- Seeing all that we saw was quiet amazing.... from the engineering marvel of the pyramids which are 4000 years old to the engineering marvel of the man-made islands and the tallest bldg in the world that are brand-spanking new... so different in so many ways.... the question is, will people flock to Dubai to see the Burj.. or the man made islands 4000 years from now??? hmmm??? Will they even be standing 4000 years from now???
- Egypt is a lot like India... the cars are old and a little beat up.... but then you go to Dubai.... the cars here are the 'cream of the crop'..... Leaving the mall one evening we saw a Mazaratti, a Ferrari, several Porches, a Bentely, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Maybach... there were Beamers and Mercs on the road everywhere.... as well as but they were so much the norm that they did not stick out.... Again, a lot of money floating around here in Dubai
- Talking about cars.... in all places we saw a very familiar name badge... one that was close to my heart... Yes in all countries there was a presence of the Chevrolet cars.... I can tell you that it made me feel good that they had penetrated into these markets. No, they are not a majority player, but they are in the game!! Even in Dubai amongst all the 'fancy' cars, there were GM cars.... it was heart-warming....
- Another trip to Turkey is needed... there is so much that we did not see... Another day....
- Traveling with the Patel's of ATL was fantastic... the kids had company, the adults had company... it was great. From the first hotel in Egypt, we had adjoining rooms and the kids were together from the minute they woke up to the time they slept. In Cairo, Sharm and Dubai we had a separate room where all the kids bunked up. They got so attached for the 2 weeks. For the first whole week that we got back, Mira cried every night because she missed the girls....
- Oh... something else that we learned on this trip.... If you are not happy with your hotel room.... complain... believe it or not... it works.... In Egypt and Sharm we were kinda unhappy with our initial rooms so we complained and we got upgraded.... now keep in mind, we were not just complaining about 'nothing', we had valid points and they 'took care of it'.....
- On this trip we had a few things that were coincidental... or somewhat bizarre.... our friends from ATL had some other friends of theirs what were in Egypt at the same time as we were. We had no idea of their plans or dates.... ironically - we ran into them at the Egypt Museum.... Also, we had friends that were in Dubai at the same time as us... same thing... we did not know their plans, nor had we made arrangements to meet up... we ran into them at the Mall of Emriates when we were getting ready to go to the snow park.... Ironic, eh....
- On this trip.... the common denominator for all the places we visited was that they were primarily Muslim countries. That being said, we had heard more namaaz prayers in the 2 weeks than we had heard in our whole life. From the wake up prayer that we could hear from the hotel in the morning, to the afternoon ones that we caught in the middle of the day. In many cases we would here them in unison if we were in areas where there were several mosques (Istanbul).
- Another observation..... the way the turban is worn varied from place to place. In Dubai we saw primarily the 'Sheik' look. The long white robe with the long white head piece that was held in position with a black halo type ring - clearly a more polished look. In Egypt, it was more the 'rough' look. The turban was tied with twists and turns to sit firmly on the head. In all places we saw many (many) women in the burka (the full black cover). Despite the full covering, the women (particularly in Dubai) would still express their fashion by carrying fancy designer bags and wearing nice shoes. I suppose that is the only way that they could express their sense of 'fashion'. Vim claims that he saw some women just before they put on their burkas on New Years Eve that were wearing some flashy-skimpy clothes.... Yes, only Vim would notice things like that!!
NEXT.... The 10 year old B-Day Party....
The festivities began on Friday. The day off school, and the solar eclipse... we saw the solar eclipse and it was really cool. As part of the superstitions, the maid and the driver had to go home and shower and pray after the eclipse. They were not supposed to eat anything that was made before the eclipse. Only fresh post-eclipse food was allowed. We kinda broke the rule in our house b/c some of the preparations for the party food began earlier in the day... pre-eclipse.
In the evening we had some of our neighbors and their kids over for dinner. It was a nice evening... very relaxing....
Saturday the festivities continued... Mira took some of her friends from school to this pottery place where they painted ceramics. It was fun. Of course Milan was taking full advantage of his role of the b-day girl's younger (and very annoying) brother very seriously. He made sure that he annoyed is sister to the fullest extent, and her friends.... in the end... he was annoying his parents too.... Can anyone relate??? Maybe there are some 'annoying-brothers' out there.... Or some sisters that have been on the receiving end.....
The day ended up with many of the girls coming back to the house to play and then Mira had a sleep over at one of the girls house. All in all a good party.
Oh, so for Mira's present, she got her i-pod nano. She was soooooo happy. Unfortunately, Milan is still waiting for his Zune to work again. Yes, it is still dead. Milan is really upset. He thinks that we sabotaged the Zune purposely so that he would not have one and Mira would... Seriously... this is what he said. We told him that the Zune needs to go to the Zune doctor.... he is buying it for now.... unfortunately, there is no such thing as the Zune doctor... I am the Zune Doctor!!....and I have searched the web for all kinds of fixes... hard reset, soft reset... nothing is working!!! I think that now we just have to hope the Apple Fairy visits the house with a nano and a touch. Yes, thinking ahead....I am sure that if Milan gets one... Vim will want one too....
That sums it all up......
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