Then Mom came to visit! She was pretty brave to come all this way by herself. I picked her up in Dubai, and we spent a couple of days there before returning to my home. Here she is, nearly at the top of the world, at the lookout deck on the Burj Al Khalifa, the tallest building in the world for now.
Loved the birds-eye view on the colorful taxis. Good thing my cheap camera can zoom!
More views of the city.
Mom commandeered a friendly stranger to take our picture together.
We took the night tour of the city, which was far better than me trying to drive Mom around to see the important sights. I was bad enough driving around to get the few places I did drive to!
We saw a short sound and light show, which was a first for me here.
We spent the night in a coastal city (where I didn't take pictures) before returning to my hometown in the mountains. These are views from the city's fort, a place I had never visited before in my year here.
Isn't Mom cute in a head scarf?
The national football team just happened to be playing while she was here, so we got to go with Danny & Hannah to watch the game. It wasn't as big a game as the one I went to last fall, so the stadium wasn't packed and the atmosphere wasn't as charged. But it was still fun, and gave Mom a taste of a different part of the culture ... Kinda like taking a visitor to New England to a Red Sox game.
Happy fans after the game, because we actually won!
Another fort in a town nearby has recently re-opened, after 15 or 20 years or so of renovations. It is massive ... and offers more great views of the mountains and surrounding town.
This was the material it was largely constructed of. It didn't look very sturdy to me, but it seemed solid when I tapped it!
We visited the workspace of a local potter. He was firing the pots, not forming them, but it was still fun to look around, and an achievement just to find the place!
It was wonderful to have Mom here, and I'm feeling pretty blothpickish this day after she left. We packed so much in to the weeks she was here. I realized it might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for her, so I wanted her to get the real highlights of touristy things and meeting my friends.
As I've told two friends today that I'm sad after she's left, they have both said, "Insha'allah she will come again" or "Insha'allah she will come again next year." So maybe I need to rethink that "once-a-lifetime" mindset and make it a "once-a-year" one!
Posts
1 comment:
Haha! Once a year! That's great! Have you told your Mom yet? : )
I'm SO glad she got to come for a visit, and SO glad for how much you were able to pack into it! Awesome!
Post a Comment