatted and drank in the garden for a few hours and then had waffles covered in vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup for dessert. Really a nice night in.

On Saturday, I went to a work event in the morning and then we headed to the beach for the afternoon (perfect beach weather here now!) and then grilled in the garden again for dinner and had hotdogs and homemade chicken shawarma with our leftover kebabs. Very yummy, and then after dinner I was pleasantly surprised to get TWO calls from home! My step-mom Deb and my Grandma both called me and I was just overjoyed because it was my very first calls to receive from people at home. So nice to hear familiar voices and it made me so excited for the holidays.

My pumpkin chocolate chip muffins... So easy and yummy and a little taste of fall and home.

Before we can get to that though, we've got our Dubai Thanksgiving coming up.. I can't believe how fast November is flying and how soon Thanksgiving will be here. We have begun planning and have invited all our Dubai friends to come over and have a traditional American Thanksgiving with us. Thanksgiving is probably our favorite holiday because, although I LOVE Christmas, it really becomes all about the gifts and not about togetherness. Thanksgiving is better because it is really just focused on being with family, enjoying a delicious meal (you already know about our obsession with good food), and relaxing while watching American football. And while we're very sad that we'll be missing out on Thanksgiving with family (at Jared's mom's house), we're still excited to have a relaxing day of cooking together and then eating and drinking with friends. We keep debating how big of a bird we can fit in our oven and have begun to discuss the menu... I can't believe it's next week...

And thinking about the weekend before Thanksgiving just conjurs up memories of when I was little and would go to the Plainville Turkey Farm with my Grandma and Grandpa Weske the weekend before Thanksgiving to pick out our enormous turkey (Grandma never made anything smaller than 23 pounds) and pet the chicks and bring home a turkey feather... And more recent memories of going to the Harvard-Yale Football game with Jared's dad and brothers... Oh how I miss fall in New England!

The finished product of my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins... I tried to make them look festive with my limited supply of festive fall things... They'll be on the Thanksgiving dessert menu at the Jared/Jen Thanksgiving Feast.

Tissues

People in the Middle East have this weirdo obsession with tissues. I noticed it when I came to visit Jared when he lived in Dubai before, but now that I live here it's really in my face. It's the strangest thing. Tissues here are used like napkins and you seriously see boxes of tissues everywhere. Taxis, on the tables at restaurants, the coffee station at work... EVERYWHERE! Paper towels or napkins anywhere to be seen? Nope. Tissues? 2 Boxes. If we have donuts or cookies at work, what do people reach for? Tissues to wipe their hands. I just can't wrap my mind around it... It's as if the whole country has chronic allergies or is afraid of coming down with a cold any minute and wants to be super prepared. I find it to be quite annoying, and I'm even more annoyed that I'm being forced to take up the habit of using tissues for things other than blowing my nose, since there are not other options around. I'm at work and I need to shine my apple before eating it... Do I go out of my way and go into the bathroom to get a paper towel, or do I reach for a tissue from one of the three boxes within arms length? At first I was rejecting it and going out of my way to get paper towels for things I would normally use paper towels for, but laziness and availability has resulted in me using tissues for these things now... I really don't want this to be an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" or "When in Rome..." moment, but I don't know if I have a choice... So, if you're feeling a little stuffy when you step off the plane on your way to visit us (because I know you are all looking into booking your flights as I write this), have no fear, in Dubai, there will always be a box of tissues within reach. Grrr....

JARED PASSED THE NY BAR!!!!

Off to dinner at Karma Kafe at Souq Al Bahar to celebrate, then back here to finish this bottle of white wine... :)

Aquaventure

This Friday was an absolute blast! We spent the day with our friends Clare, Diana, and Mahmoud at the Aquaventure Water Park at the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah. We had originally planned to go to the park on Thursday night because they do special nights where the park is open and djs play music and it's more of an adult thing, but since it's getting colder here (yup, you heard it from me, the temp drops to probably about 70-75 at night now, so a little cold to be going down water slides, especially if there is a breeze), we missed the last night session. We were disappointed, but Diana suggested we all just go the next day anyway...

