Dubai - Day One NY and Dubai

Wow oh wow... what a wonderful day we had. I don't think I've been to sleep in 36 hours. We left NY yesterday at 11am.

There are 23 of us on this trip. 3 of them are men. So far we have only had two people toss their cookies one on the plane and one on the dessert safari this evening. Our twelve hour flight on United Arab Emerites Airlines that was pretty impressive. I have pictures to post, but not tonight. I did get to watch the Kings Speach and a movie about soccer in Africa. We arrived in Dubai, UAE at 9am this morning.

From there we left to see the Spice markets and the streets lined with gold. I don't know that I have ever seen so much glitter. Not even diamond row up in NY. It was beautiful. Dubai is an incredibly beautiful city.

It was a balmy 120 degrees here today and I believe that I have sweated at least 5lbs today. I decided to not go up into the highest building because all of the buildings around were incredible. Too many to see and you CAN see them all. Instead I found myself in the largest mall with a 2 story aquarium in it watching a scuba diver feed the sharks that were as long as I am tall and getting hugged by the sting rays that were as big as the scuba diver was. From there it was a cup of joe and a bag of M&M's for lunch. Bottled water stays at my side on a continual basis.

We met lots of friends along the way and got to know the locals and they explained their head pieces and what they meant, why some women wear head pieces and why others do not.

From there we left for the safari drive in the dessert. I didn't know if my stomach could handle it and out of the 8 of us that went only one got sick. Sand was everywhere. Roll bars, insurance, and many other necessary things in order to go with a great licenced company. Our guide was great and really explained a lot of culture to us. One girl almost bailed when the driver asked if we wanted helmets. He was only joking, but when he deflated the tires so the sand wouldn't burn them out we both got a little concerned. All in all it was beyond words. I rode a drom-ma-dairy (one hump cammel) instead of a cammel. I ate wonderful food, got hennas tattoos and had a great time.

The one thing I forgot at home was my camera.... so... before I left NY I caught a cab to best buy and bought a new one. Now I just need to figure out a little bit more before I post the pictures here as to how to do it. I don't have a lot of time to read the owners manual so... maybe on tomorrows 5 hour flight to Dar (Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania) where we will be staying for the night before catching our private charter flight to Kigoma.

I miss Stephen, Grace and Sarah but did get to talk to them this morning before school. There is an 8 hour time difference so if it's 10pm here it's 6am at home. And tomorrow that may change again.

Dubai is a wonderful city. All of the local have been very nice and helpful. Almost everyone speaks english. I learned a great deal about how education is free and so is health care here. Lots of facinating facts and photos to share with you all soon.

Tuggle tuggle tuggle tuck in's Stephen, Grace and Sarah.... I love you and will be home soon.

Our trip coordinator, Katie is great and I think everyone is eager to hand out shoes and be with the children that need both hope and shoes.

Stay cool. I think they are calling for it to only be 115 here tomorrow and yes... they have humidity here too.

Hugs
Rachel