The Blue Souq

I think Olan talked about this in one of her earlier posts, but The American University of Sharjah is located at the end of a large compound known as University City. The compound also includes the gender segregated University of Sharjah, the Police Academy, the Medical school, a Technical college, and probably a few other things I’m forgetting. The entire community is gated, and rests about twenty minutes outside of Sharjah city. In order to leave campus, then, you’re forced to take a taxi. This inevitably means putting your life in the hands of a man who probably doesn’t speak English or Arabic and, at least in my experience, doesn’t always know where he’s going. In addition, no seatbelts + speeds in excess of 120mph being de rigour + no signaling + tailgating at high speeds + hundreds of roundabouts + crazy drivers = a recipe for an early death. So if I don’t post for a few days, the most likely cause, behind procrastination, would be death by car accident.

Yesterday, six of us brave souls ventured out in taxis to the Central, or Blue Souq in downtown Sharjah. The ordeal of calling for a taxi here is even worse than in Washington, D.C. (where they refuse sometimes to come “all the way out” to American University, grr) and it’s complicated by the fact that none of us have mobiles. There are certain taxis that the university trusts, and will let onto campus, and others that it won’t. If your called cab fails to show up, you’re left hoping against hope that a stray taxi will somehow find its way to AUS and pick you up. Such was the case yesterday, and it took us over an hour standing out in the intense heat to find a taxi driver who would take us into town.

Once at the souq, however, we had a great time. Everyone needed to shop for friends and family back home, and souqs are the better alternative to malls because you stand a good chance of finding affordable, authentic, and unique gifts, unlike at the malls where everything is westernized. We split up to go wander around, and I found myself in numerous fabric shops. The textiles here are mostly handmade and imported from places like Nepal and Kashmir. You just don’t see these types of fabrics, designs and colors back at home. The one aspect of shopping in the UAE that I’m neither familiar nor comfortable with is bargaining. It’s not that I’m not good at it, it’s just that the shopowners are so skilled at making you feel terrible when you finally do get your asking price, that I feel guilty even after a good purchase. A little ridiculous, I know, but I can’t help it. Of course the other part is that these men tear their shops apart trying to help you find what you’re looking for, and when you have to walk away without a purchase, that doesn’t feel so great either. Unless you're Mike, who likes to "set 'em up, and knock 'em down." Boys.

The boys were utterly clueless, so I spent most of my time helping them pick out appropriate table cloths for their moms back home. If someone needs my help when discussing color, length, design, or shape, you know they must be really badly off. All came away with purchases though, and it was onto the Persian rugs. I was never much of a girly girl in that I’ve never had a thing for specific clothing designers, or a penchant for Tiffany’s jewelry or anything, but I think I’ve found my jewelry equivalent. The Persian rugs here are all handmade and just incredible. I don’t really have anywhere to put one, but that didn’t stop me from almost splurging ! I couldn’t find a carpet that I absolutely had to have, so no purchases were made, but I will continue to look and with any luck I’ll come home with one in my suitcase! Overall my shopping adventure was mildly successful. I returned with a few small items that I think the intended recipients will enjoy.

The ride home was another ordeal, especially when we discovered the cab driver really had no clue where he was going. I wasn’t looking forward to possibly being stranded in the middle of a city that is pretty much completely foreign to me. He was also a reckless driver, so I spent the majority of the ride looking out the side window and contemplating which way I would roll if he slammed into the cars in front of us. We made it home in one piece though, and I can’t wait until we have an opportunity to return to the souq!

*Boo to public laundry machines. They are almost always out of order, or break when you're using them, or the other people using them put random things like gym bags in the washer and it gets shredded and then you have to deal with that nastiness. D.C., Sharjah, it doesn't matter. Laundry woes are all the same :(