Time in Al Hayr

Yesterday we went to Al Hayr which is part of the Abu Dhabi Emirate and about 1 1/2 hours east. Bob was teaching the staff at the clinic there and they wanted to meet his wife... I was happy to go and meet them! They all greeted me with kindness and smiles and the woman administrator from the Family Center where the classes were held gave me a grand tour of the center. It was so exquisite and beautiful, all donated by the Sheik's wife the Sheika of the UAE. It was fun to find out about the women there and I felt free to ask questions about their dress and lifestyles... got alot of info as they were VERY anxious to tell me. I have noticed on many of the UAE women beautiful hand drawings on their hands. They told me it was "henna" and done in a salon. One of them asked if she could take me to a salon and get "henna", not sure what I was getting into I went. Shaka is a 30 year old mother of 3. She has a zillion ideas and is an up and coming business woman. She talked for almost the entire two hours that I was with her and I understood about 30% of what she said... but it was so fun and she was soooo gracious. We went to a salon which reminded me a little of Tijuana Mexico on the outside (you get the picture, right??!) But we were greeted inside by three lovely Pakistan women and they were happy to paint "henna" on my hands. I asked how long it stays on and heard 8 years... yikes! They laughed and said "no, only 1 week!" So now I have been so generously given a real life glimpse into Emirate life and most importantly I now have been henna-ed! The pictures are of Shaka and then of the beautiful center where they spent $2 mln. ( US 500,000) just on the furnishings. They spared no expense when it came to the teaching of the women and children in little ol' Al Hayr. Amazing!