The Light Show in Sharjah

Just a little clip of the light show in Sharjah that was going on last week. They projected images on building throughout the city

Photos and Videos

This post is basically just a collection of photo's that I have taken over the past week. I am also adding a few videos. Sorry for the delay in this post! My computer broke and I just got a replacement! :)

This entire meal cost 14 dirhams (about $3.75) I could have gotten even MORE, but I stopped them!

A giant KFC bucket in the middle of a roundabout

Hmmm.... which fish do I want....

After they fried up my fish! Yummy!

Jessi! You should look into staying here after Ma and Pa leave (a bit of a step down from The Atlantis)

The Falcon store at the Small Animal Souq

Bunnies, Duckies, Guinea Pigs, and Chickens at the Small Animal Souq!

Fish Souq

This is how the local men greet each other. Usually a kiss on the cheek
and possibly a little nose touch :)

Below are some videos of this young  local boy having fun with Lucas, from our group
This kid didn't speak a bit of English, but knew Jackie Chan movies and kept
trying to do karate with  Lucas. hahaha

Sheikh Zayid Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi

The Grand Mosque Again!

Our group inside the Grand Mosque (minus Kusum, Layal, and Maaz)

This is a video in the courtyard of the Mosque. If you listening carefully

You can hear Gabe giving a short explanation about the reason for

the crack in the tiles! Thanks Gabe!

Here is the main entrance with the small chandelier. Sorry for the 

shakyness, but there was a lot of people to maneuver around!

All the floral designs on the floor and ceiling are precious stones!

The inside of the main prayer room in the Grand Mosque

Thoughts on Culture

Contrary to what you may believe, I personally find that the average young Arab man is more chivalrous than an average young American man.

When going about my daily business in the US, I am honestly more often surprised than expectant when a guy my age holds open a door for me. I guess I just never really noticed how often this didn't happen until I came here. In the UAE, if a man sees you to go through the same door as he, he will, I would say over 90% of the time, will stop and hold the door for you. If there is a guy on the other side at the same time, he will open it for you and wait (or if, likely, the door has already been opened by another man, he will step aside to allow you to go first). This ALWAYS seams to happen. It's just the little things, like an old man jumping out of my way while I was walking to the exit, extending his hand and saying "tafaDal"(meaning similar to, "if you please" or "excuse me"). I could have walked around him and he could have ignored me and I wouldn't have thought twice about it, but I was so surprised at the respect he showed me. (something like this also happened last night, with a much younger man at a cafe) These men didn't work at the establishments I was in, they were just customers like myself.

The 'Ladies First' attitude is alive in well in this country wherever you go. Whether it be to walk through a door, sit at a table, get on a train, and most all situations. I feel that this concept is dying with the new generations in the US. Whatever happened to the days when men would stand when a lady came to sit at the table?

Another example that I have personally experienced is when on the Metro.We hoped on and all the seats were full, so my friends and I grabbed on to the poles. Then I noticed a young Arab man waving for my attention. When I looked at him, he stood up and offered his seat to me. I declined at first, but he insisted, moving away from his chair and grabbing on to a pole. So I went to go sit down. I originally thought he just gave me his seat because he was probably going to get off at the next stop. Well, he stood and didn't get off for around 6 or 7 stops (about 15 minutes).

This may seam like something really small, but I bet most women don't expect to be treated this way when coming to an Arab country.

And American men, please don't get me wrong, I love you guys and there are many that are chivalrous and respectful towards women, by I feel that you can't argue against the fact that Chivalry is on the decline in the US with the new generations.

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Thats all for now!
Will post hopefully later tonight about my latest trips into Sharjah!

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! :)

Dubai

I have been really busy the last few days so I have a lot to write about today! 

Two days ago we went into Dubai for the first time. Starting off our time at the Sheikh Mohammad Center for Cultural Understanding where we were taken to a Mosque and our guide explained Islamic prayer as well as other traditions. Then we walked through a recreation of old traditional housing. We finished off with Arabic Coffee and dates while having a Q+A about other cultural questions. This is where I helped in a demonstration of traditional Arabic clothing!

After we saw some flamingos on our way to the Dubai Mall. The first thing we saw was the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world!

It's hard to explain how cool the mall was, there is an aquarium, an ice skating rink, a waterfall feature, I giant fountain out front (will show you video later), and there was even a fashion show going on. Check my facebook for all pictures, cause it would take to long to upload them all here! Just walking through and looking at all the stores was amazing as well.

Walking through the Mall (check out all the different outfits people wear!)

The entrance to the Aquarium in the Dubai Mall!

Right before we left we went up to TGI Fridays, authentic I know, but if you just sit dow and order an appetizer on the balcony, you get a great view of the water show! The fountain water show is every 15 minutes after 6:00pm and they have different choreography to each song!

THE NEXT DAY:

Yesterday we went into Dubai again, but this was a little more subdued. We took Abras across the creek to the old Souq, which I plan on going back for some shopping soon! It's hard getting over the fact that the shop owners in these souqs will ALWAYS be in your face about a sale. I am just learning to ignore it, but it's such a turn off from my shopping mood when people shove scarves and shirts in my face trying to get me to buy them!!!

Abras on the Creek

Me at the Old Souq in my Emirati Attire! :)

The rest of our walking around Dubai was all about views. We went to the Marina area and got some great photos and then after dark snuck up to the top of the Sheraton Hotel for the free view!

Near the Dubai Marina

Dubai by night!

