I change Hospitalityclub host from Dubai to Sharjah – from Italian Fabio to Iranian Fereshteh and her husband Mohsen.

Watch Slumdog Millionaire with their kids, eat strawberry flavored microwave popcorn from American Garden. The VCD movie was purchased by some Chinese, I’m told. They used to sell the on the street or in shops, but since the police raids against piracy they’ve started with home delivery. Much better, said Fereshteh. The day before we watched Slumdog Millionaire on VCD in Dubai, my parents saw the premiere show on cinema in Sweden.

The reason I’ve been staying in Dubai for so long is that I’m still waiting for my visa to Iran and to Uzbekistan. Just to locate the Uzbekistan consulate took me over a week, despite great help from local Mathew who drove me around the area for a total of five hours; sometimes using four-wheel-drive since roads here are often under construction. The tourist information – in fact not even the Ministry of Tourism – had no clue of the address, or worse gave me incorrect directions.