the arte souk

once a month in dubai's times square center (a really really small mall that has toys r' us and a ginormous electronics store), there is an arts and crafts souk for artisans who reside in the UAE. they set up tables on the ground floor of the center and sell their handiwork. i was so excited to go and with good reason - it was really awesome.

we had read about the souk in an article in the friday magazine a few weeks back. it talked about a sri lankan woman who makes sock monkeys. i also heard about it through a jewelry designer we met at the RAK ladies' flea market the first week my mom was here. i have had friday the 10th down on my calender even since.

many of the vendors sell handmade jewelry of different types - some with beads, some with silver, some with paper...many very unusual pieces. i could have bought a lot, but settled for a really neat silver piece from mr. beau jangles, who also happens to be one of the financial backers of the sock monkey lady. 

speaking of which, julian almost jumped out of his stroller at the sight of the monkeys. he was pointing and mumbling at one of them, so i just started picking them out of the line - "is it this one" (shake head no), etc. until we came upon the one he liked - small, blue and white striped holding a heart that said i heart u. he took it and hugged it and cradled it in his arms, smiling. sold. for some reason that is beyond me now, his name is george (and not because of curious george). i think julian called him that. those sock monkeys rule.

there were other things for sale, including clothing, paintings, cookies, aprons (really cool). i think it is really neat to be able to support local artists - dubai is such a melting pot of cultures, it's nice to see those cultures represented. we met people from india, vietnam, scotland, sri lanka, syria, etc. we will go back. and we will buy more.