TGIT(hursday)

Since the week ends on Thursdays instead of Fridays in the Arab world it is finally the weekend. This week has been full of not only great things but stressful and hard moments. One of the things I love so very much is when even when I want to be stressed or bothered by somethingI can't manage to stay that way because so many good things happen. This is what today was like. After classes I started this post and nearly finished it before I left to go out with people from my team. The original post was essentially my rants of why I was bothered by things this week and what was the source of my stress. Now that I am home from my evening with friends I realize that those are just minor things and that I need to get a little perspective I decided to rewrite it. Yes, things are different and require an adjustment period but I am incredibly blessed to be here and should be grateful that I am even experiencing something this unique. (With that being said, it would not be a fair representation of my time here at AUS without sharing some of the downs along with all of the ups so I will add those in the blog from time to time.)

The reason this week was so intense was not only did I have classes (5 to be exact which seems like so much compared to the 3 courses a term I am used to) but also three hour long practices every night and a ton of logistical nightmares. It is incredibly chaotic to be an exchange student because not only do you have to handle all of the legal paperwork that comes with residency permits and visas but also all of the new student procedures at the university (and unfortunately not all universities are as organized and streamlined as the ones in the states). This week we were almost daily told we had to do something within 24 hours in order to avoid charges (i.e. register for the health clinic, get student ID, etc). While it isn't anyone's fault that all of this went the way it did it was just a lot for us to juggle in one week.

Today also marks week two of being here which means the honeymoon phase is starting to ware off. Don't get me wrong I am still loving it here and having a great time but this week was the first time I processed a lot of the cultural differences and found myself struggling with some of them. Independence being the big one. With a mandatory curfew in the dorms, physically having to be checked in by a supervisor each night, and having people checking in with us several times a day, it is a little overwhelming for someone who has lived away from home for going on 3 years now. Despite the fact I am considered an adult in the US, here I am treated like a high schooler again. It really isn't the end of the world but just something I am trying to adjust to and figure out how to be the complete (at times hard headed, independent, outgoing, loud...) Tanya within this culture.

With all of this being said, these growing pains are only temporary because I had a great evening. I messaged all of the girls on my volleyball team this afternoon to see who wanted to get dinner and one of the girls invited me to come with her and her friend. We got in a cab and rode to the Dubai Mall (largest mall in the world) for dinner and a movie. If I had to describe the mall in one word it would be EXCESSIVE. I know people say that everything is bigger in America (slash Texas) but this mall was so over the top. There as a giant aquarium, a candy store larger than my house, two randomly placed water falls, a diamond section (ft. brands such as Harry Winston), an ice rink, an indoor theme park type thing, a four story movie theater and every store/restaurant anyone would ever need (and that is just the beginning of it all). And as weird as it sounds even their bathrooms were excessively large. I could no joke stand in the stall with arms out and spin in a circle and not hit the walls. Who needs that much space? Oh did I mention it is 4 stories high? (3 above the ground and one below) I honestly had no words. We ate at the Cheese Cake factory (I know, I know, how American. But they wanted to eat there so I didn't mind) and then wandered around before the movie. My friend said she wanted to take me to the Burj Khalifa. At that point I had no relative idea of where we were in relation to the Burj so I just followed slightly confused. As we got closer we heard music and as we walked outside there it was. The Dubai fountain and the Burj Khalifa. That was an amazing moment. It was like the first time I saw the Colosseum and was in shock that it was the Colosseum but this time it was the Dubai Fountain and the Burj Khalifa up close. I didn't get too many great pictures because I was just watching but I will be back for sure. After the movie some of the girls were hungry so they went to Texas Roadhouse. We had to head back to Sharjah for curfew so we couldn't stay and eat a second dinner with them but we sat with them for a little bit to talk and eat peanuts. Though it was not necessarily the most Middle Eastern night it was just what I needed...a good night with friends. I am so blessed by the volleyball team and thankful for each and everyone one of them. They have helped me through this week's growing pains so much!

