Monday, April 9, 2012

The adventurer has returned...

I don't think I mentioned it before I left but I travelled to Dubai, yes... Dubai, on Feb 4th to see my oldest son Erik and meet his lady friend, Pune. It's really nice of him to locate in such an exotic and interesting part of the world, isn't it? I of course wanted to see where he lived and learn a bit more about what he does... And meet Pune, so a trip was in order... No matter where he lived. But Dubai!!!!

It was a very long plane trip... But I was ready with my compression hose ( which worked!) and lots of stuff to keep me busy on the journey because I knew I wouldn't sleep. I did manage to relax and rest though, despite a seat that would not recline! I left Savannah at 5pm and Atlanta at 9pm and got it at 8pm Dubai time, so that was about 11am Savannah time ( they are 9 hours ahead!). That's 14 hours in the air... Dinner at 10:30pm... Breakfast and then later a light snack. I watched 3 movies!!! Lots of choices on Delta.

How great it was to see Erik and meet Pune when they picked me up at the airport! Their apartment in the Index Tower designed by Sir Norman Foster was stunning. You enter through an exceptionally tall doorway to the lights of downtown Dubai stretching out before you from the floor to ceiling windows! I was stunned! After a lovely chicken cutlet dinner I gave Pune the shawl I had woven for her and Erik the Rem Koolhaas book. She said that the shawl was perfect for Dubai and I later learned that it was.









The next morning... You can see the Arabia Gulf and the World islands from their windows!

Sorry for the delay

I apologize... It's taken me forever to get back to this blog. Lots of excuses...sorry...
My trip to Dubai was incredible. The most exciting part was spending an entire week with my oldest son... When did that last happen??? Or did it ever??? Being the oldest of four meant he had to do a lot of sharing of our time besides being responsible for a lot at an early age. He has turned out to be a talented and wonderful man... I am so proud. He did a fantastic job showing me around Dubai and parts of the UAE! So great a job that I was able to fend for myself on the last day of my stay as it was time for home to get back to work!

This is number one son Erik and me is the amazing Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi... the formal name is The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. It's breath-takingly beautiful... It is NOT wabi sabi at all!!! Because it is a sacred space you must be covered except for your feet. I was ushered to the right upon entering the first arches... To a small room with lots of black robes (abayas) and head coverings. They fit me with a large one which covered me to the ground and I struggled to keep the scarf from slipping off my head. Erik was okay with his large sleeved shirt and blue jeans but men wearing shorts and tshirts also had to don floor length robes.

The courtyards was covered with floral mosaics on a white marble background. After taking our shoes off and carrying them in a plastic bag we could enter through the imposing highly decorated doors to the interior which as magnificent with a capital M! The carpet was hand knotted and worth over 8 million dollars, the chandeliers were made in Germany and also worth over $8 million. The names of the 99 qualities of Allah were written with subtle fiber optic calligraphy on the Qibla wall which faces Mecca. There are over 1000 columns on the exterior and 96 in the main prayer hall. More than 50,000 can pray here during a prayer service! The building was started in 1996 and opened late in 2007. It certainly was over the top In opulence in a way that the wealthy oil barons of the UAE can do!

One of the other highlights of my adventure was seeing some of the buildings that Erik has designed... One just about complete and one I nearly construction...
The Dialysis Center...

And the Al Mafraq Hospital...

The hoarding or temporary walls surrounding the building site showing what the finished hospital will look like...


The antithesis of this experience in some way was the souks. These were wabi Sabin in some ways... Souks are covered markets -- predecessors to the shopping mall. As you walk through the central hallway the vendors come towards you with their goods in hand trying to entice you into their little space to buy, buy, buy. This was especially true of the Textile Souk where stall after stall was filled to the brim with Pashima shawls...and others had different exotic fabrics. I decided that I wanted to buy shawls for my daughters and daughters-in-laws, so I chose one toward the end of the gauntlet to enter and buy. Erik helped me barter the price down... We bought 5 for 50 UAE Durham which equates $13.50 -- a mere $2.70 a piece! Amazing... I returned on my own on the last day to sketch the sites and to buy solid color pashima shawls that I want to cut into strips to tie together and knit or weave into some garment for me... You cannot find yarn in the UAE so this will have to suffice. We crossed the Creek (actually a river that separates Bur Dubai on the east side with Diera on the west bank) by Water Taxi (abra) passing lots of dhow which are large wooden shipping vessels from Iran that bring their cargo to the souks. The gold souk was full of yellow very ornate gold. I really wasn't even tempted, but I hear the prices are quite good and several of the shops were bus with customers.

On Saturday we took a day trip to Fujiera, another Emerites on the eastern coast facing Pakistan and Indian on the Indian Ocean. To get there you drive over very different terrain leaving the dessert behind for the Haggar Mountains... Very rough, rugged, rocky, Rick Ricky mountains cut by wadi or rocky valleys that are created by the runoff of heavy rains. We had a lovely lunch at the beautiful le Meridian Al Aqah Beach Resort after walking around the grounds of the very, very old Bidiya Mosque and it's 2 watch towers.
I'm skipping lots of amazing experiences. Come see me and I'll tell you so much more... And show you tons of pics, but I don't want to bore you!!!