My Arab Life: The Novel

*Warning...this is about to be massive...the last three days have been crazy busy*

A mad marathon of being a tourist began bright and early at 7am on Wednesday when we loaded the bus to Dubai. It is relatively close to Sharjah but with all of the commuters who live in Sharjah and work in Dubai the traffic put us behind on the schedule more than an hour. Of course it was not that big of deal because what I have observed so far, the Arabs are not exceptionally concerned with exact punctuality. (It is convenient that both the sense of time in Italy and here are a little late...makes me actually feel punctual) We went to Sheikh Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding where we had a traditional breakfast and discussed culture. When we walked in we took of our shoes and sat around the food on pillows and were introduced to the idea of "open doors, open minds." The man who was our host talked about how they wanted to open their doors to those who visited Dubai so that with open minds they could have a better understanding of Arab Culture. It was a wonderful experience. The man was an incredible speaker and really did an amazing job at explaining a lot of cultural and religious based questions that are somewhat taboo. The food was amazing as well!

We put little pins on where we are from...looks like I am the sole representative from the Ozarks.

 Then we took a tour of the old city. Most of it has been rebuilt but it is on the same spot the original tribe that inhabited Dubai once lived. It was a rather small tribe and was right on the water. It had a lot of really amazing buildings that were all built really close to each other to create more shade and to create wind tunnels that could cool the village down during the summer heat (or heat in general, it is the desert after all...it is always hot.) They also had wind towers that were essentially old school ACs...rather impressive technology.

 We ended our tour at the mosque where we talked about different aspects of Islam and religion in general. It was an amazing experience and I am so thankful we got to go in and continue our discussion about Islam and society. The host said so many things that really intrigued me but what I found to be the most memorable is when he was talking about the core of all different types of religion- "It feels good to be good." It was just a really nice way to tear down walls and preconceived notions and really get at the core of humanity, irregardless of religion, we desire to be good.

Emmy, Alica and I in the mosque...Sporting hijabs for the first time.

We left the Center for Cultural Understanding (2 hours after the time we were supposed to) and stopped at the Dubai Museum briefly to get a closer look at life in Dubai before it became the Middle East's very own Vegas. It is incredible how within ten years the government went from handing out about 1 building permit a day or even a week to no joke 100 building permits a day during the boom that raised Dubai from the desert. It was neat but we were ready for the next event. By the time we got on the bus to go to lunch we were still 2 hours behind schedule. The only reason why us being late is relevant is because for those of you who know me, when I get hungry (I mean like really really hungry) my patience decreases immensely. Apparently the place we went was not prepared for 40 people so it was somewhat of a disaster. They brought our food out all at different times and messed up essentially every order. Some how I was the last person in the room to get my food (apparently I was being taught how to be extremely patient that day) but alas my food arrived. And it was my very own authentic Camel Burger and Mango flavored Camel Milk Milkshake! It wasn't bad at all! Honestly at that point I would have eaten dirt I was so hungry but it was great, it tasted almost like a mild sausage. Despite the chaos and not so grand service, I am so glad I can say I have tried camel.

We continued the day with a bus tour of the city. It really is incredibly how much money is in Dubai. Honestly, just imagine how this conversation might have gone...."So I have a couple billion dollars and don't know what to do with it. Have any ideas?" "Why don't you build your own island in the shape of a Palm tree?" "That is a great idea! Let's build!" But actually that is about as far as the planning probably went before they put up the Palm. It is incredible though, I don't really know what else to say about it. We stopped near the water and at the Atlantis resort and got some great pictures before we drove off the Palm and headed back to the souks to end the night. They were a bit overwhelming because at that point we had been walking around in Dubai for over 12 hours and were crazy sweaty and gross. I did not expect the vendors to actually touch us and try to put things on us as a selling technique. Someone should tell them that generally people don't like being touched by strangers or heckled and maybe they would have more business. There was a creepy moment when one of them heard my friend say my name and then kept calling out to me, by name, to come over. Glad we got walk around them but I think the heat had taken all of the pep out of our steps at that point.

CIEE in front of the Atlantis with our Residential Director Abu Bakr

The textile souk in Dubai

To get out of the heat while waiting for the bus a bunch of the Americans stood in the ATM machine booth that had AC.

We returned to campus at about 11pm and crawled into bed so that we could wake up and repeat the day but this time in Sharjah. We went to the heart of Sharjah which, like when we were in Dubai, is the place where the original inhabitants lived. They have also turned it into a cultural center and are planning to revive and rebuild the entire old village by 2025. My favorite part of the day is when we stopped in the little cafe inside the souk and ran into to Arab men who were chatting and having their morning coffees. It was the most authentic and beautiful cultural moment I have had since getting here. They spoke a little english with us but they also were speaking Arabic and we understood a good portion of it. It was time to leave and we realized that there were still dates on the plates and it would be rude to leave them. So...we downed them...all of them...in like one minute. When we finished and got ready to leave the older man said he wanted to pay for us and following cultural norms we thanked him, took a quick picture to remember the time we spent with them and headed on our way. It was a great memory that I will hold on to dearly. We grabbed lunch at a Palestinian restaurant which was hands down my favorite meal here so far. It was essentially a lot of Falafel and hommas but in different variations. Of course lunch was topped off with  Turkish coffee before heading to the Aquarium. Note to all: I should not have more than one cup of turkish coffee...if any at all. I am not sure if it was the coffee or my exhaustion but I lost it. We were laughing at everything and being ridiculous and it was great. Anyone who has seen me really excited before or with a lot of sugar in my system, it was similar to that. It definitely was the kick I needed to pull through the end of the day after two long days of tours.

Arabic Coffee and Dates with two locals...an amazing experience!

Coffee and Dates have become a part of my main food groups

Our group at lunch

Amazing food!

Outside of the Sharjah Aquarium

If you look closely you can see the Eye of the Emirates we rode early this week. It is in the background.

To conclude this novel of a blogpost I just wanted to tell you all how my first Friday went. I actually went to a church in Dubai and it was amazing! There were well over 500 people of all different walks of life and nationalities and it was just a really beautiful moment for me and my friends who came with me. It was not like Riverbank in terms of style or music but I had to remind myself that the methods don't matter and I should be more than excited to be at a church in Dubai of all places. After I realized the beauty of what we were a part of I really enjoyed myself and met some amazing people. It was a great end to a great week! Now just one more day of summer and I become a student and not a tourist in UAE. Thank you for reading my Arab Life Novel....the next book in the series will be coming soon!

Zophia, Erin and I at Redeemer Church of Dubai