A Day at Global Village in Dubai Land (By Randy)

Friday afternoon, we headed with a small group of other teachers to Dubai, specifically to Dubai Land, which when completed will be the largest theme park in the world, way beyond anything Mickey Mouse could imagine even in Orlando. Right now, only parts of it are open, including Global Village, which is only open in the winter (our tourist season).

Global Village is like World Showcase at Epcot Center at Disney World. Different countries have different pavillions, where they sell crafts and goods and food from their home countries. There are also amusement park rides (including a few rollercoasters and a huge Ferris Wheel) and shows at various locations around the park. I saw an Indian group performing with their suki players, a Chinese dance team, and a local "bounce" group who did amazing things with a trampoline and a wall.

The countries represented are more likely to be ones in our neighborhood; thus, Anastasia and I went to Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Yemen, Thailand, the Philippines, China...plus Africa was represented as a whole (as well as a few separate countries: Egypt, Morocco, Senegal...). Europe had a small pavillion, and oddly enough, two European countries have their own pavillion as well: Czech Republic and Sweden.

Of course, Israel was NOT present. The UAE doesn't recognize Israel (we often see news stories from Israel in our paper; the location may read something like "Occupied Jerusalem").

I think Christine was a more dedicated shopper, spending more time in just a few places. During the times that I had Anastasia (we took turns, of course), we covered lots of ground.

According to Christine, who had baby duty at the time, Anastasia also had her first kiss: a Sudanese boy named Yaseem. He was perhaps a year or two older, and they were at a little playground at Global Village. He leaned over to her and pursed his lips for a kiss...she knows what to do! She delivered.

Then she followed him around for a while. Boy crazy at 18 months--I'm in trouble!

The ride (by small bus) to Dubai was pretty quick this afternoon. As we were leaving, though, our bus had to slam on the brakes and skid a bit when a motorcyclist ran a stop sign without noticing us at all. Then we had to dodge a car seat that was in the road between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. There are signs here that read, "BEWARE OF ROAD SURPRISES." I'm guessing a chair in the middle of the road were qualify as a road surprise.

The ride home was uneventful this evening---and Anastasia slept going both ways, much to our relief.

Check it out at www.globalvillage.ae