Um... wow. Hi, yes, I blog. Sometimes. But not when my life is insanely crazy, aka the past two weeks of out-of-town guests and the whirlwind of sightseeing and debauchery that comes with them.
Photos from the Smel/Bubba visits may be viewed on the Facebooks. Needless to say, it was ridiculously great to see both of them (Smel for the first time since Korea 2006; Bubba for the first time since London 2005). It was very funny to reminisce and wax nostalgic about how far we've come since we met 9 years ago as innocent Georgetown froshes, fresh off the proverbial boats from Tennessee/SoCal/Brazil and lumped together on the same subterranean dorm floor. Given that those were the days when I thought Iranians were Arabs and I couldn't have located Singapore on a map if my life depended on it, it's pretty funny that a decade later, they flew in from Bangkok and Frankfurt to meet me in Dubai. It's largely the influence of that group of friends that's responsible for me being where I am today - both literally and figuratively - and given the ephemeral, transient nature of expat life in Dubai, it was awesome to spend the better part of 10 days with people who really know, well, me.
So yes. Furthermore, after a suitable whirlwind of adventures - souk shopping, camel riding, skyscraper marveling, as well as an action-packed roadtrip to Oman (which may or may not have involved picking up an old toothless hitchhiking Omani man who spoke no English and driving him over the highest mountain range in the country in my little Tucson) and several epic nights of shisha and Lebanese food and pretentious cocktails - I feel that I have fully established my credentials as an awesome Dubai tour guide. So seriously - come visit.
But yeah, I'm also knackered. Being "on" for 10 days will do that to you. Which is why some might say it's unfortunate that I will be getting up at 5 AM tomorrow to fly to Kuwait for the day with New Friend D. To which I say... the lure of $90 plane tickets and the chance to spend 12 hours in a country you've never been to (which, let's be honest, is small enough and culturally bereft enough to be thoroughly explored in about half that time) can be resisted by no man.
Onwards and upwards!
