Campus Photos

Entrance to the Women's Dorms. The gate runs all the way around the compound and just to the right of the picture is a guard. Nothing goes in without his say so.








Women's A/B block where we live. Curfew is midnight on the weekdays and 1am on weekends.








Main campus from the area of the women's dorms. On the left is a College of Arts and Sciences building, and ahead is the main univeristy building.







The main building on campus. It houses public relations, the registrar, and faculty cafeterias. One of the most stunning buildings in the region.









Side view of the main building.






Across the main courtyard on campus. On the right is the physics building where we have our Political Economy Seminar, and on the left is the NAB building where we take advanced Arabic.

Some artistic shots. As you can see, I basically go to school in a palace compound. They don't build them like this in the U.S.

Dispelling the Myths of the Arabs (or at least attempting to)

According to a National Geographic poll conducted in May of this year, 63% of Americans aged 18-24 couldn't locate IRAQ on a map of the Middle East.

9 out of 10 couldn't find Afghanistan.

Link to National Geographic Poll

U.S. respondents did worse than youths from every other country surveyed, with the exception of Mexico. Perhaps it's not just a lack of education and awareness about the Middle East that's a problem. Half the respondents couldn't find New York on a U.S. map. Stellar educational system we seem to have.

And still, after four years of continued media coverage of our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan you'd think that more Americans could have identified where those countries sit on a map. My generation is supposed to be the involved, political youth of America that has been sparked into action by recent world events and political corruption here at home. For goodness sake, Puff Daddy was parading around in a Rock the Vote tee-shirt in 2004...you'd think something would have come from that.

Maybe this is why Americans don't have a problem fighting a war in either of those two countries, they're so far away that they don't even register as real. They are "over there," existing half way around the world in a reality that is "other" from our own. I'm sure that this administration's harsh rhetoric concerning the Middle East and South Asia hasn't helped. A war against "terrorist" actors, bent on the "destruction" of America and at war with "our values," sounds really good, especially if the country is far enough away that you can't place it on a damn map! Bush and others have been good about dehumanizing the Arabs, and don't even get me started on media control and manipulation of the wars...maybe another time.

When I decided to study abroad in Sharjah no one knew where it was either. After explaining it was "near Dubai," and in the UAE, I still got mostly vacant looks. Then when you mention Arabian Penninsula, or a money word like "Saudi Arabia" for context, people start paying attention. Most wandered aloud what I'd do around a bunch of camels and tents, and I still get that when I talk with people over the internet now. But the truth is, after being here for a week, I'd be hard pressed to find more than a couple ways in which life here differs from life back home.

The truth is that people in the Middle East, or at least what I can speak to in the UAE, aren't that different from us. They sleep in beds, they watch the Simpsons, American soap operas, and American Idol, they refer to every brown fizzy drink as pepsi, and they eat french fries with everything! You can dress in a suit and tie for work, blue jeans to go to the mall, or go with traditional dress, whichever suits you. And the malls here put those in the west to shame! They're huge, with everything from the Gap and Prada, to Zara, and other local shops. I don't get the assumption that everyone in the Middle East lives in some third world squalor, or that that they possess inferior intelligence, or are inherently dangerous. These generalizations and stereotypes are flat out false, and dangerous. I actually had to convince someone today that all Arabs don't live in tents, just the very poor or Bedouin. Really, I did.

Dubai could have just as easily been Palm Springs, CA, and the American University of Sharjah is home to some of the most intelligent, down to earth, inspiring individuals I've met, all coming from different Arab nations. I'm not sure what the answer is or why such popular misconceptions exist, or even when they started. But education seems to be the key. I don't know about mainstream America, but I never had a Middle East history lesson (that made it past Mesopatamia and the Fertile Crescent) and it was never included in my high school geography class. Ask most Americans what the number one foreign policy issue is right now and they'll probably say Iraq, so maybe the U.S. needs to start educating its citizens about a key part of the world, and stop propagating myths that damage our ability to understand and work with the Arab world.

