Happy Birthday Lana!

Dubai


Room service arrived right on time. Since we got an extra hour back last night (Yeah!) we were both awake. The ship docked around the same time. Originally we were scheduled to leave at 5 pm. For reasons we aren’t told, it was changed at some point to 11 pm. They did refuel here but that was finished by 2 pm.
Maps
There is an interesting thing I’ve noticed about the maps we are getting about this area of the world. We have come from the Arabian Sea past the Gulf of Oman and the straits of Hormuz and into the Arabian Gulf—not the Persian Gulf. I have never heard or seen it listed as “Arabian” Gulf. All of the resources I brought with me use the label “Persian” Gulf. Hmmm
Piracy drill
We’ve received a notice about a piracy drill to be held tomorrow. Basically we will be asked to go back to our staterooms by the closed interior passageways only, pull the drapes shut, stay away from the windows and sit by the door after propping our cabin doors open so we can hear instructions from our cabin stewards. Use handrails as you walk to be prepared for sudden unexpected movements by the ship since it will be zig zagging. The ship will also travel in a convoy and in case of any incident, helicopters will appear within 20 minutes on both sides of the ship.
CNN
We still don’t “get” it. “CNN live” was blaring in the cruise terminal but our cabin TV still shows the same tired message about not being available because of the satellite on the ship. Go figure!
No internet
We have no internet access in many ports and this is one of them. You can pay for internet access in the terminal and I understand it’s quite reasonable. Since we have been in port from 7 am to 11 pm tonite, it simply means we have no access.
New ship’s terminal
Two years ago there was a rather ordinary, ten year old terminal for cruise ships here. In the intervening two years, that one was razed and an entirely new building was erected in modified Middle Eastern style. I had great expectations for this new terminal but I was really disappointed. I like the old one better even if it was (only) slightly smaller. There are two ships in port today: ours of course and the QE2 which generates such warm memories for the people who have sailed on her.
Weather
While it was awfully hot here today, well over 90 and as high as 100, it wasn’t as wearing as the heat and humidity we’ve had in other ports. For one thing, it’s drier here and there are breezes. Also, many of our stops involved going into air conditioned buildings. My tour did walk a few blocks where there were rows of local shops but it wasn’t bad.
Smells
I simply can’t describe the wonderful aromas you experience in these Middle East markets. And the bags piled high with products of various colors and shapes. It is a wonderful memory I love to experience anew in Middle Eastern cities.
Ed’s tour
He went to the world’s tallest building which just recently opened. It has 200 + levels and it’s about half a mile high. It is called Burg Kalifi. It’s free to walk the stairs to the observation deck—or so the rumor goes-- or it costs $30-40 USD to ride the elevator in less than 2 min. to the observation deck at level 120. They also went to the indoor ski slope, and two different huge malls with expensive shops. We’re talking very upscale, Rodeo Drive shops.
Lunch
I went to the dining room but tried to phone for Ed twice. The DR closes at 1:30 and I had only 5 min. before it closed. So I ate a rice dish and then went up to the Panorama Buffet where I found him; we had missed each other by a few minutes in the room. So I shared fruit with him for dessert.
Movies
There was a movie in the Cabaret Lounge at 2 pm: Knowing. Then this evening another: Serious Moonlight. And then on the TV from 8 pm onward: State of Play. There are always Leonard Maltin and some TNT movies. I passed on all of them but Ed went down to the Cabaret Lounge for Serious Moonlight. He’ll watch any movie but I suspect he’ll really enjoy this one since Meg Ryan is in it.
My tour
Our guide was Issam whom I can only describe as a mischievous Arab genie. We had such fun with him. He could sell any toothpaste his smile was so sparkling. He is Yemeni and lived for 7 yrs in Germany so he is also fluent in that language. (While in one of the souks, I saw a tall man dressed in Arab attire speaking perfect Spanish and he took some folks around; it seemed so odd) Our driver was Santos from India; I never got a chance to ask him if he was from Goa as these folks are Christian, usually Catholic, and the name “Santos” is hardly Hindu.
We went to one of the adjacent emirates, Sharjriah which is hailed as the “Pearl of the Gulf.” It is less pretentious than Dubai but still shows the impact of all the building and development. Most people live in Sharjriah and commute to Dubia, right across the bridge, as housing costs in Dubai are about 3 x more costly. There are 4 (?) million people in the United Arab Emirates (there are seven emirates: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjriah are the only ones I’ve ever heard of). Think of the UAE as = US and each of these emirates = state. 87% of the people in UAE are UAE residents but not citizens and will almost no chance of ever becoming a citizen. The government(s) have gradually tightened their restrictions over the years to prevent being overwhelmed by outsiders. One thing Issam said that perked me up is that very soon, compulsory health insurance will be required for everyone. The laborers will be the most grateful for that I’m sure.
