Our (temporary) neighborhood

We live in Al Satwa, which is what can best be described as one of the lower income working class neighborhoods in Dubai. It's shadowed by the incredible
city skyline (the most amazing I've ever seen), but the buildings could use some serious work (read: bulldozed and replaced with high rises, which will happen someday very soon.) Here's the view from our window:

We were warned about the neighborhood before we arrived. The thing is: we love our quirky little melting pot of a neighborhood. People who live here are from every corner of the earth. Well, everywhere except places where they have skin as light as ours. And by ours I mean Rob's. But even in the latest hours of the night, I've never once felt unsafe. Out of place, maybe. But never in danger. Here's Rob on our street after an (extremely rare) rain storm that flooded the streets yesterday:

And let me brag about the food here for a minute. It's amazing. And so cheap. Say we decide we want dinner out. First, there are about a million choices if you're into ethnic food, which we are. Turns out my favorite is Lebanese, and Rob's is Indian, so for now we're alternating nights. Someday I'm sure we'll get tired of it, but we're game until that day comes. We'll get out of a sit down meal for the equivalent of about $11 each. No wine since it's not allowed, but with food this good, I don't even miss it. Second, the food is the best I've ever had. We can't get over it.

They're moving us next week to a neighborhood closer to Rob's hotel. The building is new (which means our kitchen will smell less like curry,) but we'll sure miss our time in Al Satwa.

PS. For those of you shocked by the wine comment, we do get drinks, but only in hotels (the only place booze can legally be served.) So our night starts in a street side restaurant and ends in a bar that looks like it could double as the set of Cheers.