We were really excited because Jared and I LOVE water parks. We had been wanting to go to Aquaventure since we got here because it's new in the last year and we hadn't been before. The other big water park in Dubai is located next to the Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach Hotel and is called Wild Wadi. We went when I visited Jared in March '08 and absolutely loved it, and so we wanted to go to Aquaventure to get a basis of comparison (you know research on which is better for when people to come visit us... hint hint). I think we love water parks so much because it really allows us to feel like kids again (and Jared especially is in heaven), and you just run around from ride to ride having fun and not thinking about anything other than what ride you're going to do next.

We got there first thing when they opened at 10am, and reserved chairs in front of the giant wave pool. There aren't a huge number of rides, but they are all pretty awesome, and center around the huge temple looking structure above called "The Ziggurat." The big slide you can see coming down the front in the middle is one of those scary, straight down, have to cross your ankles and your arms across your chest like a mummy ones. We did that first, and while it was pretty scary, it's also kind of awesome because unlike every other slide like that I've ever been on, you end in a big pool instead of just coming to a stop while on the slide... you also go through a shark tank on this one, but can't see it because you are screaming and your eyes are closed to keep from getting water in them. The rest of the slides on the Ziggurat are all tube slides, and very fun and cool in various ways: one you go through an aquarium with sharks while on your tube, others are slides where you get pushed uphill with surges of water and then get water dumped on your head before going into a completely dark tunnel and occasionally getting water squirted in your face. They also have a ton of different versions of 'lazy rivers' there, but one has rapids and waves that pass through every 20 seconds or so, so you feel like you are white water rafting in a way... For that one we linked all our tubes up to create a giant raft. A really awesome time!

Us Lounging and Jared enjoying his fresh coconut milk.

We played for a few hours before getting hungry and deciding we wanted lunch. We were expecting just burgers and chicken fingers and things of that nature since it was a water park, but were really surprised to see that not only did they have those kind of normal water/amusement park foods, but also had shawarma, a salad bar, and a stir fry station where you could get stir fry cooked to order (think Saga "Show Time" or Fire & Ice). Unfortunately, we didn't notice the stir fry area until we had already ordered, but Diana, Clare, and Mahmoud all got shawarma.

Afterward we wanted to get a little snack and were excited because they had fresh fruit stands where you could get fresh coconut milk, and also fresh pineapples and watermelon cut just for you.

Jared was pretty psyched about his coconut and decided that drinking his coconut milk was not enough, but that he also needed to eat the coconut meat inside. Lacking utensils he tried to kill the coconut with a plastic fork. Ultimately, he was successful, only to realize that the coconut inside was not ripe yet, so not good for eating... Quite disappointing after working so hard...

After finishing our lunch and snacks we headed back for a few more hours of slides and also discovered the kiddie area, which is traditionally Jared's favorite part of any water park because he LOVES the dump bucket. You know, the giant bucket that dumps 500 gallons of water on your head? When we went to Wild Wadi, Jared probably spent 2 hours playing in the kiddie area alone for this feature, so naturally Jared and Mahmoud had to play in it at Aquaventure as well. Such a fun and relaxing day... and then after we decided we didn't want our fun to end, so planned an impromptu barbecue for the evening.

Spontaneous BBQ

So after we left Aquaventure, we decided we wanted to have a barbecue, but could not decide on a venue. Our friend Elizabeth had suggested her house since she lives right on the water in Jumeirah (where the Yellow Party was), but concluded that it was too windy. Then we talked about having it at a public park that has grills called "Al Safa Park," but thought that might be a bit iffy because all the grills might have been occupied and also we wouldn't have been able to drink (the main point of a BBQ, right?). So we suggested having it at our apartment since we have a nice outdoor area in our garden, and even though our grill hasn't arrived yet, we could use the communal grills in our pool area (another fantastic feature about our building I failed to mention before) that we could grill on, and then just eat in our garden. So at about 6pm we set the wheels in motion to have a BBQ Party at our apartment and had about 40 minutes to get showered/changed from the water park and also get our apartment ready for guests (as we had not been planning on company so had not cleaned, etc.). A bit stressful, but not atypical for when Jared and I throw parties (even planned ones... Jess, you know exactly what I'm talking about..). So Jared started feverishly hosing down and cleaning the garden (it gets dusty from the construction and could use to be cleaned daily if we were so inclined, but we try to not obsess about it and only clean when we're going to use it), while I tried to do what I could with the inside of the apartment. Luckily it was already 'clean' given my OCD tendencies, but a little dusty and the floors could have used a vacuum, and the dish washer needed to be unloaded. So after speed cleaning, people started arriving at 6:45. We did the best we could, and it turned out to be a success, despite the lack of planning.

