I know, I know. It’s the middle of July and I still haven’t
given you part three of winter break that you’ve been waiting for and/or
forgotten about. Well, here we go. Right now.
On Jan. 7, about a week after returning home from Ecuador, I
set on another remarkable adventure, this time into the sands of the Middle
East. After a lovely British Airways lounge visit in Chicago (the chef made me
a lox plate!), I arrived on BA 294 at London Heathrow Terminal 5, made my way
through security, took a quick shower at the BA arrivals lounge (wow, so many
showers!), and headed straight to the apartment of a good friend and classmate
from Columbia University. We spent the day catching up, enjoying each other’s
company, and trying out new things, including Isola Bella, a Kosher restaurant
in Golders Green that served Thai food, Mediterranean food, Italian food, and
fish and chips (and as skeptical as we were, it turned out to be pretty good)!
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| BA Lounge, ORD |
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| Lox plate--just for me! |
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| BA B-747...such an old plane! |
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| Rows and rows of showers!!! |
On Friday, June 9, I spent the day wandering through some
museums before returning to cook us a nice Shabbat dinner. Saturday was another
day of museum wandering before I took off at night on BA to Dubai. The flight
was fine, but I somehow managed to crack my front tooth while biting on
something. What’s the deal with airline food anyway?
After clearing customs early Sunday morning in Dubai, I made
my way to the subway station, took the subway to our hotel, and made it just in
time for our first class. The Global Learning Opportunity of the University of
Iowa’s MBA program is truly incredible. I can’t stress it enough. From the nice
hotels to the thoroughly planned visits and impressive speakers and beyond,
this trip was a phenomenal experience. After hearing from our opening panel
(and learning that some Americans simply are not meant for international
acclimation), we took off for a city tour. During the break in between, I
rushed to find a dentist. I had the chipped piece put back in, bargained down
the dentist on the price (I love the Middle East), and headed back to the tour,
making it back despite the heavy Dubai traffic. The tour and cultural
experience were both impressive, and we returned full in body and spirit to our
hotel in the evening.
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| My BA B-777 from LHR-DXB |
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| Our hotel for all but one night |
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| Such a humble man, that sheikh! |
On Monday, we toured both the Chamber of Commerce (in which
a Palestinian woman gave an overview before the head of the chamber, an
Emirati, did a Q&A with us) and the Dubai Financial Market (in which a
Chinese businessman explained to us the workings of the financial system). The
city of Dubai has made its entire fortune on business and trade. It has very
little oil, unlike Abu Dhabi. Beyond the free trade zone, any businesses in
Dubai require 51% ownership by a local. So, by signing a local symbolically to
51% and paying him 5-10% of all profits, you give a guy a fortune for nothing.
It’s no wonder we saw so little of the 150K Emiratis in this city of two
million.
On Tuesday the 13th, our group set off for a
meeting at Johnson & Johsnon. Following lunch, we made our way to Nakheel
Properties, an organization dedicated to building the best and most unique
properties in the Middle East. Of course, like most businesses of that sort,
the local government has its hands and pockets deep within the organization.
Their expansionist dreams may have slowed a bit in 2008, but they are at it
again. We toured the Palm Jebel Ali, the archipelago artificially created to
appear as a palm tree, by boat. The houses and hotels were magnificent, and our
tour guide told us that they were all sold, and that the hotels were always
around 90% full. We saw nearly no one on the island and very few people on the
beaches. We were skeptical, to put it lightly, but one shouldn’t dare question
the mouthpiece of the Sheikh and the grandeur of Dubai, so we kept our mouths
shut and appreciated the scenery while I secretly appreciated all of the
Russian drug and prostitution money used to purchase property in Dubai as a
sort of haven from prying eyes. But just check out these shots!
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| Grand plans of Nakheel |
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| Palm monorail station |
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| On a boat! |
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| Look! We found Atlantis! |
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| The dubious (get it!? because it was really suspect and also because Dubai) Club 7 in our hotel |
On Wednesday, we toured Emirates Global Aluminum (full
disclosure: we boarded a bus and I fell asleep to the technical of metallurgy
and shipping). We also learned about the Jebel Ali Port and how the new airport
will allow trading and shipping through Dubai to become the quickest in the
world, with sea to air in just 30 minutes! We headed off to the Ibn Battuta
Mall, with each area fashioned after a different part of the globe. In the
Moroccan section, I had my name written in calligraphy by a witty man in a fez.
“Charming prince,” he wrote, and gave me a leather bookmark. For free. Because
it’s Dubai.
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| Check out the 7 sheikhs of the 7 Emirates! Plus the former ones of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. |
On Thursday, we made our way to the capital and founding city of the UAE, Abu Dhabi. Founded entirely on oil, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company was a natural first stop, along with the Sheikh Zayed grand mosque, of course. We also went to the local mall, which was still sizable but nothing like in Dubai (did I mention that another mall in Dubai has skiing INSIDE of it!?). If they sold that mosque, I’m convinced that they could end world poverty then and there. But whatever, for God and country or something like that.
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| Not as glitzy and impressive as Dubai, a theme I quickly caught on to |
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| Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque |
Our trip to ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) was
particularly fascinating. Three speakers spoke to us, two of whom were local,
and all were women. One spoke with hair uncovered, another with a hijab, and
another with a niqab. There was something so unnerving and yet so awesome
listening to someone whose mouth could not be seen, the power of the role of
speaker juxtaposed with an externally perceived physical veil of female
oppression. It momentarily threw all perceived norms on their heads, and it was
awesome. ADNOC, incidentally, is also majority foreign-owned, due to a lack of
job pursuits on the part of lazy rich locals, but they’re working on changing
that. The low fuel prices around the world were also a good topic for
discussion, but as long as barrels remained >$40, they said that they would
still be financially solvent. I mean, check out the oil price from my drive
back to Iowa that Sunday evening...I'm sure they had to be sweating! My awesome roommate throughout the trip ditched Abu Dhabi to go to a wedding in Egypt (when in the Middle East…), so I had the room all to myself!
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| Abu Dhabi by night |
On Friday, our group got together in the hotel in Abu Dhabi
for one final discussion of our experiences in the UAE. Following that, we were
free to have lunch and explore before making out way back to Dubai. A few of us
went to the Corniche to dip our feet in the water and soak up our last moment
in the capital.
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| At the Corniche. Complete with flag. |
After making our way back to the hotel in Dubai, we set off
for a desert safari, rolling though the sands on 4x4s before seeing an amazing
sunset, consuming a variety of delicious buffet items, and seeing a number of
shows in this incredible desert experience. I taught my friends the art of
bargaining at the bazaar and we made our way home.
Saturday was a free day. We slept in, had one final
incredible breakfast at our hotel (every day the breakfasts were just unreal),
and then my roommate and I walked through the town. We relaxed, rested, and then in the evening made our way to a
Hookah bar and a vegetarian south Indian restaurant to cap off an amazing trip.
We made our way late Saturday night to the airport. Dubai Airport
has a terminal for Emirates (which apparently is awesome) and a terminal for
everyone else (which is not). Man, the bathrooms were gross and the BA lounge
pretty sad. It was fine, though, as I was able to get to London Heathrow for a
three hour connection and lounge hop between the BA, AA, and Cathay Pacific
lounges (yay for Oneworld Sapphire status!!). British Airways had by far the
best lounge, but Cathay wasn’t bad (and I was the first one there!). My AA
flight was solid and the leg room was more that ample, and I made it back home
to say hi to my parents before heading back to Iowa City!
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| My own private Cathay lounge (for a little while) |
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| Who drove the prices down? |
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