On the first night here, we drove past these little kiosks along the water. Each one is an individual space, surrounded by white lights.

They have never been, so tonight, I forced Omar and Reem to go to them, and as  soon as we sat in one, we discovered THEY ARE SWINGS!!!!!!!!!!

I was a very happy girl with karak, and pancakes loaded with bananas, strawberries, nutella, white chocolate, and vanilla ice cream.

Uhm. Did anyone know that it was ice cream, not ice-cream? I just discovered this while typing. Clearly, I need to write more about this magic that is the ice cream. Ice cream. ICE CREAM.

I’ll come back to ice cream in a second. Let me first tell you about the moment on the swing when a woman pointed a camera directly into mine and Reemo’s face. I threw my hands up in front of my face, and Reem basically buried her face into the dirty swing and kept whispering ‘Are we? Are we? Are we?’ in response to my hysterical declaration / question ‘WHY ARE WE BEING PHOTOGRAPHED?’

I laughed so hard, I think I broke a rib.

Right. So back to ice cream which is sold in grocery stores. Well. Today in one such grocery store, I had an incident. The way they roll here is produce is weighed and labelled with cost in the produce section, and then taken to checkout.

I was having our produce weighed and labelled when a  Southeast Asian woman stood to my right quietly, next in line. Two minutes later, an Arab woman came and stood to my left.

She could see the other woman waiting before her.

As soon as the produce man finished weighing my things, the Arab woman ducked over and placed her item on the scale, cutting in front of the Southeast Asian woman. (As with the woman who without consent touched me in the masjid, this woman was also not a local. This is why I am merely referencing her as an ‘Arab’.)

I actually slowed my roll because I was anticipating that this might happen. AND I WAS NOT ABOUT TO HAVE IT.

Have I mentioned the deep racism in Arab countries? This is something I have struggled with often and I am not one to shut my mouth.

I grabbed the bag she placed on the scale and moved it off, while stating with great agitation that the other woman was before her. I then told the Southeast Asian woman to move forward, and take her rightful place.

As soon as she did, I turned around and went to the cashier.

Again, consular team in Dubai: I MIGHT BE COMING FOR YOUR SOS. THANK YOU! LOVE YOU!

Today, I am grateful for:
1. Belly laughs.
2. My health.
3. That Diet Coca Cola is sweet as all hell in this country.

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