Dubai
Ooooh, I'm so excited. Its 0200 and I'm in my hotel in Dubai. I'm way too psyched to sleep, plus there is too much to enjoy in this hotel room of mine. I guess I lied about the no more fluffy bathrobe and slippers, 'cause guess what I'm wearing right now?!! I also have all kind of fruits and chocolates and its a beautiful room, all kind of fun things in the bathroom too. They looked at me like I was nuts for asking if the gym was open (its not, unfortunately.) The bed is gorgeous, and there's a big flat screen TV.
I flew on Azeribaijan Airlines, which was surprisingly nice. The food was good (I eat anything these days....) and the wine was flowing. Three glasses on a 1.5 hour flight isn't too bad, right? I had some tea to sober up. Man, the wotka was flowing too. I was wondering why the flight attendants were giving out so many small glasses of water, until I remembered I was still with Azeris.
I sat next to two large Russian women, one of which tried to gank my aisle seat and stick me in the middle between them! She was motioning to me to sit in the middle and making feel-bad-for-me-noises, and then started gesturing at her large breasts and my, well, you've seen the pictures, as if that were justification for making me sit in the middle! Niet. I was like, shit, if that's the way the world worked I'd get nothing in life--move it, cectpa.
They played the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. No one was watching or listening to it, though, since people were hanging out in groups getting drunk on free vodka. But I was cracking up! That movie is funny! The Russian lady and I became friends again after I accidentally smacked her leg at a funny part. And when the the lady in the movie puts on that horrible wedding gown and sees herself for the first time and goes, "I'm a snow beast" I busted out laughing but the Russian lady really liked the dress, "very beautiful!" umm, that's about all for the plane ride. Oh, except for when we landed at midnight the temperature read a cool 93F. Back in the Gulf....
The airport was totally thrilling, stupid as that sounds. All kinds of things going on, and super modern, but colorful and energizing. I can't even explain was so cool. I was watching part of the US match w/ Italy on a huge mounted TV while on the moving walkway. What a crazy physical game! I was walking backwards (staying in place) on the walkway so I could see more of the game, but there was a group of men in robes and women in black with only their eyes uncovered approaching, which, for some reason, made me not want to be too much of a jackass.
But, I made some good of my short time here--I went shopping. The stores are overwhelming. I could've stayed in there for hours. I got a great TINY little camera!! yeah!! Its a little late in the game, I know, and I've already missed taking a lot of great shots--especially yesterday of the Caspian Sea and the Old City--but at least I can post some good ones from Afg and Pak, ensha'allah.
I bought the smallest camera they had, its a Sony SXC-T9. I'm sure it does tons of things I will never use, but I basically got it for free. [I got USD 100/day in Baku (~1000 bucks) but it was so hard to pay for things there, with men being so chivalrous (love it.) So, I had room service and laundry bills, and a few rounds of drinks from my pub, and my silk head scarf but that was it. Paid in cash for the camera. Ba-boom.]
Anyway, Dubai seems nice from what I can tell. I made the reluctant driver give me a mini-tour of the city at 1 in the morning. But it all kind of looked the same--nice roads and road signs, tons of shopping, bilboards, hotels, palms, all kind of people and restaurants. If I weren't traveling on some one else's dime, I could definitely stay a few days. I have read a lot about the "hidden" sides of Dubai, where suffering, oppression, and modern day slavery exist and are condoned, so sort of dulls the shine for me.
Being here reminds me of some of the places I still want to go in the Middle East. Like Lebanon (mainly Beirut) and Syria. Damascus is supposed to be absolutely beautiful. And Georgia is now climbing my list, and, of course, Turkey. I've been reading this book called Ali and Nino which takes place in Azerbaijan, Iran, and Georgia before the first World War. Its fascinating; I wish I had read it before I left.
I should have some great photos from dinner Friday night at a caravan sarai--where people and their caravans would stay when they came into Baku. It was beautiful, or course, and had traditional music and dancers, gorgeous carpets and wonderful food. The vodka was in tall, narrow-stemmed glasses this time, and they didn't let you have an empty glass for long. Lovely long night again. So, I'll post those, and some of the old city, when my friends there send them to me.
I can't believe I'm finally going to Afghanistan! I'm so excited.
Ok, hope you're having nice weekends. Thanks for all your comments and for reading! Love you guys!
