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 :)

Life Lessons via Losing and Getting Lost

What a week.

There were so many times this week where I was sitting around bored (oddly a lot of classes were cancelled this week) and I was left wondering if I was getting the most out of this experience. I found myself thinking about all I had not yet done and what I knew I needed to do in order to feel accomplished with this semester. And then the little things in life happened and I was reminded of a couple very key things to live by...

Life Lesson #1-Learned via losing

This week we had two more volleyball games (and one tomorrow) but unfortunately were not successful in either of the games. For some reason I was getting into my own head and frankly was not playing the way I normally do and as a team we were not playing that well either. For anyone who has seen me around a volleyball court, I get a bit aggressive when it comes to my competitiveness. With that being said, I hate losing. I really, really hate losing when I know I could have done better. Coach (who is honestly such an amazing person) could tell I was not satisfied with the game (and she knew I could tell she wasn't either) so she came up to me when we were waiting for the bus. She said she wanted to talk to me as a fellow player not as a coach. She said something like, "You know what you are doing, you are just thinking about it to much. Stop thinking and just play your game. Get on the court and win. If you are constantly analyzing you won't score points." She was right so I got on the bus knowing what I needed to do the next game. It was not until we were almost back to campus did I realize what she said is extremely applicable to life as well. This whole week I have been trying to figure out what I need to do to make sure I love this experience and not just like it. I have been thinking about so many things that I found myself in the same place I was on the volleyball court...over analyzing and not doing what I know how to do. So I decided to take coaches advice, stop over thinking everything and just do me. That is how you live.

From now on...less thinking/analyzing....more living.

Here are some pictures of the vollyeball team...note we are wearing men's soccer jerseys. 

AUS does Sorority

Of course we have to have the classic "tourist" pose

Game faces...slash disturbing

Game time

Life Lesson #2- Learned via getting lost

It was Thursday night so we escaped campus like every other student. A group of us, essentially all exchange students, decided to go to this really good Palestinian place in Sharjah for dinner. We knew the name and the general area of the place and hoped that it was enough. Once getting to the taxis we discovered that it was in fact not enough information. The drivers thought they had a general idea so we got in the cab and left campus. Here's the kicker, they actually had no clue where we were going and we were not 100% sure of where the place was. It would not have been so bad but we managed to squeeze 5 girls in our cab (four in the backseat which is illegal). After everyone nearly getting car sick and having limbs fall asleep from the tight quarters in the cab, we finally just asked them to drop us off at the waterfront park and we would walk to a place to eat. Note that at this point it was 9pm and we had not eaten dinner....you guessed it, we were starving. We crossed the street and walked into an Iraqi restaurant hoping for some authentic Arabic food. All nine of us sat down and looked at the menu. Some of the girls were not sure they wanted to eat at the place because there were not a lot of options and the prices were not the best. But we convinced them to stay because it would be a little rude for a big table to up and leave, plus taking risks is part of the adventure at new restaurants. When the waiter came over to get our orders it so happened they were out of the majority of the dishes we wanted. A few of the girls were trying to communicate with him (he was not the best English speaker) and were getting a bit frustrated with it all. Knowing how it feels to be on the other side as the server, I knew that we needed to calm down as a table and collect our thoughts before speaking to the waiter again. He was trying his hardest and we just needed to be a bit more patient with him. Deciding to split four different dishes we called the waiter over and put in a super simple meal for us all to share. Not that long after he comes back with one plate of the chicken dish we had ordered. He then tells us that they are out of the chicken and cannot finish our order. Thankfully one of the girls with us was Egyptian and started speaking to him in Arabic. No joke, within a few minutes he leaves the table and our friend turns to us to inform us that the waiter is Egyptian as well and is going to take care of us tonight. And this is when the craziness starts. For the next ten minutes trays of food were brought to our table. Salads, Hommus, vegetables, soups, bread, beans, olives, chicken and rice and a lot of other Iraqi dishes now covered our table. It was incredible. The amount of food we had for the 9 of us was actually insane.We went from being upset that they were out of the dishes we wanted to having enough food to feed a small army. We ate the most we could and finished the dinner with tea and fruit.

Our Iraqi feast

If the feast was not a big enough surprise for the night, the bill was also amazing. It was only 300dirham for all of us (that is just over $80). For the amount of food we were given and how well we were treated it was incredible how inexpensive it was.

