In the UAE, it's also a good occasion for going to a big ol' celebratory brunch. And in true WASPy fashion, Steve and I love a good brunch. Before moving here we had fun trying quaint little brunches all over LA, Vegas, and Seattle. And even farther back, I have hilarious memories from the cheap bottomless mimosa brunches my friends and I used to seek out across NYC in the years right after college.
But in the UAE, brunch isn't cute, or quaint, or made for rolling out of bed and stumbling towards. It's an event that requires a little advance planning, usually reservations, time to get presentable (yoga pants not recommended), a round trip taxi ride (zero tolerance alcohol policy in the UAE), and eating and drinking way too much (both are all you can eat). Oh, and it's typically on Friday since that's the primary day off here and people tend to stay for the entire brunch time - 4 hours.
And you guyyyyyyyys, brunch here costs $125 - $180 per person.
Apparently, my reaction means I haven't fully acclimated. None of our friends seems to have the same reaction, or at least not anymore. Even Steven thinks it's fine.
But of course we wanted to support and celebrate with our friends and their new bebe, so we joined in. Steve and I opted for the non-alcoholic option but time crawls when you're drinking water and iced tea.
But 4 hours is a long time when you're stone cold sober and all your friends are several drinks deep.
So when Aimee handed me a mojito 2 1/2 hours later, I happily partook.
And like magic, the rest of the brunch flew by. And so did the drinks we had at our place, and the shawarma we ordered and happily ate with our hands.
The end.
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