Signs in Translation...and a couple of night pictures

"Yousuf Metal Boxes Shop"

The day after we saw this Philip asked us if we knew "a decent place to get a haircut." We directed him here...note:throughout the Arab world saloon=salon/barber


Typical sight...special because the large walled off area in front of the mosque will be the NYU Interim Campus

And because Mom and Sarah seemed to like that last "coffee pot" picture I posted...

Clips

Found this goofy video from back around when I first got here. That's Sarfaraz, one of our drivers, and Brett is the peanut gallery in the back seat. This was on the way back from some tough negotiations with Pakistani carpenters on the price of building a stage for us. They ended up doing quite a good job...

Emirates Palace

Grand Mosque (pictures courtesy of Brett Heeger's Camera)

Saadiyat Island Model Exhibit

A model of Saadiyat Island, the development that will (inshallah) be completed in 2012 and will house NYU Abu Dhabi.
The primary cultural centers on Jazeera Saadiyat
The Guggenheim museum...
The Louvre
The Performing Arts Center

The Maritime Museum

Some pictures snapped from the car...

Emirates Palace Hotel
The fold building....no idea what the real name is...

The Corniche

The Corniche is one of the most appealing parts of Abu Dhabi. It extends quite far along the coastline....this is just a small part of it.
Bike Path...


The tower in the distance is part of Marina Mall
Lulu Island from the Corniche
Looking inland from the Corniche

Canon Square

Todays Theme: Canon Square Abu Dhabi



The Canon.
This style of traditional coffee pot is called a Dallah ( دله ) in Arabic. It is a symbol of welcome, which, given the amount of coffee I have consumed as a guest in the Arab world, makes a lot of sense.


Small Mosques like this seem to be on every corner.

Cityscapes + Starbucks

Broader scale pictures from the first couple of days. Hopefully they give a sense of what some of the city looks like. I'll try to get some pictures of the really beautiful areas like the Corniche and the Emirates Palace Hotel (Shown in Picture 5 at night) up soon.
Anna, the Starbucks picture is for you.