Some pictures...

Me at Radio 1


Burj Al Arab


We smoke a lot of shisha

Reasons for doing this...

At this point in time, the only way to utilize the internet at the accommodations here in Jebel Ali or the Dubai Investment Park, located ever so close to the coveted Green Community, is to stay up any time past 2:00am. The internet here sucks so bad that if and when there are only 10-15 of 120 students using, the bandwidth drops significantly and I will more than likely lose all connection, but I digress.

My ability to analyze the current debilitating circumstances is not why I have made the decision to move here. I realize now that these people I have met here are perhaps the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Their 120 opinions that, because of my election to the student association, I must hear every day. I value each and every cultural difference and attempt to learn from every discourse.

Team Building

The first month we have been here has been all about learning to work together. We are 31 nationalities represented here on the Dubai campus and it has been nuts dealing with everyone's competencies, cultures, varying degrees of English comprehension, etc. I must also mention that out of 120 students, there are 53 Indian students. The word Whoa comes to mind. They are very competitive and have issues and/or worries about not being heard in class. Thus, they will often shout over one another, not really listening to the others point because they're developed idea MUST be shared with the class. This then creates a weird tangent in the discussion. Alas, we are working on it. The pictures here are of a classic team building exercise where students have to come together and build a structure, with very certain parameters, as well as very specific directions on when your building times can be started. It was a great lesson in carefully reading and following the objectives directions. Many thanks to our wonderful professors.

The Marriot

This is our spot that we have learned to love. The backstory to this hotel bar is that in Dubai, you CANNOT get a drink unless you are within the confines of a hotel or mall. So inherently, we have become mallrats and hotel lounge singer types because we have to. Beers cost about 30 dirhams, which is close to $9 / beer, which is not too unlike Los Angeles pricing. The view is nice, but from this vantage point on the terrace it is still 100/100 as we say; 100 degrees and 100% humidity. My favorite quote is from our Boston librarian saying, "I walked outside and it felt like I was stepping into a hot bowl of soup." That pretty much defines our out-of-school existence, but nonetheless, it has been quite an amazing journey thus far.