Group picture at the BBQ. I was so psyched to actually be able to use our garden! We had lanterns spread around and lit tea lights on the ledges... Very pretty and created a nice atmosphere.

Some of our friends stopped at the market on the way, because on top of not having the house ready for a bbq, we also had no food to have a party with. We ended up with delicious chicken kebabs, burgers, PORK sausage, corn on the cobb, and salad... plus lots of chocolate, potato chips, and cheese and crackers. Plus people brought lots of wine and liquor, so fun could not be avoided with that combination of items.

Mahmoud and Ruch enjoying the glider.

Elizabeth, Diana, and Clare in our kitchen.

Clare cutting a watermelon.

So the use of the communal grill in our building was pretty convenient (although we had to improvise using our oven rack since there was no grill grate), and we were excited to be able to use our new grilling tools. People ate and drank a lot, an animated game of Uno occurred, and we were up late having political debates in the garden. Where else in the world would you have 2 Americans, 2 Australians, a German, a Brit, an Egyptian, a Kenyan, a Sri Lanken, an Iranian-American, and a Croatian in one place engaged in deep political conversation. Only in Dubai! Once our grill arrives, I can't wait to host another barbecue!

Happy Halloween!

Our Jack-o-Lanterns and the Burj. Guess which one is Jared's? He kept giving me a hard time and saying I had bought him a squash to carve..

Happy Dubai Halloween! Although it was a bit of a non-traditional Halloween this year, it was still a really nice day. We rested up in the morning from the impromptu BBQ party we hosted the night before (more on that to follow), and then went on an unsuccessful quest for pumpkin ravioli or tortellini to have a Halloween feast. We were unable to find any pumpkin-related food items, but did actually find REAL pumpkins, gourds, and mini-pumpkins at the Waitrose on Halloween day. The temptation to buy 'real' orange pumpkins (imported from Mexico) was pretty high, but after we looked at the price, we decided that spending approx. $45 on a oddly shaped pumpkin we were going to carve in a couple hours was not worth it. We did get some gourds and a mini-pumpkins though under the guise of keeping them for the next month as a Fall/Thanksgiving decoration. We had a relaxing dinner of grilled corn on the cob and homemade chicken shawarmas (left over from our BBQ) and then carved our ugly pumpkins while listening to the Monster Mash (embarrassing to have on my Ipod 364 days a year) and Thriller. We did our own version of Trick-or-Treat by giving each other candy and cards (Jared got me the most amazing peanut butter cookies in a Halloween box from Candylicious, this is why I love the boy.) and then relaxed for the evening with our lit jack-o-lanterns. No dressing up this year, but we made the most of our Dubai Halloween...

Our Neighborhood

The Dubai Fountain. World's Largest.

I love our neighborhood! The great thing about living where we do is that while having a view of the world's tallest building, we also have so many great things nearby. Now that it's cool enough to walk, we are a walkable distance from the Burj Dubai (World's Tallest Building), Dubai Mall (World's Largest Mall [by square feet], with an indoor ice rink, Aquarium, and movie theater), Souq Al Bahar (another shopping area with great restaurants, bars, and shops), the Dubai Fountain, (World's Largest Fountain), Old Town (a residential area built to look like the old style of architecture with wind towers, etc.), the Burj Residences (condo buildings next to the Burj Dubai that have tons of good restaurants on the ground level, including NANDO's), and five luxury hotels which all have really good restaurants and bars. Not a bad place to live.

