A Mosque, A ton of Gold and A Whirling Dervish

Well it was a busy day yesterday. Barb and I had some running around to do. While Barb was at the dentist, I walk down to the Jumeirah Grand Mosque, very impressive. Anyways, after some more running around Barb and I went to see the Burj, you know the hotel Duabi is famous for? The one with tons of gold (real gold everywhere) and all that? It was very impressive. Don't worry Julie, we didn't have to pay the $50 to get in. We went up to the lounge where you could see all of Dubai. You could see the edge of the Palm leaves on the development that is shaped like a plam tree. It was very cool. The washrooms had Hermes hand lotion in them (wow). It was beautiful, but almost to the point of being gaudy. Anyways, when we got back to the house, we all got changed and headed out to this place called the Bab Al Shams, which is a very touisty, but very well done Arabian night. We entered what they had set up as a market (a huge buffet). We had great seats right at the front where there was a band playing Arabic music. We had an Arabian 'salad' which was really Lebanese dishes like fresh pita and all kinds of dips and veggies. Then this lady came out and sang with these 5 girls dancing (although they weren't very good). Then we went for the buffet. Well because goat is one of the staples here, I tried it, but I think I am done eating goat now for awhile. I just couldn't get the picture of a little goat out of my head (Beacon Hill park in the spring with all the baby goats). After eating Barb and I went and rode a camel (haha). It was great. I can't belive how high up you are. Them standing and getting back down was a little nerve racking though, it's quite a dip. I also got to hold a falcon. Falconning is still very popular here. Birds make me nervous, so I was a little shaky, but I did it. Then the whirling dervish came on stage. Very impressive. I would have been so dizzy. Then the most amazing belly dancer I have ever seen. She could issolate better then anybody I have ever seen dance before. I was very jealous as I have been trying to learn to shimmy (unsuccessfully) in African dance since January. So, it was an awesome night, very touristy, but still a lot of fun. Anyways, we are going sand duning later today, so that should be interesting (not recommended for those who get car sick). PS. Katie I hope you have that baby soon!