Cat in the Gulf: For Daddy (why couldn't I inherit his sense of direction??)

I talked to my dad today and he said that he checks my blog and he sounded a little disappointed that there were no updates. And it's a long weekend, I won't be back at work till Monday, and I got a bit of free time... so I guess it's a time for an update then! ;-)

I am topographically challenged. I have no sense of direction whatsoever and it's a miracle I don't get lost very often. Then again, I guess it's simply because I normally avoid going to places I don't know. And I can read maps. If I can find a place on the map - I'll get there. My dad - now that's another story. He can't get lost. Be it in the forest, in a new city, on foot or by car - he will always know where the starting point is. I am ever so jealous of that, and a little mad that he couldn't pass it on to me. I'd totally trade the sense of direction for a few less helpful things I DID inherit!

Anyways, I got this notification from the Dubai CPO to come and collect a parcel from the States. Great, I love parcels. The problem was I had no idea where (or what?) Dubai CPO was. My hubby gave me a clue: Central Post Office. The one in Karama.

Oops, warning bells. Karama is in the centre of Dubai proper, and to me - an alien territory. I never go to Dubai. Living in Emirates Hills has a great advantage: I don't NEED to go to Dubai, ever. Unless of course there is a parcel waiting for me in the mysterious CPO.

The notification itself held no clues as to the place's actual physical location. No address, no phone number. A short and rather disturbing online search later (all Emirates Post pages returned Error messages) I found out from someone's personal blog that the Central Post office is indeed in Karama, on Za'abeel road. Not enough information for me to go along, but I had no choice, and so I checked the petrol in the car (almost full - hopefully should be enough to find the place and come home), got my map, switched on the GPS navigator and took off.

On Sheikh Zayed road, I carefully avoided the two leftmost lanes (the memories of me trying to get to Wafi Mall and ending up lost deep in Sharjah are still too vivid) and reached the roundabout after the World Trade Centre trouble-free. There of course I took the wrong turn, and had to spend the next 15 minutes or so navigating between Oud Metha and Um Hurair roads. At one point I stopped and asked a passer-by for directions to the Post Office (girl power!!) and he pointed at the massive building in front of me behind a great big wall and few gates here and there - success!!!

There was plenty parking around (the kind you have to pay 1Dhs to park for an hour), so I parked the car right there only to realise I had no coins on me. I remembered giving all the coins I had (not that many) to the guy at the petrol station who filled the car and washed ALL the windows, not just the front and back one. So now I couldn't park and there were no outlets of any kind anywhere around to exchange notes for coins. So I had to leave! I was just about to start the car and go look for coins, when another car parked right next to me and a couple got out (hey guys, in case you are bloggers and you are reading this - THANK YOU!) . I jumped out of the car and begged them to give me a couple of 1Dhs coins in exchange for 5Dhs note. They laughed and gave me 5Dhs in coins, kind people. I paid the parking fee and realised the guys who gave me the coins just left their car there without paying for the parking. Well, maybe they knew something that I didn't. If not, I hope they didn't get a parking ticket.

When I got to the entrance to the Post Office, I saw plenty parking INSIDE the gates. Oh well, I was already there, and the parking fee was already paid.

I had to wander around the building for a while until I found the entrance. Apparently the main bulk of the building consists of personal post boxes (no wonder - there is no home delivery of post in Dubai, if you don't have a P.O. Box - you cannot receive mail.) But I did find the entrance, and got my ticket at the reception, and had to wait for about 5 minutes for my turn.

When my turn came, a pleasant chap in a nightie took my notification, saw the LAST REMINDER print in red on top of it and gave me a disapproving look. I was still too happy that I found the place so I didn't feel guilty in the least ;-) After asking me a few pointless questions like who sent me a parcel and what was in it (the answers being no clue & no clue), he went to fetch it. The parcel came from my University, and as it was clearly marked so and contained only printed material (it was Xrayed in front of me), the chap didn't open it and let me go after I paid about 12Dhs for "customs and storage".

Before I left, I decided to get the actual address of the place to feed it into my GPS so I would find it easily next time. I asked the chap - he looked at me like I was mad, and sent me to another counter, "Inquiries". The lady at the "Inquiries" gave me the same kind of look and said the address is "Karama". I asked for the street and building number kind of address. She said that there isn't one. "Karama, Za'abel road, Post Office. Everyone knows it". Is it anything to be surprised about that in the city where a great number of people have no idea what their actual address is and everyone navigates by landmarks, the Central Post Office itself has no known address?

I saved the coordinates of the paid parking in the GPS instead.