Forbidden Fruit

It's late, so be forewarned.  The later it is I do this, the more prone to errors.  My apologies, in advance.

Now with that tidbit of knowledge, let's dig in.

I began the day by giving myself a perm and dying my hair.  To the guys reading this, I know this doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is.  Thankfully, I've almost always done my hair myself, so this transition here was easy.  I've even cut my hair myself.  That might be why it's in so many different lengths.  Anyway, it's one less thing to worry about finding help with.

Next, I waited for the arrival of the dresser mirror that had been broken on two previous attempts to install it.  Gratefully, it arrived in one piece and was installed in about fifteen minutes.  My home is now officially complete.

One of the ladies that I traveled with from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain, invited me to dinner. She's British.  Unfortunately, she is still waiting on her passport, and so she doesn't have a car yet.  No worries.  I picked her up.  It gave me a chance to see the other apartment complex where many of the ADEC folks live.  It was very nice, but those of us living in my complex got the better end of the deal.  For one, where she lives is farther from the city center, so it takes longer to get places you need to visit or do business with.  Also, ours are bigger.  We have 2.0 bedrooms and 2.5 baths.  They have 2.0 bedrooms, with 1.5 baths.  They have bigger kitchens, though.  Of course, I'm not sad about the size of ours.

My friend is throwing herself a birthday/open house event tomorrow, that I wasn't interested in going to.  She asked if I wanted to go to dinner instead, and I chose dinner.  We went to the Hilton, the landmark that I saw from seventeen different angles on one of the days I was hopelessly lost.  I'm using my GPS, but just the thought of going to the Hilton, flooded my mind with images of being lost.  You know, the map in my lap, and going around the roundabout there, over and over again.

Anyway, it's her birthday, so she picked the spot.

BUT, before we made it to the Hilton, she asked to go by the liquor store to pick up some wine for her party tomorrow.

Remember, this is a dry COUNTRY.  The only place you can get liquor legally is at hotels with bars and lounges, and this little store, apparently.

So, she is directing me as I drive.  No GPS for this stop.  It is behind the Hilton, with several turns getting us deeper and deeper into darkness, when we see a bunch of cars crowded around a little hole-in-the-wall store.  There's no sign identifying it as a store.  In fact, there's a porch, so it's resembles someone's house.  Once inside, I'm totally fascinated.

Now, you know, I don't drink.  Never have.  Being raised by an alcoholic father was the best deterrent I needed to stay away from the stuff.

But, I was fascinated by this store.  It was packed - wall to wall - with every kind of hard liquor, beer and wine you could think of.  And the line of folks buying the stuff was crazy long, but it was moving fast.  Didn't see any native Emirati.  If they were there, they were wearing street clothes.  I'm guessing any native would send someone else to buy it for them.

The folks buying all of this forbidden fruit, were the men who make up the labor force.

Side note - Did I mention we were the only women anywhere near the place?

And goodness gracious, buying they were.  Every guy in there left with at least two bags.  The bags were plastic and black.  You have to hide your purchases, I guess.

My friend paid for her wine and off we went back to the jammed parking lot.  It was one way in and and one way out, so you had to turn around to exit the joint.  Not an easy task with all of the traffic.  Based on the crazy parking that some of the guys did, I'm wondering if some of them had a few before they got there.

We made our way to the Hilton.  Had to wait about an hour for dinner to be served. We sat in the bar and had a couple of drinks - wine for my friend, hot tea for me. Rhythm and Blues was playing over the PA System.  Only a few folks there, mostly expats.

We then moved to one of the restaurants and had a lovely dinner and great conversation.  This lady is about my age.  Even though we come from very different worlds, our common age made conversation easy.

On the ride home, she mentioned a grocery store near her that sells pork.  Now remember, this is a Muslim country so pork is another of the forbidden fruit.

Once I dropped her off, I made a beeline to that store, on a mission to buy some bacon.  It's amazing the things you crave when they are off limits.

Well, I was in hog's heaven.  Pardon the pun.  I bought bacon, a whole ham, some sausages and my first frozen dinner.  Way too much, I'm sure, but this store is not along my beaten path, so I don't expect to go by there again soon.

The pork is sold in a separate room in the front of the store.  There's a sign over the door that states this section is for non-Muslims only.

Side note 2 - Beyonce was playing over the PA System in this store.

Twice today, I "tasted" of the UAE's version of forbidden fruit.  I gotta tell you, it was kinda of exciting.   You think I have the makings of a "bad girl?"

Nah.

I can still hear my momma's admonitions about making the right choices.  I know.  As old as I am.  A mother's projected guilt can last a lifetime.  Yes, I was raised Catholic.  Double the guilt.

Remember me as you go about your day, and don't do anything I wouldn't do.

Good night.