Fire and Ice

It was dreadfully hot as we left the Palace Museum in the afternoon. We decided to go in search of a store to buy water and maybe some lunch while we were at it. Almost everything was closed but we managed to make our way to a very crowded mall parking lot. We entered the mall to the sound of joyful childrens' voices and a mass of adults standing around a circle. In trying to see what all the fuss was about we discovered that here in the middle of the afternoon heat was an indoor ice skating rink. Delighted children dressed in everything from jeans to abayas were out skating. They were not very good skaters and most of them needed skate handrails to glide across the floor. This didn't stop them from having a great time and many were even racing each other using the handrails. The stores seemed to be closed inside the mall as well but we followed the crowds up the escalators to the promise of a food court. Now I'm not the kind of girl who is used to turning heads at home, in fact I'm usually pretty talented at melting into the background and being the observer rather than observed. I quickly became aware of staring faces directed towards me on the passing escalators. It was a strange feeling especially because we were not the only westerners in the mall. Men and boys stared the most openly at me and Rob said he caught a few of them looking and that they felt bad when they noticed him watching them. It seemed to be a simple case of harmless curiosity and no one said anything to either of us. Perhaps they don't see as many western tourists out here as they do in Abu Dhabi or at least not ones with hair the color of fire. I tried to pretend I didn't notice and I was just enjoying myself but I couldn't help clinging to Rob's arm as I realized there was no way to hide.

We made our way through throngs of eating people to a seemingly less crowded cafe and were seated and given menus. The waittress came back to take our order and informed us that there were only TWO things available today. The two items on the cardboard cut out in front of the cafe. We hesitated and decided that would be fine. I wondered aloud why she bothered to give us the menus? But no harm done, the food turned out to be delicious and we passed a very entertaining hour watching the waitress bring menus to other customers and then later explain that there were only two options. Surprisingly no one got upset and left. They just ordered as though this sort of thing happens everyday. Hm...I wonder if it does...