Hannes decided this is his Bentley. I think it fits him well.....It was a lucky draw but unfortunately we did not win.Oh well one can dream hey...
EMIRATE MAN AND WOMAN IN MALL
I promised to tell a little more of he womans dress code in the EMIRATES. Please remember the Emirates are different from the other Arabian cuntries and I only speak of here.
The woman wear the Abaya (Long black dress) and Shayla (Black veil over head and/or face)
out of choice. It is not true that the men force them to wear it. It is her free choice if she wants to cover up. It is only worn when she goes out of her house and has the possibility of strange men seeing her. At home she will cover up if strange men or not her immediate family are in her pressence. The woman feel that it is their duty to stay pure for their husbands and not to let other men covet her beauty. They take a lot of care to what shoes, watch and handbag they wear. ( I think it is for their chidren to know who their mother is in a crowd !!!!!) The "mask" over the face is called a Burka. Some of the older woman still wear it but most of the younger Emirate woman do not cover their faces any more. You do still see woman with a veil completely over their head. It could be for various reasons. She might be very "old school" or she has just come from the beauty salon, or does not want to burn, or might be in mourning. I cannot take a photo of these woman from the front as they generally do not allow it and it is deemed very rude to take photo's of them. Some of the woman even wear golves and socks so that nothig of her skin can be seen.
The men and woman also pray seperately from one another in the mosque. It is not because they are deemed inferior at all. The reason being that if your attention strays during prayers your prayer is null and void. It will then be very difficult for men to concentrate on their prayers with woman in there pressence. Also woman might only stand at the back of the mosque in prayer time. In the prayer all kneel down at some time and it will be very uncomfortabe for the woman to kneel down knowing a man is behind her.
In the Emirates if a woman works her husband is not to touch her money at all. It is only for her use.........He has to be the sole provider for the family........
Do remember there is Islamic religion and the Islamic law. They tend to differ in certain areas. Arranged marriages are still done but the woman has a choice to refuse the marriage. Mostly the woman feel obliged to the family to accept as a marriage comes with money. Their obligaion to family is great. The concept of an old age home here is totally unheard of. They beleive that the old folk must be looked after by the younger.
It is the biggest insult here to show the soles of your feet towards someone. A little tricky when most of the entertaining is done sittng on the floor with cushions. That is also where the Abaya comes in handy as you can tuck your feet under the long dress.
The more I learn of the Emirates and their culture the more I see how uninformed I was ...Goes to show not to judge too quickly.
I have no excuse for not writing the blog other than just have not felt like it...........I know it sounds lame but that is the truth....Sometimes I have so much to say but the need to write it down is just not there................N.A.F.I. comes to mind. I have been a little low lately......That hamster wheel again..........
I did enjoy all the comments though and it is the first time my blog got 9 comments......maybe i must wait to see all the comments before writing another one...makes me feel so wanted and missed.................
Ok back to bussiness.
My spa visits are still going on and it s so nice to walk in and be greeted so friendly. One thing you have to get used to here is that your surname is not ever used or asked for. You will always be adressed as MISS LORETA or madam if they do not know your name. On the telephone you are asked "What is your good name?" meaning just your first name. It is so nice to be pampered for an hour. Just a pity I only iron every 10 days to 2 weeks ...so I only get to go 2x per month. Am I spoilt ??????????????
There was a ladies Expo at Souk madinat and off we went in anticipation. I was rather dissapointed as I expected this very huge expo and all it was was Indian clothes...Not to our tastes. But Souk madinat is always a pleasue to stroll around in. Hannes and I then had dinner at the Noodle house and strolled the Souk for the rest of the evening. All in all was a good night.
A few days after this I had a back injury and could hardly move or walk.....It just came suddenly and for no reason. Luckily Hannes was off for 3 days and I was flat on my back for the 3 days...After the bedrest and medications I was able to start moving after 3 days but it took about a week to settle.
TRUE TEMPERATURE.
AS you can see this was at 1oh35 in the morning.....It seems that the temperature does not fluctuate much.... It does not have to because at 44 C it is flipping hot. Thanks to aircon everywhere it is manageable. Going to the beach now is not done between 11h00 and 16hoo. That could be one reason for al the mega malls hey...People need to be some where, doing something and it is not outside..............
We went for a walk last night and even at 20hoo it was hot outside. Most of the restaurants only now have inside seating...
OMAN DIVING TRIP.
Oman is not part of the UAE. It is a neighbour. Seems more conservative than the UAE in culture. I was so impressed by the amount of effort done in the whole Oman with grass and flowers all along the highway. Every town we entered had huge gardens in the round abouts. Also the trees and plants are very well kept. The whole of Muscat highway looks like a nursery. The flower beds are all full of seedlings and have to be relaced 2x per year or even more...But all is in tip top shape. Again the use of water is everywhere. Fountains and water gardens are abound.