In front of the aquarium in the Dubai Mall

There is so much going on here it is simply overwhelming

Hello there Burj Khalifa

Random fountain in the mall with statues of divers....like i said, excessive

Home away from Home, Texas Roadhouse! Country music and all

Tomorrow we have a scavenger hunt in Dubai with CIEE so I am sure I will have stories to share! Until next time here are some sunset pictures of the Dubai skyline I snapped in the cab.

Goodbye Summer...Hello Classes

Yesterday marked the official end of 'summer.' While that in itself is a little depressing I would rather think of all of the amazing things I was able to do this summer and I am super satisfied moving on to classes knowing I did all I wanted to.

We did get a little bit of summer chillin' yesterday at Jumiera Beach. It is so strange that in Sharjah we can't show our knees or shoulders but in Dubai at this private beach we could wear our bikinis. It was strange at first but we got over the feeling of being naked (swimsuits feel like nothing compared to what we have been wearing) and it was such a beautiful and relaxing day. The water is so incredibly salty as well so you can essentially float without any effort. We left the beach at around 6pm because once again we were all super hungry. We found an Iraqi restaurant up the street where we sat down for a super nice meal. The food was great and I am sure I would have enjoyed it even more if I wasn't sitting across the table from the guy who ordered half a goat's head. He also found it necessary to describe each organ and piece as he ate it which despite my once steel like stomach, I could barely handle the commentary. Exhausted, full and still covered in sand we went upstairs in Starbucks as we waited for the bus. Believe it or not we really went to starbucks to use their wifi to watch the kick-off of the Nebraska football game. There is another student here who is orignialy from Nebraska (small world much?) so we were desperate to watch the game since we were able to with the time change. It is super difficult to get American TV channels streaming live so we watched a lot of it on the SportsCenter App on my phone (The Lord's gift to sports fans). Once we got back to campus we went to the student center and watched the rest of the game. Despite the fact that the Huskers fell apart and lost, it was a great way to end the summer and head into another semester of classes.

The one picture of the beach I was able to take. No cameras were allowed but I snuck this one in.

Our group (still wet and covered in sand from the beach) at the nice Iraqi restaurant.

To the right is the half head of the goat...you can see the skull and parts of the brains. It was repulsive to say the least.

Today was great, even with it being the first day of classes! One of my favorite evenings since getting here but I will get to that after classes. My first class I walked into about 5 minutes until class started. I sat three rows back and waited to see if anyone would come in as well. Over the next 10-15minutes 30 or so boys joined me. Yes, my first class was 30 boys and me. All of the boys sat behind me and none of them sat next to me so it was me and then an entire room behind me. Thankfully the professor was a woman so there was a little more estrogen in the room. The class is about Arab and Islamic Civilization and Society so I am really excited to see how the class turns out especially with the gender imbalance. My next class was all exchange students since it was an Arabic instruction course. It is Media Arabic and we will spend a lot of time working with news articles and reports and learning to understand the media in general. The professor is actually American but is fluent in Arabic so that is really cool and his accent was super easy to understand. Tomorrow I have Introduction to Translation which apparently is taught by one of the leading translators in the peninsula. I also have Politics of the Arabian State which is taught by the Deputy Prime Ministry of the UAE (Casual). I am so excited for class tomorrow! I was going to be taking a pottery class but no longer am able to...but it is ok, it is for a great reason! (Keep reading)

Now to the best part of my day...I had spoken with the volleyball coach earlier this week and she asked me to come tryout. I showed up early and tried to remember how to function on a volleyball court when the coach showed up. She asked me to simply pass against the wall and within a few minutes she pulled me aside and started running me through drills: passing, setting, serving, hitting. All of this happened in about 20 minutes and then she said, "We have practice at 5pm if you would like to join us." I of course agreed and thanked her thinking I had maybe made the team but not totally sure. Lucky me it is preseason which means conditioning and straight up running/circuits. I thought I was out of shape but I totally held my own. We then transitioned into drills and the coach wanted to see if I could play different positions so I played in EVERY drill. I had to internally pep talk myself to keep pushing and it actually turned out pretty well. At the end of practice the coach came over to me and said she would like to put me on the traveling team and that she needs my passport and visa copies. She then tells me that the travel team is going to Rome, Italy in November for a tournament. ROME! FOR FREE! TO PLAY VOLLEYBALL! I could have died of excitement! I thanked her so much and informed her I spoke Italian which she replied with, "that is great! You can help us! I knew you were a keeper." I left the gym ear to ear smiling because I was so excited! My two worlds have collided! Trip to Rome for free is just crazy! And to top it all off, the girls on the team were so nice and were exactly what I hoped to find. Since I was not particcularly successful at finding friends in class today (they were all boys so friendship isn't really an option sometimes) I was so happy to find a big group of girls who I can get close to (and I am sure I will, we have a lot of practices). And that is why I am no longer taking a pottery class because it is during practice but I don't mind...I would trade pottery for Rome and volleyball any day!

Life is good...very good! If it weren't 120F today it would have been perfect but I have to say it was a great way to start the semester. Fall 2013 Here we go!

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

That time we did a months worth of things in 5 days

At the start of any new stage in life it seems like there is an orientation filled with ice breakers, regulations, paper work and meeting tons of new people. Orientation with the International Exchange Office (IXO) and CIEE has been just that but with a lot more adventures. First thing Saturday morning we met in the main building to begin our IXO orientation. While we ate our breakfast (free food is my saving grace here) we heard all about IXO and AUS and opportunities we will have this semester as well as our resources. I honestly came into all of this a little uninformed since I changed travel plans so late in the game but I have been pleasantly surprised by how organized everything is and how many things we can do. The day was full of presentations and discussions but went super fast because the material was entertaining and the view was amazing.

The view from orientation...overlooking the quad and down to the rest of University City.

 After a short break we loaded on the buses and headed to a mall in Dubai for supplies and dinner. We were all starving (which is actually a trend these days) so we first hunted down food. We were with Abu Bakr so he took us to his favorite Arab food place and we ordered essentially half the menu to split between us all. It was amazing. Honestly at that point we were so hungry we could have eaten cardboard and thought it was good so this stuff was exceptionally delicious to us. All of us students went family style and dug into all of the different dishes and plates until we were finally full. Despite our best efforts we had some food left over so we hunted down other IXO students and let them clean up what we had left as we went shopping. This was one of the more interesting experiences so far for me. I have read so much about Middle Eastern culture and have spoken to so many people about it that I had formed an image in my mind what it would be like and this was not it. There were thousands of people walking around the three different floors of the mall. Some expats, some non arab citizens and a lot of traditionally clothed Arabs as well. It was just so interesting to see women fully clothed and covered walking around the mall carrying their designer purses and wearing beautiful shoes/heels. It is neat to see how the traditional Arab culture coexists with the modern UAE but also was a combination I had not fully prepared myself for. The most stressful part of the night was getting groceries for eating in my room. The store was like a Costco/Walmart but much smaller in size with the same amount of products and twice the people. It was chaos. After rushing around and getting food we arrived back to the group and got back to campus to sleep. Jet lag is no longer a possibility because they run us down rather well each day so by the time we get showered in bed we can't move and pass out.

Most of us CIEE students with 1/3 of the food we ordered...the rest was still coming.

They even  had a gluten free section in the grocery store...the one catch is that it was all french products and it was mostly cookies and such. Looks like no Udi's bread or Nut Thins for me this semester.