Seriously, this bill is not real. I have no idea how it was so cheap for all of that food

The box our check came in...We definitely recommend this restaurant

I think the most incredible part of the evening was we were shown so much hospitality and kindness when we did not necessarily deserve it. Between almost leaving before ordering and not being the kindest to the waiter when he was not understanding English there was no reason for them to show us so much love. But thanks to a little patience and perseverance (and a lot to our friend being Egyptian) we had one of the most amazing meals of the semester. It goes to show that you should always be patient and kind with someone because you never know when they are going to turn around and help you.

Be Patient. Be Kind.

We ended our night (and this week of life lessons) with a nice walk along the water front. There is a really beautiful mosque and water fountain in the park that we walked around and just enjoyed the nice weather together. It turned out to be one of the most relaxing and culturally fulfilling nights. Who would have known that getting lost in a cab, wandering up to a restaurant, almost leaving and getting mad at the waiter could lead to a feast of a meal and a beautiful evening by the water. It was a blessing.

Sharjah at night

The fountain was synchronized to music too, it was really beautiful.

This week has not been the most amazing week ever but it certainly has taught me a lot and reminded me of a lot of important things to live by. I am always thankful for those moments in life that provide perspective. I am thankful we lost our games (even though it pains me to admit it haha) and I am thankful we got lost and did not make it to the original restaurant because those were the moments that reminded me of the important life lessons...

Less thinking, more living
Be patient, be kind.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

(Optional Background Music)

And that we did. Thursday the volleyball team went to Dubai to celebrate starting the season off with two wins. I am not sure how but all of the girls, myself included, are obsessed with steak so we went to Texas Roadhouse. The combination of all of our different personalities is so perfect and absurd that I spent the entire night laughing to the point of tears. We also ate more than I probably ate all week in one sitting so we sat around and talked for a while to give us time to get the motivation to move.

No time for pictures...it is time to eat

Post meal...coach (on my right) is even stretching haha

Meet my new best friends :) AUS Volleyball team at Texas Roadhouse...And the waiter in the back who photo bombed us

As if dinner wasn't enough entertainment, we went outside to see the fountain and walk around. The music was a classical piece and for some unknown reason I felt it necessary to start dancing. Of course the girls thought it was hilarious (they got it all on video) and it was so fun until I realized everyone was staring at us. That was the end of that but we all got a good laugh out of the American making a fool out of herself.

Mid dance move in front of the Burj

Cheesin' like true tourists

I feel so comfortable around these girls that I sometimes forget where I am hence the dancing in public. We went to see Insidious 2 which is an intense film and if you looked down our row of the 10 girls (our coach included) we all had our knees up or were covering our eyes/ears/face or were holding on to the person next to us. Of course our team can't do anything without making a scene which we did by laughing through a lot of the movie. Before the movie started one of the girls asked coach if she was going to scream and she replied, "we're not on a volleyball court so why would I?" That is what started our never ending bursts of laughter at serious moments, moments when people screamed or just moments when there was nothing else to do but laugh. Nothing says thriller like laughter. We may have ruined it for other people but it was really great. Also despite the fact we just ate a meal that equaled that of thanksgiving just an hour before the movie, we still got more to eat at the theater. I could get used to this whole eating nonstop on weekends thing, especially because all of my friends do it here.

We ended the crazy night (I know that dinner and a movie does not sound super crazy but with this group it was) with a karaoke session on the ride back to campus. Everything from summer hits to good ol' 90's boy bands were screamed out from everyone in the car. After a night like Thursday I am so excited for the rest of this semester with these girls and to travel with them in November. I feel like I am living proff that the statement "hind sight is 20/20" is so true. I was devastated when I got hurt years ago and found out I couldn't play collegiate volleyball. I questioned why I had poured all of the time and effort into the sport for no reason. But now it all makes sense. Without volleyball I would not know these girls like I do and I am sure my experience would be way different. They are a blessing.

Groceries! This ought to last me at least a week haha

The rest of my weekend has been homework and taking care of stuff for the real world (ie internships for the summer, etc). This morning I did go grocery shopping so that I can start making meals in my room that are filling (since I am always hungry) and I think it was a success. Take a look at the little lunch I made with just a small pot and a small frying pan.

Check out this fine meal made on a small hot plate in a dorm.

Now it is on to week 4 in the UAE....let the adventures continue!


p.s. Saw this in the mall and thought of my dad! HI DAD

Calm after the Storm

This week was much better than last week, things really settled into place and routines are starting to form (I secretly love routines so I was pretty pumped about this). Without working two jobs and with less extracurriculars I have a lot more time to just chill, read books for fun (currently reading Politics and Society in Saudi Arabia, it is so interesting) and write letters to people (if you want a letter, send me your address!). After 3 straight terms at Dartmouth I needed this time of calmness.

When I am not bumming around I do go to class, study and have volleyball. I realize I haven't really said much about my classes so here is a quick overview.