Here They're Obsessed with Pace

Everywhere we drive in the UAE we hear “this wasn’t here six months ago,” in reference to grocery stores, entire neighborhoods, highways, and airfields. One-fifth of the world’s cranes reside in the UAE, and we’ve been getting a first hand look at why. This area has been developing more rapidly than any other place on the planet. Labor here is cheap, and for important projects like highways or the new Dubai airport which we passed today, they work in two shifts, 24hrs a day. These laborers come from countries like India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, some paying brokers in their home countries upwards of thousands of dollars for the opportunity to come and work in the UAE. Qatar, hoping to be the first Gulf nation to cut out these brokers (middle men) who essentially rip off poor men trying to earn for their families back home, just signed an agreement recently with Vietnam, which agreed to supply labors to the country. The conditions that greet them are miserable at best; intense heat, low pay (or no pay in some recent cases), slum housing, and relentless work that often pays far less than they were promised by brokers. These men are everywhere you go, and their obvious poverty stands in stark contrast to the rich villas and parks that Dubai has to offer. The scope of construction here is truly amazing.

These new hotels, banks, and business buildings also boast amazing architectural features. I’ve never seen buildings that could rival any of Dubai’s, not even in New York. Some of the buildings are distinctively Arab in design, some are a fusion of modern and ancient design, and they all carry a twist. Spirals, suspended bridges, creative shapes, glass facades in any number of designs make driving in Dubai a spectator sport (the sport part also involves navigating traffic while gazing). It’s as if there’s an undeclared competition here to see who can build the most innovative, logic defying buildings the fastest. The bin Laden construction company is the biggest contractor in the Gulf region. They even built our university, AUS, in less than six months (after 9/11 all the bin Laden signs were removed from campus).

Also being constructed at a break-neck pace are the green areas in the UAE. It reminds me of Palm Springs, with all the palm tree lined roads, the decorously placed flower and grass beds, and planned parks, all smack dab in the middle of the desert. They spend a small fortune keeping the plants from dying, but the results appear to be worth it to them. The influx of greenery in the area has actually changed the weather in the region. Only within the last two years has the country seen rain in December (they were dry the previous five years), and that change has been a direct result of the greenery planted.

We observed all of this on our first real journey into Dubai today. Professor S started us out in what will be known as Old Dubai, and is also called the Creek. Here all the older hotels, the remnants of the shipping industry, and various other aspects of Dubai’s history reside. We walked the area and hopped on a small boat, the dinkiest one we could find, for a tour via water of the canal. With the temperature in the low hundreds, it felt nice to be out on the water.

After our boat trip we decided to head to the mall to cool off. This is a very popular activity in the UAE. People go to malls for coffee, to relax, to visit, and of course to shop. Because the weather is often unbearable outside, this has become the favorite pastime. Dr. S is something of a shopper, so he took us to Burjamon Mall, which puts U.S. high end shopping centers to shame. Three floors of Gucci, Prada, Saks, and jewelry store after jewelry store stretched on ahead of us. The amount of money concentrated in this region is unbelievable. It would be amazing to experience the lifestyle some of these people have, if only for a few years. So clearly unable to afford anything, we settled for people watching. This mall offered an interesting mix of locals, ex-pats, and vacationers. Women strolled around the shops, some in abayyas, some modestly dressed, and others in tube tops and skirts. Dubai is much more flexible socially than Sharjah, and the dress code is therefore more relaxed. Next to women in full abayya’s and veils we would see walking someone in what I’ll call western dress, everyone here seemed to respect everyone else’s choice of attire, which the girls in our group found interesting. The men were much the same, some in the traditional white garb and kufeyya, and some in shorts with dress shirts. I couldn’t help but think that a woman or man in traditional dress would no doubt draw a lot of attention in a U.S. mall, but the opposite was not true here…

After the mall we hit Sheikh Zaid road, which five years ago had two towers. Today it is home to some of the most incredible buildings in all of Dubai. Along the way were Emirates towers, which appear sometimes in western media, and an enormous amount of cranes…This area will be the new Dubai, where the Sheikh is hoping to move the commercial district. Dr. S has been very good about driving us all around to give us the lay of the land for future outings on our own, and today was no exception. He promised to take us by the beach, so our next stop was in Jumeirah, possibly the most famous area in Dubai.