The Dubai Fountain in action. It comes on to different music every 20 minutes or so starting at 6pm daily. Absolutely amazing... It has water that shoots probably 40 floors into the air. I will have to try taking a video of it and posting it here.

The Dubai Aquarium in the Dubai Mall. Giant 3 Floor viewing panel. Sharks and sting rays mixed with other fish. They must be well fed, or else I think the smaller fish could not peacefully co-exist as well as it looks like they do with the sharks. We are yet to go in, but it looks really cool from the Mall... and it's directly across from Candylicious. All I can think of when I see it is...
"T u e s d a y afternoon..."

Dubai Mall Waterfall. I love it.

Another view of the Dubai Mall Waterfall. Everywhere you turn in that mall there is something else interesting to see. I will seriously have a hard time shopping in malls in the US after spending so much time at malls here. If they do one thing right here, it's definitely malls... But, I guess it is a completely materialistic and shopping driven culture, so they are bound to have nice malls.

Success!

This weekend was successful in many ways... Most excitingly, WE BOUGHT A GRILL! More importantly, I am getting better and getting used to driving in Dubai (with only very minor minor mishaps...).

On Thursday, we began our weekend with some drinks on the beach at Barasti Bar at the Le Meridian Hotel. Barasti is a bar we really enjoy because it is right on the water and this week we decided to sit on the beach on the giant bean bag chairs they have, right next to the stage where they had an Irish DJ called 'Gate Crasher' playing music all night. Awesome dj and probably the coolest light show I've ever seen... plus giant balloons full of confetti were being bopped around the dance floor by the crowd. Actually awesome. I've learned my lesson about having an empty stomach when drinking, so we stuffed ourselves with plates of Arabic BBQ they were selling at the Bar. Quite yummy lamb and chicken kebabs, salad, and hummus with flat bread. On our way to catch a taxi we saw a fist fight taking place between one of the bar security guards and a patron. Actually very funny because it was kind of a slap fight in the middle of the street but neither were very successful since as another onlooker observed, "they didn't have any heart." The police suddenly busted onto the scene to break it up and then blocked off the whole street as if some major incident was occurring, so we had to walk a couple blocks to the main street to get a taxi. Very funny, and not something I ever thought I would see in Dubai. At Wylie J's in Geneva, NY, yes, at a swanky hotel bar in Dubai, not so much...

We LOVE the beanbags at Barasti...

We got home on the early side because we wanted to make the most of our Friday. We got up early and headed to brunch at the Lime Tree Cafe, which is a great cafe with New Zealand breakfasts and other delicious sandwiches and salads, and you can eat in their beautiful garden. After brunch we decided to check out a supermarket that our friend Dom had told us was an American supermarket. It is called the "Safest Way" and is actually a Korean market, but surprisingly does carry a lot of American products. We were thrilled... Halloween M&M's, Tollhouse Cookie Dough, cans of chicken broth (surprisingly hard to come by here, and don't even think about the fresher stuff in cartons), good cheese, and American potato chips of all varieties... including Burger King 'flame broiled' chips, which Jared could not resist. They also had Butterball turkeys, and so bought a 10 pounder to roast Saturday night. We also found some other basic necessities we've been looking like ice cube trays, a cooler, and beach towels.

After our very successful grocery shopping trip, we headed back to our favorite JBR beach and relaxed and swam for the afternoon... Now that it is getting colder in New England, I really feel that I must emphasize the fact that we had a lovely day at the beach with perfect weather. Probably mid-80's and windy... I'm missing out on foliage and Halloween, so I have to embrace what I've got!

Friday night we had dinner plans at the Marina with our friend Jenn's cousin Maura who lives in Dubai. On Maura's recommendation we went to an Italian restaurant called Bice (B-chay) and had the most amazing meal I think I've had in Dubai. Delicious drinks (Mojitos and Peroni, then some Pino Grigio), and I started with Crab Cake over Avocado 'tartare' (basically guac) and then had veal-stuffed tortelli with a white cream truffle sauce. Absolutely amazing! [At this juncture I feel I should apologize for my need to discuss food excessively on here. I really really love food, and eating out is probably one of my top five favorite things to do, so, please excuse my long tangents that describe in detail what I am eating on a regular basis]... Dinner was a lot of fun and hopefully we can get together with Maura and Gio again soon.

