lets go to the mall

I’m not a big shopper, but I love going to the mall in the Middle East. For starters it’s a great place to people watch. We’re always on the lookout for different styles of dress, especially trends in head coverings, abayas, and dishdashas. For example, we suspected a particular family was from Egypt because the mom was wearing a tight fitting long sleeved shirt, with a fitted short sleeved shirt on top paired with jeans, cute flips, and a brightly patterned hijab. We saw women dressed like that every day in Cairo. When we heard them speaking to each other and detected the hard ‘g’ sound, “ga” instead of ‘juh,’ we gave each other a congratulatory smile. Yes, we’re people watching nerds.

It’s interesting how the various Muslim countries have different standards for dress. In Abu Dhabi I saw a lot more women with veils (both with eyes showing and not showing) and we even saw a girl Caleb’s age in an abaya and hijab (usually girls don’t have to cover until they are teenagers). The Abu Dhabi women were  rhinestoned and studded out like the Omani women, but Egyptian women only wear plain abayas. My favorite sighting was a woman who was wearing large stylish sunglasses under a full veil. You could tell she was dressed to the nines underneath her abaya from the way she was strutting, the large poof of hair under her veil, and her expensive heels. She was plenty covered, but not exactly modest.

One evening we went to the mall for dinner and people watching. For some unknown reason, this mall had several animatronic dinosaurs on display. Camille wasn’t so sure about them, but the boys thought they were hilarious, especially when they figured out that they all had working “back doors” that would open and close. I assume the purpose of that was to release an egg, but there were no eggs to be seen.

All the kids in the mall were putting their hands on the dinosaurs. The daring ones were trying to touch their teeth before the jaws snapped closed.

After dinosaurs, we went to Fuddrucker’s for dinner. It’s amazing how many American restaurants have made it over here. Normally we would want to eat someplace “authentic” or “local,” but the American branded restaurants are always crowded (meaning good food turnover) and it was hard to bypass the amazing smell. We made up for it the next evening when we ate at a Lebanese restaurant that was equally as good. And now I can say I’ve eaten pigeon.

  

Dinner was a bargain. We figured out it cost about $8 each, including drinks (see the local bottled water?) for everyone. Abu Dhabi is an expensive city, but we were able to find affordable places to eat. Especially because we weren’t limited to restaurants at the resort, like when we stayed at Atlantis.

After eating, we wandered around, popped in some stores, bought a rugby ball and just enjoyed the scenery. One of the shops was advertising a “Grab and Go Sale” and we wondered what would happen if someone took the sign literally.

I love being able to wear her when we walk around. It’s easy on my back and I don’t have to maneuver a stroller in the crowds. No one wears their babies here. They all have strollers or carry them in their arms. Everyone looks at us when I’m wearing her, but she attracts attention whether I’m wearing her or not. I love walking behind Josh and people watching when he’s wearing her. Groups of women will nudge each other and point and smile. Especially when she’s hanging out on his back.

There was a huge line to play tennis on these indoor “grass” courts.

She finally fell asleep when we stopped at Starbucks to get a coffee and pick up a United Arab Emirates mug. Adding to our collection, one country at a time.

It was after 10 and we were all tired so it was time to head home. On our way out we stopped at the grocery store to pick up yogurt for breakfast and I saw this sign. Hmm. I’ll let you make your own jokes.