it snows in Dubai

Well, it snows in the Mall of the Emirates, anyway.

That's right, we visited Ski Dubai today. It was just as ridiculous and awesome as it sounds. Fresh powder, clean crisp air, and even a steady -2 degrees (celsius) temperature to boot. I'm glad they provided us with the snow boots, pants and a jacket because we needed it. I thought my toes were going to fall off by the time we were ready to leave.

As you all well know (if you know me at all), I can't ski because I'm afraid of the chair lifts. (To my credit, this isn't a new irrational fears, this is one of the golden oldies of the Crazy Things Eleeza is Afraid Of.) I did, however, slide down an icy bobsled course in the snow park and pelted my cousins with hefty snowballs. It was a ton of fun. Made all the better when you see the Arab men wearing their Arafat-style hats and white robes with snow boots and down parkas. I got pictures. I'll upload them the next time I burn my memory chip to a CD.

This is one crazy place, I tell you.

After the snow, we went to Dragon Mart, a massive bazaar of every kind of good you can imagine from China. Shops with names like Sizhuan Trading Company are stocked with those red-checkered scarves and women's robes and are sold by Chinese at heavily discounted prices alongside knockoff Hello Kitty knicknacks and gaudy portaits of sheiks.

Crazy doesn't do this place justice. It's like being on another planet.