Local Culture

Today, I went with the American Women's Association to the Blue Souk in Sharjah. Souks are open air markets that sell local crafts, jewelry, rugs, antiques, textiles (and some junk). Haggling for the best price is encouraged in the Souks.

The United Arab Emirates is made up of 7 Emirates or cities. Dubai is considered a very westernized Emirate. Sharjah is a neighboring Emirate and is the third largest in the area. It is also much more conservative. In this Emirate, the sale, possession and consumption of alcohol is banned. It also has the strictest decency laws in the UAE, with a conservative dress code required for both men and women (shoulders and knees must be covered). While at the Souk we learned about buying locally made carpets and rugs, which was interesting and definitely worth a potential trip back when we are in our own place and ready to decorate.

We also ate lunch at a Yemen restaurant. In this culture, you sit with your group on a large carpet and order food for your entire party. We had chicken, fish and lamb (although, I could not bring myself to try the lamb). Lunch also came with Arabic Bread and rice. It was all pretty good and a great way to try something new.

The group of women that I went with met at a "regular" mall so I did a little "regular" shopping at the Gap and a European Children's/Maternity store before heading back to the hotel. (This type of shopping is definitely much more my type of shopping.)