*"Arabic-Islamic Culture and Civilization" is probably the least exciting of my courses because we are currently studying things I have gone over before but it isn't transferring back so I don't mind.

 *"Media Arabic" is my main Arabic course and is taught by an American who is fluent in Arabic. I really love this class because even though it is difficult and we never understand everything, I am learning so much. We watch news clips and read articles (all in Arabic) so that we can gain the vocabulary necessary to understand Arabic in the Media. I thought American news reporters spoke quickly but no, it is incredibly difficult to distinguish words in Arabic broadcasts. Even my roommate who is a native thought it was fast. (Check out what we had to listen to). We transcribed the report, translated it, and learned the new vocabulary from it. Difficult but super helpful in the real world.

*I have a second class with the same professor, "Social Context of Arabic," which is a seminar where we discuss national identity and social context (hence the course title) based on language and in particular the different dialects of Arabic. It is so interesting to hear my classmates perspective on everything since they are from all over the Middle East. I am excited to see where it goes this semester.

*I then have "Politics of the Arabian States" which I am not quite sure you can actually call a course. Just picture our first lecture...we walk into class, take attendance (which is always funny because all of us exchange students are at the end of the list and have the most obvious non-Arab names), and wait. About ten minutes into class in walks our professor, did I mention he is the Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. (He is an impressive individual. Read about him here). With Starbucks in hand, he sits down and begins to talk. By the end of the class (which was out of no where interrupted so he could sign some papers) all of us exchange students left under the impression that we had no readings, no assignments and no exam. All we had to do was ask questions and he will give us an A. After our second and third classes we have confirmed that is in fact the case. Despite the fact it is not really a traditional class it is really interesting and should be a great course. Yesterday was particularly entertaining because it was the first day that the Sheikh was told he had exchange students in his class. As noted early, we are super easy to spot considering all of our classmates are in traditional Emirati clothing and we are cliche Americans so he called on us and pointed us out frequently. It was rather entertaining to say the least.

*My final class is my biggest fear. No joke, I get super nervous every time I walk into class. It is "Introduction to Translation" and I am the only non-native speaker of Arabic in the course. The first day I could tell I was in a little over my head so after class I asked Professor Hatim (he is a leading translator and expert in the theory of translating) what he thought and he said I should be fine and that as the only native English speaker I have something to give to the class. So I left confident knowing he thought I could do it. Fast forward 24 hours and my CIEE Adviser calls me into his office to tell me that my translation professor had been in contact with him and that he rethought his recommendation. The professor didn't think I should take his class because I wouldn't be able to keep up and he is not able to offer me extra assistance. He also was not confident that I would do well in the course in general. (There were a lot more dramatic details in his suggestion for me to drop the course but I will leave it at this for now.) Since it is up to me I took what he said and thought it over. I went straight from the conversation with my adviser to practice and spent the time we had to run thinking of my options. I could drop the class, make the professor happy and decrease the stress/work in my life...or...I could take the class, work hard, and prove the professor wrong by doing well. That is when I realized if I would have listened to people's opinions throughout my life I would not have gone to Italy in HS, I wouldn't be at Dartmouth and I probably wouldn't be here now so I decided that I would take it to prove that a LOT of hard work can pay off. That is essentially what it is...A LOT OF WORK! I spend hours a night translating pages from our book and looking up words so if by chance he calls on me I will know the word. It is stressful to say the least but so far I have learned more in that class than in any other.

In general, classes are going well and I am enjoying this opportunity to experience a different approach to academics. It is so interesting to me here that when our professor assigned 10 pages of reading for the weekend more than half the class complained and tried to get it changed. 10 pages for the weekend would be the greatest blessing back home but here it is a burden. I don't mind the lighter load though because it gives me the chance to pursue my own interests more and learn about things that aren't covered in classes.



In other news, volleyball is still the highlight of my days. The girls are crazy and hilarious and make life feel like back at home. We played two games against AUD (American University in Dubai) this week and of course won both of them to start off the season 2-0. Next week we have another game as we prepare for Italy in less than two months. They sent us our flight itinerary today and we are there for about 6 days and have essentially two full days off which is great! I am so excited to spend some good ol' quality time in Rome with my team.


Tonight we had our first Girls' Night which requires its own entry so be ready for that post...it is coming soon!


I leave you with a quick tour of our library since this post is mostly about academics....

From the second floor looking up to the top floor

This library is so beautiful and functional! It has tons of books and references as well as presentation/tech rooms and tons of desk space

The Library casually looks like a palace

This will be a great place to bust out some work...before it closes at 10pm of course

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