I’m sure most people have seen the Burj al-Arab, even if they haven’t heard its name before. It’s the giant sail shaped hotel that juts out into the Arabian Sea and is known as one of the most luxurious in the world. Every suite is two floors and comes with its own butler, plus the use of one of the hotels private fleet of white Bentleys. This is about as high end as it gets. Because it costs 150 dirham (about 50 U.S. dollars) just to enter the compound for a quick tour, Dr. S took us to Jumeirah Beach, which sits right in front of the hotel, so that we could grab pictures. Of course everyone was excited to see the Arabian sea, and so a five minute photo stop quickly turned into a half hour at the beach, running into the water and collecting sea shells. Some pastimes never get old :)

The rest of the drive flew by. We drove by Wild Wadi, the waterpark in Dubai, as well as the Emirates mall, which boasts the world’s first indoor (or at least inside a mall) ski area, complete with a snowball fight room. From the outside you can see the ski slope jutting up into the air. Hopefully we’ll make it back there next week for some fun. It’s 70 U.S. dollars for the day, and they rent you skis, boots, and parkas for the duration. We’re all psyched to try it.

Being in Dubai you completely forget that the land all of this new spectacle city sits on is desert. If you drive a few minutes in either direction, you’re reminded of the fact. Camels roam free, there is hardly any greenery, and the air gets thick from the humidity. Dubai is truly a city of wonders, and we’re all looking forward to going back in the coming weeks so we can experience as much as we can of what it has to offer.

Along the "Creek" or Old Dubai where the shipping ports used to be concentrated.

Boats along the Creek in Old Dubai

Some of the buildings along Sheikh Zaid road. None of them existed two years ago.

Jumeirah Beach, Persian/Arabian Gulf: Although almost no one is looking at the camera, this is one of my favorite pictures. Dubai is more relaxed in its dress code, which is why I'm wearing a tank top! (and it was 100+ degrees!)

Another of my favorites: Michael and Matt picking seashells on the beach with the famous Burj al-Arab in the background.









Olan, Mike, and I. The expression is because just as the picture was being taken a large amount of water came up behind us and basically soaked our lower halves. Fun.






Everyone in front of the Burj al-Arab!

The drive back from Dubai. Dr. Salloukh thought it would be funny to take a picture of everyone passed out.

A Day at the Souq

Today Olan and I both managed to sleep through the alarm clock, meaning neither of us was able to finish the reading for the day, Edward Said’s Orientalism. We dashed off for our 8am Seminar without sunscreen (eek!), and arrived just in time. Professor S prefers not to lecture, so his seminars are run by discussion generated by the students. Originally this was designed as a graduate seminar, which explains the two feet worth of paper we received in the way of readings when we arrived. Three of the students in our group, Anne, Lamees, and Kim, are actual graduate students. The rest of us, Mike, Matt, Olan, and I, are all rising Juniors at AU. Anyway, the two and a half our seminar flew by today, with everyone contributing different opinions. This is probably my favorite type of class format. I enjoy listening to other perspectives, and because several AUS students are auditing our class, we have views that include those of native Jordanians, Yemenis, and Palestinians.

After class ended at 10:30 we headed directly to Arabic III. I should explain that normally our schedule is our PoEc (Political Economy of the Gulf States) Seminar on Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday, 8-10:30am; Arabic III on Saturday- Tuesday 10:30am-12:30pm, and my Arabic tutorial is on Sundays and Tuesdays from 2-2:30pm. The only class I’m taking for credit is the seminar, Arabic III I am auditing (gotta love Arabic for fun), and the tutorial was included with our program.

Arabic III is run by Dr. Said. He’s an interesting guy, Palestinian by birth, but raised in Britain. He claims he’s 25, and has an amazing command of the English and Arabic languages. This was day two for the class, and he was having us translate the most involved, dense, random paragraphs you’ll ever read. They looked like they came out of some eighteenth century British history book. Boring. The passages were also far more difficult than anything we’ve done before in the states. This man seemed amazed we didn’t know the Arabic words for peasantry or working class, which of course aren’t in common use in the everyday English language. He’s also a bit eccentric, and in that vein he’s given us all nicknames. Olan is “al-qamoos,” or dictionary. Matt is “jamiat mooaneth salim,” or complete feminine plural (don’t ask), Lamees is “mesa,” because he can never remember her name, and I’m “taxir,” because the one thing I do know is the broken plural forms…

So after almost five hours of class we all headed first to the bank, to ensure we had money over the impending weekend, which here is Thursday and Friday, and then to lunch. The student union here is very Americanized…Burger King, KFC (which they love here), Pizza Hut, and one Arab restaurant. Most of the time we choose the Arab option, since Burger King in the UAE just seems wrong. We grabbed lunch and discussed what to do with the weekend—indoor ski area, or wild wadi water park?

