On my way to see Shrek 4 this matinee, with my 4 year old and ten year old sons, I took the wrong turn in Mirdiff. The mall was on our right but a sanded area separated the two roads.
I have been driving our bourgeois sedan for a while now (the touareg's AC went bust) and we were still running on good time (it was a birthday party at the movies that were invited to).
But this is where fate takes the direction of your path and my older son nagged me into it: look, that car did it!
So I followed the four wheel drive.... And got stuck in the only remaining patch of sand left in Dubai.
We didn't call my husband or my father for help ( mostly out of fear of their reaction--my brother's been there before me!). We looked out and waved to two poor SouthAsian workers who came to our rescue voluntarily. It was noon and the sun was at a May apex.
But before I could call: push! a four wheel drive flew to the rescue, driven by an Emirati, who hopped out and was glad I could communicate with him in Arabic, albeit in a Levantine accent.
Minutes later another SUV came to our cooperation and we had a team of kind young Emirati guys attaching the car with a rope to theirs and getting us out in minutes.Grateful, my oldest son began handing out water bottles (that we always carry in case we get stuck on a dune) to the Emiratis and SouthAsians.
It felt like old Dubai again!
This memo was typed on my blackberry with 3d glasses on. I will get back to Shrek later. I was just
afraid that the little one would tell his dad before I could: "Baba, kanat al sayara fil 3amel!" (the car was in the sand :)
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So this was a short facet of the movie Dubai:City of Life!Dubaians are real gentlemen especially when they see a damsel in distress with her brood.Your kids will remember those moments and will cherish them too!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the time that I got stuck a few years ago while attempting to camp on the beach in Fujairah but it was more embarrassing because I was actually driving my old Pajero 4x4 and should have been ok but obviously didn't have local driving skills! Got rescued by some young Dubai Emiratis camping nearby. One of them actually got behind the wheel of my car and with me, my friends and his friends pushing he was able to get me out. They then drove us a few hundred meters to a hard packed area to park and invited us to join them for grilled meat back at their campsite! Nice guys, when their not terrorizing expat drivers on SZR!
ReplyDeleteI'm LMAO! Nissreen, Saad, and I drove through the exact spot yesterday, maybe an hour after you did! Nissreen dragged me on a Saturday to Pottery Barn Kids at Mirdif City Center. We debated whether we should cross the same patch of sand with our SUV. I didn't think we should attempt to cross since I didn't want to get stuck in the sand with a 4 month old! As our beloved blogger knows, I'm usually unlucky in these kind of situations. You see I'm paranoid because 7 years ago, I got stuck on New Year's Eve in my father's huge SUV with my poor brother in law to be when I was showing him around Dubai. I got stuck in sand, which is now the entrance to Palm Jumeirah. Luckily, my friend Mansoor rescued us! But yesterday, Nissreen pushed me to cross the patch of sand and we made it to the other side. I'll leave the story of how i totalled my VW Golf in a torrential flood in NJ as a law student on my way to pick up our beloved blogger from the airport for another day! I thank Talal for that wise idea! :)
ReplyDeleteYou should title this piece 'what happens when a skinny blond with a Lebo accent gets stuck in a sand pit'. Well done Yazz ;)
ReplyDeletePretty funny looking back that Teymour and I were stuck in the sand together while the rest of the family kept expecting us to arrive any minute...nice memory...getting stuck in the sand is one of my childhood as well growing up in the Gulf...anyway it is nice to hear that with all of the newly developed Dubai, that elements of the old Dubai remain...
ReplyDeleteYas, why oh why am I not surprised that you find the only patch of sand left in Dubai and decide to go across it in a sedan? And that blond hair in the middle of the sand was a call to all Arab males in the vicinity. I'm surprised they weren't ululating as they came to your rescue.
ReplyDeletePlease stay adventurous and make sure to share all your adventures with your devoted followers.
Love you,
Ninig
A classic blonde move!
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