Sheikh Mohammed Centre For Cultural Understanding

This morning Savannah and I took my mom to the Sheikh Mohammed Centre For Cultural Understanding. Chris and I went to the center when we were on our first visit to Dubai. To be honest, it was the thing on our itinerary that we were the least looking forward to and by the time we left it was our favorite thing that we had done during our brief stay.

The center is run by a local Emirati business man. He has returned to Dubai and opened the center in order to increase awareness and understanding between the cultures that live in Dubai.

Operating under the motto "open doors, open minds", the center strives to remove barriers between people of different nationalities and raise awareness of local culture, customs, and religion in the United Arab Emirates.

Over a traditional Emirati breakfast he gives you information and you are free to ask any questions you have. It is a really informative and interesting way to learn, while enjoying delicious food!

Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championships

Today, Chris and I took advantage of having my mom in town and went to Abu Dhabi by ourselves. We went to watch the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championships. Tiger Woods and Rory Mcilroy were paired together and boy did they have a crowd following. I think every spectator on the course was following their pairing. Luckily, we had tickets through Chris' work so sat on the Hospitality Pavilion's deck and watched the players come into the 18th hole. We had a great view of the golfer's once they hit the green (or the sand bunkers near the green). It was a great way to see Tiger and Rory up close. It was also fun to be out for the afternoon just the two of us! We are definitely spoiled by having my mom here to babysit!

(The picture of the road sign is on the highway between Dubai and Abu Dhabi and makes me laugh every time we drive by it.)

Fun in the Grass!

Today mom, Savannah and I had lunch at Baristi inside the Le Méridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina. It is a great spot for an outdoor lunch as it overlooks the Arabian Sea and Palm Jumeriah. It was a clear day so you could look out to Palm Jumeriah and see our apartment building as well as the Atlantis.

When we were leaving Savannah stopped to play in the grass. It seems so simple but we often forget that grass is kind of new for her. Sand she is used to (and loves) but grass is hard to come by in Dubai. It is fun to watch her run and play on a surface that we wouldn't give a second thought to but to her it is a novelty.

Grand Mosque-Abu Dhabi

After lunch at Emirates Palace, we headed over to the Grand Mosque. This mosque is one of the few that is open to non-Muslims. All women entering the mosque must wear the traditional dress and have their hair covered at all times. Men have to wear the traditional dress, but only if they are wearing shorts.

The mosque is amazingly beautiful and enormous. It is 22,412 square meters, about the size of five football fields and can accommodate 40,960 worshipers. There are 82 domes all decorated in marble and semi precious stones. The entire mosque is made of marble, stone, gold, semi-precious stones and crystals. We took a tour through the mosque with a guide. He had lots of information to share with us regarding the religion, traditions and the mosque itself. There are about 1,000 columns int he outer area and just under 100 inside the main prayer hall. In keeping with Dubai trend of having the biggest and best of everything the mosque is home to the world's largest chandelier as well as the world's largest hand knotted carpet. The carpet is beautiful and was hand knotted by 1200 artisans in small villages near Mashhadin, Iran.

The mosque was beautiful, both inside and out and was fascinating to learn so much about the culture we are living in.