Long time no update! Back from Singapore, you know the drill, check out the pics on Facebook. It was a great trip, wonderful to see old friends, and definitely fraught with emotion: as much as J & P's marriage does restore my faith in loving, healthy, functional partnerships, it also makes me realize how faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar I am from that point in my life - I cannot even put enough "a"s in "far" to express that to you.
So yeah, back in Dubai, trying to end my fight with this city which should be a lot easier once (a) the weather cools down, and (b) Ramadan ends. I have faith (but not proof) that both things will happen soon. This weekend we went to the Aquaventure water park at the new Atlantis resort (yes, brought to you by the same people who created that famous high school spring break haven in the Bahamas) on the Palm. It was fun and it kind of reminded me of being in Florida, which was great given my weird cravings for Americana as of late.
Also notable from the weekend was our taxi ride to check out new hotspot Zuma, during which the following conversation occured:
E: Are you from Pakistan?
Taxi Driver: Yes.
E: From where in Pakistan?
Taxi Driver: Peshawar
E: Peshawar, there's lots of terrorists there, huh?
Taxi Driver: Yes.
E: Are you a terrorist?
Taxi Driver: No. But my two brothers are in the army and they were killed in a terrorist attack last week.
E: [stunned silence]
Taxi Driver: You know who is responsible for terrorism in Pakistan? The USA. If the USA wanted, in one month they could get rid of all the terrorists in my country.
Yeah... just your average start to a night out with friends. Honestly though - what a reality check, especially for my oft-documented (although sometimes merited) visciousness to taxi drivers here.
At any rate. I am going to Uganda for 4 days at the end of this week for Eid, which is extremely exciting. We will see either gorillas or waterfalls but probably not both as we don't have a ton of time and we also want to soak up the krazy-bustling-African-capitalness of Kampala. I'm traveling with E, New Blonde American Friend L, and another new American guy friend M, who we like A LOT because he's already assigned us all roles to play in his proposed reenactment of Operation Thunderbolt at the Entebbe airport (I get to be Idi Amin, SCORE!), but who sadly is age-ineligible for a crush because he is Princeton '05 which makes him, like, 12?!
So with that, off to buy malaria pills and and Lonely Planet East Africa during lunch!
