Yin and Yang

So as I spend more time here, I am coming to realize that there are great dichotomies that are able to co-exist and flurish from each other. Let me explain what I mean. For example, I am sure that you all have heard about the 7 star hotel or the islands that they are making in the sea. These are great accomplisments that are extremely costly to create. On the other hand, you do not hear about the workers that are being paid the equivalent of pennies per day to construct these and other tourist attractions.

Another (not so sad) example of this yin and yang are my adventures over the past two days. Last night I went to a little, modest, Sweedish furniture store called IKEA. Obviously, there is some Western influence in play here.

It turns out that IKEA is HUGE here. That place was so busy that it was kind of hard to get around. I imagine that I will probably have an IKEA showroom for a living room once I get a place to live because it is a very cost effective option. After the visit to IKEA, we went and ate some dinner and then went to a mall. When I talk about their malls, I am not talking about American Eagle. They have all of the brands that are on Michigan Avenue plus some that I have not ever heard of (that is how I know that they must be designer!)

The other side of the equation is evident in my adventure that I took this afternoon. I went to a place called Deira. This area is the old city center that is right around the mouth of the creek. The area is filled with different souks (markets). This is where the gold souk, spice souk, and textile souk are located (see more pictures below). The really cool part about the souk (besides the gold...Mom, bring some extra cash when you come!) was the way that you get there. So there are these little water taxis called dhows that go up and down the creek from one side to the other. So you get on the boat with about 20 other people and the driver pulls away from the dock. He then comes around and collects the 1 dirham fare that it costs for the ride. That is the equivalent of 30 cents! Darin, it reminded me a lot of the water taxis in Baltimore, only much cheaper. When the boat pulls out, don't be surprised if you run into another boat or the dock as that seems to be par for the course. Those boats must be made of really good wood, because they are constantly running them into things. Luckily, they do not go very fast so everything is safe. Good times!

Once across the creek, you are met with stands that sell fresh juice and snacks. I got a fresh mango juice that was really good. Then I started to wander the streets of the souks. These are open air markets that sell everything that a tourist could want. The spice souk was probably my favorite. The spices just sit in brown sacks for people to smell and purchase. The smell was amazing. The smell of some of the shop owners was not so amazing however. After wandering around the souks and being asked if I wanted to buy a good replica of a Rolex about 1,000 times (B.J., remember the "Rolex" that I brought you back from Kuwait? Same scenario.), it was time to return to the other side. I boarded another dhow and made it across safely. Then I took a walk along the creek. It was a beautiful day and lots of fun.

I hope that you are all doing well. Thinking about you!