Enjoying New Friends

                             

       

    Sunday morning I went with a couple of new friends from church to the Blue Souq in Sharjah.  

    K was on the hunt for a wall hanging to cover the electrical box that happens to be on a wall in her 

    living room.  This young man was quite friendly and helpful.  This style of art is from India and is 

    quite detailed and pretty.

    The store operators stand out in the walkway in front of their shop and try to lure you in with 

    offers of great prices.  If you hesitate or stop to look at something for even a second, they will jump

    at the chance to serve you.

    The Souq closes up from about 1:30 to to 4, so when we finished shopping about 1:15, we 

    headed for the Sharjah City Center Mall for lunch.  Was a fun time.

                        

When I got back to the house Andy left to go get his hair cut at the local barber.  Then I headed out to grocery shop for the week.  The store was jammed....people are preparing for Ramadan, which starts next Sunday.  From what I hear, people fast and sleep much of the day - and then party and eat late into the night.  Will be interesting to observe and see how it all works.  You cannot eat in public during The fasting hours from sun up to sun down.  The Malls will be open, but most of the restaurants will be closed.  Some fast food places will be open, but only for take out.

They have one whole section with a HUGE wall of specials for the week.  Right next to the wall is a wide section of larger products also on sale...with product stacked about five feet tall in squares down the whole aisle.  There were traffic cart jams all along the way...everyone wants to see the specials...Hersey chocolate syrup in two packs, salt in six packs, soups in multipacks....looks a bit like Sam's Club.

The lady in front of me in the check out lane had a shopping cart FULL of date nut candies and chocolates.  It was so busy I had to bag my own groceries this time.  I didn't get back to the house until after dark.  They do not have daylight savings time, so it gets dark early...by about 7:15 .on the summer solstice.

I have to go to a certain local grocery store to buy any type of pork....most do not carry it because it is a dietary restriction in the Quran.  In the local grocery store where I can buy pork, it is in a separate room with it's own butcher. 

I worked around the compound on Monday.  We have an outdoor kitchen that needs some organizing and cleaning.  In the winter months they often eat outside since the weather is so nice.  Guess we need to come back some time during the cooler weather!  Wouldn't even consider eating outside on a day like today with 71% humidity and 104 degree heat!

       

Ever had a Saturn Peach...also known as a flat or donut peach?  They are sweet with a hint of almond. 

Quite nice!

Today we had to venture out and find the Volvo dealership to get some car parts.  A group of dealerships were all clustered together...trucks in one big section and cars in another - about a mile apart.  Lanes of traffic are 5 to 6 wide so you really need to know where you are going.  Late afternoon today Andy had to run an errand and an angry driver tried to run him off the road - he was going too slow at 120 km per hour.  Yikes!

Some friends stopped by this afternoon to swim.  There's a large above ground pool on the 

compound.  They said it was refreshing, but even in the shade I thot it was too hot...enjoyed the air conditioned comfort of the villa and some great conversation.

We ordered pizza delivered for supper from ITZZA PIZZA.  Was very tasty and came nice and hot from a local shop.  Only six of us around the table tonight.

We received a Discover Dubai booklet for June 2014 today.  I learned that the estimated population of Dubai is 2.1 million.  "Around 80% of those are expatriates who are attracted by the tax-free working conditions and the relaxed, relatively crime-free lifestyle."  Try it - you might like it!