The sultan of Oman has uplifted his people very well as his father who ruled before him apparently did nothing for the people of Oman. They are a very rich country and has "old" money. They made millions with the slave trade and had very close conections with Zanzibar. The corniche of Muscat even resembles Zanzibar.
The sultans palace in Muscat is not to my liking as it looks a little colourful and old architctire.. That is but one of his palaces. I beleive he has a few....
OMAN DIVING CENTRE. NEAR MUSCAT
This is absolute heaven. These are the "BARASTI"S" Barasti is the arabic word for "beach bungalow " The terrein is so barren. It looks a lot like the Karoo only dryer and hotter en much less vegetation. As you come over the top of the mountain te sea lies stretched out infront with these "barasti's" waiting. The sea is as blue as in the indian ocean islands and the beach sand is powder white.
Here I was waist deep in the sea with the vieuw towards the barasti's. They are brick buildings but have been covered with palm leaves to give the real barasti' look. They have aircon BUT the bathroom is like open air.....very strange to sit on the loo and catch a tan...........
The dive centre is very good and Hannes had good dives.
This is the beach bar at the dive centre. The life and soul in the evenings. Only has big parties on weekends. It is like a huge bedouin tent on the beach..
Typical barasti.
Hannes at the entrance to our's.
We had 5 fantastic days at the dive centre and I was very pset when we had to leave. It is toal relaxation. No TV...... only sleep. tan, swim,tan,eat, ct. It was fantastic.
It is so nice to stay here that I will easy go there again. The food was very good. All in all fantastic place. It is about a 6 hour drive to the dive centre from Dubai.
THE HOTEL NEXT DOOR TO THE DIVE CENTRE.
I do not remeber the name of this hotel as the only thing that impressd me was he entrnce hall. It is 5 star but did not hold a pach to our barasti's. Eery thing here in the UAE and Oman when it comes to hotels is opulance. marble flooring, big space and the use of water. Such a contrast to be in the desert landscape and all this water everywhere.
IMPRSSIVE DESSERT.
Hannes and i had lunch at this lani hotel and the desert is picture pretty. The taste was not too bad either. The price tag on the lunch is another story..................
SOUK IN MUSCAT
This is the entrance to the souk. It was very very hot this day. We got to the souk at 16h50. The temperature was 51C.... EISH........... We strolled around and looked at all for sale but if you have seen one souks gods you have seen them all. he smell of incense and mirr and the heat does not go down to well... I was very glad to leave the sou. Oman is known for silver... That is about the only thing here to worth to buy...
HANNES THE DIVER.
I went with on one of the dives and I did the snorkeling number while Hannes was in the deep blue blue ocean. It was so nice. I cannot dive at all as my ears do not equalise at all and I just rupture my eardrums at 3 m. So I have to snorkel. It was fabulous and i saw a lot of fish. I had a marine tank once and I still recognise a lot of fish species. The colours are just so fantastic. The whole ocean sounds like "crackling" It is the trigger fish and other creatures nibbling on the reef.
I saw moray eels as well.
HANNES'S FIRST WHALE SHARK ENCOUNTER.
This whale shark came and said hello to al the divers on a dive. It was at the end of their dive and they were preparing to leave when this whale shark circled the boat. They all donned their fins and masks and scrambled overboard to swim with the whale shark. What a wow experience it must have been. Although it was a relative small one Hannes was overwhelmed.
He says he thinks the shark was very enquisitive and wanted to see what they were just as much as they wanted to see it. They all could touch it and swim with it for a while and then after about an hour it just left.
TOTALLY RELAXED HANNES.
Just a nice photo of Hannes.
I watched the weather forecast for Dubai the other day on TV. Hilarious.....Short and sweet. All it says is sunny and the expexted temperature..........Every day here is sunny......
USELESS INFORMATION.
Some strange things I have learnt are that men cannot multi task at all. Ig Hannes is driving and I ask him a question I am ignored.................not willingly but the multitask function was not installed. hell I think we girls can drive, chat and still wonder what is for supper tonight.. Just some useless information...
I do a lot of taxi things here. I must say I enjoy it . It feels like a chaffeur service. get in say where to and off you go. You can talk on your cell, watch the scenery ect. It is advisable to keep an eye on the speed of the taxi and the route.....More useless information.
My kitchen here is really a st of wit and skills. It s like playing musical chairs fi i try to bake a cake...Remember it is but tiny passage.....
I cannot wait for August to mve into a bigger apartment.
Hannes and I are both battling the Dubai stone. It is known that all expats pick up weight when arriving in Dubai... Well both of us have. Hannes is so well diciplined. He has decided to do something about it. I know I should but just do not have the will power.....More useless information.
Next week we are going to South Africa for a visit. It will be wonderful to see my boys again.
Ghalas. (Finished)
L
