Home again, Home again, jiggity jig

The hubby and I have just returned from 10 days in UAE. It was our first time ever and first impressions:

Damn, it's not only hot as hell, but it's humid too!!!

It looks like a cleaned up and jazzed up version of Islamabad with western cars and a few Arabs thrown in for decoration.

Everybody speaks Urdu here!

We were able to see Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, and Al Ain. We were very amused by the date trees lining the roads in Abu Dahabi. Like the tourists we were, we had to stop and eat some and take a photo. They were delicious. It's quite funny to see baby trees barely 3 feet tall with dates touching the ground.

Dubai wins the prize for best landscaping of all the cities we saw.

Are we still considering relocation? We haven't decided yet. The idea of doing business with a total stranger (the required Arab sponsor) seems like a very risky situation. It seems to me that there are a lot of unprofitable businesses and the real business is selling visas. If we can figure out a way to get settled over there and then take our time to scout out the perfect business location and proper partner, then relocation wouldn't seem so risky.

We followed our UAE trip with and unexpected layover in Karachi. There we were able to meet the girlies on their way home. I always love arriving in Karachi. We always come in the cool of the night and there's always a wonderful, heady aroma that hits you once you step out of the plane. My first sight after claiming luggage and leaving the terminal was an elderly grandfather putting rose garlands on his arriving granddaughters. The scent of rose and jasmine hung about the area as he and many others garlanded their loved ones.

I haven't been to Karachi in 2 years. We had perfect weather, cool, and cloudy with occasional sprinkles. Hubby and I went for a one hour rickshaw ride tour of the city. I had to beg him for this as he thought it was silly, but I had a great time. There's something about Karachi you can only capture from the back of a rickshaw: diesel fumes, the crush of traffic, the scent of the hoi-polloi. I had several plates of Karachi haleem, which I believe is the world's greatest cure all. Abez swears by it for a cure for the common cold, but I find it even cures the dreaded "D". I think it kills all existing bacteria in your body.

It's always good to be home. The workers have nearly finished the repairs to the back yard. It was weird to look out and see a huge back loader shoveling dirt in over the wall. One never knows when heavy equipment will come calling here.

Anyway, here we are back in Isloo half-way between the chaos of Karachi and the clean of UAE, but it's home.