girls' weekend in dubai

dubai, again. it is a very un-granola place. opposite of granola, even gourmet style yuppy granola. more of a champagne and strawberries place.

we arrived late in the evening and hit the pub at the hotel. it was delightful to have drinks with the girls and chat.



thursday consisted of lunch at the hard rock cafe and a way too long trip to the mall. i did get the cutest shoes ever, but still, should have gone back to the hotel to chill out for awhile instead of hanging out at the mall for 8 hours. jenna and caroline skied but jessica and i did not.

here are the slopes from the outside. that's right, folks, skiing in the mall



things are a little busy at the moment- upcoming events include hosting a friend and former colleague this weekend (coming up from Saudi), seeing the high school play, finishing preparing for my band concert saturday, which included an after school rehearsal today. tomorrow after school is a middle school fun night, until 4:30pm. sunday is my friend's birthday, monday is band practice, tuesday is the choir concert, wednesday our jazz band plays at the embassy, there's a folk night and a wind up party for the jazz band. fun times.

after that things slow down marginally. then it will be time to come home. please let me know if you need anything from here- pashminas? palestinian olive oil? abbaya? tacky jewellery?

soon, soon
xoxox

Heritage Souk

Last weekend, I went to the fabric and gold souks with some friends. Unfortunately, the tailor at did not have my shirts altered like he said he would. He did, however, decided to alter the shirt I needed while I waited. It only took 10 minutes- that was awesome! And now the shirt looks like it fits better than a paper bag.

After shopping, we ate dinner in the heritage area. The Heritage Souks have all sorts of goods for sale- pashminas for which I have a penchant, shoes, headscarves, clothes, spices, incense, food, knick knacks, etc. It's a great place to hang out because it is the REAL middle east. Plus the wealthy locals do not go there, so no one tries to bluetooth messages on your mobile phone, nobody follows you around, nobody has their hair all done up in ad hoc gelled spikes...

We sat outside and feasted on fresh bread, hummous, salad and drank lemon with mint. Yum. All for only 4.8KD (the other girls ate chicken). It costs that much per person to eat in a trendy restaurant. All in all, a nice afternoon and evening.




Except for the impending heat (up to 40 degrees in the daytime) and a nasty sunburn on my knees, life is grand.

quick update, photos next time

Is anyone reading this???? Or has everyone converted to the evil facebook??? ARG!

For those of you on the edges of your seats in wonder, the Virgin Megastore reopened just days after it closed. Much ado about nothing, as things go here.

Things are generally okay. Busy and a little stressful but good...it's better to be busy. I got to go to an art opening at the French Embassy on Thursday. It was so nice- there wasn't much art or space but we were in a French library and I was happy to be surrounded by books, and to have a little glass of wine at noon.

My next plan of attack for anywhere I move- as quickly as possible, seek artists and musicians and get involved. Exchange numbers shamelessly.

I said good bye to my friend Jose last week. I hadn't seen him since November or talked to him since December, but it was good to gather together with some nice friends and chill. It's important to know how many lovely people there are anywhere in the world, and how time passage can make someone more endearing. Jose is back in Venezuela now, and plans to move to Calgary in 6-8 months.

Life is funny.

I look forward to the next month being over and seeing you all again the weekend of June 16th.