Bull Butting Again

We went to Fujairah for the bull butting contest again, one last time before the heat and humidity get unbearable. The crowd was smaller and most of the spectators were gathered in the shade of the two large trees. I suspect we aren’t the only ones who will be taking a break from the sport until next winter.

I couldn’t pass up taking a picture of this grandfatherly figure. This is technically inside the arena. It is very dangerous, not just from the bulls, but from the panicked spectators who run frantically any time a bull heads into the crowd (and they do).

We spent a few minutes on the beach. The sand is dark. It is almost chocolate brown when it is wet. I resisted the urge to collect this shell and settled for a picture. Takes up so much less space that way.

There was a family near us and their daughters (approx. 10 yrs old) were swimming in the surf wearing full length dresses and head scarves. They were having a blast.

Fujairah’s known for its roundabout sculptures, large art works in the middle of roundabouts. (Previously posted pictures here) Unfortunately, these pictures were taken at dusk from a moving car, but you get the idea. The guy sitting on its leg is a nice touch.

After this it was off to Al Meshwar restaurant for great food, then a two hour drive back home dodging the dangerous drivers. A day well spent.

Sea shells

We succumbed to the temptation to pick up shells.
The coin (for size comparison) is a dirham. (Sorry, I think I may have an American penny around somewhere, but I divested myself of all US Currency in our first week here.) It is slightly bigger than a US quarter and, interestingly, worth slightly more ($0.27).

There is a fair amount of variety in type of shell as well as size. The most common (or most hardy) are the ones in the center bottom of the picture above. The second most common were the orange striped ones in the center of the picture below.
The ones pictured below were the most difficult to find. They don’t weather the surf very well, as you can see by the condition of some of these.
If you turn them over, you will find a bonus in the little shells that are crammed into the openings of these. The second one down on the right is completely cemented with little shells and “sand.” I was afraid that when it dried out, it would come apart.
What astonishes me is that they start life out so very small in such a harsh environment and manage to survive to get to be this size. (Some get much larger, until they end up in a souq shop as a collector’s item.) Just amazed at the beauty, wonder, variety and complexity of this world that supposedly had no Creator/Designer. Unlike Tinkerbell, the Creator’s existence doesn’t depend on wheather we clap or not. Personally, I’m clapping.

Road Trip #1 – Hamriyah Beach

So, Paul already spilled the beans about our discovery of Hamriyah Beach, but here are my pictures. They don’t do the place justice. The water was an overwhelming color. Really amazing.

There were scads of beautiful shells on the beach. I picked up a couple just because I couldn’t resist.
This is the road along the beach.
This is the mosque by the beach.

A trip to the beach. (Accidentally)

Kanga has this week off for the end-of-Ramadan holiday, “Eid al Fitr”, so yesterday we and a couple of her co-workers took a little trip to some of the smaller northern Emirates: Sharjah, Ajman and Umm al Quwain. We saw a few museums and other sites, many only from the outside since they were closed for the holiday. It was still a fun trip and very interesting; we will have many ideas about what we want to go back and see on future trips. One of the highlights of the day was a wrong turn we took on the way from Ajman to Umm al Quwain which took us into the area of Hamriya, an area mostly dominated by industry and shipping since it is a designated “Free Zone” of Sharjah. “Dominated” is not really a very descriptive word in this case. It is a very large area with only a few industrial compounds, but even fewer homes. However as we passed through the area of the houses we noticed that we could see the Arabian Gulf nearby, so we decided to take a look since we hadn’t seen it up close yet. (Yes, the ARABIAN Gulf, NOT the ‘Persian’ Gulf. Not on this side of it at least!)
When we rounded the block going towards the water we discovered there was a lovely public beach area, and even more lovely water bordering that. Both Kanga and I took several picture with our cameras, but they really do not do the place justice! It tremendously beautiful. That water was so blue and there were so many sea shells on the beach. I haven’t seen a beach that pretty in a very long time.
If you come visit us sometime a trip there is a big must. besides being lovely it was deserted except for us! It was a pretty out of the way place so it may be relatively unpopulated anytime of the year.
Kanga took pictures of it and of other stops on our day trip that she will share as well.
Here is the address for the web album and a few of the pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/pauliancastle/TheBeachAtHamriya#

(Posted by Daddybird)