Heat and snow

---

I arrived in Dubai yesterday and was so excited to be back on Facebook that I forgot to update this blog -ooops.

So, Dubai...a city of contrasts really, but to me it seems a bit lacking in depth and emotion - a bit bland in spite of the majesty of the skyline. I'm staying with Ashifa, Brendan and the kids and they have a lovely house, really airy and cool. It's in a complex for Emirates staff so if I'm lucky I might meet a hunky pilot while I'm here! Brendan's parents are here too at the moment, and it's good to spend some time with them. My little cousin, Sophia, has decided that while I'm here I can be her big sister, which is very sweet.

Yesterday we went to the old part of dubai and I'm really glad we did because you could almost forget that you are in the middle east here with all the Americanisms. We went to a gold souk and wandered about, looking at some beautiful jewellery and fabric. The smells were fantastic, spicy and fragrant. I was really tired in the afternoon but fought off the jetlag to have a BBQ for dinner. The weather was sunny again today, really very warm and I started off the day full of good intentions by going to the gym. Although airconditioned the gym was roasting and I actually thought I was going to faint from heatstroke. It was the hardest 5K I have ever done and I didn't even take any water with me which was silly. However, about 1.5 hours later I was playing in the snow with my cousins at Ski Dubai. It is fantastic and we went on loads of slides and snow rides. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would and the kids loved it. We wandered round Emirates Mall for a while and have jsut got home.

Dubai is a very, very rich place. I saw some shops I'd only ever seen advertised in magazines and some that I hadn't even heard of. I actually left that mall thinking that I wish I had more money. I don't think I'd like to live here because however well off I was I'd be aware that it wasn't enough. That longing for material wealth isn't something I experience very often and I'm not comfortable wishing I had more money, but today, seeing all those beautiful clothes and things, just made me ....long.... There is a lot of poverty here too though, and a lot of rudeness particularly towards staff in the service industry. We're going to the park in a few minutes so I'd better dash.

---