Owens Abroad Adventure: Souqs and Creeks

Today was adventure day. We decided to take the metro. It was enjoyable on some aspects, but definitely not on others. I have never felt so violated by man staring at me. It is almost as if they have never seen a woman before. We were in a large group, and had some of our male coworkers with us, but it did not discourage the men from staring. These men were not Emirati men (or nationals), they were mostly Indian men. I (and all of our group) were conservatively dressed, and the stares we got were unreal. A group of men even decided to take out their camera phones and snap photos. Uncomfortable and strange.

So we took the metro to Bur Dubai, which is old Dubai, to go to the souqs. Souqs are the open air markets where you can by textiles, gold, spices, etc. We went to the textile souq and I tried my hand at bartering. I ended up getting a beautiful wall hanging for about half of the original price. They are so desperate to sell and don't want you buying from their neighbor, so you can get basically any price you'd like. I felt somewhat guilty for bartering, knowing that they probably need that money much more than I do, but I thought what I paid was still a fair price, since they expect you to barter down anyway. The other interesting thing about the souq, was that there were no women. Vendors are yelling out to you and running out of their stalls to try to entice you to come into their booths or little shops. I've never been called "ma'am" so many times.... barf.

The boat's steering mechanism. So
awesomely mechanical! Using ropes
and pulleys, along with levers in
series. I thought it was sweet.
Everyone told me I am a nerd. TRUE!

Before going to the souq, we took an Abra, which is a water taxi, across Dubai Creek. They are super cheap, and probably not too safe, but very fun! I was in HEAVEN to be back on any type of boat, and on the water. I definitely miss the lakes and access to them in MN. Below are pictures of our boating and souq adventure.