Some other pictures:

Serving Arabic Coffee and the Center for Cultural Understanding

Restaurant at the Old Souq

Our message to the help that cleans up the trays in the cafeteria.
We feel awkward just leaving them on the table :P

Outing to Sharjah

Final Schedule as Follows:

1) Islamic Political Philosophy: Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday 11:00-11:50
2) Modern Gulf History: Monday, Wednesday 11:00-12:15
3) Islamic Law and Jurisprudence: Monday, Wednesday 12:30-1:45
4) Intermediate Arabic II : Monday, Wednesday 2:00-3:15
          +Language Lab: Sunday 2:00-3:40
5) Politics of Arabian States: Monday, Wednesday 3:30-4:45

Overview, two very busy days on Monday and Wednesday when I have classes from 11am- 4:45 with only 3, 15 minute breaks. Then only one class on Tuesday and Thursday, then two classes on Sunday. (the weekend here is Friday and Saturday!)


Today we went on an outing to Sharjah. It started out not too eventful, went to an Islamic Civilization Museum, which I have to admit wasn't to exciting. It was interesting at times but had a lot of coins and a lot of pottery, so it got a little old after awhile! The highlight would probably have to be the ceiling of the dome! I just looked at the video and now realize I have to work on SLOOOOWLY panning the camera. I apologize for any motion sickness caused by this video.

12th Century Qur'an Manuscript at the Museum

After the museum we basically wandered. Walked through a few souqs that were mostly closed unfortunately, but did find a cool spice shop! Found some black lemons! Must get some to bring back towards the end of my trip!

Old man sitting at coffee shop praying on his prayer beads
 in his hand (kind of like a muslim rosary)

The highlight of the day for me was going down to the Al Qasba area for dinner and a short cruise on the Sharjah Lagoon! We had dinner at a Lebanese place called Shababeek where I had the best falafel I've had!

Sorry for the loud noise! I was right next to the motor!

Falafel wrapped in Pita with cilantro, tomatoes, pickles, and some tasty sauce!

         Also experienced my very first major culture shock last night. After we got back from dinner around 9:30 or so, the group decided we should still hang out for a little longer. Since men aren't allowed in the girls dorm area and vice versa, we picked a neutral location near the men's dorms. After probably less than an hour we were approached by a security guard on a bike saying women are not allowed in this area and that the other girl, Deena, and I had to leave. We said that we were told by our advisors that men and women could both be here. The security guard again said no and told us to leave. So Deena and I left. The security guard then followed us on his bike more than halfway to the women's dorms just to make sure we were actually leaving I guess. On the way back Deena told me numerous stories about the Security acting this way, even if it is just women all together after dark. I also remembered from some of the exchange students who were here last semester say that sometimes if there are one guy and girl walking together during the day even if their are tons of people around, the security guards sometimes follow them. Or if they are sitting alone together at a table or a bench (even if there is a crowd of people round) they will tell them to leave. Even though this isn't technically against the rules of the university! It was definitely frustrating and we had a grand old time verbally abusing the officer to ourselves as we were walking home. It was frustrating because of course, to us as Americans, it is so normal to have guy friends and have it not mean anything beyond that. I think it is just something we will just have to get used to.

On that note, I leave you with this....

This is in our library...

Meeting new people and animals

My first two full days here have been very, very busy. On Saturday we had the Visiting Students Orientation, where I met everyone who is in the CIEE program plus a few others who came here independently. So far it seams like a really great group and everyone gets along really well! Yesterday we went on a tour of the campus then went to our first Emirati mall. It was HUGE. For those of you in Eugene, to put it into perspective it seamed like it was Gateway and Valley River put together.... then times that by 5. Not only did they have shops here, but also a skydiving simulator and an obstacle course on the ceiling (where you are strapped in, of course).

Today I went with two other girls from the group to do practical things. Went to the bank for a girl to open an account, submitted our paperwork at the health center, ect. Then we met with the rest of the group to go the Arabian Wildlife Sanctuary. A zoo that has many animals that are native (or were once native but are now extinct in the wild) to the Arabian Peninsula. Lots of snakes, lizards, and bugs, but also wolves, cheetahs (which are now extinct in the Gulf), leopards, mongooses, jackles, caracals, a HUGE hyena, small wild cats that looked like kittens, bats, Arabian Oryxs, ostiches, baboons, antelope, rabbits, and many types of birds. I had a little moment with a leopard when he stopped in front of me on he other side of the glass. I put my hand flat up to the glass and he leaned it and tried to rub his head into my hand (like how pet cats do). I wish I had had my camera ready!!!

We then went to a children's petting zoo nearby and got to pet some camels and goats. Camels are quite intimidating when you are on the ground while they are standing.

We had such a deep connection

                                              

After getting back to campus one of the girls, Kayla, and I went to the student center to hang out. We started a rowdy game of "Kerplunk" and were joined by 2 other freshman students, Omar and Abdullah, for a game of Monopoly. The new student dinner was tonight. It was buffet style with lots of Arabic dishes (finally had my first Arabic food of the trip! Yay!). We met two Palestinian American girls from Chicago as well as two Saudi American girls from Houston and one local Emirati girl. 

I feel like I don't really have much to report today, but if I wait one more day I might have TOO much to write about. We are taking our first outing on tuesday to Sharjah to see museums and souqs, so things will get more interesting. Not all my classes are finalized (still waiting on my Arabic Placement Test) but I'll post all my classes as soon as I get the final word on that!

Miss you all and hope the Northwest is treating you well! The sun is just FABULOUS here :)

(left to right) Redwan, Ernest, Gabriel, Lucas, Max, Kayla, and me (missing Layal and Kusum)