Blogs from Middle East - page 873

I wasn't sure about taking the tourist bus around the city but it turns out to be a great trip. The bus does a couple of giant loops around the beaches, the old city and the new parts. It's a fab way to see the sights with minimum effort and there's plenty of much-needed free mineral water on board. Without moving from my seat I get to see all of the major sights of the city pass by. Included in the tour is a sunset cruise down the creek on an old Dhow which is amazing. Finally I feel like I'm in the Middle East and not just some extravagant tourist resort! I get chatting to some Dutch guys on the bus and we go out for dinner which is fun. Unintentionally we end up in ... read more

Asaf (Jason's Hebrew name, seems appropriate to refer to him that way while we are in his homeland) wrote the below at 3am: It is 3 AM here in Israel, and we are wide awake. We just got back from my brother Nadav's wedding. It was a really wonderful event. Especially considering that he only planned it a few weeks earlier, and seemed very casual about the whole thing (we were hanging out and swimming on the beach with him less than 2 hours before the wedding). But that's often the way it is here. And yet, they had a beautiful wedding in a beautiful garden, with great food and music. Of course, being Israel, there were 200+ people, most of them relatives. Our family alone is having at least 4 or 5 weddings in Israel ... read more

Dubai is a very vibrant city, full of people, construction and too much to see in the short time we had. Yes it was hot (47-48 degrees each day) but air con and extravagant shopping centres took care of that! The egyptian theme of the Wafi Centre and the amazing ski slopes with loads of snow in the Mall of the Emirates. The gold and spice souks (markets) were something to see - so much gold jewelry and every kind of spice. It was often hard to believe we were in the desert. Everyone was so friendly, I wish we had more time to take in the sights of this ever-growing city.... read more

Shalom all! Apparently Barak Obama is in town schmoozing it up with the Israelis - funny it takes me coming half way around the world to get this close to an American presidential candidate! He's staying at a hotel around the corner from here... Hope all is well on the home front! Sunday, July 20, 2008 The second session starts today. Said good-bye to those who left after the first session and welcomed those coming on for the second. This group isn’t as large as the first session - we had almost 100 people in the first session! This time, there’s about 70, which is still a good crowd. Judy, my new roommate, is here and she is awesome! We had a great Shabbat weekend together. The yeshiva hosted services and a welcome dinner Friday night ... read more

Talk about East meets West. Old Dubai has virtually been consumed by the modern futuristic giant construction site that is the modern city. Towering skyscrapers of all shapes and sizes fight for attention and line the horizon like spaceships freshly landed from another planet. There's something completely alien-esque about this place. In every glittering surface, row upon row of shimmering new buildings are reflected. The horizon spells money. This is the future my friend. This is freaky. This is consumerism gone mad. My first impression is I hate the place. Tourists roam bikini clad, or in shorts and strappy tops oblivious to local customs. I wander around sweltering in a million baggy layers and more bling on my wedding ring finger than I ever care to wear for real. Something I realise in hindsight is probably ... read more