Dearest Family and Friends,
I
hear Mom had a wonderful 90th birthday/Easter party at her home on
Sunday. It really meant a lot to her to have friends and family come and
celebrate her life. Thanks to everyone that made it possible.
We also visited the biggest mall in the world in Dubai. It was pretty impressive with all it's glitzy stores, movie theaters, ice rink, and large aquarium. You can pay money to put on scuba gear and swim with the sharks but I wasn't too interested. I do that everyday at home with three teenagers! We did run to the movie theater and had to watch two movies in a row since theaters aren't allowed in Riyadh. We saw "Jack the Giant Slayer" and "Oz the Great and Powerful." It was fun. We go to Bahrain on the 25th and we're looking for movie recommendations again.
So, to recap our Spring Break, we took a cruise from Dubai that took us to Muscat, Oman. This is the land that scholars believe Nephi built and sailed his boat. There is an oasis in the Southeast portion of Oman that looks like you could be in Hawaii complete with abundant wildlife. While there we visited the beautiful Grand Mosque which was built of a lovely white stone with a large room in the interior for prayer. It was beautifully decorated and the people were kind and helpful, answering our questions. Here we discovered the typical bathroom from around this part of the world and we didn't quite know what to do with it. (See picture). It has a hole in the floor which I guess you're supposed to squat over. The hose in the picture is where water squirts out to clean you off, no toilet paper included. It seemed like quite a messy affair and I was glad we didn't run into that problem again.
It was nice to be in a land where trees and flowers appeared green instead of the dusty apricot color of Riyadh. We also went to the old souk complete with narrow covered cobblestone streets, aggressive vendors trying to talk you into their store, and beautiful Arabic souvenirs that are hard to resist. Gale had to drag me by the arm to get me out!
We also visited Fujairah, and Khasab where we took a dhow on a boat ride. A dhow is a flat looking thing with two levels where they throw out Arabic pillows for lounging on. We had a school of dolphins who swam alongside our dhow complete with an arial show and friendly dolphin chatter. They sure are social critters. The dhow took us out to an island in the Strait of Hormuz where we abandoned ship and swam with colorful fish (hopefully none with sharp teeth). The older Scandinavian women all really enjoyed their dip in the cool waters and were the first to jump ship.
The next day we visited Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emerites where Gale rented a van and we drove all around looking for the brand new church building in an Islamic country. When we finally found it, we jumped out and jumped for joy! It's very beautiful and isn't your typical church building. We hope someday it may be converted to one of those other beautiful edifices we cherish. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the amusement park, Ferrari World, riding roller-coasters and looking at Ferraris from their beginning. It made me miss Lagoon. Sometimes the "old familiar" just feels nicer.
On Friday we went to a nice villa in Dubai for church meetings and met some very friendly members. Their villa was set up well for meetings and classrooms and they seemed to have more freedom to worship. It was such a nice day. No matter how much freedom they enjoy in Islamic countries, the no-proselytizing rule is strictly enforced. On Saturday we enjoyed our visit to Dubai Mall but didn't have the time to visit the mall with the ski resort. I guess I'll have to come to Idaho to visit a ski resort. Yippeeeeee!!!
As much fun as we're having traveling and seeing these most interesting things, I can't wait to get home in August. I miss you all so much. Please write when you get the opportunity and keep me informed of all the happenings at home. Before we know it, our airplane will be pointed at Idaho.
Love,
DeAnna and Family
No comments:
Post a Comment