study abroad

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Growing up my birthday always fell over spring break. My parents would take my brother and I to California, where we could see family from both sides – my mom’s sister and brother-in-law, my dad’s siblings and parents – and then there’d be a few days for just the four of us at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium or a funny little motel in Seattle, the city where my parents met and where I was born. As we made our way up the coast, each stop with relatives would mean a few presents and a different cake.

When I was 14, though, my school offered the opportunity to go to Rome for just over a week. I’d been dreaming of going “abroad” for longer than I could remember. There was no way I could say no.

When we stepped off the last plane, the air was different. There were palm trees and mopeds, arches and pillars, fountains and ruins.

I was addicted – I had a passport, and my life would never be the same.

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I’ve been putting in some work on my practice mock-up website, using material from the winter break trip to Dubai. This reminded me that the trip blog still needed a little tweaking here and there – fixing links and photo alignment, covering any gaps in the travel. I’ll be transplanting a few of the entries like this one over here and adding to them, because this work has me remembering the trip in a way I haven’t had time to do since the semester started, and boy, did we see some incredible things – some, like Dubai Mall‘s aquarium, have even made the news since we were there! In this map view, the Burj Khalifa building site is still under construction right next door…

How does an aquarium work in a mall, you may ask? Think of it this way – what if you had to walk through this :

to get to this?

OK, at Dubai Mall it’s more like walk past, but it’s still the first mall that I’ve ever been to that had actual sharks in it. Along with all the stores and a little thing called the Burj Khalifah, there’s a three story aquarium featuring everything from otters to crabs to the people who go diving in the largest tank. An aquarium ticket lets you walk through the main tank’s tunnel and see the rest of the store from inside.

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On the sixth day of the trip, we went to Abu Dhabi (check out Lonely Planet’s interactive map here) and started with the marketplaces. Here’s another post from our trip blog. I’m also continuing to update my trip photos map – a never ending process at this rate! I have a lot more to post, and what I don’t get up before our Monday evening departure I’ll post from home base.

So, without further ado, Abu Dhabi markets:

Dates

I think few things taste as good as a chocolate covered date.

Fruits & Vegetables

The fruit and vegetables in these stands were so many beautiful colors.

Fish

This is a place of truly… amazing… smells – for people with strong stomachs only!

For the rest of the Abu Dhabi pictures, click below…

Abu Dhabi (January 2010)

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I’m stealing this from my post on our trip website so that you can get a sneak peak at what we saw in Sharjah, and yes, for better or worse, there’s lots of photos! (Also, you’ll see a couple examples the black and white I’ve been playing with for a few days.)

Mosques

Sharjah, or “Knowledge City” as our instructor calls it, is a city just outside of Dubai. It’s older, and the cost of living is much lower, so many workers live there and commute to their jobs in Dubai each day, and the traffic during those times is legendary.

We visited two mosques first, but in Sharjah mosques are closed to non-Muslims, so we stuck to admiring the outer architecture and patterns. Then we walked down the pier of Sharjah Creek towards the museum.

Museums and Art

The booklet for the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization describes it as “the first of its kind in the UAE” and that it “started its life as a traditional Middle Eastern souq,” specifically the Souq al-Marjarrh. The building is known for its zodiac mosaic and has over 7 galleries and display areas for cultural and historic items from all over the Islamic world. Afterwards, we walked through the art district on the way to the souks.

Souks

There are two sets of souks in Sharjah – the old souks and the newer, blue souks. The old souks are together in a building which has an Indian restaurant in the middle of it. We had a choice of chicken, lamb, or fish (barracuda) to go with our rice and drinks. The picture below is of my lamb. As you can see, it’s a little tricky to eat rice with your hands, but we managed, and got to catch up on Arab Idol at the same time.

Afterwards, we shopped at stores like these below. I was thrilled to finish my shopping, and Anthony also bought presents for people back home.

Sharjah’s Old Wall

We’re almost done, but I love this wall so much that I did give it its own heading.

Animals, Fruits, and Vegetables

After lunch and the souks, we walked through several markets – one for “birds and animals,” one for fruits and vegetables, and a butcher’s market. Then it was back on the bus and back to Dubai to get ready for evening events.

For the rest of the Sharjah pictures, click below…

Sharjah (January 2010)

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Tonight, the Burj Dubai opened, renamed as the Burj Khalifa. Many made it downtown to the event, including some of our team from ASU, and even more watched the event from all over the city including this group near the Mercato Shopping Mall in Jumeirah. But the event wasn’t just about a building opening – the 4th of January is 4th anniversary of Sheikh Mohammed becoming the ruler of Dubai – check out the last picture of the Burj al-Arab wishing him the best. A few more photos can be found by posters like nileshzw, who’s already linked photos to the Burj Khalifa’s location on Google Maps, as well as more coverage through Gulf News and Dubai City Guide.

If you look backwards at my blog, you’ll see why I’m visiting Dubai and some of the recent news I looked at before I came. I’ll be updating shortly on the trip so far – including how I ended up trying something completely new, spontaneous, and totally unexpected – so check back to see what’s been happening and what will happen next.

Also, while you’re here, tell me what you think about fireworks – what’s your favorite kind, favorite color, or favorite fireworks memory?

Burj Khalifa fireworks (January 2010)

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It’s really interesting here – so many amazing buildings, and most of them empty! Also, I’ve seen women wearing the black abaya my friend living in Saudi Arabia was discussing – I’m not sure I could pull it off, I’m warm in the light long sleeve shirt I wore for dune smashing yesterday. I’m also very curious to see what the New Year’s Event tonight will be like. The place we’re going has two night clubs, and I really don’t know what to expect.

I don’t think we’ve met any Emiratis yet – everyone is from somewhere else…

This morning, we’ll see a couple of things, including the Emirates Hills which I understand is to be a sustainably built housing development, and then we’ll have a break in the afternoon which I hope to use to get a few pictures up, if I can get through the school filters, which don’t like images.

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United Arab Emirates map

Here’s the announcement – after a little bit of background information on the United Arab Emirates and, in particular, the emirate of Dubai.

Dubai has been in the news a bit this fall – like the rest of the world, the country’s finances are less ideal than they have been in the past. Recent coverage in US media includes Wall Street Journal‘s Dubai: A High Rise, Then a Steep Fall on Dec 4 and the New York Times‘ photo essay Dubai’s Improbably Tale.

This Monday, the BBC reported more mixed news, with Abu Dhabi gives Dubai $10bn to help pay debts and Gulf News had this article: Dubai issues new legal framework to deal with Dubai World disputes. All this may be especially relevant to Phoenix, given the relationship between the two cities.

Dubai map

As far as regular and background information, one of the best sites is Gulf News. More coverage can often be found through Al Jazeera English and the BBC’s regional coverage.

To finish the background information, you can’t talk about Dubai without talking about the construction

So, why all the information about Dubai? Well, when I posted this October entry, I had just heard about an opportunity – I was in a hopeful mood, and now that it’s finalized, I can make a bit of an announcement…

Dubai trip classmatesI’ll be taking a trip over winter break through ASU Study Abroad. The program is called A Tale of Two Cities – Dubai and Phoenix. It’s led by Jamil AlShraiky who specializes in healthcare design industry at ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. As for the troup, we’re an interdisciplinary bunch including students from design, healthcare, and journalism programs. The blog is already up here.

Yes, I’m REALLY excited, and yes, I’ll be writing about it. How much will be posted live from on-site will depend on internet access, which has been described as “really good dial-up…we’re sure it will work if your computers are right.” But there will definitely be somethings as the trip unfolds, as well as (probably tons of) pictures by mid-January when we get back.

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