The Cultural Mall Experience

For those of you who know me well, you know the mall is not exactly my favorite place to be. I like to go shopping from time to time but when I do, I prefer a mall like the outdoor Maple Grove mall. So, by the 4th mall visit in the UEA, I was getting a little impatient. Now, keep in mind, the UAE malls are TOTALLY different than the US malls. They have aquariums, ski hills, ice skating rinks etc (kinda like the Mall of America but bigger) and many of the local Emerati people go there for leisure. So, usually I would find myself people watching and ice cream sampling rather than shopping. Our group took a little break in the food court (for ice cream!) and while sitting there we saw a large group of young Muslim girls sitting next to us laughing and having fun. I said to Dr. Ali that I would love to get a picture of them but I feel way to uncomfortable asking. He encouraged me to do so and said that the worst thing that could happen is that they say no.

However, I was still too shy to do so but our confident and friendly Ms. Lisa Wells walked right over there and said “May we take a picture with you girls?” It went silent and then one girl sniped back “No”. They all looked at each other and started to talk in Arabic. They went back an forth and it appeared to be a hot debate. One of the girls politely asked us why we wanted the picture. Lisa responded that is was just to have as a keepsake. She smiled back at us and said “Okay”.

We all lined up and a handful of them joined us. We took two pictures and then they asked us to take one with their camera. They asked us where we were from but didn’t look too impressed when we said the US but when Yoko said she was from Japan, they all got REALLY excited. One girl literally jumped up and down and covered her mouth as if to hide her excitement. They asked for Yoko’s email and then were summoned by their group leader to hop back on the bus. Apparently they were visiting from Abu Dhabi and had to travel home.




So, as it turns out- I won't return home with any Dolce & Gabbana shoes but I did get a pretty cool picture and a great story! Nice work Wells!