Our taxi ride into Delhi at 5am rates as one we are surprised to have survived, just our luck to get the smallest and most decrepit taxi on the rank and as he swerved throught the mercifully light traffic in the pram sized vehicle we did wonder if and in what state we would get to the hotel - the major accident we passed on the way did not help.
Our overnight flight was on a cheap shuttle flight for some of the millions of workers in the UAE from this part of the world, we think there were only three women on the flight of which Tess was one and that we were the only foreigners. Everyone else of course had huge amounts of excess luggage as booty was taken back home.
We left Dubai after three astounding and amazing days with Ahmed's family in Abu Samra. The experience was at first a totally disorientating one as we arrived in the bosum of a large extended family in a very large house served by numerous servants. After we arrived we thought our visit was about to be severely truncated when Ahmed came to our room to say his cousin has just died as a result of a car accident the previous night - we decided we really should not stay in the house in the circumstances and made some unsuccessful efforts to get an earlier flight onto Delhi but in the morning Ahmed would not hear of our going and arranged for a driver and housemaid to look after us and take us about until after the funeral. Once that was over the family assembled and we began a round of visits, coffee and teas, meals traditional style on the floor, visits to small farms, to camel stables, and late nights (the main meal is not until 10pm with men always eating first and ladies afterwards) with the family chatting. We soon were dressed in the traditional Kedora and I hope tomorrow we can get some photos posted to show you how we looked.
Brian
The differences between our life in Egypt (clean but tatty hotel, lots of walking, eating very modestly) and our three days of complete pampering in UAE are just so huge that it is difficult to describe. We were looked after, our washing and ironing was done and we were fed in a lavish manner, the food in Abu Samra was fanstastic. The household is traditional so men and ladies eat separately, men first, women next. You sit round a large plastic covered table cloth in a huge, carpeted room. I was given a spoon (I discovered that I am useless at eating with my hand and being left handed is a bit of a problem because of course the left hand is only used for one purpose and it isn't eating), even with a spoon I still spilled more rice than anyone else.
The house hold concists of Ahmeds most charming mother, his Dad (very handsome), Ahemed and up stairs his older brother (who is a policeman and not about a grat deal), his brothers wife, Minou and their four very lively children - Mubarak (9), Moser(7/8), Meera(5) and Salem(3), with the exeption of Salem who dosnt go to school yet, they all speak really very good English and even little Meera can write and knows all her letters. They are lively though and the reason we couldnt get on the internet at Abu Sabra was an unfortunate incident with a glass of Ribena and a laptop. We did however manage to look at the wedding photos of Sophie & Laurences wedding, which every one love (they were particularly taken by Elspeth, ooh went all the ladies.)
Only the young people speak much English and they speak very good English, women of 25 to about 35 speak some English and older ladies only speak Arabic. Every one was absolutly lovely to us though, very generous with their time and with assorted gifts and as I was taken about to tea with various ladies the younger ones always translated. I was also allowed to do 'Man' things, like visit the camels and the camel racing training place and Brian was allowed to be in the same room as unvieled ladies (as a sort of adopted family member). We both had a lovely visit to a cousin of Ahmed's who showed us her traditional holiday home in the desert and told us about the ways in which people used to do things.
I could go on for ages, but I will finish here.
Tessa
Our overnight flight was on a cheap shuttle flight for some of the millions of workers in the UAE from this part of the world, we think there were only three women on the flight of which Tess was one and that we were the only foreigners. Everyone else of course had huge amounts of excess luggage as booty was taken back home.
We left Dubai after three astounding and amazing days with Ahmed's family in Abu Samra. The experience was at first a totally disorientating one as we arrived in the bosum of a large extended family in a very large house served by numerous servants. After we arrived we thought our visit was about to be severely truncated when Ahmed came to our room to say his cousin has just died as a result of a car accident the previous night - we decided we really should not stay in the house in the circumstances and made some unsuccessful efforts to get an earlier flight onto Delhi but in the morning Ahmed would not hear of our going and arranged for a driver and housemaid to look after us and take us about until after the funeral. Once that was over the family assembled and we began a round of visits, coffee and teas, meals traditional style on the floor, visits to small farms, to camel stables, and late nights (the main meal is not until 10pm with men always eating first and ladies afterwards) with the family chatting. We soon were dressed in the traditional Kedora and I hope tomorrow we can get some photos posted to show you how we looked.
Brian
The differences between our life in Egypt (clean but tatty hotel, lots of walking, eating very modestly) and our three days of complete pampering in UAE are just so huge that it is difficult to describe. We were looked after, our washing and ironing was done and we were fed in a lavish manner, the food in Abu Samra was fanstastic. The household is traditional so men and ladies eat separately, men first, women next. You sit round a large plastic covered table cloth in a huge, carpeted room. I was given a spoon (I discovered that I am useless at eating with my hand and being left handed is a bit of a problem because of course the left hand is only used for one purpose and it isn't eating), even with a spoon I still spilled more rice than anyone else.
The house hold concists of Ahmeds most charming mother, his Dad (very handsome), Ahemed and up stairs his older brother (who is a policeman and not about a grat deal), his brothers wife, Minou and their four very lively children - Mubarak (9), Moser(7/8), Meera(5) and Salem(3), with the exeption of Salem who dosnt go to school yet, they all speak really very good English and even little Meera can write and knows all her letters. They are lively though and the reason we couldnt get on the internet at Abu Sabra was an unfortunate incident with a glass of Ribena and a laptop. We did however manage to look at the wedding photos of Sophie & Laurences wedding, which every one love (they were particularly taken by Elspeth, ooh went all the ladies.)
Only the young people speak much English and they speak very good English, women of 25 to about 35 speak some English and older ladies only speak Arabic. Every one was absolutly lovely to us though, very generous with their time and with assorted gifts and as I was taken about to tea with various ladies the younger ones always translated. I was also allowed to do 'Man' things, like visit the camels and the camel racing training place and Brian was allowed to be in the same room as unvieled ladies (as a sort of adopted family member). We both had a lovely visit to a cousin of Ahmed's who showed us her traditional holiday home in the desert and told us about the ways in which people used to do things.
I could go on for ages, but I will finish here.
Tessa
3 comments:
all very interesting stuff...looking forward to your impressions of India. We were last there in 1974 - I wonder if things have changed much? A much bigger middle class I think
It is snowing heavily here in Cambridge nad of course the whole country has ground to a halt.
Enjoy!
Commiserations to Ahmed and his family, and glad you got sorted out eventually without feeling as though you were being intrusive.
It sounds as though Abu Samra was a welcome break in your travels -- somewhere to recharge the batteries before continuing on to India.
I hope, Tessa, that you're making notes on the various dishes you've been having so that we can relive the journey meal-by-meal when you get back. And what's all this about you making a mess spilling all the rice? Who would have guessed that about our Tessa, eh?!!
And that journey into Dehli! Well, the problem, as you've found, with carrying such small bags is that you'll always get the small taxi. It'll always be the only one left. Not for you the capacious Morris Oxford: you're destined for the Fiat 500s of this world!
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