The days here seem exceedingly long. It’s always very hot and humid outside, which takes a lot out of you. By two or three we’re all ready to go back to the dorms and chill. I usually take a nap so I can stay up past 8pm, and Olan surfs the net or catches up on class reading. Today we ventured into the laundry room, and found to our surprise that laundry is very cheap here. It costs 1 dirham (36 cents) to wash and 1 dirham to dry. Being the genius that I am I only brought four tops to Sharjah, so until I can get to the souq laundry will be a frequent event for me. After throwing in a few loads I passed out until our evening outing to Sharjah.

At 6pm we all boarded what has to be the coolest bus I’ve ever been on (see pics). We headed down to one of the largest malls, or souqs in Sharjah for a little shopping. Dr. S and Allah joined us, and Kim and I were warned not to sit next to the windows for fear our white faces might start a riot in the city (seriously). The way it was explained to us, many Afghani and Pakistani workers who come here have not seen a woman in quite some time, and the sight of a white woman especially causes some of them to get very worked up…I should mention that somewhere during this drive Dr. S decided to start a running joke about selling me for camels. It does happen in the Arab world (and I’m sure in some other countries) that men will approach other men and offer to buy the women walking with them. I think this happened to me when I was in Egypt with my grandfather, and apparently white women can fetch a good sum. Dr. S. thinks he can get at least 80 camels for me (at 7-8,000 per camel I'm not cheap!), so all night whenever I smarted off (which as you all know must be the case, was quite often) Dr. S. would threaten to sell me off to the highest bidder.

The souqs, threat of being sold aside, were an interesting experience. Almost everything you could ever want to buy was contained within the center, and the architecture was just amazing. Kim, Olan and I attempted to find a good abayya (ah-buy-yeah) to purchase, but came up empty handed. The abayya is the long, traditional garment that many Westerners associate with women in the middle east. It does not usually include the head scarf, which is considered separate. Since being here, the women in the group have decided that wearing one would be advantateous. It’s easy to throw over clothing, and as a result you can wear skimpier and therefore cooler clothes than would normally be considered acceptable underneath. Kim also feels that she gains more respect, and to be honest the abayya is quite elegant. Hopefully we’ll find good ones before it’s time to leave.

One whole section of the mall was labeled the gold souq, and Dr. S told us that people came from all over Asia and Europe to purchase gold here. The amount of jewelry we saw was obscene. Almost all of it is 24k, and the designs are endless. Walking down the aisles I was glad I’m not a) a big fan of jewelry, and b) that I prefer silver or white gold. One could easily spend a fortune in there. Just a side note here: Many men appear to come to the mall with the sole intent of staring at the women walking by. As someone who doesn’t like attention, I found it very hard to put up with the staring eyes and whispers. I have a feeling I’ll have to get used to it, but I can’t help feeling a bit uneasy.

Our next stop was the Sheikh Zaid mosque, which is the newest and largest mosque in the region. Landscaped next to it is a beautiful public park of palm trees and grass, and a man-made lake that the Sheikh commissioned be built after he traveled to Switzerland and saw the beautiful lakes there. The result is a riverwalk of sorts, and there were many families enjoying the night while we were there (even as late as 10pm). The fish restaurant was right near the mosque, and there we enjoyed a nice meal and had some talk of politics and our thoughts on Sharjah so far. Dr. S is really a great choice for his job. He’s laid back, but at the same time fatherly, helpful, and equipped with a great sense of humor and odd quirks that make it fun to joke around with him. He certainly makes the trip more interesting.

The car ride home was filled with memorable quotes. When Lamees saw a date shop she couldn’t believe that the store only sold dates. Her remark, “what do they do, put a nut in it?” And of course, dates have nuts in them, you don’t put them in. While Spice Girls was playing. At least they get the good American music here, right?

After not having the internet for two days here’s what I’ve learned. 1) the American Idol finale is tonight, which also happens to be a key reason why I’m not upset I don’t have a television. 2) HR 4681 passed the House the other day back in D.C. More on this later.

