My friend the Sheikh: Ask a question, get an island

Disclaimer: Everything you are about to read is 100% true and not in any way fabricated. I know that is sounds too good to be true but we happened to find ourselves a part of that very small minority that things like this actually happen to. We are the first exchange students here to have this happen and it may not happen again but man are we excited! Read on...

Before coming to AUS I decided to set a series of goals for myself, some academic, some personal and some tourist-y. One of my main academic goals was to get over being intimidated in classrooms and learn to ask questions and make comments regularly. I told myself each day I would say at least one thing in class. This goal turned into something huge. Every day we had the Politics in the Arabian States class I either asked a question or volunteered until it got to the point that Sheikh Mansour would call on me by name in class. He started printing out extra readings for us exchange students and being extra helpful as well.

Then came Monday. 

Right before class we found out that our Eid plans were going to have to change. We have a full week off for Eid in which all the students go home with their families so we planned a big camping/roughing it type trip for the week. We wanted to stay on Sir Bani Yas Island for a few nights, camping on the beach, so we could see the Christian Monastery from before 600AD and the wildlife. (More info on Sir Bani Yas if you are interested) Come to find out you have to have a hotel reservation to even get to the island and the resorts there are crazy expensive so we knew we had to plan something new. After class on Monday I went up to the Sheikh and asked him if he had any suggestions of places we could go and experience Emirati culture. He then started listing places and said he would talk to some people and help us out. He gave us his secretary's number and said to get in touch. When I got out of class I wrote him an email and planned to call  first thing in the morning. His assistant at AUS replied to the email and asked for my contact information. (sorry all of these details are important to understand how incredible this story is)

Tuesday morning comes and I am getting ready for class and planning to call within the next ten minutes when my phone rings. I answer and hear, "Good Morning, Tanya. How are you? I know I will see you in class tomorrow but I wanted to talk to you about your trip." It was maybe 30 seconds or so until I realized that the Sheikh himself had actually called me. We talked for a bit and he gave me some places to research as options for us to go to. He then said he wanted to help us and would take care of reservations and such. I got off the phone not really knowing what to say but just emailed the other seven students who were going with me to say all of our plans had changed and the Sheikh was in charge now. We researched the places he told us about (they are all incredible and we would not have heard about them without his help) and emailed him back thanking him for the help and saying we planned to go to those places now.

Fast forward to this morning, the craziest day ever. I called his secretary to see if the Sheikh would be able to meet with us before class to discuss things and his secretary told me he was currently working on our schedule and would call me after class with the final plans. He said we would be leaving first thing tomorrow and everything would be taken care of. Still in shock from it all I started walking to class. Then my phone rings. It is the Sheikh again! He told me that he would like to fly us to Sir Bani Yas Island tomorrow and to put us in the resort there and then fly us to Abu Dhabi so we could spend time in Al-Ain. He asked if it was ok if he booked our flights and hotel and obviously I said of course and thanked him thoroughly. I slipped into class just before my name was called but I could not help but laugh at the excuse I would have been able to use if I was late...."Sorry I was on the phone with Sheikh Mansour."

I immediately emailed people from our group and told them to cancel the car and hotel reservations we had made. They asked why and I just said, we don't need them. Trust me, we don't need anything anymore.

I got out of class and the Sheikh's secretary called me again. He needed all of our passport copies for the reservations (which we miraculously gathered all of them and sent them to him within 20 minutes) and informed me of our final trip. Try to breath when reading this, I know I think I stopped breathing when he told me.

Tomorrow morning two cars will be sent to campus to take us to the Dubai Airport. From there we will fly to Sir Bani Yas Island where we will be escorted to two beach Villas at the Anantara resort. Friday morning we will be picked up for a day long tour of the wildlife reserve, the Christian Monastery and the island in general. Saturday afternoon we fly out of Sir Bani Yas Island to Abu Dhabi where the Sheikh's secretary will pick us up and take us to Al-Ain. Once in Al-Ain we have the rest of the day to relax in yet another amazing hotel. Sunday morning we will be picked up and taken to Oman (yes, we have a private driver to a different country) where we will get to explore for the day. Monday and Tuesday are ours to adventure and explore especially since everything will be closed because of Eid. Then Wednesday we will have another car pick us up and give us a tour of Al-Ain. We will also most likely meet up with Sheikh Mansour this day too. After hearing all of this I hung up the phone and was literally in disbelief that this just happened. In fact, we all were left without words, we just kept smiling.

An hour after our plans were finalized we went to class, ironically it was Sheikh Mansour's class. After the lecture we went to thank him and talk to him about things but his AUS assistant rushed us out so he could start the next class. No worries though because after volleyball practice I looked at my phone and had two missed called from Sheikh Mansour. Really though, who has two missed calls from a sheikh? I died. I called him back and he just wanted to say sorry for being rushed out during class and wanted to know what we were all saying. I told him we wanted to thank him and ask if it was ok if two of our other American friends joined us for dinner with him. He said of course and that he would get an extra hotel room for them and help get them to Al-Ain. It was crazy how easily he suggested that when all I asked was if they could come to dinner. Then he asked if any of us had seen camels or the falcons here and I said not yet. No worries once again because apparently he has some at his house and will make sure we see them. My friend was with me when I was on the phone and I am pretty sure I was on the ground freaking out while maintaining a completely normal voice. I am getting pretty good at this after all of these crazy phone calls this week.

So there you have it, tomorrow morning me and seven friends are being picked up by drivers to fly to a resort on a desert island. This will most definitely be the most unforgettable trip of my life thus far and I am still so shocked this is happening. Even after seeing all of the confirmations it has not fully hit me. We are incredibly blessed to be honest. The culture here is all about hospitality but this is way above and beyond what I would have ever imagine. Who would have thought that asking questions in class would get us an all expenses paid trip to an island. Not me, that is for sure.

Expect some crazy stories and amazing pictures (previews below) from this trip but I am off to prepare for tomorrow...I have a flight to catch :)