Saturday was supposed to be our productive day since we mostly relaxed on Friday. And given that we ended up buying a grill (and lots of grill tools, including a whole fish griller and corn on the cob griller) and a few other odds and ends we still needed for the apartment, like a coffee maker, blow dryer (yes, I am very proud to say I am a girl who has not used a blow dryer in over a month. I remind Jared of this if and when he ever tries to say I'm a 'high maintenance' gf... Mom, I know you're cringing right now), and some indoor plants to continue to make our apartment more cozy. Unfortunately, the grill can't be delivered until next week, but in a way that's good because getting gas for the grill is actually kind of a big deal over here. Contrary to in the US where you just go to the super market or gas station or almost anywhere and buy propane tanks, here, you can't buy full propane gas tanks. You have to buy an empty tank somewhere (luckily they sold them at the Ace Hardware where we bought our grill, other places we were looking at grills didn't sell them), and then take the empty tank to a gas supplier and have your tank filled, which apparently can take up to 3 days. Then they deliver the tank to your house... All very odd. Especially for a warm climate where grilling is popular pretty much year round.

So after our shopping spree at Festival City where the Ace, Ikea (where we bought the plants) and Hyper Panda (another Walmart-esque store where we got the coffee maker, etc.) we decided to find the gas supplier to have our tank ready when the grill arrives. Well, our attempt to find the gas supplier in Karama (near Bur Dubai where Jared used to live) turned into a complete nightmare of bad directions and wrong turns and Jared and I coming home not speaking to each other. So we gave up, deciding we'd try next Friday.

We both took some time to recover from our nightmare drive before roasting our turkey (with all the accompaniments) and having a delicious dinner. Overall a great weekend.

Almost Halloween...

My Halloween Cupcake from Friday Brunch at the Lime Tree Cafe.

As Halloween gets closer and closer slowly we are beginning to see Halloween 'things' pop up all over Dubai. It always surprises me and makes me so happy! For anyone who knows me, I LOVE all holidays, and really the crescendo of my holiday year begins with Halloween, peaks at Christmas and then tapers off by Easter. My love of holidays is exhibited through excessive amounts of decorations (some, arguably tacky, or so says Jared), and the sending of cards to everyone and their brother for every holiday (really, they do make cards for Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's Day, and even April Fool's Day if you look hard enough... and trust me, I know where to look). So, living in the Middle East I was a little anxious that my holiday spirit would be squelched as a result of my minority status. And, to a large extent, it's as if Fall Harvest and Halloween season are non-existent over here. Instead of changing leaves, it's becoming BBQ season, and Diwali (the Indian Festival of Lights) is the most overt holiday atmosphere around. However, in the last week or so I've been seeing Halloween things pop up (Candylicious is now carrying plastic jack-o-lanterns full of candy and festive ghost cookies, Ace Hardware has a whole Halloween aisle complete with pumpkin twinkle lights and Jason masks, and Jared and I were beckoned into a Hallmark shop the other day by the sound of one of those motion sensored vibrating witch heads with the distinctive "whoooooooooo"). We even found semi-normal looking pumpkins that we'll be carving into Jack-o-lanterns next weekend... Even though my 6+ years worth of accumulated fall decorations are in the US in storage, it can STILL be Halloween.... at least in my head... and my apartment with my ugly pumpkins and Halloween M&M's (yup, I was able to find those too, but no candy corn.... I'll take what I can get)...

Visa Run

So last night I had a new experience. I went on a visa run.

