past meets present
i have spent several days now attempting to vary my actives ~ to see and do it all …. walking the streets of downtown, wandering neighborhoods & parks, checking out malls and shopping centers, visiting educational centers and the women’s union, perusing souks, seeing tourist spots, paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork at government offices. through this, what strikes me most about this city is how cleverly the past and the present are intertwined.
as i walk through the bustle of the downtown streets, lined with high-rise buildings, six lanes of fast cars, bright lights everywhere, i see a sign for the camel beauty contest ~ an age-old tradition in this region. next to me walk men wearing their kandoras (the long cotton ‘robe’-like outfits) that the men of the desert have worn for centuries. across the street a kid in jeans and a t-shirt skates through the speeding cars as he sings along to his iPod.
on the corniche, there are jet skis pulling a kayak full of women in abayas across the bay … only for the women to catch the doah out to the island in time for sunset. as i walk through the park full of people dressed in traditional clothing from at least six cultures, i hear the call to prayer from the mosque across the street. just as the businessman pulls up in his lamborquini talking on his iPhone.
a doah sits amongst the skyscrapers
i check the internet on my phone to find out what time the carpet souk closes, only to get there to find a man working away making carpets on a century-old loom.
the carpet souk
it is truly amazing … it all seems so natural, so effortless, so seamless …
globalmidtown 
Keitsa this is so wonderful, I wish I was there right now. I’ve become obbsessed with the food and have been making babeghanoush and tabbulie all week. I signed up for my class, it starts next week, which means I will be certified by mid january. Can’t wait. Wherever I end up working there will be a stop over in Abu Dhabi on the way.
ddddddd