Drinks at the Burj

We don't all leave for Dubai until 2pm in the afternoon and make a long pit stop at the Emirates Palace- gorgeous! Huge! Again, like nothing I've ever seen before. Everything, right now to the last tile, is ornate, luxurious and drenched in splendor. And it's absolutely enormous. It just keeps going...We look at the Pablo Picasso exhibit for about an hour, which was incredible to see the real thing. The paintings are unreal and almost emotional, like you can see the workings of his mind (sounds like Alan Smith, eh?), his pain and his low opinion of women. I also liked the evolution of his paintings, from his first self-portrait to the reconfigured, distorted human body. Very odd, but amazing. We hadn't left for Dubai until 5pm and drove all the way to the Global Village, which was...CLOSED! So we drive and drive and drive, Bill getting more and more stressed and in a bad mood with the traffic, the detours, the construction - they hate Dubai. He's not very nice in the way he speaks to Diane... I won't go into how uncomfortable I felt (for the very first time this week) but I didn't want to be in that car and felt like this disaster was my fault...
We end up at Mina'Al Salaam, where I check my bags and we eat Chinese Dim Sum. Craig is not himself and this is actually the first time I've seen him stressed- ever. Diane is very pleasant to talk to but things are still strained. Craig and I peace out 20 minutes later to just get out of there. I say my goodbyes and a sincere thank you. Now for more partying! And literally, right on the beach with the Burj Al-Arab rising above us. This place is so scene, with gorgeous Europeans and Australians everywhere, Persian carpets under big tents with people smoking shisha. Craig and I grab some drinks and meet up with Danna and her friends on the beach. I start talking to some cute French guys who are party-planners here. They teach me French swearwords. We leave the beach party and walk alllll the way to 360°, a bar but out in the ocean. So cool. As we approach it along the jeti, we hear the pumping House music. It's amazing up on the roof, with the Burj and Jumeirah in front, all lit up. We order more drinks, I talk with Sam and my friend Harris (from UPenn) and then go dance really silly with a girl Kaitlyn, her fiance and Sam.
I peace out with Danna, Craig and Alisha around 2am, but not without picking up this delicious cheesy bread from a Lebanese place. So freakin good. Alisha is hilarious and so drunk. Danna and I get along gret and I tell her I'll come visit her in Barcelona next spring. Craig and I sleep on the floor at her place and I keep dreaming that I'll miss my taxi....
6:30am: I have TWO minutes to get ready because my taxi is already here. Craig is half-asleep, throws my stuff in the back and says a sleepy and hasty goodbye. I am so sick and out of it. I barely have time to register I'm leaving when I get in the car. Sharjah is lot more Arab, with few Westerners. My flight is all Indian men...and I believe I'm the only white person on the plane! Waleed got me a nice seat........