My trip to Abu Dhabi and the UAE has been years in the making. It started six years ago when my brother’s best friend Jean told us he was going to be attending NYU Abu Dhabi. My mother immediately told him that we would be there for his graduation. On an air-con chilled late night (or very early morning) sitting at Bren’s computer in Collingwood while FaceTiming my mom back in January I booked the tickets and still it feels like this adventure snuck up on me.
We arrived late Saturday evening and I was tired, sweaty, and hungry. Thankfully it’s Ramadan and so finding food late at night isn’t an issue since that’s the only time you are allowed to eat. They even made an announcement when we landed that because of the holiday there is no public eating, drinking, or smoking allowed in the country. Doing so will incur a fine. So when we walked into the hotel restaurant at 23:30 we were invited to eat outside near the beach. Even with the proximity to water the heat and humidity was oppressive so we ate indoors. It took about a million years from ordering the food to receiving it. I am not sure if it was my hunger or the food but the chicken schwarma I got was one of the best I’ve ever had.
After sleeping like the dead (rock hard bed included) it was off to eat breakfast which was a buffet in the hotel. It was an interesting mix of British, American, and Middle Eastern food. There was this zatar croissant that I fell in love with and have since made a note to hunt them down back home in NYC. I ate to my hearts content and then we hopped in an Uber to check out the Sheikeh Zayed Grand Mosque.
The Grand Mosque is perhaps the poster child of opulence. White marble imported from a host of countries, artisans from the UK, mosaics, mother of Pearl inlays all over and each artistic detail painstakingly well thought out. Really an amazing structure. Being a Mosque it required conservative clothing so while the whole family wore pants my mother and I also had to wear robes with a hood on them (mom opted to use a headscarf she packed instead). I didn’t mind the robe much and after a while began to debate with myself how culturally insensitive it might be to buy a couple and wear them during the trip instead of the clothing I brought with me. I’m not Muslim but the robes they wear here are so much better for the weather then any western clothing I could think of.
By some miracle we managed to make it on the last tour of the mosque. The guided tour was hands down better then just walking around yourself or using an audio tour because the guide explains all of the art and architecture as well as brings you up close and personal with the ornate chandeliers in the main prayer area. The prayer room is thankfully air conditioned so I was happy to stand there and listen to the reasoning behind all the decorative items in the room. They also had a ton of water bottles out. My mom, dehydrated from the strong sun, thought that they were for the tourists but the guide immediately explained that the water is there for people who come to worship at the break fast time. It’s a good thing the guide didn’t let anyone even consider taking one.
At the end of the tour we walked back to the exit with the guide asking her all kinds of questions about Ramadan and not drinking water (the woman said it was a challenge cause of how hot it is but it’s worth it for her faith) and the weather and the area in general. She was very kind and helpful. She mentioned to my mother to be sure to get the shuttle back to the exit instead of walking. A few more photos later we were headed back down into the long tunnels that brought us to the mosque. We asked be security guard for the shuttle just like the guide said to and sure enough a large airport golf cart came to get us. A huge line of people gathered after we had gotten there but being first we were able to all get seats. The golf cart went down the tunnel path so fast that the wind blew off my head cover and he nearly ran over a few groups of people. It was still so much better then walking. Mom and I had to return our robes and while we were in the large closet slash changing area I scolded some women who tried to just toss the robe on the ground or furniture instead of hanging it up with the provided hangers. So rude!
At the entrance (and exit) of the mosque is a small shopping mall that is still being built. Part gift shops, part mall food court (complete with Cinnabon!) there were more shops being built then there were even in the mall. All the food shops had large opaque black curtains that you had to hide behind in order to eat or drink. We called it the shame barrier and I suppose that’s one way to eat a Cinnabon in shame without anyone noticing. Mom and Dad wanted water so we all sat behind the curtains of a Hagan Daz while they drank their sparkling water and talked about how we had to hide it from the world.
Our next stop was the St Regis Saadiyat where we would be meeting Jean for lunch. We tried to get an Uber but good luck getting data cellular service at the mosque. Our phones didn’t connect until we were at the front gate back into civilization. By that time we were already in a regular taxi on our way to the resort. The St Regis was more of an island compound then a resort. After the entrance it was a five minute drive to get to the main area. Jean met us at the front of the hotel and we were all so happy to see him. It had been a couple years since I saw him last but we all immediately fell back into how things always were. He brought us to a Lebanese restaurant which was pretty good and then we took another cab over to the Louvre which is near his campus. EJ was excited to see the Louvre because it is a bit controversial how it was all started in Abu Dhabi.
The museum was large but sparsely furnished with exhibits. It was all themed after the evolution of civilization in the world which I suppose made sense since the UAE is so close to the river valley civilizations. After a while the threads of the theme came apart and it was just a bunch of artifacts from Italy, France, and Greece. Then it was just modern art and saw what I could only assume was the sequel to the all white paintings Bren and I saw at the Melbourne museum of art - it was an all brown painting. We also saw some very famous paintings like Napoleon on horseback, Whistler’s mother, a bunch of Monets. I was kind of surprised to see such popular and famous works sitting in a museum in the middle of the desert.
After the museum EJ and Jean went back to his dorm on the NYU and the rest of us came back to the hotel. I was glad to have the chance to cool off and relax. It’s amazing how much the desert sun takes it out of you. I ended up falling fast asleep and awoke to the sound of my doorbell going off. Dragging myself out of bed I saw that I was 30min late for dinner and my mom was outside the hotel room door already dressed. I quickly got dressed and went to the lobby where I called an Uber to bring us to the restaurant.
The restaurant was near the golf course. I didn’t realize initially it was inside the golf course. My Uber driver however didn’t listen to his GPS, then didn’t listen to me, then changed GPS app, then didn’t listen to my mother, and then finally brought us to the restaurant. The golf course is right next to the airport so every time he missed a turn we had to do another loop through the airport. Even though it’s pretty small it is still a huge pain to drive in a circle for 5 minutes to get back to where we were. By the time he was on his 5th trip through the airport I was ready to mutiny and throw the guy out of the car so I could take over. We finally made it to dinner and I made a mental note to remember to fight the Uber charge which was almost double the maximum amount in their estimate.
Happy to be out of the car we were immediately greeted by Jean’s parents. It was so nice to see them again after so many years. They lead us back into the restaurant where food was already waiting. Jean and EJ were nice to leave me some of my favorite dish dubboki and Jean’s mom started cooking the meat on the grill. It was so delicious. After we ate everything Jean ordered kimbap and Korean fried chicken for us and his dad told me stories of how much Korean fried chicken he’s had and how you can order it to anywhere you happen to be. I told Jean’s mom and dad that I would need to immediately start looking for a job in Korea.
We gave Jean his graduation gifts and then hugged goodbye. It was so nice to have the whole family together and now I know I’ll have family in Korea too.
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