rain and more rain

did i mention that the second we got back from the camel racetrack yesterday (friday), the sky turned pitch black and it poured, thundered and lightninged (word?) for an hour or so before we left for dubai?

we still had some rain overnight, plus cloudy conditions today (saturday). on and off sprinkles and rain all day. we were able to dine outside at cinnamon, the restaurant at the cove rotana. got to show mom the nice place and have a nice lunch in the process. julian, the weirdo, left most of his food untouched, save a decent helping of vermicelli rice and about 4 date mamouls. that kid used to love his veggies. now, it's fries and cookies. must do something!

afterwards, we tried to visit the antique store in old RAK, but it was closed. i don't think mom was too enthused with the offerings anyway (we peeked in the window), but she got a good tour of old RAK. serge even showed us an apartment that he was shown when he first came here. dear God, it was like hell. the building looked like it was going to crumble or peel apart. not only that, but the apartment was on the ground floor, had bars on the window and a crumbling balcony. if you opened your windows to get a view of the sea (it was right on the beach), you wouldn't be able to see the water or sand, as the large pile of rubble and garbage obstructed the view. all of that could have been ours for more than we're paying now. how disgusting!

we then decided to track down the national museum of RAK. went through some really pot-holey dirt roads (think mom was a bit scandalized) and crappy sections to get there. to be fair, the museum is in the process of being restored, but i couldn't visit most of the rooms, as the smell of mildew or whatever was making me gag. hey, it's not my fault i have a canine-sharp sense of smell. could be very interesting if it gets cleaned up nicely.

and then we spent the rest of the afternoon at home, hanging out. this was supposed to be a beach day, but i can see that we won't be able to count on that until later on in the week. tomorrow, it's back to the grind. well, for serge anyway!