Arrived!

We arrived to UAE at 6:10 this morning and were escorted through customs to meet Eisa.  After a quick stop for water and candy, we drove about 1 hour to our hotel, the Emirates Palace.  It is INCREDIBLE!  Our room has its own butler and part of their job is to "unpack your luggage" (my type-A personality is not inclined to this...).  We enjoyed a 5-hour nap and are now going to meet Eisa and his family for dinner.

As we were leaving the hotel tonight we saw a traditional dance being performed in the lobby in celebration of a new jewelry store opening.  We were told the performers were famous and that all of the VIPs of Abu Dhabi were invited (I'm sure our invitation was just misplaced).  I'm posting a short clip of their amazing performance.  After we tore ourselves away from the hotel, we spent the evening with Eisa, Huda (his wife), Harib, Sheika, Abdullah, and Hammed (their kids), along with Huda's sister, Mona and her two kids, Eisa's mother, and two housemaids.  They ordered Lebanese food for us and I enjoyed the best wrapped grape leaves I've ever had.  The kabobs of chicken, beef, and lamb were delicious!  As we were eating, we saw the same group on a video on their T.V. that was in our hotel.  I took a few pictures of our meal, but I have been asked by the ladies to respectfully not post their pictures to the internet.  Eisa's mom said she felt like she had known me for a very long time and Mianna actually crawled into Huda's lap and fell asleep.