I have to write the day of the week in these notes, because here the days are so different from at home. The weekend is Thursday and Friday, so Sunday is an ordinary weekday in every respect.
Today I ventured off on my own. My objective was to see a museum in the restored house of a former, beloved leader. Except, the taxi took me to the Dubai Museum . It was wonderful! What I took to be the whole museum was the inside of a rather small fort. It had been with obviously old brick walls and a rampart. But it was perhaps one hundred feet square. The sun was highly concentrated within the four walls, literally breathtakingly hot! The walls were actually double, with a passage along each side that was cool, although I couldnt quite tell if was helping.
These passageways held the usual cabinets with artefacts and explanations, interesting enough, covering approximately the twentieth century. The courtyard contained three cannons – a shiny British brass cannon and two black iron ones with mouth There were also several different boats propped up in the sand, most of a personal size. A bigger dhow was
outside the walls. Also, there was a grass hut with some furnishings – mats on the walls for future use and carpet on the floor forming a sitting room, plus a bed, of which two of the four posters formed of a wall.
One directional sign pointed to New Galleries. These were unexpectedly imaginative and extensive. A spiral led down to a floor where you stepped into/onto the model of a dhow, which enabled you to disembark into the port of Dubai. There, you wandered through the port activities (models of loading dhows, mending nets, etc.) and into the souk. Shops had models or videos on TVs, or excellent videos projected on gauze fabric. One was done so well I wondered how they could afford to hire someone to sit all day doing hand carpentry. He was actually a video – perfect perspective! The path led on to typical homes and then out into the desert for anthropology, and through more traditional displays of artifacts from digs, dating from 3000 BCE. It led finally into the ocean to sea pearl diving, fishing, flora, fauna, etc. Altogether, a most imaginative and coherent exhibition.
the street to seek the original museum. I asked directions from the guard, but he either gave me what contrary directions or I didnt understand him. In any case, I came into the textile souk, where we are going tomorrow evening to make purchases. It is much longer than I expected. Although the streets and blocks are small, the market runs about six or seven blocks deep and perhaps half a mile long, beside the (dredged to form a wide lagoon).
The shops are mostly a few steps wide, if that, meaning there are a lot on each block! They hang samples from doors that push open or shut and form the fronts of the shops. A few vendors called out to me but most paid no attention. There didnt seem to be much dealing or shopping going on. Over the longest streets, a wooden arched canopy had recently been erected on the tops of the building, so it was relatively cool in most of the souk.
After traversing this twice, I gave up my quest and just relaxed. I went in one long shop, not so narrow as some. It was a general store,
stocked like of a dollar store and the bulk bins section of a grocery store: spices galore, candies, nuts, household items, etc. There were dates (Saudi), which I bought, and I added a package of small pita breads for my lunch. The bread was much softer and thicker than our pita – perhaps made with some leavening.
Wandering along, I came to a area and gradually came to the conclusion that it was time to retreat. Back to the apartment for lunch, nap and swim.
