Dubai (from Molly's perspective)

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for my WEEKLONG hiatus that I took from the blog! Last Monday-Thursday we were in the United Arab Emirates- DUBAI! Since then, I dulfully got back into the underway routine and have been busy with a myriad of things, which was why I was hadn't written.

So Dubai- wow- where to begin? It was INCREDIBLE! Hands down, one of my most favorite port visits (and given that this is my THIRD deployment, I can start to rank them all). I left completely exhausted and semi-broke, but it was worth every minute and penny! We spent 2 full days exploring the city- walking and walking and walking. We checked out three of the cities largest malls (one of which, is the largest mall in the WORLD, with 600 retail shops when it opened & 1200 planned eventually). One mall had a ski resort inside and one had an ice skating rink. This led to the realization that Dubai's motto is (or probably should be) "Dubai: Proof that money can buy you anything, including the stuff you don't need- like a ski resort. In the desert". I was fortunate to have 4 liberty buddies (not all at once, anywhere from 1-4 depending on who was on duty, etc, but still, 4 cool guys that I get along with, and while it wasn't the same as hanging out with girls, it wasn't bad and we were all good travel companions.

It was so cool just walking around and seeing the malls- we probably spent maybe an hour in each one (and only purchased over-priced authentic American Starbucks Lattes :) but it was interesting to see the over-the-top-ness of the malls. They were also over the top decorated for Christmas, which was funny, given that we were in a Middle Eastern country.

We also spent 2 afternoons walking around the gold souk and the "Iranian Market"- which was the spice souk. I helped a guy pick out and try to barter for diamond earrings for his wife (but unfortunately the "I give you special prices" just weren't special enough) and bought dates and Arabica coffee beans. I even told the spice guy about the kind of medium-spicy curry that I like and he made me a mix of all kinds of middle eastern spices to make the most perfect medium-spicy curry. It looks kind of like sand art. I can't wait to get home and cook it!

Other than that, I didn't do any more shopping. Our first night there, we discovered (thanks to Scuba Steve's Dubai tour book) a bar that was part of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel- a hotel RIGHT next to the Burj Al Arab (the big 7-star sailboat shaped hotel). The bar was called 360 degrees- it was a little island that you had to walk out to (or "buggy" aka- golf cart out to, if you were lazy, we just walked-- the walkway took you past the marina where the sheik moors his private yachts when he's not using them) and it got a full circular view of Dubai and you were practically RIGHT at the base of the Burj Al Arab. It was there at 360, amidst the most gorgeous and wealthy ex-pats, that I discovered my love for hookah (or "shisha" as they call it in the middle east). Over the course of the 3 days, we smoked cherry, strawberry and mint hookah. The mint was my favorite- almost therapeutic for your throat :). It was SO incredible, sitting on these white fabric cushion-y couches, smoking hookah & gazing at the Burj Al Arab- I felt like I was on the travel channel. We definitely did NOT fit in with the rest of the clientele but we paid the bill like everyone else (however, we opted out of the $500 bottle service). It was definitely up there with the rooftop bar at our hotel in Athens on our honeymoon which overlooked the lit-up Acropolis at night. The only thing that would have made it that good was if Dan was there instead

.… bringing me to my next point- I was good this year & Santa is granting me my Christmas wish- DAN is coming to DUBAI in between Christmas & New Years. I am over the moon ECSTATIC and can hardly contain my excitement! But more on that later.

So we spent 3 nights smoking hookah, drinking overpriced drinks and looking at the most gorgeous scenery.

The 3rd day there, we did an MWR tour, which was sand boarding. We drove like an hour into the desert and then the drivers let the air out of the tires a little of their land-rover looking cars and we bounced around in the sand dunes- it was awesome/terrifying and I squealed all the way! Then we went sand boarding, which was fun/I was terrible at it. I have some pics that I will email Dan tmw & maybe he will post. Then our drivers took us on another long drive (to OMAN!) where we went swimming in this fresh water pond. I was annoyed b/c it was a "campsite" which apparently in the middle east, does not include a restroom so I had to hide behind a bush-looking thing to put on my swimmy suit (do you know how hard it is to find a bush type thing in the DESERT?!?) and then the water was FREEZING and to get in you had to jump off of this high cliff (ok, it wasn't high, maybe like 20 feet- but still).

By this point I figured, heck, I came all the way to OMAN. Got half-dressed behind a bush. Walked a mile to the fresh water. Climbed up the cliff- darn it I'm going to jump. So I did! It was great fun but there are some funny pics from it. I will obtain from my friends & email to Dan also. So short of the story- stand by for more pics from our last trip to Dubai.

I also got almost SEVEN inches of my hair cut off. It's something I've always wanted to do, cut my hair short enough to the point where I can't wear it up in uniform, but rather can wear it down (uniform regulations say that it has to be above the bottom collar of my uniform). I was always too scared but then I saw all of these girls on NIMITZ with such cute, short hair. But now, I figure, if I hate it- who cares- I have 4 months for it to grow out! So I walked into a hair salon at the Mall of the Emirates, sat down and said "go for it!" The lady said that she had cut the hair of many, many girls from "the big boat" that weekend. I LOVED it when I walked out- it looked SO cute. Now I am not so into my new 'do since I don't have a hair dryer, it's just kinda left up to its own devices (I tried to buy one in Dubai, but they're on a different voltage system so it wouldn’t work on the carrier). I am not-so-patiently waiting for my hairdryer to arrive in the mail (thanks Mom!) However, I know that it is going to look super cute once I can blow dry it. I am going to get a few more inches cut off when I go back at the end of the month (gasp!) because after that we have a LONG time underway & I don't want to risk that awkward in-between stage. Don't worry Dan- it will look good, I promise!

Overall, it was awesome. We rode by bus, taxi and (the still-being-built) Dubai monorail. We walked and walked and walked. We bartered and fought off hoards of people trying to sell us fake watches, fake purses, fake iPhones (what good is that?!), we ate schwarmas and smoked hookah and took pictures and walked some more and it was AWESOME. I can hardly WAIT to do it all again with Dan!!! EEEEEEEEE! I have the best husband ever :)

Alright, well that's about it for Dubai. We're back underway, out supporting OEF & the troops on the ground in Afghanistan. So far, we have flown 9,660 hours in support of OEF. We provide 30% of the close air support and airborne command and control. Ok, so I personally haven't flown any of them. But whatever. So far, I am really enjoying it. I mean, it's still deployment. It still sucks being away, esp this time of year (I mainly get depressed when I log on facebook and see how much fun everyone is having with family and friends and good holiday cheer) but as deployments go, I enjoy the mission and I really enjoy carrier life. There are a lot of things I miss about a "small boy" but overall this is much more enjoyable. Even Nimitz has a little bit of holiday cheer- people have sent us stockings, trees, Christmas lights, etc. speaking of, the amount of care packages that I receive has been QUITE the topic of conversation in the office (they're just jealous :). I am so grateful to receive so many wonderful packages from family and friends and the new quote in the office is "so, lesson learned here is we should have joined a sorority!" since a majority of my magazine/puppy chow/random do-dad packages have been from Chi Omegas. So thank you all family & friends- I love everything you send and am SO grateful for them!

Other than that, my new habit is studying for the GRE's. So far, so good. I have only gotten through one section (Math, substitutions) but I got 14 out of 15 questions right on the practice section of that portion of the math section so I am feeling enthusiastic to try it again tonight.

Well, that's all for now. I'm sorry I didn't write as much in the past week, I will pick up my every other day/every 3rd day starting now.

Thanks for following!
Love,
M