Abu Dhabi - Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque

We saw a few spectacular sights over a couple of days in Abu Dhabi. This post will be entirely devoted to the Shiek Zayed Grand Mosque as it was one of the most photogenic locations we've ever been to and I don't know how to pare down the pictures! Enjoy!

Here is the whole complex from the main road 

The mosque requires visitors to wear appropriately modest clothing. They have full covering abayas that they lend out to visitors as well.  

 The mosque has 82 beautiful domes. They are similar to the domes on the Taj Mahal on the outside, but are more Moroccan on the inside (so the tour guide told us).  

 The approximately 1000 columns are covered in greek, white marble and inlaid with semi-precious stones like emerald, jade, ruby, saphire, etc. 

 The courtyard is massive and all of the tiles were hand-laid. The color and design help to manage the heat and prevent cracking due to weather changes.

 The design on the marble here was all carved by hand.  

 Chandelier in the entrance to the main prayer room made of Italian glass. 

 The complex is designed to be a picture of Heaven. The outside is white and clean with calming fountains, representing purity and calm of heaven. As you move inside the colors and flowers representative of the Quranic represntation of Heaven as a lush garden. 

 maybe i could be a photographer too ;) 

 On entering the main prayer room you see the far wall covered with the 99 names for God given in the Quran. The wall is beautifully backlight and accented with white gold.

 The back wall is covered with Tibetan granite, supposedly some of the coldest granite in the world. It contributes to the cooling of the moque.

The Gold and White enclave in the center is symbolic of the milk and honey flowing in heaven. 

The carpet is the largest continuous carpet in the world, hand-crafted in Iran. And the columns inside are in-laid with mother of pearl and onyx.

Engineering genius: the vertical joints in the marble were cut in an S-shape so the mother of pearl design would hide them.  

 Each collection of 4 columns holds a central fan and the AC output at the top.

Columns on the outside. 

Eid Al-Watony (National Day)

... or how to wear traditional dress and look good doing it!

Our host country celebrated their National Holiday recently, and to get in on the festive spirit, my husband decided to wear the local garb for the day.

So here is the process of getting ready:
(It was pretty cute - the day of the Eid, he was so excited! He laid out his clothes the night before and got up early to get ready.)

We begin with the undergarment layer. The "skirt" is called a wazar. Getting it tied around and then the ties laid flat enough to not look bulgy under the outer robe can be a bit of a challenge.

Once the under layer is on, and the robe goes over top, it is time to work on the head scarf. It starts as a large square-shaped piece of fabric, folded in half to a triangle. Then the point of the triangle is laid on the back of the neck. The longest straight side is in the front and is then folded and rolled all the way to the forehead. Then the extra fabric ends are wrapped in a circle all the way around the head and tucked in back. He has become quite a pro at this in my opinion!

Then you have to make sure you have your local cane/walking stick. It is a necessary prop for the National Dance.

All ready for work!

He and his American co-worker who joined him in donning local dress were a major hit at work!

This is a traditional local greeting among men called a "khashem." The guys shake hands and touch noses.

 This is a very popular picture pose they call, "hibatane" or "two pieces."

I came for a few minutes and dressed up too! It was so much fun to see their smiles at seeing us appreciate their culture. I loved taking pictures with many of his students too.

These pictures were sent to me by his students and other people in the community. Some of these were circulating on Twitter!

Rain, rain go away!

Last weekend we had planned a trip to the interior of the country to see some of the natural wonders (a couple of famous mountains and remains of old cities). Enshallah (as the locals would say), we will make it another weekend. As it happened, it rained.

yep, that's it. It rained. And our weekend was forever changed.

Being foreigners from parts of the world that see a lot of rain in comparison to our current locale, we thought the locals were warning us not to travel because they have some irrational fear of wetness, or they have so little experience driving in rain that they can't imagine anyone can travel safely while it is raining.

We were WRONG.

The locals told us not to travel because they know what "rain" means around here. Remember the wadis from my old post (http://omanwhatalife.blogspot.com/2013/04/wadis-and-4x4s.html)? These river beds are typically dry, but due to the rocky earth that refuses to absorb any water, and the elevation difference between the mountains and the passable roads, the wadis flood in mere minutes and roads are completely cut off.

Our journey began in what amounted to a series of large puddles

 

It was slow going, but no trouble, so we continued on thinking it would take longer than planned, but confident we would be able to navigate the waters in our 4x4

The landscape was gorgeous, and the weather had a refreshing slight chill to it. As we were in 90F temps a few weeks ago, we welcomed the chill. And like these locals who drove half an hour just to see the water, we reveled in the beauty and majesty.

 

 

 

A little less than an hour away from our home the flooding started to get a little more intense

 

This Wadi was impassable for smaller vehicles. The car with the hood up in the foreground was driven through the water, but the engine was somehow affected by the water and it stopped running.

We got stuck at this one for about half an hour waiting for the bulldozer to clear unseen rocks from the road so we could cross safely.

 We made it to the other side! and then another half hour down the road we caught up with another group of travelers assessing and trying to cross a wadi.

 

This guy decided to try to find an off-road route. Unfortunately, he returned shortly after since he found the wadi was impassible.

 

We were told it would be at least 2 hours before the wadi would go down - maybe. In the meantime, we decided to check out the surroundings on the stretch of road we could access (and maybe I was happy to find a gas station for a bathroom break).

Not far back down the road we found this neat little fort!

 
With a nifty tree growing in the courtyard! The Tree of Gondor?

After a bit of sightseeing and leg stretching, we made our way back to check on the wadi to determine if we could even make our trip or not.  These guys were waiting just like us.

Unfortunately, the water level had actually risen, and it was pretty clear we were not going to make it much further down this road.

 

 This guy wasn't deterred though.

 

We decided not to follow him.

 

We turned around and headed back, but thanks to rising levels at the previous wadis, we were stuck for awhile. Thankfully, the waters headed back towards home went down enough that we were able to get home that night. But, we went less than 100 km away from home and spent 8 hours traveling. It was a pretty crazy experience, but the lesson was learned: listen to what the locals have to say!

 

Kitchen Adventures

One thing I didn't anticipate about ex-pat life is the number of things I would learn to make for myself instead of buying the pre-made version. Salsa, pico de gallo, pie crust, donuts, tortillas, caramel for apples and peppermint mochas to name a few. Why do I make these things from scratch? Because they are healthier than store bought versions chalked-full of preservatives? No, truthfully, because I either I cannot find them in our stores, or they are incredibly expensive as imported items (i.e. 10 dollars for 6 tortillas).

It is pretty exciting to learn to do new things, and I have had some great successes (even if a few things have flopped). Live and learn!

Caramel dipping sauce (this one was a success!)

Tortillas - they were pretty good, but I will try a different recipe next time.

 

Happy Fall!

Something in me says it can't be November without colored leaves and hot drinks. Leaves are pretty rare over here and they never become red or yellow. And with temperatures are still in the 80s, so it is hard to crave a hot drink, but I have still made an attempt to add some fall to our little home.

So, Happy Fall!!

(and yeah, I couldn't find pumpkins, but these Indian fruits looked similar enough)