vortex dot net dot en zed

well, specifically al ain, which is where we are at the moment, staying with my mother.  we arrived 2am thursday night, had a much needed chill and a chat on her balcony and then crashed.

friday was a bit of an orientation day and we did a few drives around the city and some errands.  it was holy day so just about everything was empty even if it was open until later in the day. we had a siesta in the afternoon and headed out to al ain mall for some dinner in the evening - where we got stuck in traffic and could hardly find a park. the place was packed, there was full on entertainment, kids on the ice-skating rink and lots to take in.

yesterday (saturday) we headed up to dubai for the day, which was great. the drive is easy and takes just over an hour from here.  we managed to see a few camels on the way so i was quite pleased!  once in dubai we checked out the new dubai mall (amazing) which has a huge aquarium and an ice-skating rink. it was so spacious and lovely we didn’t want to leave!  however, after that we headed off to a restaurant in jumeirah - sort of beachfront-ish suburb - to a new zealand-run cafe called the lime tree cafe, where we met up with my friend sophie for lunch.  after lunch it was down to have a look at the beach and the famous Burj-Al-Arab. by this time it was getting late in the afternoon so we decided to head back and do a bit of planning for what we’d do later in the week.

so far it has been absolutely amazing to be here.  it’s pretty hot but you’re mostly in air-conditioning so it’s only as you go between places you really notice.  al ain isn’t humid so that is good - really noticed the difference in dubai. when we’d leave places, my glasses would fog up!  hot breezes are something that takes a bit of getting used to as well.

i love hearing the calls to the mosques and that there is a mosque every 700 metres. the emirati look beautiful and so elegant in their dishdasha and abayat.  the houses are amazing to look at and the architecture is so different here - not a wooden building to be seen! there is a rooster which lives somewhere nearby here and crows pretty much 24/7 so not sure what his deal is.

the driving is pretty scary. we’re going to get a rental car today as my mum is back at work during the week - not really looking forward to it!

today we’re going to do some exploring (and likely more mall-ing - have never been in a place where it is so normal to hang out in a mall but they’re so lovely i’m just going with it) so should be good.