There was a question about the women’s clothing and I thought he answered it in a thoughtful way. He did finish by saying that in the 13th and 14th centuries, European women were also covered and now they are not. He predicted that one day, Muslim women would not be covered. Indeed there are many here who were not draped head to foot in black though you saw all versions of that. The funniest to me was a woman totally covered except for her glasses sticking out. Ed said he saw two head to toe black clad women in a shop selling bikinis. What a photo that would have been!
Mosques
We saw many gorgeous mosques but none so breathtaking as those we saw in Brunei and Malaysia. These are, we are told, quite elegant inside and the photos suggest that too.
Souks
After we went by the old city of Sharjriah, we were taken to the old souk. I wasn’t looking forward to walking dusty, hot streets. It turns out they’ve closed it in and it’s air conditioned. So we had 30 minutes to wander around here and see all the gorgeous stuff. I did eventually purchase two items and couldn’t tell if I overpaid (you have to bargain and that is not my strength and Ed was elsewhere) but clearly I paid less than I would have in LA so I’m not looking back. I probably should be carrying a pocket calculator as many people do but I’ve been working it out the old fashioned way: on paper. When Ed’s around, he does it in his head quicker than I can line up the idea in my mind.
After the old souk, we eventually found our way to a modern, huge mall but it’s their local souk. There were scads of shops selling gold and silver jewelry mostly. Let me tell you, the Arabs here know about BLING! No red hatter could match them ever. Some of the solid gold (22 K usually) necklaces are as big as a nun’s wimple. They must weigh you down and that’s before the rings, bracelets, anklets, and whatever else they can think of.
There were many rug merchants and I had a sense that most were expats. In fact, many of the shoppers were clearly not from the UAE: lots of gorgeous saris (that’s redundant in my experience: they are all gorgeous), western teen wear, Pakistanis, and Indians of all stripes.
In the old souk, I picked up something you can wear around your hips. It has two strings to tie it in the front. So I was trying to show Ed how to wear it and it keeps falling to my ankles. Clearly either it’s WAY too big, or I’m not doing it right (or these women have humungous hips because mine are not small by any stretch of the imagination!). So I’ll worry about it when I get to LA.
Walking the streets
During our walk of several blocks, we saw stores selling all kinds of electric appliances. The “vessels” (we’d just call them pots) range from a simple saucepan to something big enough to bathe a family! Makes you wonder how they’re used. Several stores selling only candy; another with various nuts. Some folks bought some nuts and I heard they were confiscated before they could reboard the ship. I was hoping we’d be given a few dates to nibble along the way but no such luck. This is the place in the world to get delicious dates in several varieties.
Ed’s neck
We know that Ed has severe arthritis in his neck and he’s having increasing problems with it lately. He shouldn’t be laying with pillows under his head or bending over doing his Sudoku but it’s hard to remember and there’s a quality of life issue. But he’s got numbness in 3 of his fingers though the motor function is intact. And then of course, there’s the discomfort so he started on his arthritis medication yesterday but it might take much longer to get on top of it this way assuming it makes a difference at all. And then there’s the issue of the stomach irritation. He’s already had problems with that for years for various reasons including the other meds he’s taking and the diabetes. So I can only hope things improve for him as this isn’t fun.
Afternoon tea/dinner
Since we were here, I suggested we go down to tea. There was only one other couple there and so we visited with them while we enjoyed the goodies. I actually went for the scones and jam. Mmmmmm
Ed watched TV and worked on his Sudoku while I kept reading the book written by our table mate. Then he wanted to go to dinner on the early side, even though we were still full of scones from tea, because he wanted to go to the movie in the Cabaret Lounge tonite. It is open seating tonite because we are in port late, but Ed suggested we go to our assigned table anyway and one couple was there. We had a great time discussing the sights around this area, and later moved onto funny movies to see. This led to a discussion of dysfunctional family members and sad story childhoods, since the movies we were discussing were based on such situations. Lots of laughs and I think this is the most fun we had at table on this leg of the cruise. Quite a nice treat.
I had downloaded the photos, recharged the batteries, formatted the memory cards, and selected a few photos to piddle with and put aside to upload tomorrow. Ed met some of the crew staff at a few of the locations on his tour so I downloaded those photos to a thumb drive and sent it on to those kids here on the ship so they could have the photos.
And now I’ll get back to finishing this novel….