A Ginger Teacher in Abu Dhabi: Unbelievable

12/13 Part 2
Well, being as there is no affordable/good place out in MZ to get breakfast, Rebecca and I ventured into the city this morning to get breakfast at my favorite restaurant, Jones the Grocer. I can't get enough of this place, I just wish it was located in MZ. After breakfast, we trolled around the Mushrif Mall and then back "home" aka Al Whada Mall until it was time for us to head to the hotel to meet the safari people. While we were sitting having a bun and juice, I saw my HoF walk by. It was strange to see people I actually know here, and kind of cool at the same time.
So, at the hotel, we hopped into a local man's SUV to head out to the desert. I had no clue what I was in for, but let me tell you something, I fell in love with this country even more after the most amazing night of my life. Before we made a stop at a camel farm, we stopped on the side of the road to let some air out of the tires. When we arrived at the camel farm, we got out of the cars (mind you there are about 20 cars total) took pictures, pet the camels, I kissed one (I wanted to, but not a quickly as she moved, she turned her nose right into my lips), we looked around and then the guys called us back into the SUVs. Little did we know we were stating to Dune Bash! I cannot even begin to describe how freakin cool this was! Imagine going over a cliff of sand SIDEWAYS!!! Our driver was totally awesome, he did not follow the path the other SUVs were making, he made his own, while making us scream! I was thrilled with his driving skills, at one point he was talking on his phone, bashing down the side of the dune, and steering with one hand! He probably could have done it blindfolded if he wanted, he told us after joking it was his first day, that he had been doing this for 8 years. We stopped halfway to our campsite to cool the cars off, take more pictures and take in the breathtaking scenery before being called back into the SUVs to start round 2 of dune bashing. Our driver was amazing, did I say that already?!?! Even his music which was a mix of current songs mixed with Arabic verses was awesome and made the bashing that much better. We arrived at the campsite and had the chance to ride a camel, which was slightly scary as they are such tall creatures! Having them stand up, you are thrust forward and when they sit back down, you are thrust forward again.
Inside the gated area were tables galore, very traditional, they are close to the ground and you sit on pillows to eat. The buffet consisted of traditional foods from hummus, veggies, meat and rice. The flavors were amazing and so was the food! We were treated to a belly dancer for entertainment and had the option to dress in traditional clothing, get Henna, smoke Shisha (flavored tobacco) and sit and gaze at the stars! The whole evening was amazing and I am so glad I was finally able to do it. I can't wait to do it again, actually I just want to dune bash!
12/14
Camel Festival! Ok, so let me set the scene for you if I can. When we first moved out to MZ, we ventured out to the Tilal Liwa Hotel. This hotel literally sits in the middle of the desert, surrounded by nothing. About a month after being here, we started seeing tents randomly pop up along the road towards the hotel and by the camel race track. Today, it literally looks like a village! There are over 25,000 camels along with their owners out here for this festival. There are several things going on during the day from falconry, camel milking, date packing, camel beauty contests (yup, that happens), dog, camel, and horse races and a classic car show. We decided to check it out today since it was the first day. We drove out to the grandstands located halfway to the hotel. As we pulled up, the police officers that were out there came to our window and told us to go in and check it out (we kind of stick out being as we were literally the only women and we are white). We stood in the walk way because we didn't know where we could sit, then we were motioned to come with some people that worked for the festival. We went into what we now know was the VIP section. We had a translator (very nice Emirate man named Abdullah) who took us around to the camels and explained EVERYTHING there is to know about how they are judged, etc. We spent lots of time with the black camels as they are the most beautiful. We were treated to tea and dates before we went to see the camels. While looking at the camels, we were interviewed by a local TV personality about it being our first time at the festival and what we thought of it. It was like we were celebrities, we had a photographer following us taking pictures of what we were doing. After standing in the sun for about 2 hours (and getting burned because I didn't put sunscreen on, sorry mom...), we headed back to our place. The festival is something to see, if anyone is sticking around for the holiday break, make the trip out to MZ for it, you won't regret it! I hope you enjoy the pictures, they don't do it justice, but at least you get the picture....