American University of Sharjah: Fall 2008: Tuesday, 19 August 2008

This morning, Kendal, Jeremy, and I headed into Sharjah. Kay, who arrived late Sunday, also joined us but quickly went home since she was not feeling well. We had planned to go the the Al-Arsa Souk first since it is closed between 1 and 4 in the afternoon, and we wanted to do some shopping. However, our taxi cab driver did not drop us off at the souk. Instead, we ended up at an old fort/jail turned museum. It is called the Al-Hisn Fort, and we decided to explore it a bit before heading on to the souk. It was interesting but very warm despite their best air conditioning attempts.

After the fort, we wandered in what we thought was the direction of the souk but ended up at a different souk. We went inside anyway since we were very hot and the souk was covered and air conditioned. It was very nice inside we several stores selling carpets, scarves, and real antiques. I bought two scarves but was rather upset when I got home and discovered the selling had put the wrong scarves in the bag. I had wanted a green and a tan scarf but ended up with two black ones in addition to the black one I own all ready. I'm not sure if he did that on purpose or by accident, but whatever the situation, I'm am very upset that I now have three black scarves and no green or tan ones. I also bought a horse key chain which is beautiful.

We ended up having lunch in the souk and a little store. They only had fish or chicken (I got chicken) but it was nice to eat at a non-Western store for once. The food was great for me (the soup was spicy and the rice that came with the chicken was far too lemony) but it was still nice to try some more local food.

The souk was beginning to close down around then, so we left to go try and find more museums. We were very unsuccessful at this and eventually ended up walking along the Sharjah waterfront. Unfortunately, it was around 1:30 at this point and probably around 115 degrees, so we lasted about ten minutes of walking before we flagged down a cab to take us on yet another trip to Carre-four. We all got some more food, adaptors, and I got a water bottle so I can fill it up instead of constantly buying bottled water.

Finally, around 3:00, we headed home where I basically just relaxed for the rest of the day. I cooked some pasta which now taste no different than the pasta at home. I also did laundry only to discover that I did not buy laundry detergent but rather fabric softener the other day. I really didn't care; I just wanted clean clothing, so all my clothes where washed in fabric softener today. I don't know how clean they really are, but they smell nice. Tomorrow, I am going to Al-Ain and maybe Dubai. Everything is still going well.

-Lindsay

Al-Hisn Fort: