Strange Tales

We've converted!











Okay, we didn't. We took these pictures at the Al Ain Palace Museum in one of the smaller majlises (women's sitting rooms) there: there were two racks of clothes, and sign that invited dressup and snapshots, so this was totally halal.

The museum itself is laid back: just the old palace displaying family items from the last 150 years or so. We believe this is the traditional family home of Sheikh Zayed, the founder of the UAE and father of the current president of the UAE. Someone still lives there--there are some areas marked "private residence." But we doubt they're upper royalty. We now know where the Sheikh's Al Ain residence is--one of them, anyway, since there's an official presidential palace in another part of the city.

But here's the story: Wendy came home from church needing some alone time. I secured a promise from her that she wouldn't leave our complex, but she's a Cahoon. So that lasted all of three minutes. She called me from what she described as a beautiful, lush, tranquil garden of indeterminate ownership. Couldn't possible be a private villa: the gate was wide open, and there was no one visible in the hut. Well, you can see where this is going. On her way out, she was stopped by two en who quizzed her for several minutes about how she got in, did she have a camera, had anyone seen her, what was she up to. They searched her purse and exclaimed in a combination of consternation and amazement that she had blundered onto the grounds of the Sheikh's personal residence, and that the penalty for trespassing there could be, well, bloody, under the law.

But of course the Emiratis are kind and understanding people, and they soon realized she was not a threat, but was innocent of evil intentions, and let her go with a keen and clear understanding that she should not repeat her blunder. She says it was so lovely in there that it was worth the risk. Ay caramba.

Here's the front gate of the palace:



And a side view of the west tower:



The grounds: Wendy took some fine stills that she will probably post as a facebook album, so watch for that:



Tent dwellers:



Many a country song was written about the Sheikh's old truck: only with ululations instead of yodels, and sitars instead of ghee-tars, and belly dancers instead of backup dancers:



Next week: end-of-term madness. Wa'allah!