Shopping!!!!

Well I am finally pretty caught up. It is Friday afternoon as I write this, so not too bad.

Thursday: There was nothing planned for us, so we had a restful morning. It seems to me the longer I am here, the less adjusted to the time change I am. I stay up late and sleep half the day. Oh well... it is vacation. We got up for breakfast at 10 and then went back to bed until 1:30. We decided we would do some shopping today and also go to the bank to get my debit card. Due to Ramadan, the bank closed at 1:30 and didn't open again until 8:30pm, so we had the day.

The first place I wanted to go was a furniture store I had heard of. I called the number, and the guy was so friendly. I asked when they closed and he said, “for teachers I always open!” He then told us he would send a driver to pick us up at 2:30. We got ready and headed down. They picked us up in a nice SUV. The owner was driving and he spoke English very well. He told us about different buildings as we passed them and he even knew where Raleigh was. He had visited there because his brother-in-law went to Duke.

When we got to the store they offered us cold water. They were Indian, so they did not follow Ramadan. We picked our a mattress and a sofa, which because I'm a teacher they gave us 50% the mattress and 35% off the sofa. It is amazing how the teachers are treated so differently out here. The sofa's are nice as well because you design how big you want it and pick the fabric. We ordered our stuff, but didn't have to pay yet because we haven't gotten our furniture allowance yet. They will even deliver to our place. All together for a comfy mattress, a nice cover, and a three seater sofa we paid about 3200 AED... about $850. Can't beat that!

They drove us back to the hotel, where we jumped in a taxi to the Marina Mall. Our next stop was Ikea. Ikea runs a free bus from the mall every hour. It took us awhile to find the bus, but we finally did. Ikea is on a place called Yas Island, about 30 min. from the city. We got another nice tour of the city, especially the beaches. I definitely want to check them out. Right next to Ikea is Ferrari World... Shawn was excited to see that!

We walked all around Ikea but didn't buy anything. The nice thing about here is that there is no tax, so getting ideas of how much stuff will cost is easy. At 7PM we heard the music over the intercom that meant fasting was over. It was amazing how the store cleared out. We were starving, so we also headed to the crowded restaurant. Our whole meal (two chicken dinners with rice and veggies, a salad, a cinnamon bun, two drinks, and a chocolate bar) was only 66 AED ($17). After dinner we caught the bus back to the mall. I feel asleep on the ride :)

At the Marina Mall we caught a taxi to the Mushrif Mall, where the bank and Lulu's is located. This was a long taxi ride. The taxi's here are interesting. They are all digital. They have these screens that track the distance and fare, tell you about the driver, and even tell the driver when he is speeding. It also greets you in Arabic and English. Driving through the city is fun also because you see so many expensive cars. Shawn is loving it!

The Mushrif Mall is even bigger than the Marina Mall. It is 5 stories and also huge and beautiful! We went to the bank first (The National Bank of Abu Dhabi) and got my debit card. Sadly, there is no money on it yet. We then tracked down Lulu's. Lulu's is what they call a hypermarket. It is like a department store and a grocery store and a appliance store all in one. It was huge and so crowded we could barely walk around. They were having all sorts of sales. The end of Ramadan is called Eid, a huge holiday happening this weekend. Also, it was their 1 year anniversary. It was like Black Friday, with sale stuff in the aisle and people everywhere. We looked around quickly, but decided we would go back and visit in the daytime. We also checked out this store called Di. It is basically like a Japanese dollar store.

The food court was cracking me up. There was a McDonald's. Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut, KFC and SFC (southern fried chicken), London Fish and Chips, China King, and all kinds of other stuff. We actually treated ourselves to a Frosty from Wendy's and people watched. All the people here seem so happy. Everyone at the mall seems to always be having a good time and smiling. Also, the Emirati men seem very good family men. They are always with their children, holding their hands or carrying the babies. We do think we might have seen a few polygamist couples, which is different. Also, the men are very friendly with each other, It is not uncommon for men to hold hands. It is nothing weird to them, just part of their culture.

It was now around 12:30am so we were ready to head back. We caught another taxi back to the hotel. I called my mom and then got into bed and watched TV. As usual, it was hard for me to fall asleep. I have to start getting up early to adjust, but I figure not yet. It's still vacation. I also got an email from ADEC (Abu Dhabi Education Council) that they will be closed next week for the holiday. The only date I know of next is school orientation on August 27^th, so I guess it's vacation until then. Tomorrow (Friday) is Holy Day and then the holiday, so we will probably hang out at the hotel and hit the pool for the next couple of days. I'll update you soon!