Desert Dune Bashing

Prayer Time

This blog is posted from a bus going through the desert between Dubai and Al Ain.

Sunday - Sundays here are the first day of the work week as the weekend is actually Friday and Saturday with Friday actually being the main day of worship.  They appear to have a big prayer time at 1:00 PM on Friday with men coming to the mosques and spending some time praying.  There are so many of them worshipping at the mosque that there is not room outside and they will fill the sidewalks and some across the street to bow and pray.  On the way to desert safari we saw a car pulled over at about 4:30 PM and a man out of the car kneeling and bowing towards Mecca as he prayed.  During most days the many men go to the mosque to pray at least four times a day.

Dune Bashing

Well, the fun started this afternoon.  We left the hotel about 3:30 PM for a desert safari.  There were 5 people in each Land Cruiser and we headed out to the desert.  Our driver was Bulgarian and it was fun to chat with him.  It was highway most of the way and then we left the roads and started driving across the desert.  There were times were would speed up a dune and than just drive on the edge of the dunes and other times drive over the edge like a roller coaster ride.  When we did go over the edge, the vehicle would go side ways down the hill with a cloud of sand going before it.   After about a 15 minute ride, we stopped and were able to walk around in the desert hear a rock they called the camel rock.  It was a cool day and the colors in the desert were amazing.  I have heard people say the desert is beautiful but I had not imagined how beautiful it truly is.  To see more pictures of the desert, click on the link to the left for United Arab Emirates.  We will attempt to post a video of the ride  It was a great time

Meal Area at Arabian Nights

Raja the Arab

After the stop we headed to the Arabian Night for dinner, Hena painting, belly dancing and the opportunity to dress up in Arab dress and have our picture taken.  There were about 20 of us traveling together and it was fun to sit on pillows on the ground to watch the show and eat Arab food as a group.  As an appetizer you could get chicken swarma (chicken, potato and some lettuce wrapped in naan) and naan (sort of like big pita bread but much better).  Our tour guide advice to us was not to eat too much of this and make sure we save room for the other food. After the belly dancer, we all went to the buffet line to get our food.  The women went to the buffet line on the left and the men to the line on the right.  They had people who made sure you were in the correct line as it would not be proper for the two to be in the same line.  Food served included humus, several salads, two types of rice, lamb and chicken kebabs, and fish.

Jan here---at last!!  i have a little bit of time to write.  The conference is over and it was an amazing time with women who work in this area of the world...amazing stories and I enjoyed getting a different view of Arab culture.  The people here are very friendly and so hospitable!
So Roger has been having some fun while i have been busy but he was also an amazing help to all of us as well...the gopher for the conference and every one has truly seen what an amazing guy i am married to.  So many mentioned his servants heart with leadership qualities...so true.

Dancing in the Desert

Jan and Jill riding the camel

After the conference was finished we  had a short debrief meeting and then headed on the safari that Roger  told about earlier.  It was soooo much fun.  We had a choice of going on spicy ride. medium ride or mild ride.  I debated long and hard and ended up deciding to go for it and went with Roger in the spicy ride...the wildest one...oh my goodness...it was actually felt like being on a ship in a storm.  i was glad i had taken some dramamine!!  Even with that I was getting quite queasy and was sooo thankful for the break to get out and walk on the dunes and just enjoy the views.  One of the cars had their music cranked up when they stopped and the ladies jumped out and broke into a dance...it was quite entertaining..it felt good to scream and yell as we went over the dunes and then dance too.  It has been a vusy 2 weeks so it was nice to let loose. :)  When we got to the place we were eating there were camel rides which were part of the package deal..  Hilarious is all i can say.  I rode with a friend and had a cramp in my hip most of the time...not pleasant but the laughter was great.  We were laughing the whole ride.  The rougtest part of the ride was when the camel stood  up and then at the end when he knelt down.  I am glad to say i have ridden a camel now..for whatever that is worth :) The dinner was nice...and it felt good to sit outside after days of being in meetings.  I was not sure i wanted a henna painting but decided to get a small bracelet looking painting.  i keep looking at my arm and thinking oh what is that dirty thing on my arm..its pretty but out of the corner of my eye looks dirty...

Desert (see photo log for more)

We have a couple more days of debrief meetings and tomorrow we go on a tour of Dubai and dinner cruise.  i am looking forward to that alot...but even more..i am looking forward to 3 and a half days to explore the old city area with Roger and do whatever we want.  It will be a really good time to spend just the two of us.

i have missed writing on the blog but its fun to hear about Roger's adventures.  As I write this i am on a bus heading out of the ciy a couple hours ride to visit some friends of on of the ladies that is on the conference.  They work in a hospital and will be serving 26 of us dinner tonite....we will tell you about that later...