typing. typing. typing... pause. hmmm.
click, drag, delete.
typing, typing, typing.... pause. sigh.
click, drag, delete.
somewhat frustrated tap-tap-tapping...
backspaceBACKSPACEBACKSPACE
pause. staring off at the wall.

crack knuckles.
deep breath.

abu-dhabi is surreal, and i'm somewhat at a loss on where to begin to explain how. let's start with the obvious:

-there are palaces everywhere. by palace, i'm referring to full-on castle-like complexes, complete with minarets, crenelated parapets, and barbicans.

-men wear dishdashah and women wear abaya.

-everyone drives large and/or fast cars.

-you will hear hear the salaah five times a day, no matter where you are.

-the standard beverage can here utilizes pull-tab technology instead of the standard rinking_can_ring-pull_tab.jpg">stay-tab in the west.

-on a good day, it's hot and sunny. on a bad one, it is oppressively hot and sunny, not to mention windy and dusty. and humid. in the shade.

-the weekend here is friday and saturday. this means that sundays are the new monday, and thursdays are the new friday, except that its not new at all. it is now monday, and i have no clue what that means other than tonight is chili night at my friend's house... yay!

-gas is cheap, and by cheap, i mean 15 years ago cheap. 99cents a gallon cheap. this is most likely why everyone is inclined to drive large and/or fast cars.

-people park their large and/or fast cars everywhere, with little regard for anyone or thing else. parking lots are huge, overpacked, and completely ineffective.

-physical contact between men and women is somewhat of a no-no. up until recently, it was a major no-no, but now it seems o.k. to touch hands in public, although i feel that i might go to jail if anyone catches julia and i holding hands. we joke about that, but deep down it's a little unsettling.

overall, abu-dhabi is a mix of las vegas, fort lauderdale, and long island, resulting in a strange mix of familiarity and foreign displacement. we have been incredibly well-received by the yoga community here, and our friends who are hosting us have been very warm and accomodating. of course, this has also been in a very surreal fashion.

saturday was a perfect example. after a full day of successful workshops, we all went sailing around the arabian gulf on a 50ft boat. we swam, rode the jet ski, flew on the bow and barbequed as a golden sun dipped below a glowing horizon artfully dotted by palm-trees and, you guessed it, palaces. taking it's place was a brilliant shiva moon dotted with the cyclops eye of venus. we had satelite internet. i chatted with one of my best men, ehren, over skype. he enthusicastically showed me his new office. i excitedly described to him the current state of affiars.

all of this would be pretty mind-blowing were i to arrive here from anywhere in europe or the states. to make the jump from india to the middle east, however, has left me frantically grabbing for cultural context as the whirlwind tour continues to slide across the globe. we'll be here for the next two weeks before heading to dubai for another weekend of workshops. i'm still trying to both climatize to both the weather and the culture, and presume that this may take a few more days before i can truely begin to process and relate what the heck is going on over here.

overall, it should be noted that spirits are (very) high and that we're extremely busy catching up on all sorts of admin work for the rest of the tour, planning a wedding or two for the summer, giving private treatments and personal trainings, and that last night i was in my first motorcyle stop-light road race. even though i was just a passenger and that it lasted no longer than one city block, we won as a result of going incredibly fast.*

surreal or otherwise, i gotta say that i like it here.





*yes, mom, i was wearing a helmet.