We finally went to Ibn Battuta Mall, which is a lengthy drive from our side of town, so that is why it has taken us so long. It is very beautiful and a revisit is certainly on our list of things to do. Perhaps on a day and time when there will be few other people there, so that we can take our time and look at everything and read the informational plaques. Ibn Battuta was a scholar and world traveler. This mall is designed to illustrate some of his travels and serves as an educational museum exhibit as well as a shopping opportunity.
So, here’s our first picture of Daddybird posing with a camel and it is an almost life sized stuffed toy camel. We didn’t find a price tag on it. If you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Notice there are two baby camels also. And that lens louse Bert is poking his head in just to get into the picture! This store was pretty amazing. They had life sized giraffes, a buffalo, a moose, etc. The koala bear, however, was gigantic and not at all life sized. Unfortunately, my pictures did not turn out, so will have to try again on our next visit.
The parts of the mall represent some of the countries that Ibn Battuta traveled to – China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia and Andalusia. In each section is a large rotunda/courtyard area with some pretty amazing decorations. I think this is Andalusia with a beautiful fountain with water spitting lions.
In the China courtyard is a lifesize boat. Quite amazing.
Judging from the lifesize elephant, I’m going to guess this was India. Like I said, we need to go back when we have time to stop and read the information and learn a little something.
I’m sad that my pictures of the Eqypt section didn’t come out. I did take some video which I will upload in a few days that will give you a larger view of things.
This wasn’t Mecca, but it seems like it to me. A Borders bookstore…ahhhh.
Author Archive
Ibn Battuta Mall
April 10, 2009Sometimes I hate the news
April 7, 2009When the news tells me something that already happened that I would have liked to have know before hand, it can be annoying. Like *** Dr. Who episode filmed in Dubai! *** How can I stalk David Tennant if I don’t even know he’s in town until after he’s gone? Sigh. On top of that, I won’t even get to see the episode until it’s on DVD. So, watch it for me and think of me. http://www.7days.ae/storydetails.php?id=76243&title=Planet%20of%20the%20dead Notice that they had to dig up the plant life to make it look desert enough to suit them. Ha!
Another gripe I have *** I’m not very happy with the Blogger website lately. May be shopping around for another place to put my blog. Will keep you posted and make the transition as smooth as possible. Grumble, grumble, grumble, grrrr.
This will always annoy me.
April 3, 2009Many of the waitstaff here have very low levels of proficiency in the English language. They speak Globish (see my Jan 26th post for first mention of Globish). They clearly have also been instructed to address customers as Ma’am and Sir. Two things about this annoy me. They run the words together “ma’amsir” or the even worse “momsir” and use this term for either of us. Also, some use it with every sentence. In their eagerness to please and do the right thing, they may ask you if they can remove each empty dish from the table individually. “Excuse momsir may I take” or something to that effect. Some use it as a space filler much like “um” or “ah.” I’ve considered asking to speak with the manager and explain how annoying and even disrespectful this all sounds to us, but I’m afraid his/her English would be just as problematic.
Luckily, the waiters at our favorite restaurant manage to separate the words and use them judiciously. They usually see Paul coming and greet us very warmly. They have, occasionally, called Paul “boss.” He recently asked one of them what his name was and offered his own name in return, so we hope that “boss” may disappear and be replaced by Mr. Paul. Of course, I can’t hope for anything more than Mr. Paul’s wife or ma’am. I suspect that it would be considered culturally inappropriate for them to address me directly by name.
Maybe this is the logical place and time to talk about names. Muslim names are structured differently than Western names. A person has a single name that refers to them specifically, what we would call a “first name.” This is followed by “son of” or “daughter of” and the father’s name. It may also be followed by another “son of” with the grandfather’s name. In some cases, you eventually get to a “family” name which is usually proceeded by “al” meaning “the.” Some have shortened their name which results in it being more Western, although I don’t know if that is the motivation. Daddybird’s boss, for example, goes by just his first name and family name. When a woman marries, she does not change her name. She is still Mariam daughter of Abdullah son of Achmed. However, when she gives birth to a son, she may become “mother of” followed by the son’s name, Um Ibrahim, for example. There is a popular animated show here called “Freej” that has four older women as main characters and all the characters names are “mother of ____.”
So, there’s today’s lesson in Muslim name structures. Class dismissed.
Flowers
April 3, 2009
I’ve gone back through all my pictures to send you a bouquet of various flowers. The purple one above is from a large succulent plant that grows near Safestway (not misspelled) grocery store where you can get familiar American products (for a price).
This pink one is a bloom on a tree on Muraqqabat Street “in our neighborhood.”
This white one is from a bush on campus. Deceivingly like a gardenia, but not a gardenia.
This one you may remember from the trip to Hatta. I don’t know what type of plant these are, but they are used a lot in landscaping here. Very beautiful.
