back home

No no no, I'm not going back to Irvine. It's just that being here feels just like being at home. The malls, the crazy family, all of it. All of it, that is, except for the humid, 97 degree weather. I walk outside and my glasses fog up and I feel like my skin has been coated in vegetable oil.

Just like home...if home was Texas in the dead of August. Yuck.

Still, I've finally recovered from the exhaustion of Egypt and Jordan. Although my skin may not be showing it.

Yesterday we went to Dreamland in Umm Al Qewwen, two Emirates to the north of Sharjah. The water felt cool at first and immediately after dousing myselfl it felt like a lukewarm jacuzzi. Mmmm, refreshing. Still, it was fun and the place was empty. It was nice to have it all to ourselves.

This morning I woke up early to go to Dubai Media City, a massive news, advertising and media complex. CNN, CNBC, newspapers, freelancers all have offices there on the marina in Dubai, near The Palm island development. We took a peek inside the plush Dubai Press Club. As much as the Orange County Press Club holds a dear place in my heart (Hi McDonald!), I'm now dreaming of kicking back in the Press Club's plush library with my laptop and a cappuccino.

Tomorrow we're going to the Emirates Mall to check out the indoor ski slope. Maybe I should buy a fashionable overcoat to hang out on in the snow with my spiced cider. Then when I step outside, I can use it to put out the flames that will surely break out all over my body.

As Sarig just told me on her way to watch cartoons: "We'll be right back!"