Isaac and Jenni Marshall: Clouds... they do exist in Dubai!

Wednesday afternoon Isaac and I drove to the Sharjah Expo Center for a giant jewelery exhibition- which was amazing, but not nearly as exciting as what we witnessed along the way! As we were driving we both noticed something foreign in the sky. Three figures hovered in the sea of blue above us. They were white... and puffy... clouds! These wonderful cotton balls of precipitation were the first we have seen since landing in the Middle East over two months ago. I'm certainly not going to complain about the perpetual sunshine and blue skies we live under, but it is quite strange existing in an environment where the weather changes so little. Basically, it is hot and humid or hot and dry. On humid days, the sand and dust hangs in the atmosphere, making everything in the distance appear hazy... that's about all the variation we have experienced thus far. But, how blessed are we to look up to an azure sky every day! The sunshine makes us so happy, and we are thankful to be here. Unfortunately we didn't have a camera with us when we spotted the clouds, but luckily some more puffy visitors hung around the Dubai skyline the next day!

The weather has cooled considerably over the past few weeks, which I'm sure has created the conditions for cloud visitations. It feels absolutely amazing outside! The temperature is just warm enough to tickle your skin, with light, cooling breezes that blow every once in a while. We are so excited to have another 6 months of this heavenly weather!

On Thursday we took advantage of the perfect temperatures, and met up with our friends Jen, Erin, Julie, and Richard at the beach to watch the sunset. Isaac and I stopped by Automatic restaurant to pick up shwaramas for everyone- yum! Richard brought Lebanese cheesy bread- yum! yum! And Jen brought some vino- yum! yum! yum! What a wonderful way to relax and unwind from the day.

Beach Road

We love driving down this road. Not only because it parallels the beach, and is lined with beautiful, interesting buildings, but because there are no skyscrapers in sight! You really feel like you can breathe when you drive along Beach Road.

These falcons speckle the streets of Dubai- there is even one on our school campus. I'm not sure of their purpose, other than to provide some visual interest. They remind us of the painted cows back home. I also love how the road dividers mimic the waves along Beach Road.

In Dubai, even Burger King delivers!

One of the many mosques along Beach Road. From our spot on the beach we could hear two different call to prayers going on at the same time.

Any one of these would be our dream home... they're right along the beach!

Mercato... a mall right by our school.

Mmmmm.... behold the makings of the mighty shwarama! Marinated chicken is flattened and skewered onto a giant rotisserie. A combination of lamb and beef, called kofta, is also used. The smell is amazing!

The meat is carved into super thin strips.

The meat is loaded into soft, chewy Lebanese bread, with a heaping spoonful of sweet garlic paste, and homemade pickles. Absolutely amazing!!!

Such hams! Lebanese men love the American ladies here, so they were eager to put on a good show. ha ha!

Another mosque

Shoes are removed and left outside

And another mosque

Our sunset. Again, the pictures don't do it justice... I will have to learn more about how to shoot sunsets!

On his way to pray, the sun has nearly set.

Many of the young Muslim men have developed an interesting way to mix Middle Eastern and Western cultures... the pairing of their traditional white dish dash with trucker hats! This totally cracks me up, and I hope the get some more photos of this style phenomenon.