Originally, when we were planning our move here we talked with Jared's firm about providing me with a visa, and that was the plan when we got here (US citizens get an automatic 30 day visit visa upon arrival in the UAE). But when we got here and I was able to get a job so easily, we discussed the options and decided that it was a better idea for my visa sponsorship to be through my own job so that if (heaven forbid) something happened with Jared's job we wouldn't both lose our visas. So I talked to my boss and he's currently working on getting my visa paperwork in order, but, as with everything else bureaucratic here, it's taking a long time (plus my boss has had a recent death in the family and other issues with sickness in the office, so I'm sure my visa has taken a bit of a backseat to other more pressing daily issues). So to get to the point, my thirty days of visit visa status were about to end, today actually, (I had some extra time on visit visa status from when we went to Muscat in September) and something needed to be done.

If you overstay a visit visa you begin getting fined AED 100 (approximately $30 USD) a day. We obviously wanted to avoid this, so my boss suggested I do a 'visa run'. Apparently pretty much everyone who lives here has done one in order to accommodate the UAE immigration laws while their residency visa is pending. The actual act of a visa run is to leave the country (temporarily) so that you get a UAE exit stamp, and then to re-enter after visiting another country (for even as little as 15 minutes like I did).

I had been discussing this issue with my boss for the last week or so, knowing my visit visa was about to expire. So he began looking into options and last night at about 5:55pm he pulled me aside before my 6pm lesson was about to begin and told me he had booked me on a 10:25pm flight from Dubai to Muscat, Oman, which would arrive at 11:40pm (literally only 20 minutes in the air) and then on a return flight to Dubai at 1:10am, arriving in Dubai at 2:15am.

So he told me to teach my 6:00pm lesson and then that he'd cover my 7:00 one so that I could get home and to the airport (I needed to drive home, change my clothes, and take a taxi because I am not comfortable enough yet with the driving here to drive to the airport and Jared still doesn't have his license).

So, after my 6:00pm lesson I hustled home, Jared and I grabbed some quick Indian take-out from the Dubai Mall and I inhaled my food while waiting for a taxi. Going to the airport with literally just a small handbag with my wallet, keys, phone, book, and (most importantly) my passport, but no other luggage was the weirdest feeling in the world. Almost liberating to travel that lightly.

I checked in without a problem, breezed through customs (who don't ask any questions when you're leaving) and headed to my gate. When I got to the gate I realized just who it is that takes 10:25pm Tuesday night flights from Dubai to Muscat: Omani men. As I walked into the gate area every eye was on me as the only woman, and only westerner at the gate. Now, I have gotten used to stares from Middle Eastern men (not perverse stares either, just curiosity) at a blond western woman, but this was a little different. How weird to be the only woman on a flight, I thought, and doesn't that break the Sharia law about men and women being alone together? Well, the stares continued as I sat down and got settled. Since this happens so often I actually find it to be a fun game to stare right back at them into their eyes and kind of have a stare down. Undoubtedly they only last about 1 second with me staring them down before they turn away with an embarrassed look. Fortunately, I didn't have to find out what it's like to be the only woman on a flight because when we were boarding two other women appeared out of no where and boarded as well... Curiously, we were all seated in the same row.

The flight to Muscat was uneventful and I actually was fed. I couldn't believe I was given an actual meal on a flight that was shorter than my daily commute to work (which is about 30 minutes). It wasn't much, but I got a tuna sandwich, mango juice, water, and candy bar. Can't complain for a 20 minute flight, when I've been on 6 hour domestic flights in the US and been given nothing but a drink and maybe some stale pretzels (if I'm lucky).

When I arrived in Muscat I had to purchase a visit visa for 6 Omani Rials (or AED 60, or approximately $18 USD) and then go to customs. This customs official was chatty and wanted to know where I'd come from and my purpose in Oman. I replied, "Holiday. You have a beautiful country." I figured this was a safe answer given the fact that upon inspecting my passport he would see this was my third trip there. Then he asked me how long I was staying and I told him 1 day. "Beautiful country, eh?" He retorted at my only staying such a short time. I got a little nervous, but he stamped my passport and sent me on my way. I then immediately proceeded to the Oman Air ticket counter and checked in for my return flight and headed back through customs. This customs officer only asked if I was there on holiday and when I said yes, gave me an Oman exit stamp and sent me on my way.

