Pictures to correspond with the last post...

 Hi everyone,

Here are some pictures to go along with my last post.

These are from the desert safari:

 I thought it was SO beautiful!

  

These guys were crazy... the driving was so fun. You can't tell, but that is a REALLY steep hill.

  

Desert sunset.

  

We got to dress up as locals.

  

I liked hanging out with the camels. They were actually pretty sweet:-).

  

I also got a henna tattoo on the safari.

  

 This is today -- my first Egyptian ruins!

Traveling to Egypt

Hi Friends,

I hope you are all well.

Today I am in Aswan, Egypt. Here is the update:

Thursday Luke, Cara, Ryan and I went on a "Desert Safari" in the desert near Dubai. It was awesome. A local man drove us in a land rover from their house to the desert where we did some great off-roading on the way to the desert camp. We saw camels and experienced many local traditions in one shot, which was great. I'll post pictures when I can.

On Friday Luke and Cara took Ryan and me to the airpot early, and we flew to Kuwait and then to Egypt. When we got to Cairo, we decided to hop on a train for Aswan (way south) and then work our way north, ultimately seeing the pyramids in Cairo on Thursday. We tried to get on a sleeper train, but there were no spots available, so we got "first class" seats and decided to travel all night anyway.

It ended up being a six-person room -- not exactly the most cumfortable place -- but was an OK trip for being 15.5 hours long -- at least for me -- since I slept (uncomfortably) about 14 of those hours (I didn't really sleep the night before we left Dubai). I don't think Ryan slept much so I felt bad about that.

Yesterday we arrived in Aswan in the afternoon. After unsuccessfully trying several hotels we finally found one with a few rooms available, and I was SOOO thankful to get a shower! Then we made our way to McDonalds, which was supposed to be the best place for wifi in the city. Sadly, it wasn't working, but we did at least get some food. McDonalds ice cream and various types of bread have been the majority of my diet these last few days. We hired a falucca (sailboat) and went out onto the Nile around sunset, which was nice. Well, it was nice until our captain changed the price at the end of our ride. I'll post the pictures... it really is beautiful here.

We walked through a bizaar in the early evening and then tried to find a resturant, and were amazed that everything was closed at 9pm -- even though there were TONS of people out! The only resturant we could find open was... McDonalds:-). Apparently it is the place to be... it was packed with local people!

This morning has been good so far. Our hotel served breakfast, which was OK, and then we came across the street to an internet cafe. We plan to see the rest of the sights in Aswan today before heading north to Luxor tomorrow.

I appreciate your prayers. I have been feeling pretty homesick the last few days, and am realizing that I enjoy traveling to see people rather than sights quite a bit more. I want to enjoy this trip and need to have a better attitude to do that. Thanks for reading my blog and for your friendship. And have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Laura

Final week in Dubai

Hi Everyone!

I apologize for my shameful delay in posts. This has been an eventful last week in Dubai! Three weeks seems like a long time until the end when you realize you have left quite a bit to do!

This has been another great week. A highlight for me was on Friday when Luke and Cara left me with some friends from church for the day while they went to a childbirth class. I had a wonderful day visiting with some wonderful families and getting some great insight on what life would be like here if I were to move to this part of the world. I'm very thankful for that -- as it is one of my primary objectives for my trip.

Here are some pictures with a few stories:

Last Thursday Luke and Cara took me down to the Creek -- the oldest part of Dubai. We first went to the great museum (entry was less than $1) about the history of Dubai, and this is me in a traditional hut. It was hot for me in the middle of January... I was trying to imagine it in hot summer temperatures! Really... I can't imagine.

After the museum, we went to the textile souk, where we did a little shopping in the traditional barter style. We felt like we got good deals about half of the time.

On Sunday, Cara dropped me off at the beach while she tutored. Beautiful, isn't it?

Luke met me there and we visited a "historical village" set up for the shopping festival which is going on right now, and we saw some great traditional things like this Arabian horse, falcons, and ate some traditional food. Cara met up for us and we went to On the Border for dinner :-).

Ryan, who will be traveling with me for at least the next few legs got to Dubai on Tuesday and I met up with him several times to see parts of the city and plan our trip. We were right next to the Burj Kalifa, so here is a daytime shot.

This is the historical part of the city, the Creek, which you can cross on abras. I really liked this part of the city (it felt more authentically international to me).

This is the whale shark in the aquarium at Atlantis, the beautiful hotel at the top of the Palm. We went with several friends. It was really nice!

I'll write more later... I'm running out of time in Dubai, so I'll need to fill you in on the rest soon. I have made a commitment to never wait so long to blog again while on this trip if at all humanly possible (which it should be), so you can hold me to that. Thanks for those of you who have emailed and commented. I really love hearing from you!

