A three day weekend, every teachers favorite thing to hear. Since I am not going anywhere significant in March, I knew I needed to get out of town this weekend. Off to the other side of the emirate-- Al Ain.
Thankfully, I had a friend who was kind enough to let me sleep on her couch. It made it a lot cheaper weekend, then if I had gone to Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Plus, I have been those places, I had not been to Al Ain. Despite living there, she had not explored much either, it was a perfect set up.
It was a really nice visit. We had been put in the Park Rotana when we first arrived and became friends there. To be honest, I cannot remember how we first met. It could have been waiting for the luggage truck to finally arrive that first night or just sitting down to breakfast together, either way we hung out, explored the city together and then parted ways when we were transferred to our school regions. We had kept in touch, a message here or there on Facebook, but had not had the chance to meet and catch up. Since I knew that Al Ain had a little more to offer, I thought it would be better to have our reunion there. She can always come visit Liwa, but she doesn't need a three day weekend to do it. Needless to say, it was nice to catch up. We talked a lot about school of course, but about life as well. Though I love the folks here in Liwa, it was nice to see a different face for a while.
As for Al Ain, I have very mixed feelings. Though life there seems to be more convenient, (once you learn to navigate the roundabouts. There wasn't one real turn in the entire city, no joke!) it was not everything that I had expected. I guess the biggest surprise was that it didn't feel like "The Garden City", as it is nicknamed. There were trees and bushes, and grass, but I just didn't feel like it was so much more. When compared to the cement matrix of Abu Dhabi, it is a garden, but I still felt like I was in the desert at times. The pertified sand dunes, that they call mountains, might have something to do with that. To be completely honest, it felt like an American suburb. The building styles were different, and the signs had Arabic and English, but otherwise a suburb feel was what it portrayed. It was really nice to visit a friend, but I do not think I could live there. Never was a huge fan of the suburbs back home.
Other than a few malls, and spending money on things I did not really need, (wouldn't be a vacation otherwise, right? ) the main place we went was the Zoo. We had planned to go to Jebel Haffeet and the Hot Springs, but he weather squashed that plan. It was really windy, and though I am sure it would have been perfectly safe, I didn't want to go out in the wind and get a nice layer of sand on me. No matter how nice the temperature, that wind can force a person inside. However, we did manage to make it to the Zoo that morning before things got windy. Though smaller than some of the zoos I have been to in the past, it was still a very nice area. There were tons of trees and flowers, and the habitats for the animals seemed humane. The animals had large enclosures, or for the giraffes, a large field. The only thing I would have liked to change is the gorilla enclosure. She had no one with her, and it was obvious that she was lonely. She sat by the window and would look up at the people with these sad eyes. I think they need to find someone to be in there with her. Every other animal had a friend, why not her? There is not much else to say about the zoo really. A zoo is a zoo; it has various animals--in this case a lot of lions--and you walk around and look at them, hoping they will do something picture worthy. The wolves were sleeping or otherwise engaged when we were there, they are the only animal I was disappointed I didn't get to see. The rest, though not active, we out in plain sight. Most taking naps in the shade or sun.
As I said before, the trip to Al Ain was nice. It was good to have a change of pace for a while, and though I did not get to do everything I would have wanted, it gives me an excuse to go back for another visit.
Thankfully, I had a friend who was kind enough to let me sleep on her couch. It made it a lot cheaper weekend, then if I had gone to Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Plus, I have been those places, I had not been to Al Ain. Despite living there, she had not explored much either, it was a perfect set up.
It was a really nice visit. We had been put in the Park Rotana when we first arrived and became friends there. To be honest, I cannot remember how we first met. It could have been waiting for the luggage truck to finally arrive that first night or just sitting down to breakfast together, either way we hung out, explored the city together and then parted ways when we were transferred to our school regions. We had kept in touch, a message here or there on Facebook, but had not had the chance to meet and catch up. Since I knew that Al Ain had a little more to offer, I thought it would be better to have our reunion there. She can always come visit Liwa, but she doesn't need a three day weekend to do it. Needless to say, it was nice to catch up. We talked a lot about school of course, but about life as well. Though I love the folks here in Liwa, it was nice to see a different face for a while.
As for Al Ain, I have very mixed feelings. Though life there seems to be more convenient, (once you learn to navigate the roundabouts. There wasn't one real turn in the entire city, no joke!) it was not everything that I had expected. I guess the biggest surprise was that it didn't feel like "The Garden City", as it is nicknamed. There were trees and bushes, and grass, but I just didn't feel like it was so much more. When compared to the cement matrix of Abu Dhabi, it is a garden, but I still felt like I was in the desert at times. The pertified sand dunes, that they call mountains, might have something to do with that. To be completely honest, it felt like an American suburb. The building styles were different, and the signs had Arabic and English, but otherwise a suburb feel was what it portrayed. It was really nice to visit a friend, but I do not think I could live there. Never was a huge fan of the suburbs back home.
Other than a few malls, and spending money on things I did not really need, (wouldn't be a vacation otherwise, right? ) the main place we went was the Zoo. We had planned to go to Jebel Haffeet and the Hot Springs, but he weather squashed that plan. It was really windy, and though I am sure it would have been perfectly safe, I didn't want to go out in the wind and get a nice layer of sand on me. No matter how nice the temperature, that wind can force a person inside. However, we did manage to make it to the Zoo that morning before things got windy. Though smaller than some of the zoos I have been to in the past, it was still a very nice area. There were tons of trees and flowers, and the habitats for the animals seemed humane. The animals had large enclosures, or for the giraffes, a large field. The only thing I would have liked to change is the gorilla enclosure. She had no one with her, and it was obvious that she was lonely. She sat by the window and would look up at the people with these sad eyes. I think they need to find someone to be in there with her. Every other animal had a friend, why not her? There is not much else to say about the zoo really. A zoo is a zoo; it has various animals--in this case a lot of lions--and you walk around and look at them, hoping they will do something picture worthy. The wolves were sleeping or otherwise engaged when we were there, they are the only animal I was disappointed I didn't get to see. The rest, though not active, we out in plain sight. Most taking naps in the shade or sun.
As I said before, the trip to Al Ain was nice. It was good to have a change of pace for a while, and though I did not get to do everything I would have wanted, it gives me an excuse to go back for another visit.
Ashley, your description of Al Ain is exactly the vibe I've been getting about it since I started reading teacher blogs. One big suburb. I think I'd rather be in the desert.
ReplyDeleteThe desert has it own special charm. I can't lie . . . it does get boring at times, but it is nice. We are a close community out here and I prefer that over anything else.
ReplyDelete