My flight back to Dubai was equally uneventful and I was served that same tuna sandwich/candy bar/mango juice meal. I drank the juice, pocketed the candy bar, and decided there was no way I needed a second tuna sandwich that night at 1:30am. I was a little anxious to go through the Dubai customs because I knew it would be very obvious I had been on a visa run and had been rehearsing a speech in my head. I needn't have worried though, because the Dubai customs officer said nothing to me other than my name and stamped my passport with another thirty days visit visa from October 21st. I was legally back in the country.

I breathed as sigh of relief as I headed into Duty Free to buy a case of beer and bottle of liquor (Jared still doesn't have his liquor license here, another bureaucratic inconvenience, so we make a point of stocking up every time we're at the airport). I caught a taxi home and was snuggled into my bed by 3am, only 5 hours after my visa run began. Oh the joys of the bureaucracy in the UAE!

Fujairah Day Trip

On Saturday I was invited to attend a girls beach day in Fujairah, another Emirate about 2 hours from Dubai (I was really on a Tour de Emirates this weekend between going to Sharjah for our rental car, and Fujairah on Saturday). It's always nice to get out of Dubai for the day, and also to see new places (that don't require a passport!). I really didn't know how much the UAE actually has to offer outside Dubai until I got here... All the Emirates are so different and it can be lovely to go to Dubai's more sleepy neighbors.

We started the day with a delicious breakfast at Elizabeth's flat (gotta embrace the British terminology while living here, or you give yourself away as an American the minute you open your mouth... not that I can really hide it with my 'accent', but I'm trying to assimilate). Elizabeth is my friend who had the Yellow Party the weekend I learned the consequences of dehydrated alcohol consumption in Dubai. She lives in Jumeira right on the water with an amazing view of the Gulf and beach below. Clare, Diana, and I met at Elizabeth's and she prepared an amazing traditional English breakfast for us: Fresh Fruit and Fruit Juice, Fried Eggs, Bacon fried with tomatoes and mushrooms [weird, but somehow it works], Heinz Baked Beans [apparently an English fav.], and Fry Bread, which is basically toast, but instead of being toasted in the toaster it is made crispy by being cooked in the frying pan in the bacon grease, and eaten under the eggs -- Kat, I definitely recommend you try this since you are the bacon cooking extraordinaire.

So with our belly's full we set out for Fujairah. Road Trips with friends are always fun, especially when you aren't in a hurry to get somewhere. There was friendly banter about the music choices and we just took our time and enjoyed the mountainous scenery.

On the way we came across a giant outdoor market. It had wares of all sorts, including rugs, cheap toys (undoubtedly made in China), antiques, furniture, and the best part of all, TONS of fresh fruits. So we, of course, could not resist the temptation to stop and get some fresh fruit for the beach.

There were rows upon rows of stands and so we pretty much had our pick of who to buy our fruit from. As we walked by, each of the proprietors pointed at their selection and tried to push mangoes and oranges into our hands while also immediately cutting and trying to give us samples. We walked down the row and finally settled on one to chat with to see if we could get a bargain. He gave us a sample of a fruit I had never had before (and have no idea what the name is), but it was a bit mushy and tasted like a cross between a pear and a date with a giant pit in the middle. After we tried the fruit he then immediately began shoving about 30 of those in a bag and then proceeded to put about 20 mangoes in. We kept saving over and over again, no no no no no, we only want 4 of each, and after much persuasion we got him to take out the excess fruit. Then came the bartering over price, which proved to be difficult as he started with a major high ball offer of AED 50 dirhams (about $15 USD) which seemed quite high for just 4 mangoes and 4 funky pear/date fruit in the middle of the dessert when there are 50 other guys we could buy from. Diana was a good barterer and she got him down to AED 30 if he'd throw in a papaya. So we bought our fruit from him and continued to look around.

Fujairah Fruit Stands, very beautiful and vibrant with all the fresh produce. Almost like an oasis in the middle of the desert.

Another view, notice the giant pot on the left side. They also sell fresh (the most fresh and amazing I have to say because I tried one) corn on the cob and also coconuts which they just chop the top off and stick a straw in so you can drink the milk inside.