On the Riverwalk: Michael, Lamees, Me, Olan, Kim, Anne, Mike, and Matt

Seafood dinner in Sharjah City

Sheikh Zaid Mosque in Sharjah

The girls on the bus: Lamees, Kim, Olan, and Anne

The bridge of the Gold Souq and buildings in downtown Sharjah (Below)

Catching Up

Ok, so because I've been procrastinating, as usual, I'm stealing several blog entries covering the first few days of our stay from my roommate, Olan. They are virtually unedited (the flattering stuff about me is original, I promise). My written blog entries start on the 24th.... enjoy!

We Have Toilet Paper (Title as suggested by Kara)

Marhabban!

19/05/2006

After spending more than enough time sitting on 747s and traveling more than half way across the world, we finally made it to Dubai International Airport. As Kara and I made our way through the gate towards Customs, we could not believe that we were actually here in the UAE. Huge ads and signs in Arabic with English translations and the familiar sounds of the Arabic language surrounded us. In short: probably the most amazing experience ever!

But first appearances are sometimes deceiving…

Once we had collected our baggage, we made our way to the Greeter's Area where we attempted to find our contact to drive us to the AUS campus. We passed a long row of chauffeurs with signs but none of them had our names on them. We were eventually pushed through sliding glass doors by the flow of pedestrian traffic and were met with a gust of hot, humid air. We're talking over a hundred and humid at 11pm!!!

As we stood in the heat, our contact was nowhere to be found. We felt out of place and alone as many Arab men and women pushed past us, clearly wondering what we were doing just standing there. Kara and I realized that the possibility of us being stranded in an Arab country with no way to contact the person we were supposed to meet was very high so we whipped out Kara's phone and called one of our program supervisors at AU. The phone connection was very sketchy but we were able to express the vital information: WE ARE STRANDED AT THE AIRPORT; PLEASE CONTACT SOMEONE FOR US!

A few minutes later a man hurried up to us who turned out to be our driver. He was very apologetic and explained that he thought our flight landed at 11:30pm (we landed at 10:30pm). In what became a theme for our first few days, AU (Washington) was responsible.

The drive to campus was draw dropping even though it was dark out. You could literally see the air because it was so thick and humid. Interestingly enough, the UAE has adopted the Western style of driving with the exception of a speed limit; one main highway spans from Sharjah to Abu Dhabi. There are many roundabouts here, and it reminds me of the way DC is structured with all of its traffic circles. We sped through the desert and away from downtown Sharjah and Dubai. After approximately 20 minutes, we saw lights spring up from the desert as University City came into view.

University City is well…a city of universities. The entire city is gated and is home to the American University of Sharjah, Sharjah University (gender segregated), The Police Academy, a medical school, and an IT school. Each university has its own entrance gate(s) and is to either side of the one main stretch of road at the city's center. The avenue is lined with palm trees and elegant street lamps and the center median is covered with beautiful flowers and well managed grass, everything modeled after the Champs-Elysees in Paris. AUS sits at the end of this avenue and words cannot express how majestic it looks. Hopefully I'll get some pics up soon...

We arrived on campus at midnight and were dropped off at the women's dorms (Kara and I room together in A Block). We were met by three lovely Arab women who brought us to our room. These rooms are awesome and include a kitchen area, a full furnished bathroom, two beds, two huge closets and two very large desks. However, we realized that we needed more than we thought to bring with us. It was almost like taking inventory before apartment shopping. First of all, we needed water, food, pots and pans, dishes, utensils, toilet paper, and various other items. Of course, AU didn't mention to us that we would lack even toilet paper when we arrived, or that we would have no microwave.

Luckily, one of the dorm guards managed to come up with a single roll of toilet paper for us. She noticed our frustration and told us that it was better to come to Sharjah blind, as we had, because we would learn the culture faster. ::sigh::

By this time, we were ridiculously angry at AU for not preparing us at all for the situation that met us at the dorms. We went to sleep hungry and Dirham-less and severely culture-shocked.

20/05/2006

This morning was our first morning trying to survive in an Arab country as clueless foreign students. We checked to see if we could receive dorm keys but they were not ready yet. Our next stop was Public Relations for AUS IDs and then the bank to exchange money.

The main building is large and confusing on the inside. Apparently the PR office was on the mezzanine level but Kara and I spent a good half hour to 45 minutes trying to find its location. After we were told that the floors of the building were divided on either side, we successfully found the office. However, we were turned away and told to go to the registrar for our IDs.

