Posts Tagged ‘coins’

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How Not to House Hunt

April 30, 2011

Posted by Kanga.

rock formations rising up out of sand dunes

Trips to Fujairah for house hunting have begun. There are currently two routes. The Sharjah-Kalba road is the route of choice. There is less traffic and an interesting variation of scenery.

falling rocks warning sign, mountains in the background

Our first trip involved absolutely no actual viewing of rental housing, because we had not prepared and contacted real estate agencies ahead of time. So, we decided to make the most of our day. We went to the Fujairah Museum which has some nice displays of artifacts from ancient settlements.

room with display cases and an ornate ceiling

I don’t know why I continue to be surprised by proof of the impact of America on the region, but locally minted coins with American presidents or Apollo astronauts on them always catch me off guard.

Fujairah coin with Richard M. Nixon on it

There were several postage stamps depicting Charles de Gaulle. This one also has John F. Kennedy.

Fujairah postage stamp picturing DeGaule and J.F. Kennedy

tiny bottle of eye liner and a small tool for applying it

As usual, there were signs that some things never change.

boxes of vegetables

On our second trip we visited the central souk (market). There is an amazing display of lovely vegetables. That box of ripe tomatoes is priced 10 AED ($2.70). Yes, the BOX.

We did eventually look at three apartments in a new building on the east end of town. The living rooms and bedrooms were large. The kitchens varied. The maid’s rooms, however, were astonishing. The first one was so small and poorly arranged that it would not be possible to get a small bed into it.  How a human is supposed to live in there, I don’t know.

The apartment/villa hunt will continue.