Immersions

A special shout out must be given to my dear friend, Marina Shahat for graciously encouraging me to maintain the blog that I have been neglecting for the past month. My neglect is not indicative of a lack of things to write about but has been more of a result of being unable to put all of the awesome things I’ve experienced into words. So rather than explaining what I have been up to for the last few weeks in griping details, allow me to simply show you.

A trip to Heritage Village is the equivalant of a 7th grade trip to Colonial America towns. The small village is designed in a way to allow visitors a small taste of what the Emirates used to be during the days when it thrived off a small pearl diving industry. Before emerging as the booming metropolis it is today, Abu Dhabi strongly resembled the little village laid out in these pictures.

During my first few days here, I also had the pleasure of going on a desert safari. The best part was the dune bashing experience that took us all the way to our small festival tent. Dune bashing is quite literally dashing into sand dunes at unreasonably high speeds in an SUV. It probably isn't the safest endeavor, but really exhilerating.

 

 

Other excursions throughout Abu Dhabi introduced us to some monumental sites and areas. Among them being the Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque, which of course holds some title as one of the largest mosques in the world and also happens to house the largest Persian carpet in the world.



 



The corniche supersedes any boardwalk I've ever been to. The walkway is filled with palm trees, rows upon rows of planted flowers, and people of all walks of life. The view of the ocean is beautiful at any time of day, even on a foggy day.

Foggy days here in Abu Dhabi are equivalent to rainy days in New York in relation to their frequency and duration. The only difference is that fog does not render umbreallas, rain boots or grouchy drivers.

 

 

Another cool thing about Abu Dhabi is that it has a souk for everything. These pictures were taken at the plant souk (obviously). The plant souk lies near the fish market, the carpet souk, the pottery souk, and several other little markets. It was a wonderful experience to bargain with the merchants and see different exotic and local plants lined up and blossoming.

 

And of course, the best way to get to know any city is by getting lost throughout it. These are some random places I've stumbled upon while walking aimlessly throughout the city with only the missions of exploration and discovery before me.

 

Thus far, it was most definitely been a pleasure to be here.