Vacation Pt 1

I've spent the last 3 weeks out of the country, ended up in a few different places for different reasons. I guess I pretty much took several separate trips, so I think I'll do a couple of vacation installments.

I started in Sharjah at a women's retreat. It was wonderful and relaxing. There was a group of volunteers from the states and they were so encouraging and loving. They gave us haircuts and pedicures and counseling. We were definitely pampered and it was wonderful. The conference was in a beautiful hotel that was really Western and felt just like any other hotel. There were actual bathrooms with hot, clean water and we could even adjust the temperature in our room. I know that all of these sound like wierd things to be grateful for, but I think that through the vacation blogs you might just get a little more insight into my life in the Sandbox, or at least the lack of conveniences. Anyways, even though our hotel was pretty fancy we spotted this sign in the corner...just a little reminder that we were still in the Arab world.


One afternoon we went to a beach hoping to swim a little and just relax. When we got there we found it deserted and, turns out, there was no swimming allowed at this beach so we just sat in peace and seclusion.

We also enjoyed lots of shopping and regular food. I had heard (and seen on mall websites) that they had Gap and Old Navys around this city, but when I got there I was deeply disappointed becuase apparently they've decided to pull out of the Arab world. Most people when they go on vacation try to eat local food and experience culture. Well, I live in a constant culture experience and so on vacation all we wanted to eat was 'American' food...and Chinese. So I think we had Chili's 4 or 5 times, McDonalds, Fridays, Johnny Carinos, Burger King, Baskin Robbins, we even found a Tex-Mex restaurant. But my favorite things were Marble Slab and Dr Pepper. I had at least one DP every day and it was good.

But I think that my favorite part of this part of the trip was just the time away. Even though I was in the middle of one of the largest and most modern cities in the world I never had any trouble finding a quiet place to read or journal or to just sit and do nothing. I think the big difference was that I wasn't a novelty anymore. There were lots of white people, lots of Americans and the locals were politely mannered and used to seeing foreigners and so no one stared or yelled or gestured. I could just fit in with the crowd...be alone in a crowd...I haven't done that in a long time.