Desert Rhythm Festival... round two

Well, this is the second time I have put up a post, checked it, and then had the pictures disappear sometime later. Annoying! Hopefully the second attempt will be the charm...

Desert Rhythm Festival was at the end of October, but it took me a little time to collect some photos of the event from friends to post on the blog. We had a fantastic time at the outdoor concert... the music was awesome, the weather was perfect, and the company wasn't half bad either;). The highlight of the event for me (Jenni) was seeing Ziggy Marley. Ja mon! =) He played a few of his dad's hits, which was great! I play Bob Marley for my kids in class, and they always complain (so of course, I play it even more=) ). It is simply beyond my realm of comprehension to think that there could be a living soul who doesn't love reggae. We were also introduced to a very unique group called Black Violin. It is led by two classically trained violinists who play hip hop. They have provided back up for just about all of the big name hip hop artists in the industry. The guys put on a great show, and it was refreshing to see such a unique twist in the music scene. Kanye West wrapped up the evening with an amazing show. He had a small orchestra playing back up, and there were numerous pyrotechnic events and costume changes. A very entertaining way to spend a warm, October evening =).

"I love gooold!"

Our apologies for the cheesy Austin Powers reference, but it was just too perfect for this post... =)

Last Sunday we found a great new route to Deira, via the Shindaga (underwater) tunnel, and visited the old Gold Souk. We had fun wandering around and taking pictures, but we had come on a mission. We first met with Arwan, the jeweler everyone at ASD uses, and designed a couple of special Christmas gifts for a couple of special people in our lives=). Afterwards, we decided to take some photographs in an attempt to show everyone back home what an incredible and overwhelming sight the gold souk really is. Welcome to a place where windows radiate the orange glow of 24 karat gold, diamonds are the size of golf balls, and you see such an expanse of elaborate jewelry that you nearly forget their incredible worth.


Sorry, I just have to get up on my soapbox for a minute... we saw this ridiculous wheel cover while we were parking. We are fairly certain video games will play a crucial role in the downfall of mankind!


Entrance to the gold souk

Bling!


In the heart of the souk

Merchants have set up little stands in alleyways all throughout the souk. They mostly sell sandals, pashminas, and the ever-popular "copy watches" and "copy bags."


Isaac is on the hunt for watches.


I find these little bobbles more appealing =)


See the orange glow I was talking about?!


Beautiful bangles



The shear size of some pieces is nearly beyond comprehension!






Getting a little artsy =)



Gold belts






"Come inside. Have a look. I give you best price."

Rug and tapestry shops also speckle the outskirts of the souk. We visited this shop to search for a new tapestry. We found a beautiful tapestry, asked the price, and the sales associate told us 650 dirhams (nearly $200)!!! Not a chance! So he lowered his price to 450... still no dice. He wouldn't say the prices out loud, he would only type them into his calculator. He wanted me to tell him my best price, via the calculator, so I typed 135. He laughed and counter offered yet another ridiculously high price. After several more minutes of tough bartering, he agreed to sell us the tapestry for our asking price of 135 Dhs, or $36. Quite a difference from his first offer! We were feeling pretty smart until we realized he short changed us... only 5 Dhs (less than $2), but we were still annoyed. Oh well, we now have a beautiful tapestry and a greater sense of confidence in our bartering abilities. Next time we will take the extra minute to count our change=).

Beautiful skies

This weekend a large storm hit Oman, which changed the weather patterns in neighboring areas, including Dubai. On Friday we actually woke up to gray skies... it looked just like Oregon, except for those few sunny days in summer ;). On Sunday the real shocker came... it actually rained! It was more of a drizzle, but Isaac had to turn on his windshield wipers when he drove to the store in the morning. Luckily, the blue skies returned that afternoon, and some beautiful puffy, white clouds came along as well=).


Gray skies are gonna clear up!!!





Al Wasl Rd.




Entering downtown Dubai on Sheik Zayed rd.
The Toyota building is one of the oldest buildings still standing downtown... it used to be one of the biggest!


Just a fun billboard =)

How to start your weekend off right

We love living by the beach!!! After school last Thursday we picked Bella up and drove to Jebel Ali (an area of Dubai towards Abu Dhabi) to spend the afternoon at the beach. There was a nice breeze and the weather was so fantastic that we stayed and watched the sunset. Bella had a wonderful time chasing her ball, swimming in the ocean, and munching on little bits of Lord-only-knows-what that she found near old campfires (yuck!). There were several people camping on this stretch of beach, and we can't wait to come back and test out our new tent. We finished off the evening by going to our favorite little Mexican restaurant, Maria Bonita's, which is actually run by a Mexican family. The food is delicious! There is the world's ugliest, lion-faced cat that wanders around the outdoor seating area, so I always make sure to share my meal with her. She thoroughly enjoyed the chicken from my enchiladas =). We had lovely evening, and just couldn't get over how blessed we are to be living here and experiencing this together! What a relaxing way to start off the weekend=).


Yay, Bella!

Family photo time!


Time for a swim! Bella's growing gills... we can't step foot on the beach anymore without her dashing into the water.


This is especially for the Marshalls, cause we know you must really be missing all our smoochiness! Love you guys!!!


=)

Just a little swim break...





Enough swimming for the day.

Love this car- it can get us anywhere!




Time to dry out! Bella isn't that interested in the sunset...


Workers heading home for the day.