Vivacious Visitors

Lots of things have gone on this month! At the beginning of the month, my mom, Steve, Erin, Sarah, Colleen, and Uncle Jim (UJ) came for a visit! We saw a side of Dubai that we had never seen before--the non-mall side... We had done some touristy things, but not as many as we crammed into few days we were there.

We went to Atlantis, which is built on the Palm Jumeirah, the set of artificial islands--which we have heard are already sinking...hmmm. In Atlantis, the interior design reflects the lost city--it is beautifully morose and forgotten... You walk in amazed at the luxuriousness and are transposed into another world... The aquarium by far was one of our favorite things to see at Atlantis. The "Lost Chambers" has made headlines because it is harboring a whale shark, which they supposedly rescued. Seeing it was bittersweet.. Activists (and we support this) have pushed for its release back into the Gulf of Oman...but for some economical reason they are reluctant. On the otherhand, I remember learning about the whale shark in elementary school and being completely fascinated by this creature...and it was absolutely breathtaking.

Other than Atlantis, some highlights included a few malls--Mall of the Emirates and Festival City, Jumeirah Mosque, the Dubai Museum, and the souqs... My family of Montanans were semi-impressed with Ski Dubai. While we didn't go in, I think they were surprised to see a quad lift indoors, snow in the desert, and people wearing parkas, while on the outside of the glass we were wearing capris and short-sleeves...

We listened to a guide at the mosque, which answered a lot of questions Chris and I have had for months. While he was a Muslim and an Emirate, he has lived in the States and was able to pinpoint several discrepencies, misconceptions, and ignorance that people have about Islam. We learned that Muslims recognize the Bible as part of their religion. They follow the book (the New and Old Testament) much the same way Christians do. However, they believe Mohammad to be the last prophet, and this is where our religions diverge because they follow his book, the Qu'ran. We learned about the five pillars, the good angel and the bad angel who record your life's actions, and there are no excuses...Needless to say, his speech has helped us a little with our kids. We spent some time in the Dubai Museum. It's actually very interactive and visual, and we learned a lot about the region... I think the highlight--and I think everyone would agree--of the weekend was the souqs. We went to the textile souq and bought beautiful shoes, tapestries, and even a belly dancing costume (Erin did, not me, hehe).
We went on a desert safari with them, went to Jumana--a show to share the history of the religion, and they did a lot while, yes, we worked.

Their last weekend, though, was pretty amazing. UJ had a fantastic idea to go to the Burj al Arab--the only 7 star hotel in the world. We went for high-tea, and to see what was the buzz. All around the hotel were cars I had only seen in pictures: Rolls Royces (both owned by the hotel and guests), a Ferrari, and more! It was humbling... The food was amazing, and we left thinking we could handle that more often...hehe.
They left the next day...and we were really happy to have had visitors and people close to us actually live a little in the place we are calling home. They made us realize how exotic this place really is, and how much we crave normality...sooner than later.