And, lastly, a bougainvillea from campus.
There you go, the oddest Easter bouquet you will ever get.
Full service restaurant
April 2, 2009
We made a new friend at our favorite restaurant last night. There were actually two stray cats hanging around. This is the “baby” and the mother was mostly white with a little bit of tabby stripes on her head. Paul offered them some food, but they were not interested. Just wanted to be petted.
I never cease to be amazed at how long legged the cats here are. Their tails are long and narrow, too. These pictures don’t really show the lankiness of these cats. This one has beautiful dark amber eyes. Very pretty. I was sorely tempted to take him/her home, but we haven’t come up with a viable summer plan for pets. Can’t really take them with us and can’t leave them alone for two months.
Here’s another stray, but he travels well, so I take him home.
P.S. The comments on the last post just prove that the name of this blog should be “For Gerry, Kristen and Linda.”
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March 31, 2009Yes, the food was yummy. No, you cannot have any! Actually, it was an Italian restaurant and I had a calzone with the MOST AMAZING tomato sauce ever. It tasted as if the tomatoes had actually been allowed to ripen and were freshly turned into sauce that day.
I’m not sure I could explain shisha, so you are better off with consulting Google or Wikipedia. It seems to be a fruit, molasses, tobacco concoction smoked through a water pipe. The smoke actually smells nice due to the small amount of tobacco and the large percentage of fruit.
Women and dress – you will see it all here. Abha is actually an Indian and has opted for western dress. The Indian women I work with wear a form of traditional dress – not the sari (which is considered too revealing by the locals), but the salwar kameez. Personally, I’m heading toward that myself. It is a loose fitting pair of pants (salwar), a long tunic (kameez) and a scarf (dupatta). Muslim women wear a variety of clothing also, depending on which country they come from and how traditional or liberal they are. The head scarf and lack of bare skin are the common factors. The Emirati traditional dress is the black scarf (shayla) and black robe over their clothes (abaya). Some go so far as to wear black gloves and a veil over everything but their eyes, so that there is no skin showing except the small area around the eyes – and some even have a solid sheer black veil with no “eye holes,” if you will. But these conservatives are in the minority of the minority.
Basketball – yes, they do “play” at playing basketball. The hoop was put there on “sports day” which was a special event to encourage the students to participate in a variety of physical activities. It was popular, so has been left out for use. No one is playing serious one-on-one, but any physical exercise is a good thing. And, yes, they do it in their abaya. 🙂
The coffee cups and tea cups are marked as being made in Japan, so I suspect that they are really just tea cups. One can find a variety of coffee here – Americana, Latte, Cappacino (funny thing – the Arabic for Cappacino in the menu where we had shisha was Al Bachino – Ha! no “P” in the Arabic script, no intentional homage to Al Pacino either), etc. Turkish/Arabic coffee is very strong, served in small portions. It is supposed to have grounds in it. We often get tea at the end of a dinner which is served in small glasses (almost shot glass size) and is usually sweetened for us. It is very close to being syrup – the ultimate sweet tea.
Finally, and most importantly, a full English breakfast at the Horsebrass pub is most definitely on the top of our list of things to do this summer in Portland. Along with tater tots and a Ruby at any and all McMenamins. I told Daddybird that we should just put out the word to everyone that we would be at McMenamins every night and they should drop by if they want to see us.
Raining – Oh when will it flood!?!
March 30, 2009Raining hard again. Paul is out there somewhere stuck in traffic and I am here waiting. There’s a rumor of a tornado in Fujairah, but just an unsubstantiated (rapidly spreading) rumor.
Afternoon out with the Tweeters/Twitterers/Whatever
March 29, 2009
Just another ugly place in Dubai.
In case you are interested in the current state of the world’s tallest building, here it is as of Friday.
Here’s a little snippet of conversation. Just a short panorama of our group (minus me, the benefit of being behind the camera!)
Paul smoking shisha. Sexy, huh!?!
Here’s Rami and Jamie just kicking back.
Documentary on Dubai
March 27, 2009Here’s a short documentary on Dubai http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RNoxO-5ms worth watching, aside from the hypocrisy of the four wheel drive club guy who worries about preserving the desert while he drives all over it in his gas guzzling SUV. Listen carefully to Hessa Lootah. She has some very important things to say.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque at night
March 26, 2009This is the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. It is quite beautiful by day, but even more so at night because it is lit and the lighting changes from white to deep purple and back again.
For those who do not already know, Sheikh Zayed is considered the father of the United Arab Emirates. He was the Ruler of Abu Dhabi and the first president of the UAE when it was established in 1971. He died in 2004 and is buried in the courtyard of this mosque. From what I have read so far, he was a very wise man and good ruler. The same can be said of Sheikh Rashid, the ruler of Dubai when the UAE was established. The current rulers are the sons of these men and are proving to be wise, good rulers as well.
Living the Travel Channel 