"UAE Moments" and a "Sharjah Surprise"

After many promptings from Abez, KNICQ and Owl, I got myself down to the local internet cafe to read my emails and blog. It's not that I've been too busy to do these things,what was keeping me away was the cockroach infest computers at the cafe. Abez gave me the rundown of which computers are the most infected: the ones on the back wall, the one nearest the office and the one in the Conner of the front wall were the keyboard is infested with tiny baby roaches. Type "r" for roach, "p" for pest or "w" for watch out!!!

When I got here at 12:30, the lab was full so I waited and luckily, the first computer available was a good one. The only roach I've seen so far is on the window ledge, three feet away, unmoving, and on his back. (If the good roach is a dead roach, he must be a good one.)

Not much to write except my usual nonsense. I've had two "UAE Moments" lately. I got a "Sharjah Surprise" the other day. In our sister city of Dubai they have a summer activities program called Dubai Summer Surprises. It's a campaign to get the adults and kiddies to brave the summer heat and humidity, come out of the house for sales and fun activities in the shopping malls. Well, in Sharjah we have other surprises for the intrepid citizens who exit their air conditioned houses and trek the vast sandy expanses of Sharjah. Yesterday, I was out walking in the neighborhood trying to get my errands done despite 106 degree heat and 40% humidity when a "Sharjah Surprise" caught me: it was a blast of hot, sand-laden wind that hit my face and gave me a mouth full of sand. I could appreciate the free sand-blasting of my teeth and derm-abrasion of my skin. Thanks Sharjah for such a nifty surprise.

My second "UAE Moment" occurred this morning. I was putting on my denim jumper when a coin fell from my pocket and landed on the floor standing upright on it's edge. "How odd." I mused, feeling very Alice in Wonderland-ish as I realized I had never before seen a coin stand upright when dropped. I picked up the coin to examine it and realized this must occurre often here since the 50 "cent" coin is a septagon, having 7 flat edges on it's rim.

"Toto, We aren't in Kansas anymore," but I'm adapting.