Laura

Week Two Update

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are doing well! I hear there is a lot of snow in Maryland... very different from the dry, warm winter weather here in the Arab desert!

This week has been very eventful. Here is what we've been up to:

SATURDAY:
The second day of the weekend, Luke and Cara invited me to join them for their 32 week ultrasound. It was the first one I've been to, and it was so amazing to see their little one!

In the afternoon, Luke went go-cart racing with some locals and expatriate friends (all men), and Cara and I hung out looking at baby things with her friend who is also pregnant and preparing dinner for the group. When the men got back we ate together.

A British friend of theirs was talking about his life and I (innocently) asked, "What's your story?" and the whole group listened to his answer. I was caught off-guard when the question was reversed to me, but enjoyed the opportunity to share about how God taught me a great deal about trusting in Him through my experiences with my mom's battles with cancer, as well as some other pieces of my story. Overall, it was a really fun night.

SUNDAY:
Sunday is a workday here, so Luke went to work and Cara and I had a restful morning. In the afternoon, Cara dropped me off at the Mall of the Emirates while she went to tutor her student. I made the mistake of starting my shopping in the extremely high-end parts of the mall, and felt very conspicuous in some borrowed ripped jeans and a not-so-nice shirt.

Eventually, though, I found a few stores with some items I was looking for: a long skirt, some long-sleeved shirts to wear under things, and a long shirt to wear with pants. I really respect Cara's intentionality in dressing in a culturally-appropriate, modest way, and thought these items would be helpful to me for the rest of my travels throughout North Africa as well as here in Dubai. So far they have served me well.

When Cara came to pick me up I realized I was a little lost -- that mall (which houses an indoor ski slope) is enormous! I was able to find her without too much trouble, and we headed home for a nice evening in.

MONDAY:

Cara's friend, Karima, came to start our Arabic lessons on Monday morning. She is in her early thirties, single, devout, intense, and very funny! Within a few hours I was completely exhausted from trying to understand the fairly advanced lesson (at least to someone who knew almost nothing). Cara did a great job keeping up.

During Cara's tutoring, I asked if I could be taken back to the mall to return one item of clothing which didn't work once I got it with my other clothes. It was the first thing I bought and I had spent more on it than I should have (after finding a store with things I liked better with lower prices), so I hoped to return it. I was tired, and anticipated returning the dress, going to Starbucks, and doing some reading. Sadly, my outing did not go that way.

When I found the store, I went in and let them know I wanted to return the dress. Everything was in order, but the ladies said, "Sorry, we only offer exchanges," and implied that if I had spent more I could have gotten my money back. This was a problem because it is a small boutique store, and I had tried on everything I thought I might like the day before, and this dress was the only thing that worked. I proceeded to look through everything again, trying to find something.

Finally, I found a possibility, but was frustrated because I don't need extra clothes at this point in my trip and really wasn't thrilled with the item. There was a man there who seemed to have some authority, and I proceeded to ask him if I could please return the dress. As I stood there, I saw the posted return policy which specifically stated that I could return a sale item within seven days. It had been less than 24 hours. Finally, he told me he would give me store credit, which could be used at any one of seven stores owned by the same company. The last thing I wanted to do was to continue shopping at that point, but I took the deal and proceeded to try to figure out how to spend the credit, since I wasn't sure when I'd be back in the mall.

I eventually found some clothes that worked OK. It was an interesting lesson in non-western policy... stores are not accountable for what they post... oh well.

TUESDAY:
Karima came back on Tuesday for another lesson, and stayed with us from about 11:30 until after 4, teaching most of the time. I felt much better about the lesson -- I think I learned a lot of Arabic in the time she was here.

I went with Cara to her lesson and ran on The Palm, which was great. I've been doing some plyometric workouts indoors several times a week, but it was great to get outside and get moving. The area where we are living houses mostly men, so it is apparently not possible to run or walk outside without being ostentatious.

We came home to a spaghetti dinner Luke had prepared for us, Karima, and our Kyrgyz friend. It was a fun night, but we were all exhausted!

WEDNESDAY:
Yesterday Cara and I went to a class in the morning, and then had lunch at another new mall before going to a doctor's appointment. In the evening we went to another friends' house for dinner, which was fun. I've really enjoyed meeting lots of people in Luke and Cara's life, which has been great for giving me an idea of what it would be like to live here -- one of the main points of my trip.

Today is Thursday, and we have plans for this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes!

One more pic

In the other direction!

Sent from my iPhone

The Palm

Hi friends!

I am writing from The Palm Jumeirah, where Cara is tutoring and I just finished a run down the frond which houses her Kazak student -- a six year old working hard to learn English so he can be his parents' translator.

