Al Ain

Today I decided to venture to Al Ain (pronounced a-lain) so I could check out my future city. The day was quite an adventure and I learned a lot. I went with Lakeesha, Cassandra, and Wesley. We had to take a taxi to the bus station. That was no big deal. Taxis are becoming very easy for me, I just need to make sure I don't take a hotel taxi (those are the white ones and they're more expensive). The bus station is huge, and it's mostly outdoors! We went inside to purchase tickets, but we were told to wait by a slot (place where the bus would pull up). Wesley had to wait in the male's line while we waited in the ladies line.


While we were waiting we noticed a bus pull up across the street. This was not in the bus station and laborers were getting on this bus. As soon as the bus came into view the laborers waiting began pushing and shoving to get on the bus. There was a lady in line who got pushed and lifted out of the way. We even witnessed a fight over who got on first. We could hear and see someone getting punched. Very unruly and not at all like the Muslim culture that I have been witnessing. But, there is a class system here with laborers at the very bottom and they are not treated well which might explain why they have their own bus.

When our bus came we orderly boarded the bus, ladies first. There was even a sign on the bus that said "priority seating for ladies" this was at the front of the bus, so we got to sit up front. People say that Arabic men don't respect women, but I think this is a clear sign of the opposite. We could have been the last to board the bus and pushed to the rear of the bus, but we got to sit up front.

The bus ride into Al Ain was uneventful and beautiful. It was great to see the desert finally! We even passed a truck that was carrying camels!!! I tried to get a picture, but as soon as we got close enough the camels laid down:( Oh well, I will get a picture soon enough. We stopped for the afternoon call to prayer at a little mosque on the side of the road and many Muslim men got off, including the driver, to pray. I think that shows how devoted they are and that their religion comes first in their life, which is awesome!

We arrived in Al Ain and took a taxi to the mall, of all places!! Not much else is open during Ramadan. We walked around for a while and then we decided that we wanted to go see some of the city, so we went to the City Center. Lots and lots of buildings. Lots of tailors, textiles, car dealers, parks, and restaurants. I don't think that I will be bored! So we did some walking around and decided to leave instead of go to the Al Ain Oasis. It was around 4 when we decided that and since it was a 2 hour ride; we thought we should head back. Things might have gotten more crowded after Iftar.

So we took a taxi to the bus station in Al Ain. This was quite different. First of all when we got out of the taxi several guys were shouting at us "No Bus" they wanted us to take their taxi, which is a 120 dirham ride instead of 10. We just kept walking. Well they were right; there wasn't a bus until 5. So we waited. Again Wesley went to wait in the large men's waiting area while we went to the much smaller ladies waiting area. After waiting for about 1/2 an hour a guy came and gave us a brown piece of plastic. Weird! He told us "after 5 minute wait for bus". We were a little concerned about Wesley because he didn't get a brown piece of plastic! After about 5 minutes we heard "brown" and we got up and went to the bus. The men were pushing and loudly fighting to get on the bus, but the women walked to their line quietly and calmly and boarded first. Even though Wesley didn't get a brown piece of plastic he was allowed to board since we told the security people that he was with us. Wesley said that he told them that we were all his wives!! He was just kidding, but that could have been the case!

About 1/2 way to Abu Dhabi the driver stops and gets out (no call to prayer). There was something wrong with the bus! I was afraid that he was going to yell "Off bus" and leave us in the desert! A couple other guys got off and they all tried to fix whatever was wrong. The driver did this about 4 times before stopping and stealing some wire from a construction site to fix the problem. We did make it back to Abu Dhabi and hailed a taxi to the hotel.

So that was my day. My sinuses are bothering me, or I'm getting a cold. Thanks family members!! I got some Advil cold and sinus, but couldn't take it since I couldn't have water while we were out.