The next day we had a CIEE orientation with just our small group. I absolutely love the group of people we have this semester. We are all so different and here for different reasons but we just work  well together and along with Abu Bakr we make a rather absurd family...in a beautiful way of course. (Side note, sometimes we just call Abu Bakr Abu, which means father in Arabic, and an Arabic professor corrected one of us on it. We said we do it intentionally because he is like the big brother or dad of our group. He is always looking out for us and sending us reminder texts to get to the buses. Oh, and he brings us food!) Abu Bakr brought us Manna since it is an Iraqi delicacy-he is from Iraq- and come to find out it is not only the same thing that God sent to the Israelites when they were in the desert for 40 years but it is in fact ant poop. Though some online sources support this, we are all still skeptical (look it up and let me know what you think.) Irregardless of what it is composed of it was really delicious. It had the consistency of silly putty or playdough and had pistachios in it as well. So glad I got to experience it!

Manna. Best part was when everyone came in we told them to reach into the powder to find manna and they all thought we were kidding. It was a nice hidden surprise.

Later that day we went to the Arabian Wildlife Center (sorry no cameras were allowed so no cool photos to show) and then went to the new students dinner (more free food!). The Wildlife Center was cool because I was able to read the signs in arabic and remind myself of some words. I even spotted a grammatical error on a sign which Abu Bakr confirmed...it was exciting. I met a lot of nice people at the dinner and even met this older man who runs an education consulting firm in Dubai and his wife teaches here as well. We exchanged information so we can be in touch and so I can maybe come see what it is like to work with education in Dubai. Yay for connections!

Best part of the week...WE HAD A SANDSTORM! Lucky us that our first week here we get to experience a sandstorm. It was intense. We walked out of a lecture and saw that things weren't normal outside and just as we realized it was a sandstorm (my inner mp3 player began to play the old techno song Sandstorm at this point) we all took pictures and got ready to enter the storm. It wasn't like the one on the movie the Mummy where you can see it coming and it is a cloud of sand that buries you but rather it was just super windy and hazy outside from all the sand in the air. Pictures don't do it justice but it was a wicked cool. Once I got back to my room it was like I had exfoliated all of my skin that was exposed as I brushed sand off of me and had to wash  it off my face and hair. And even more crazy, it rained for a few minutes after the sandstorm. Looks like us Americans brought out bipolar weather with us to the desert.

Today we were up early again to get our blood tests and x-rays to complete the visa process. After spending a few hours at the center (just picture a DMV on the busiest day of the month and that is about what it was like but separate rooms for the genders) we headed back to campus to eat, set up bank accounts and sleep before our night out in Sharjah. It was a great way to end the day. We went to Al Qasba which is in downtown Sharjah and where the Eye of Emirates is (giant Ferris wheel overlooking the city). It also had this cool water fountain type of thing that came out of the ground and was synced to music. After the water fountain show finished we decided to harness our inner child and play in the water a little. A little girl was also playing in the water so she had a good ol' time splashing us and running around, she even spit water at one of us. We found a great place to eat (eventually the entire group of 30 or so of us ended up eating there) and had a wide variety of great food to fill our once again empty and apparently bottomless stomachs. We topped off the meal with Turkish ice cream and headed to the Ferris wheel. It was beautiful and relaxing and a perfect way to slow things down after a week of orientations and logistics.

First site of Sharjah Skyline

More CIEE Family Love

Eye of Emirates and the sunset

Such a beautiful place

Erin and I

Casually being photo bombed by the little girl who was playing in the fountains

Dinner with the IXO students

Turkish Ice Cream and a beautiful night makes for one happy group of exchange students

A successful 8 person selfie

From the top of the Ferris Wheel

When we decided to fit all 27 of us in one bus instead of making both buses wait for the last 6 people. This looks totally illegal but hey, it's the UAE, it works.

Not to be a broken record but things are amazing and I really am loving it. Tomorrow is a day long tour of Dubai and Thursday is a day long tour of Sharjah so I promise more interesting pictures are to come and hopefully more great stories! All of my love from AUS- Tanya