About three weeks ago a women named Elaine took me to a community that is considered one of the older communities in Dubai. We drove past the Iranian Hospital. It is too beautiful for words. I tried to take pictures and put them on the “photobucket” Honestly, the colored tiles and designs were amazing, and those photos do not do it justice. It is a private hospital. The government has a number of medical clinics in the area also. This community is called Al Satwa. It has a number of very nice parks, the public library, schools and universities, and is home to over 180 nationalities of people. Little shops line the streets and some of them place their wares on the sidewalk during the day. I saw piles of baskets (I love a good basket), salons; some for only women, some only for men and some for the family, fresh produce, clothing, plants, paper goods, books, collectables, trinket gifts, etc. A number of the shops have been family owned and run for a few generations. All of the shops we looked in were old, a bit run down and appeared dirty, not the filthy dirty, just the worn out sort of dirty. This neighborhood is known for its barbers who give the “closest shave in town.” The barbers use a straight razor, sharpened after each swipe on the face. The bus station is in the middle of the neighborhood and I saw a number of the newer bus stops that are air conditioned. In the picture of the Iranian Hospital, one of those bus stops can be seen in the front left corner. Temperatures have dropped around here now, so I do not know if those bus stops are cooled. Travel into Al Satwa is fairly easy, catch the Metro to the nearest stop, and take a bus right into the center of town.

The people seem to be very friendly and helpful. The men wore a different style of head wrap. The wraps did not drape down around the head and neck and they were different colors. I wish I could give you a reference, but I never really paid attention to such things as I never thought that I would be writing something of this nature.

Elaine dropped off some tailor work she needed done. Then we went to a dress making shop and she ordered a dress made for two upcoming events. We looked in a number of fabric stores. The shops were tiny, piled high with what ever supplies were needed for them to do the job. When it comes time for us order curtains, we will probably go to Al Satwa and have them handmade. I have seen some of the curtains in the homes of other expats.

There are larger, more modern stores around the area also. But, the older, smaller ones had my attention as they are so much more romantic. The older, attached villas appeared very small to me. Elaine said that the insides were really very large and spacious as the families tended to be large and they needed the space. I was assuming that each balcony was a separate villa, but now I think that maybe each villa had two balconies or the villas were longer than wide. As we drove out of the older area the villas became newer, cleaner, and larger in every way.

I saw so many unique objects, and then so many items were the same from shop to shop. I know that I could spend a lot of time and money in that little community.

Next time I will tell you about the trip to Dragon Mart: Where you can buy anything you want and it is all made in China. The quality is the same here as it is in the states.

The official dates of Eid-al-Adha and the Hajj were announced on the news this weekend. As the moon had completed or started a new cycle. (Sorry, I could not understand the cycle name when spoken and I had turned the news on in the middle of the announcement). On the 16th of November the festivals and travel will start. I have been told that passports into Saudi Arabia will be difficult to acquire right now because those who are planning to go on a Hajj will be given priority.

Yesterday we had a sand storm. So, today I will be vacuuming and dusting. I can still taste and feel the dust in my throat and everything has a gritty feel to it. I also heard that it rained in the area. I have not seen rain since we arrived.

Jim will be returning from Uzbekistan tomorrow. I am very happy for this. In the evening we will be attending a formal dinner in honor of one of the Weir employees who will be moving back to the states. This gentleman is one of the men who hired Jim and convinced us to move here. All of my nice clothes are on a ship, on the Atlantic Ocean somewhere. What’s a girl to do?

Enough for now. Lisa