Hello there. Sorry I've been absent for a week or so now. I've been out having more adventures to tell you about. As you'll recall, the last post was about my intense longing for some storms...some storms with moisture, but alas, there are few to be had. However! Jerri K and I were able to experience the next best thing earlier this week. We took a two-and-a-half day mini-cation to Al Ain, the "oasis" of the UAE, to visit some "relatives" of mine. Jeff and Treva are my dad's cousin's wife's uncle and aunt (so calling them relatives might be a stretch, but they're the closest relations I have on this side of the world, so I'm sticking with it!). I'd been pretty sick for the whole week before we went to visit, so Treva did a great job of cooking some "mom food" and mothering me a lot! We had several little adventures while we were there, including hiking, visiting an old souk, driving around, and going to a BEAUTIFUL garden...twice!
First a bit of background. Al Ain is the fourth largest city in the UAE and is located in the Abu Dhabi emirate*. Dubai is the largest city in the UAE, so in comparison, Al Ain has less of a "big city" feel and is much, much greener. Al Ain is the home of Jebel Hafeet, the tallest mountain peak in the UAE (1,249 meters, 4,068 feet), where we spent the night after my first full day in the UAE (in other words, it's a memory I only recall in small patches thanks to jet lag!). During this visit to Al Ain, we did not actually go up on the mountain, but instead explored a wadi (dried up creek bed) at the base of Jebel Hafeet. It was particularly interesting because Treva knows plants really well and Jeff knows rocks really well, so we had our own personal tour guides! Both Jerri K and I being the "country girls" that we are (and me being a "biologist" of sorts ;), we were thrilled to get to finally see nature up close, to walk around somewhere that wasn't a mall--somewhere where you had to watch your footing because the rocks were loose, not because you might run into another person;
(Jeff leap-frogged with us a bit...I think he got tired of our slow pace)
somewhere where you looked up and admired God's creation, not window displays;
(we found calcite veins in the rocks all over the place...and found lots of calcite crystals as souvenirs!)
somewhere where the bits of green stood out against the dusty rocks, not blending in with the other flashy colors;
somewhere where a closer look revealed little treasures (gems, minerals, fossils, flower buds, bird nests), not an exorbitant price tag;
(Sand dollar and some other shellfish fossil...I think)
somewhere where you could feel small and insignificant, but know that it had nothing to do with your culture or the number of dirhams in your wallet.
(Obviously, I'm a fan of this place...not that I dislike malls tremendously, this was just a VERY welcome break from city life!) We probably hiked for an hour and a half to two hours, stopping frequently to admire plants and rocks and take plenty of pictures. We hiked along the wadi (I have no idea how far) down to it's "origin" at a dry waterfall (pictured below...pretty neato)!
Once we were finished hiking, we stopped off at a falaj (part of an irrigation system; I think that's what it was) to soak our feet for a bit. The water was coming straight from its source in the earth and was surprisingly warm. (The green stuff in the picture is algae growing along the falaj walls.)
First a bit of background. Al Ain is the fourth largest city in the UAE and is located in the Abu Dhabi emirate*. Dubai is the largest city in the UAE, so in comparison, Al Ain has less of a "big city" feel and is much, much greener. Al Ain is the home of Jebel Hafeet, the tallest mountain peak in the UAE (1,249 meters, 4,068 feet), where we spent the night after my first full day in the UAE (in other words, it's a memory I only recall in small patches thanks to jet lag!). During this visit to Al Ain, we did not actually go up on the mountain, but instead explored a wadi (dried up creek bed) at the base of Jebel Hafeet. It was particularly interesting because Treva knows plants really well and Jeff knows rocks really well, so we had our own personal tour guides! Both Jerri K and I being the "country girls" that we are (and me being a "biologist" of sorts ;), we were thrilled to get to finally see nature up close, to walk around somewhere that wasn't a mall--somewhere where you had to watch your footing because the rocks were loose, not because you might run into another person;
somewhere where you looked up and admired God's creation, not window displays;
somewhere where the bits of green stood out against the dusty rocks, not blending in with the other flashy colors;
(Sodom's apple, Calotropis procera)
somewhere where a closer look revealed little treasures (gems, minerals, fossils, flower buds, bird nests), not an exorbitant price tag;
(another calcite vein, and Treva and Jerri K taking a break; and no human painted this rock on the right)
(bird nest in a rock crevice)
(same rock in both pictures)
(peek-a-boo!)
Once we were finished hiking, we stopped off at a falaj (part of an irrigation system; I think that's what it was) to soak our feet for a bit. The water was coming straight from its source in the earth and was surprisingly warm. (The green stuff in the picture is algae growing along the falaj walls.)
*The United Arab Emirates is composed of seven emirates (political territories): Abu Dhabi (the capital and largest emirate), Dubai, Sharjah, Fujairah, Ajman, Ras al-Khaimah, and Umm al-Quwain.
