Surviving Dubai

It has taken a week to recover from the whole Dubai experience, and by whole experience I mean the trip and the class. You can see all the pictures in Picasa to learn about our adventures, and those pictures provide a fairly good overview of all our travels. However, this week, I began to think back over the trip and realized the one thing that tied it all together was SURVIVAL. Let me explain:

1. Survived the flights — some of our group circled around Syria for hours, then had to land in Kuwait to refuel, before ever making it to Dubai.

2. Survived a canceled New Year’s — who cancels a whole holiday, especially in a place that thrives on tourism?!

3. Survived the fog — you can see the pictures of how heavy and how fast it rolls in. These were taken within an hour of each other. Driving in it is much worse.

4. Survived the taxi drivers — Not only can they not see five feet in front of them because of the fog, but they have no idea where they are going. It’s very likely you’ll be lost. Yet, they will drive 100mph to get there, weaving in and out of traffic, and then slam on their brakes to stop. Or you may never catch a taxi, because they don’t want to bring you the short distance to your hotel. It’s not a big enough fare for them. Either way, if you make it safely to your destination, you’ve survived the Dubai taxi driver. Second to this was surviving our hired bus driver for the week. He had similar driving skills.

5. Survived the Souks — relentless shop keepers hawking their goods to every passerby-fake Rolex, fake Prada, cashmere wraps, the best gold, the best spices, etc. I also survived bargaining with my new cashmere guy and with one of the jewelers for a gold ring.

6. Survived the Mall of the Emirates — If you can go in, find what you’re looking for, and manage to find your way back to the same entrance, it’s a miracle. This mall is GIGANTIC, no exaggeration. This is the one with the ski slope and snow park inside. I think we only saw a quarter of the whole mall in the entire time that we were in Dubai.

7. Survived the Atlantis — We managed to have lunch next to Jean Claude Van Damme (yes it’s really him, you just have to hear him talk), and he didn’t knock anyone’s head in, despite Scott’s insistence that Emily wouldn’t mind. We also managed to spend the afternoon on the Atlantis private beach, acting as guests. It’s all about walking around as if you belong and know exactly what you’re doing.

8. Survived endless “school” days (as opposed to the vacation days) without lunch — It just wasn’t factored into the schedule. Don’t ask.

9. Survived several very dry business presentations — But, the time at Emirates Airlines and Jumeirah more than made up for some of these others.

10. Survived several very cold and windy boat rides — You would think it was always warm in Dubai, but at night on the water, it is really rather cold. Nevertheless, we did two night cruises.

11. Survived the never-ending Lebanese dinners — I haven’t wanted to see or eat hummus for weeks.

12. Survived lunch with the the UAE Foreign Minister — It can be nerve wracking to sit across from their Secretary of State and hope that you don’t say something completely embarrassing or culturally offensive. Of course, I was also concerned with spilling something from our never-ending Lebanese lunch in my lap.

13. Survived the Mosque — After much convincing, they allowed the non-Muslims and women in to tour the outer area of the Mosque. We were respectful, quiet, and managed to keep our head coverings in place the whole time.

14. Survived the self-defense/restraining maneuvers of Emirates Airlines training — Definitely a serious issue for airlines today, but it was a little humorous to see your classmates taken down during the demonstrations.

15. Survived the Burj Al Arab — They didn’t throw us out for acting like typical Americans, gawking and taking pictures of everything. I suppose it helped that we were being hosted by the CEO, so they couldn’t really throw us out if they wanted to. The pictures from the royal suite will show you some of our antics (pictures in the tubs, on the beds, etc.). Some of our craziness was prompted by our great tour guide who encouraged everyone to jump on the bed. Although, we must not have been too bad, because they did let us back in a few days later for tea in the Skyview room. This time, we were very respectable and took our tea without any crazy incidents.

16. Survived dune bashing — If I can find the video, I’ll post it. But, this was amazing. We were racing and sliding all over the sand dunes in Land Cruisers. A few people in the very back of the car were holding on for dear life.

17. Survived camel riding — Camel riding isn’t as easy as it looks. There’s a good chance you could fall off just trying to get on or off the camel. Then, you only need to see Can’s face when you mention camel rides to get his opinion of the bumpy ride. This is me and Jolly.

18. Survived dune surfing — This is a lot like snow boarding (so I’m told). The sand dune doesn’t look that steep or tall from the bottom, but when you’re at the top and being told to hop to the edge on your board, it looks like a 10-story, almost vertical drop. I fully admit that I fell every time I went down the dune. (I may still have some sand in my suitcase to prove it.) I didn’t know how to slow down, and I freaked myself out every time as I would go faster and faster and see the bottom approaching.

19. Survived a week without the internet — It’s actually kind of nice to be unplugged and unavailable, but I was definitely addicted the moment Emily and I checked into our new hotel, and I could purchase internet service for $20. I couldn’t get enough news, emails, photos, blogs, facebook, or twitter.

20. Survived two weeks of insurmountable school work following the trip — If you were one of the few who spoke to me in the last few weeks, you know the stress I was feeling. It was a blessing in disguise to be unemployed. I spent every day, all day, working on papers and presentations for our Dubai class.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and met some great new friends, I am very thankful to be home and finished with all that is Dubai.

I survived.