This weekend I was sent off to invigilate a high school exam in sunny beachside paradise Umm al Quwain, so I brought Mr. Man along and he spent Saturday morning working on his tan on the hotel's private beach and splashing around in the Persian Gulf while I spent my morning keeping an eagle eye trained on a group of 13 abaya-clad high school girls sitting for a college entrance exam in a cold, stark, silent public school classroom. "Show me your ears," I commanded. "No mobiles. No earpieces. No bags. No talking. No looking up." You ladies want to get to college? College is where I come from, sweethearts. If you can't take the heat, then get off the stove.You know what staring hard at 13 test-takers for 2.5 hours makes you? Hungry. Which is why it's lucky they hooked us up with three buffet meals while we were there. Before the exam, a group of us faculty invigilators partook in a delicious breakfast, and afterward we all sauntered back to top ourselves off with grilled fish, fried shrimp, rice, pasta, myriad salads, breads, hummus, soup, and a couple different kinds of chocolate cake and melons. And the best part was the pre-lunch cocktail, taken in-room, courtesy Dan and my incredible sense of direction and perseverance.
It was actually Friday night that we went out hunting for Barracuda - the only liquor store anywhere even remotely close to Dubai which doesn't require a license to buy. It took about an hour of getting lost to find it, but we didn't give up. It's a Sheikh-owned liquor store, hidden way out of town at a seedy beachside resort hotel in an inconspicuous looking building way in the back with no sign.Dan found it by following the stream of people walking to and fro with blue bags. 12 bottles and 435 dirhams later (a screaming deal) we headed back to town, victorious. Now, we're stocked for at LEAST three, four days, depending. This place is a solid 60 minute drive from Dubai if there's no traffic at all, and people regularly organize carpools out there just for the liquor. You're looking at a 3-4 hour project all told, yet it's a popular weekend activity- and I suspect price also has something to do with it. I was surprised to find that a liter of Beefeater at Barracuda runs a person approximately $11, compared to somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 in Portland. Cha-ching! Gin & tonics on the porch every night for a week, people.
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A word of warning: Beefeater makes what is possibly the world's worst Gin & Tonic. On the other hand, it's actually one of my very favorite gins for martinis... (The juniper accents are a little to aggressive to mesh with tonic, but are perfect with just a touch of vermouth.)
I couldn't remember. Like Marlo once said, "You think it's one way, but it's the other way." Oh well. We got Saphire too. And basically were just glad not to be dry. :)
For clarification, that last comment was me. Didn't realize I was logged on as Alicia.
No need to say "oh well"... You have with you the makings of many tasty tasty martinis... ;-) I'm glad you kids found a place that would sell you booze.
And, hey, thanks for reminding me that I miss The Wire...
I have a couple of comments here. First, I used to have a sweet gig when it came to booze. Stanley would come over with a big bottle of it, drink a small amount, and then leave the bottle at my house. Those were the days...
Also, you should all be aware that we are now, at long last, watching The Wire. We're 3 discs into the first season. It's fucking sweet.
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