On Saturday, Peggy had to work – the equivalent of Monday. John took me to Sharjah , the neighbouring, very strict emirate. (No liquor at all is permitted.) Oddly, the architecture and design of Sharjah as a city is much more flowing and beautiful than Dubai. Even Dubai’s oldest buildings and most of its newest are blockish with minimal design. Sharjah makes use of Arabic curves and arches, light colours, tiled designs, etc. The Emir prefers this apparently and is having the road infrastructure designed in curves, with grassed and treed boulevards. Nevertheless, Dirk, whom we met for lunch, told us that his daughters had been pelted with vegetables recently, presumably because they were on their own. (Their friends did later show up.) And, their dress didn’t cover enough. Drivi
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