Final Entry

Okay so a lot of stuff has happened since the last entry and I just don't feel like blogging about it, it will take way too long, sorry(however once I get back I have lots of pictures to show and stories to tell for anyone interested). This is just kind of a wrap up and final thoughts about the trip. Overall, it was a really good experience and I am so glad I came. I learned a lot about myself, about other people, and I gained a real appreciation for where I come from. The point of this trip was to come here, learn about the girls at Zayed, and teach them about ourselves. In doing this we were supposed to destroy any negative misconceptions we had about the other's culture. Well in all honesty, I am not sure how much the girls learned about us. I was surprised that I was never asked about my home, friends, aspirations ect. As far as I know, none of the MICA girls were. However we learned a lot about them. Even while not actually interacting with the girls, just roaming Dubai we learned a lot about their culture. Unfortunately while out on my own I think I learned more negative things than positive, mostly in relation to the class system and government. In many cases the "workers" are treated like shit, but because of the class system and government here there is nothing they could do. If I were working for Bill Gates..or even our beloved president and either of them did something to piss me off, I could tell him to "suck it", however, here if a worker tells their Emeratie employer the same (or so we have been told) the worker could face serious consequences. Until coming here, it never struck me how amazing our first amendment really is, how much it matters, and how much it helps the little guy. On a more positive note, the girls did treat us well. We were often fed during class, especially by Alia, and Rotha took it upon herself to be the only girl to ever take us out. Both times were fantastic, once we got our nails done, and once we were treated to a huge dinner on the "Dhow". They were very generous, especially as far as food, and school supplies went. One disappointment though, aside from Rotha, none of them seemed interested in doing stuff with us. Even our final dinner that we were supposed to have together only two of the girls actually came to(a huge disappointment to us, especially since we canceled a cruise so we could have dinner with them). I feel like if the Zayed girls came to the US, our MICA girls would be eager to introduce them to friends, and take them out to eat and to do stuff(I know I would). But they just never really seemed interested(maybe because of what happened last year). However, other than the lack of interaction with the girls from Zayed this trip has been super fun. We took some fun trips and bought some sweet crap. Two of my roomates and I got a long great and bonded over talking smack about some of the other girls we came with( what could be better?) I'm definitely a bit sad to leave, it seems so soon..but I am glad to go home to see all my lovelys. I'm going to miss how freaking cheap everything is here, and more than anything imma miss our VIP status at Leno's coffee. Next year they are talking about getting a lot more money, getting a few schools, and going to India. I'd be interested in seeing the Emeratie girls out of their environment, maybe we would actually do more stuff together if they were. So... if I can go for just the cost of airfare....mebbe that can be my graduation gift? I'll have to think on that though, India is hotter than here, and here is pretty unbearable... I got a year to think about it.

So behind

I'm not even gonna try to catch up. I don't even remember what we did the past few days, except on the 3rd, in celebration of the fourth we went on safari..and didn't flip while sand bashing... Our driver was super cool I have some pics with him I need to get from maya I think? Anyways that was fun.. here's some pictures...

group shot(once we got to the camp...this picture should actually be lower down, sorry)

last peice of civilization before we head to the desert.... i would have much rather gone to the bathroom on a cactus than in there though...

"sand bashing"

we got a flat

while our driver fixed it we headed out of the hott ass sand pit

to the nice and breezy top of the sand mountain

Then we got to camp and rode a camel

and ate

and watched a belly dancer..Bern danced with her, it was pretty fantastic

ooo right! We also had lunch with a Sheik at some point in time, it was kind of crazy.

This picture was taken by the schools photographer... he kinda sucks

Then more stuff happened, and last night we went to the spice and gold soukhs....

Those guys were pretty cool...however we had to leave once the old guy started grabbing asses

Summery of a bunch of days

Ok so... 6/29 we went to dxb. They are a super sweet architecture firm. It was quite interesting. Anyone interested, I have some stories about that and some embarrassments that accompanied it.... other than that though, it was a very good experience.

The next day the creator of "Freej" (the first ever arab cartoon, and one of the most popular shows in dubai) came to talk to us. His speech was super inspirational, one of those tales of impossible stuff made possible with perseverance blah blah blah

The next day we went to like 5 different galleries. One of which our instructor "Ron" was speaking at.

It was cool, we went to the ladies club and there was a panel discussion about cultural exchanges. Then Rhotha and her friend Ashwa took us to Ashwa's father's restaurant(the dhow) for an insanely sized sea food dinner. (as said..pictures to come)