We discovered a wonderful French café, the French Connection, right behind our building. We spent a long quiet morning there in spite of Bat Man showing on the large TV screen. With free wireless internet Axel was able to take care of some business while I made it about halfway through the Elephanta Suite by Paul Theroux, thinking it was an India travelogue, which it isn’t, but a nice read anyways.
In the afternoon Chuck’s brother and wife picked us up for a spin around town. We alighted at a southern California sort of café (Australian really) that served fantasy cakes and shakes. Sitting only a few hundred meters away from the (out of sight) beach, we enjoyed the perfect summer weather looking out over the road that runs along the entire Dubai coastal section called Jumeira. You can be in Jumeira and still be miles away from being in Jumeira as everything along the beach is called that way.
From SoCal we went to the heart of the Indian textile quarter in Bur Dubai when the siesta was over and all the shops that were not on Eid holiday opened. Life starts to pick up around 5 PM as evidenced by the increasiing number of SUVs parked in the city nearby parking lots.
I thought I had seen the fabric-of-all-fabric stores but found a gazillion more. Axel had a field day with his camera, capturing the dazzling colors, while I indulged into buying two lengths of raw silk, and fantasized about dresses and jackets. We hunted for a notion store to find buttons and ribbons but, just as in Kabul, such stores are hard to find, and those we did find were closed for the holidays.
We met up with newfound friends for a lovely Thai seafood meal. We discussed so many serious topics (about art education, the higher education politics of Afghanistan (is there such a thing?), gender issues and what money does to motivation to educate oneself), that I was exhausted after the meal.
We still haven’t heard from Safi Airlines whether we are leaving on Saturday or Sunday but the end of our stay is coming into view, and so is winter. This is hard to imagine as the climate here is as close to perfection as a climate can be.
Sylvia's Journal 
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