Happy National Day!

Thirty-eight years ago today the United Arab Emirates came into being. It existed prior to that, but it was referred to as the Trucial States and lacked a centralized government.

We recently visited Shindagha (a second time) and toured the house of Sheikh Saeed bin Makhtoum al Makhtoum (grandfather to the current ruler of Dubai) which is a very nice and educational museum. We highly recommend it. They have a nicely displayed collection of photographs, coins, currency, stamps and documents.

Large homes of this period are a series of rooms around a courtyard. Three, possibly four generations lived here at one time. This house fell into disrepair, but underwent a detailed and thorough reconstruction in the 1980′s. The structures with the poles sticking out of them are wind towers which funnel any breeze from any direction down into the house as a form of early air conditioning. This particular area is right on the coast, so there is a fair amount of breeze, even in the hot months.

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