Irony and the Post Office

After a month off from training, Ryan's back at work and actually flying the Boeing 777.  He's still in training but is almost done, which is really exciting.  The 777 is a million times bigger than the CRJ he was flying back at his old job and he's actually doing international flights.  So far he's been to Pakistan, Cairo, and Jakarta.  We're hoping that once he's done with training I can go with him on a few of his longer trips.  I really haven't been anywhere outside of the US other than the Dominican Republic for our honeymoon and Mexico with my sister.  Part of our reason for taking this opportunity with Emirates Airline is that we will be able to travel the world.  Any recommendations on where to go?

Ryan had the day off yesterday before having to go back to work today, so we decided to get out and run a few errands.  I had wanted to do some shopping for the apartment, but this is Dubai and things always take longer than expected, so we got a few things done and then headed back home.  We started out at the Emirates Headquarters to pick up our mail.  The mail service here is pretty iffy, and most homes don't even have real addresses, so all employees get a PO box at HQ.  I have been expecting a few envelopes and a package for a while now so I was pretty antsy to see what had arrived.  We discovered a package had been delivered but was being held at the main post office downtown.  So we searched our iPhone maps, found what we thought was the post office, and headed there.  Am I the only one who finds it funny that we were unable to find an actual address for the POST OFFICE?  

Anyway, it turns out that since it was a package and not a letter, it had to be inspected by customs.  After the agent went through each item, put it through an X Ray machine, and we paid our DHS 2, we finally got the package.  It actually didn't take too long, so that was good.  And the extra trip was well worth it because we picked up a big box of goodies from my family!  

YUM

It's funny what being so far away from home will make you crave.  I mean, Oreos are always a thing for me, but I haven't seen Reese's since I left and for some reason I just needed some.  Dubai doesn't seem to be a big coffee drinking country and I was having trouble finding coffee that didn't taste like dirt, so I was ecstatic to find a giant bag of Dunkin' Donuts coffee.  

After the post office we headed to the Dubai Mall, which is right near the Burj Khalifa.  The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world, and it seriously makes you dizzy with how giant it is.  I love that we've lived in two cities that are or have been home to the world's tallest building.  We went outside of the mall to take some touristy shots.

The sun was making it difficult.  If you squint you can tell that I'm in the photo - right next to the fat horse.

Closer photo where you can actually see me.  I'm ready to stop taking pictures so we can get out of the 110 degree heat.

A giant fountain in the mall.  I should have written down the name.

In addition to our little photography session we had some lunch at the mall.  We played rock, paper, scissors to decide between PF Chang's and Red Lobster.  Ryan won for PF Chang's, but since he's such a nice husband, he gave in and we gorged on Red Lobster.  In hind site, we should have tried something new, but RL has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid.  I mean, it was always my birthday restaurant, and I just felt like a bit of home.  It was pretty good, but somehow not the same.  And I even ordered the Ultimate Feast.  I was talking with a new friend I met through the AWA the other day about going to restaurants that we loved back home and how they are always a little disappointing here.  She thinks it has to do with the fact that we love those places less for the actual food, and more for the memories associated with them.  And while it's nice to revisit those old memories, you can't really recreate them in on a completely different continent.  I think she's onto something. 

After we left Red Lobster we walked by one of those cute little sushi restaurants where you choose your dishes off of a conveyer belts that goes by your table.  We're definitely going to have to try that next time!

I'm getting excited for my Abu Dhabi trip on Monday.  Think I'll see Nermal?