If you have heard about Dubai, it is likely that you have heard of this man-made palm tree shaped land providing beach-front property to many opulant people (apparently including Beckham). It also has the ritzy Atlantis hotel at the top.

It is a beautiful afternoon! Here is a picture I just took with my trusty iPhone:

This is facing the mainland from the end of the frond I'm on, and you can see the Burj Al Arab on the left.

I will send more pics to blogger momentarily. I'm having trouble posting multiple pics at once from my iphone for some reason. Also, I'll do a post about some of my other adventures of the last few days soon. They have been eventful, including Arabic lessons, shopping, sharing my story with a mixed group of friends, and some other things :-). I'll post more pictures when I have access to a computer as well.

Laura

Sent from my iPhone

Pictures from the UAE

Hi Everyone!

I have continued to have a wonderful time in the UAE. Luke and Cara are phenomenal hosts and have faithfully been showing me the high points of Dubai and the surrounding areas. Since my last post, we went to the Global Village, which had performers and markets from all over the world, several more malls, and have spent more time with friends. Yesterday we ventured to a neighboring emirate and had a great time.

Here are some pictures from this week:

In the background is the Burj Kalifa -- the tallest building in the world. I haven't been up in it yet, although that is on our agenda. This picture was taken as Cara and I were headed into the city to meet up with some people last week.

One of our mall adventures -- this was in the India section.

Yesterday (Friday) we went to the zoo in Al Ain (in the next emirate). It was the best zoo I've ever been in, and had many, many lions!

Cara (with baby) and Luke at the zoo.

After the zoo, we went to Jabel Hafeet (Hafeet mountain) in Al Ain. It was gorgeous. We drove most of the way up, and then we hiked the rest.

We were able to climb a little higher to the very top of the mountain. There was an incredible 360 view of the city, built on an oasis, and the vast desert. In one direction a full moon rose as the sun set in the other.

Dubai

Hi Everyone!

I am having a wonderful time in Dubai! Luke and Cara came to get me at the airport on Friday night/Saturday morning (after a slight delay it was about 2:30 when I got to them). We came home to their beautiful apartment and I finished the night's sleep I'd started on my final flight. I woke up on Saturday at 10:30am with no desire to sleep longer, and haven't had any jet lag since (thank God!).

Saturday we went to my first Dubai mall and met some of Luke and Cara's friends. When we came home we had GCC grad friend of theirs and another friend over for dinner. It was a great first day here.

Sunday is actually the first day of the work week in Dubai (weekends are Friday and Saturday) so Luke went to work and Cara and I slept in. Well -- I slept in until 9:30 and then was wide awake, so had a nice time reading and writing in my journal, kind of getting started with Arabic on the computer (at least created a username), and eating my breakfast. Cara's pretty tired from her pregnancy so I haven't needed to sleep as much as she has, which has provided time for reading up on Dubai, quiet times, etc.

We spent the bulk of the midday talking and catching up, and then walked to a local shopping center. Luke picked us up, and we all went to the Dubai Mall, which is a gorgeous place with an aquarium, fountain show (see above), and the Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai) right next door (picture below). We visited a friend of theirs at the store where she works and then met up with some of their other friends friends there for dinner. Good Iranian food!

Today started similarly. I did a little housework and reading this morning. In the afternoon, Cara and I drove to pick up a girl she used to tutor who has become a friend and drove down to the beach area. There we were joined by a friend of Cara's from church and had smoothies under umbrellas at a very cute shop.

After that outing Cara and I went to meet up with Luke at the mall near his office (noticing a pattern here?). This mall was cool because the different parts of the mall were built in the style of different regions -- Persian, Indian, Chinese, etc. We had shawarma for dinner in the food court, which I loved!

Overall, I have been much more impressed with this city than I expected. I may go into this more as I learn more, but I have started reading a book called City of Gold, which goes into the history of Dubai. I am really impressed by the "can-do" attitude of the ruling family here, and am amazed at the development of this place in just a few decades. Luke and Cara's building is brand new, and since getting here 36 hours ago or something workers have almost completely landscaped the front of the building. Overall, I am fascinated by this place and throughly look forward to learning more!

I hope you are all well. Thanks to those of you who have written -- if I haven't responded just give me a day or so. I really love hearing from you. Also, feel free to comment on this blog! I'd just appreciate it if you don't use my friends or my last name in your comments, and use common sense about what should be posted on the internet. Shoot me an email if that is confusing.

Laura

I'm Here!

Just wanted to let you all know that I made it safely -- with all of my luggage and everything inside -- and am at my friends' apartment. Everything went well. Thanks (again) for your prayers.