The last week was really busy for me and I actually got to do a lot of things that I didn’t think I would be able to do in Dubai. Last weekend I met up with some of Azeem’s friends again and went to a place called Dubai Marine Club. This is basically a hotel on the beach, with a huge boardwalk like area with 10 restaurants, bars, and clubs. We just barhopped a little bit and hung out a Cuban bar/ restaurant. One thing that sucks about Dubai is that smoking is still allowed everywhere, so you end up always smelling of smoke. However, you can buy Cuban cigars at bars, which is awesome.
My dad came into town for a night on business, and since he was coming through the Duty Free at the airport, I told him to buy me a bottle of vodka, so I could smuggle it past my grandparents. Since my grandparents came to the airport with me to pick him up, we had to sneak it into his bag before they saw it. But now, I have a bottle of vodka stashed in my room, so when I really need a drink, I can get one. I never would have though that I’d have to ask my dad to smuggle booze for me!
On Tuesday, I joined a beach volleyball league and played beach volleyball. It was awesome, a great way to meet people and have fun on the beach. The league is played at a beach bar called Barasti, which is a really cool, chill beach bar. Tuesday happened to be Australia National day (there is no Independence day, bc Australia is still a commonwealth of the UK, but this day celebrates the first colonization of Australia), and they had a huge party. Lots of cowboy hats were passed around and there were a ton of drunk Australians. I’m sure I will be going back to this bar a lot, totally my scene. I fit in quite well wearing shorts, crocs and a Hawaiian shirt, the first chance I‘ve had so far to wear one!
On Wednesday, I went to Artsnight, at the Dubai International Finance Center (DIFC). DIFC is an awesome set of buildings with tons of restaurants, bars, clubs, and galleries. Besides having tons of offices, it reminds me of an outdoor mall in LA. The architecture is really cool. I saw a fashion show and all the galleries were opened up for people to check out the art. They also were passing out some food and free drinks. When I moved to Dubai, one of my cousins said there wasn’t much art and culture here, but apparently, there’s much more than there appears to be. It was fun, but all the people there seemed to be very posh and into the scene.
On Friday, I went on all day long hike. I left Dubai at 6:30am with a couple friends, and we drove to a town called Dibba, which is in Oman, about 2 hours away. We met up with an adventure company and hiked up a mountain called Jebel Qihwi. Jebel means mountain in Arabic. This peak is in a range called the Mosandam range (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musandam_Peninsula). It was a pretty intense hike, about 7 hours in all, and to get to the peak, we had to shimmey up a crack in the rock and literally climb our way through a hole to the top. From the top, you can see the Iranian coastline, which was pretty awesome. The mountains look a lot like the grand canyon. Wadi (river) canyons wind they way throughout he mountains all around. Wadi means river, but these are all dried up rivers, that flash flood whenever rain comes. The most difficult part was actually hiking back down from the top, because it is all loose stones, so footing is tough and you slip a lot. There was a cool small village on the way down that we walked through, with neat terraced fields. It’s incredible to think how people still survive out there with very little water and so high up in the mountains.
Today, I met up with a friend and we went to J.B.R., Jumeira Beach Residence, which is a development built right on the beach, with a ton of beachfront restaurants and stores. There were a ton of people out and about, and it felt like a real city with so many people walking around. In most parts of Dubai, there really aren’t that many people outside, so it was a nice feeling. Even though it’s in Dubai, it did kind of feel like a beach on an island, in a beach resort, kind of like being on vacation.
All in all, a great week, and I got to many things that I thought I wouldn’t be able to do in Dubai. People keep saying I’m so lucky to be doing all these things in such a short time after coming to Dubai, some things that my friends hear haven’t done in all the time they’ve been here. So I hope these kinds of things keep happening to me!
NICE!
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