so we took our alternate route and didn't get stuck until we were literally 2 minutes away from their house. we sat for a good 15 minutes and then only moved because we were able to get in front of one truck and get around another.
after our coffee and tasting of 2 of the new chocolates serge made. (for the record and for the zillionth time, he is really amazing at what he does. with almost nothing, he has created already 13 flavors of chocolate and they are not only beautiful, but tasty. i hope other people are as impressed as they should be. i'm not saying "as i am" because i'm his wife and that's a given. you know what i mean.)
serge got to work, so ursula (that's daniel's wife), julian and i hopped in the car and went to the ibn battuta mall. it is named after a famous explorer and has 6 courts decorated (and named) after the 6 places said battuta went. china, india, persia, egypt, tunisia and andalusia. really very interesting to see (china has a huge boat in the court) and nice to see more than my local manar mall (which houses the infamous carrefour - incidentally, upon entering RAK from the highway, signs read, "manar mall - the ultimate shopping experience". maybe 10 years ago! but it's not bad - i'll get to that in a minute). google it if you want photos. i just learned that it houses the only IMAX in the country. probably not for long, as someone will inevitably come along and build a bigger, better, more impressive IMAX and the competition will begin.
that's what's interesting about here - the boss family lives in a really nice development in dubai. the houses (villas) are really nice, it has lakes, pools, recreation clubs, really nice landscaping, etc. ursula told me that when they moved here 4 years ago, the only tall buildings near them were these 2 that look sort of like the chrysler building in ny and one other taller one. you should see the skyline now! those 2 buildings are dwarfed by the others around them. and all of that happened in less than 4 years. (makes you wonder why a certain school whose name shall not be mentioned has been under construction/renovation for well over 5 years when a freaking city of skyscrapers and housing developments can spring up overnight - and don't even factor in the cheap labor and materials. 1 school vs. a huge city. whatever.)
what i can say about the trip to the mall today is that although i really do like what i've seen of dubai so far, i am glad we are living in RAK. what's funny is that when we're in our apartment, i feel like it's already home (like it could almost be anywhere, and that we've been living here forever, almost), probably because all of our stuff is here - furniture, art, books, etc. then i step outside and remember, "oh yeah, new place." i'm in kind of a weird bubble sort of. not in a bad way, just kind of still making sense of the whole adventure.
when we were in dubai today, i was even further thrown out of whack, probably because that mall could have literally been anywhere in the world. the only thing "dubai" about it was the fact that it was completely over the top, schmaltzy, ridiculous. i did find myself going, "oh, good to know that there is a whole wing with more than 3 children's stores. a european pharmacy." or saying, "hmm, i'll have to come back here when i need xyz." it was nice. but i'll tell you why i wouldn't want that every day - because it didn't have the local feel that we have here. the best example i can use to illustrate my point is this - i saw 2 or 3 veiled women at the mall. maybe the same number of men in dishdashas. (women from here are completely veiled in black. it isn't called a burqa - i can't remember the name, but either their face shows only, or their eyes. they are often quite elaborately decorated with crystals or embroidery. bedazzled, if you will. women from other muslim countries will usually just have their headscarves on - not necessarily black and just regular clothing, albeit covered up clothing. dishdashas are usually white long sleeved long dress-like garments that the men wear. then they have a type of scarf thing (don't know the name) on their head that is either white or red-checked and usually a black ring to keep it on.) that's it. here in RAK, i may be exaggerating, but if i am, it's not by much (and i could be underestimating!). 40% of people are either veiled or in dishdashas. EVERYWHERE. it was weird in dubai not to see that.
and, we have better free range camels up here. just throwing that in!
before i ramble on into oblivion, i will finish this off by saying that i was able to buy julian a new pair of shoes, get 8 passport photos and 2 gig USB flash drive for about $11, and have a lovely afternoon with ursula. we picked up some delectable chicken shwarma sandwiches (more like wraps in thin arabic bread) that we ate back at the house. walked it off with a really nice stroll around the compound (it was GORGEOUS today after the torrential rains this morning - and yes, we had water in the receiving room under the window! good thing we moved everything before we left) and then julian got to play in the play area in the sand and chase birds, people's dogs, etc. fun stuff.
we ate lebanese food out for dinner (food is pretty cheap, so it's no strain on the budget to do so - lunch for three, which was really copious, was not even $10. dinner was like $7 or $8). i heart fattoush (salad with a lemony dressing, lettuce, tomatoes, cukes, mint and toasted pita). and the pickled veg and olives they always give you. don't pass along the food info to my doctor. she'll try to sell me more vitamins to cure me of my "danger zone" ailments. hahahaha.
i don't know what's on tap for tomorrow, but i'll keep the stories coming.
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