Eid Al-Fitr, or just Eid for the cool people in the know, is a HUGE Muslim holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan. Think Christmas x 10. Muslims around the world unite, break their fast and celebrate Allah's grace. It's really a beautiful holiday, and we just happened to be here in time to witness it.
However, let us go backwards two posts and remember my comments about the taxi situation at the mall... it was so efficient and fast, brilliant even. I take all of that back now because tonight we experienced taxi hell. Apparently we decided it would be a good idea to visit the Mall of the Emirates (the one with the indoor ski slopes) on Eid.
Worst. Idea. Ever.
I think the mall was the decided place of unity for Eid. My worst nightmare is getting stuck in a sea of people and not being able to escape. I can picture sweat beading up on my temples as people push and shove and my sensitive nostrils fill with unpleasant smells. That's how it felt today at the mall. I was instantly overcome with anxiety and the need to speed walk through the crowds, trying to escape, but the faster and farther we walked, the more people there were. It was all very chaotic. We had to get out of there, and we had such a lovely time at the Dubai Mall the other day that we decided to try that one instead. We thought it would be a relaxing end to the night and we could sip some tea and eat dessert while we people watched. And the Dubai Mall is at least twice the size of the Mall of the Emirates, so there couldn't possibly so many people... Yeah...
This is the center of the Dubai Mall.
A cute little carnival for the kids and THOUSANDS of people.
We instantly regretted our decision when got out of the taxi. Again, there were people everywhere and instead of trying to navigate through the crowds, we went straight to the taxi area. This is where the disaster starts. People were pushing and cutting in line, kids were running around everywhere, and worst of all, the line wasn't moving. One lady stood so close to me I could feel her breath and boobs all over my back (gross!), and then she hit me in the head with her elbow and squeezed right on by. No biggie. We didn't realize how insanely long the line was until after about 45 minutes. We finally turned the first corner and the line kept winding and winding and winding, and it wasn't moving. At all. There was, however, a special tiny line roped off to the left where locals could go straight to the taxis. People behind me were getting taxis before people who had been waiting hours. It was all very frustrating and seemed like it would never end so we gave up on going home and abandoned the line.
However, let us go backwards two posts and remember my comments about the taxi situation at the mall... it was so efficient and fast, brilliant even. I take all of that back now because tonight we experienced taxi hell. Apparently we decided it would be a good idea to visit the Mall of the Emirates (the one with the indoor ski slopes) on Eid.
Worst. Idea. Ever.
I think the mall was the decided place of unity for Eid. My worst nightmare is getting stuck in a sea of people and not being able to escape. I can picture sweat beading up on my temples as people push and shove and my sensitive nostrils fill with unpleasant smells. That's how it felt today at the mall. I was instantly overcome with anxiety and the need to speed walk through the crowds, trying to escape, but the faster and farther we walked, the more people there were. It was all very chaotic. We had to get out of there, and we had such a lovely time at the Dubai Mall the other day that we decided to try that one instead. We thought it would be a relaxing end to the night and we could sip some tea and eat dessert while we people watched. And the Dubai Mall is at least twice the size of the Mall of the Emirates, so there couldn't possibly so many people... Yeah...
This is the center of the Dubai Mall.
A cute little carnival for the kids and THOUSANDS of people.
We instantly regretted our decision when got out of the taxi. Again, there were people everywhere and instead of trying to navigate through the crowds, we went straight to the taxi area. This is where the disaster starts. People were pushing and cutting in line, kids were running around everywhere, and worst of all, the line wasn't moving. One lady stood so close to me I could feel her breath and boobs all over my back (gross!), and then she hit me in the head with her elbow and squeezed right on by. No biggie. We didn't realize how insanely long the line was until after about 45 minutes. We finally turned the first corner and the line kept winding and winding and winding, and it wasn't moving. At all. There was, however, a special tiny line roped off to the left where locals could go straight to the taxis. People behind me were getting taxis before people who had been waiting hours. It was all very frustrating and seemed like it would never end so we gave up on going home and abandoned the line.
After all of the taxi drama, we treated ourselves to some tasty gelato and wandered through the masses until we remembered there's a hotel attached to the mall. Surely we would be able to get a taxi there. There were only about five people ahead of us in the line, so we thought we were back in taxi heaven, but there were literally NO taxis to pick us up. People travel to Dubai from all over the Middle East for Eid, and even though there are thousands and thousands of taxis in Dubai, none were available.
So we waited. One taxi would come by every ten minutes or so and more crazies were trying to push their way towards the front of the line. Two ladies got in a very heated argument with the men trying to organize the situation because they thought they shouldn't have to wait with the rest of us. The lady from the first line who hit me in the head with her elbow showed up, too. And guess what she did... pushed her way to the front and somehow got a taxi before everyone else! Beeotch! Stuff like that really bothers me so I was pretty pissed until I noticed part of her weave was missing. She had beautiful hair otherwise, but one two inch piece had fallen out, and that made me a little happier knowing she was on the receiving end of the bad energy she was putting out into the world. :)
Eventually we got in a taxi that was only going to the airport. He couldn't take us to our hotel but could tell we were desperate to get out of there, so he dropped us off at another taxi on the way to the airport to save us 50 dirhams.
I've never been happier to be home, and Casey couldn't wait to get to the pub. But through all of the pushing, waiting and taxi chaos, we learned one very valuable lesson - never ever ever go to the mall during Eid.
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