Thoroughly Modern Dubai

It has been over a week since I have had time to post, and unfortunately I have a lot of topics. So I am going to do some installments over the next couple days I think.

First off, classes are in full swing, which has greatly contributed to the fact that I don't have time to blog anymore, plus, I have been trying to keep a social life going in the evenings. As much as I would love to sit here and blog so you all know what I am up too... I do want to make friends ;)

Last weekend I went out into Dubai and stayed out till 4:30 am (my Arab friends will be so proud of me!). We hung out on the beach in Dubai for awhile then went out to eat. One thing I was simply amazed about was how BUSY everything is at 3 am! All the restaurants and cafe's are full even at this hour! And the traffic at this time is TERRIBLE. Below is a video that demonstrates this! Keep in mind this was shot at about 3 am!

There are even families out with young kids! Of course, this is only really common on the weekends, but even during the week there are some people that are out much later than anyone in the States I feel. I don't even feel like New York City is as alive as Dubai is at 3 am!

On that note, Dubai is absolutely amazing! When walking through the streets you forget the fact that this is actually a desert. I find myself more often being surprised by the patches of sand, as if THAT is the thing that is out of place. I think I definitely feel more like I am in the Middle East when I am walking through Sharjah, rather than Dubai. Can't wait to compare to Abu Dhabi, which we are going to go to this weekend for the day!

Don't realize just how much Dubai has grown in the last 30 or 40 years? Take a gander at these photos and educate yourself!

This is a photo of Old Dubai. Believe it or not, Dubai looked like this till around the 70's

Here is Sheikh Zayed Road in 1991, then again,  just 10 years later in 2001. Pretty Amazing!

Sheikh Zayed Road today!

I really do love it here! I honestly wouldn't mind living here one day, perhaps get a job teaching at the American University of Sharjah :) ! (to Dad: actually, perhaps I will get into Commercial Real Estate Development here...) 

Back to school talk:

I switched into Environmental Science, because my Politics of Arabian States teacher was weird, though apparently was from one of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family (possible explanation for the crazyness?) known as His Highness Dr. Sheikh Mansour Al Nahyan. 

Today my Environmental Science teacher asked who here makes it a priority to recycle. Out of over 30 students, only 2 students (myself included) raised their hands. Maybe that's what I will do after college, come teach these Emiratis how to properly dispose of waste. Also learn about the existence of water filters. I cringe to think about how many bottled waters this population goes through a day... NO ONE drinks from a tap here.  Honestly, I think that is the roughest transition for me. To go from Eugene where we recycle everything and where people who carry a non-reusable plastic water bottle is looked down upon to a country that is easily among the most wasteful countries in the world(per capita). In fact I am going to go look this up right now...

I just looked it up, there is no data on the subject that has been reported. I am going to take this as a bad sign, considering I have not seen a SINGLE recycle bin anywhere in this country since arriving. According to my professor there is one large bin behind the Rec Center.... So it's at the edge of campus about as far away from anything as you can get on campus. Convenient...

***UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE***
Learned today in class that UAE has the LARGEST ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT per person IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!! They even beat out the United States!!! Pretty Amazing...

Signing off for now! Stay tuned soon, should have a few more posts up tomorrow and the next day! :)