I flew on Azeribaijan Airlines, which was surprisingly nice. The food was good (I eat anything these days....) and the wine was flowing. Three glasses on a 1.5 hour flight isn't too bad, right? I had some tea to sober up. Man, the wotka was flowing too. I was wondering why the flight attendants were giving out so many small glasses of water, until I remembered I was still with Azeris.
I sat next to two large Russian women, one of which tried to gank my aisle seat and stick me in the middle between them! She was motioning to me to sit in the middle and making feel-bad-for-me-noises, and then started gesturing at her large breasts and my, well, you've seen the pictures, as if that were justification for making me sit in the middle! Niet. I was like, shit, if that's the way the world worked I'd get nothing in life--move it, cectpa.
They played the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. No one was watching or listening to it, though, since people were hanging out in groups getting drunk on free vodka. But I was cracking up! That movie is funny! The Russian lady and I became friends again after I accidentally smacked her leg at a funny part. And when the the lady in the movie puts on that horrible wedding gown and sees herself for the first time and goes, "I'm a snow beast" I busted out laughing but the Russian lady really liked the dress, "very beautiful!" umm, that's about all for the plane ride. Oh, except for when we landed at midnight the temperature read a cool 93F. Back in the Gulf....
The airport was totally thrilling, stupid as that sounds. All kinds of things going on, and super modern, but colorful and energizing. I can't even explain was so cool. I was watching part of the US match w/ Italy on a huge mounted TV while on the moving walkway. What a crazy physical game! I was walking backwards (staying in place) on the walkway so I could see more of the game, but there was a group of men in robes and women in black with only their eyes uncovered approaching, which, for some reason, made me not want to be too much of a jackass.
But, I made some good of my short time here--I went shopping. The stores are overwhelming. I could've stayed in there for hours. I got a great TINY little camera!! yeah!! Its a little late in the game, I know, and I've already missed taking a lot of great shots--especially yesterday of the Caspian Sea and the Old City--but at least I can post some good ones from Afg and Pak, ensha'allah.
I bought the smallest camera they had, its a Sony SXC-T9. I'm sure it does tons of things I will never use, but I basically got it for free. [I got USD 100/day in Baku (~1000 bucks) but it was so hard to pay for things there, with men being so chivalrous (love it.) So, I had room service and laundry bills, and a few rounds of drinks from my pub, and my silk head scarf but that was it. Paid in cash for the camera. Ba-boom.]
Anyway, Dubai seems nice from what I can tell. I made the reluctant driver give me a mini-tour of the city at 1 in the morning. But it all kind of looked the same--nice roads and road signs, tons of shopping, bilboards, hotels, palms, all kind of people and restaurants. If I weren't traveling on some one else's dime, I could definitely stay a few days. I have read a lot about the "hidden" sides of Dubai, where suffering, oppression, and modern day slavery exist and are condoned, so sort of dulls the shine for me.
Being here reminds me of some of the places I still want to go in the Middle East. Like Lebanon (mainly Beirut) and Syria. Damascus is supposed to be absolutely beautiful. And Georgia is now climbing my list, and, of course, Turkey. I've been reading this book called Ali and Nino which takes place in Azerbaijan, Iran, and Georgia before the first World War. Its fascinating; I wish I had read it before I left.
I should have some great photos from dinner Friday night at a caravan sarai--where people and their caravans would stay when they came into Baku. It was beautiful, or course, and had traditional music and dancers, gorgeous carpets and wonderful food. The vodka was in tall, narrow-stemmed glasses this time, and they didn't let you have an empty glass for long. Lovely long night again. So, I'll post those, and some of the old city, when my friends there send them to me.
I can't believe I'm finally going to Afghanistan! I'm so excited.
Ok, hope you're having nice weekends. Thanks for all your comments and for reading! Love you guys!
posted by Carey McCarthy at 3:16 AM
3 Comments:
I won 50 swiss francs (US$40) on betting on 2 world cup matches. In theory, at least, I haven't seen a nickel. Hope AFG is awesome and don't worry, the weather link will be changed immediately.
I can't believe you wouldn't sit your tiny ass in the middle seat for a 1.5 hours flight...you're so american...
shut it, katron. I couldn't possibly acquiese to that line of reasoning. And she didn't speak enough English, nor I Russian, to explain that I would do it out of the goodness of my 'tiny ass' instead. So, I actually did feel kind of guilty. I let her have the armrest, which I usually a battle I set out to win....
dudey -
i laughed out loud @ the thought of you hitting the russian woman on the knee as you laughed. now you know how it is to travel on the company dollar!
love you miss you...
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