At the registrar we were informed by a woman named Lydia that a) AUS had no idea we were even going to be students at the school till Wednesday night and b) we were not entered into the system yet. There are few a problems with this. If AUS didn't know that we would be studying there this summer, why would AU let us board planes on Thursday? Why wasn't anything taken care of before hand? Why didn't we have a contact on campus? Why weren't we registered for any classes here? The questions kept running through our heads as we left the registrar and went to the bank.

We were in dire need for groceries so we went to the mini mart on campus and purchased water, juice, and milk. Soon we found ourselves sitting in an abandoned Student Union eating a lunch that cost 5 Dirhams. I realized that if I had been alone on this trip I would probably be bawling in a corner not knowing how to go about solving any of the problems we were facing.

When were finished eating, we could not find any trash bins around. In America when you're done with a meal you throw out the trash and deposit trays on top of the bins. We stood awkwardly for a while trying to figure out how to take care of the trash. I know I would have asked someone how to go about it but there were only male students around and I wasn't sure how out of line approaching a male student would be. Eventually we saw another male walk away from his table, leaving his garbage on the table. Soon, an employee appeared with a trash can on a trolley and cleared the mess. Ohh, culture shock.

Kara and I left the Student Union with our groceries and tried to figure out what to do next. Either we would go home and try to find the other female student in our program or just go home and be upset that our plans for a productive day had yielded absolutely nothing.

We decided to visit the Physics building where our seminar professor supposedly had an office and went to find him. SUCCESS!!!

Professor Bassel Salloukh is probably the nicest man I have ever met. He knew exactly who we were as some of his students had reported to him that two female Americans were wandering campus. He greeted us with a smile and wanted to help us in anyway he could including trying to get our AUS IDs the next day.

He explained that normal procedure concerning the IDs and the other problems we had encountered were taken care of the first day of the seminar. He showed us where things were on campus and gave us our course schedule and syllabus. We also met one of his students and two other professors, one of which offered to take us to a supermarket to purchase things for our room.

Needless to say, after we found Professor Salloukh, we were much happier people and more comfortable on campus.

We met Professor Richard Gassan a little before 1pm to go to the grocery store. Richard was very nice and accommodating but it was with him that we discovered there is not really a speed limit on the highway. As we sped through the desert at speeds upwards of 150mph, we passed a series of towns in the process of being built. The houses were magnificent and luxurious and again I can't really describe the sight in words. We also saw two herds of roaming camels along the roadside as they loped about, unconcerned about the speeding cars a few feet away from them.

That night Kara went to bed really early as a result of jet lag, and I met another girl from our program named Kim Black who is a grad student at AU. She and I sat outside our complex and talked about many things ranging from study abroad in the Middle East to US Foreign Policy in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. Later we went to the small fitness center in B Block and then headed to bed.

21/05/2006

This morning Kara and I received a phone call from Professor Salloukh at 10:30am asking where we were. Apparently, he expected us to be at his office to get our AUS IDs and internet in order. In what has become another theme, the Professor saying he will be somewhere at a certain time, apparently means we should all be there, and preferably ten minutes earlier than he states. As we ran to the Physics building, Kara and I met Kim's roommate, Lamees from Jordan.

At Professor Salloukh's office we met the boys in our group, Matt Bank and Mike from Portland, Oregon. After running around to the Registrar, we ate lunch as a group and I tried Kafta Hallabi for the first time. It was awesome.

And then of course, we successfully were connected to wireless and LAN so that is why I am here writing this blog entry! =)

Tonight our plans include crashing a gala event for the School of International Relations here at AUS for the graduating students and going to Sahara Center (one of the malls in Sharjah).

Tomorrow we start classes at 8am!

Interesting Facts:

-The first day of the week here is Saturday which makes our weekends Thursdays and Fridays.
-They LOVE french fries and put it with most meals. They are really into KFC as well.

Kara: What are you doing? Blogging or emailing?
Olan: Blogging
Kara: Did you tell them I am a fantastic person and gorgeous to boot?

(my roommate is hilarious)

Ma'asalama!

xoxo
Olan

It's Really a Class Act 22/05/2006

Today was the first day of classes which, alhamdu allah, started an hour later than usual. We met in a small seminar room in the Physics Building at 9:00am to go over logistical information and to run through the syllabus for the Political Economy of the Gulf States class.

We found out that in actuality, the course was designed as a grad level seminar class and the course packet proves it. However, I have an inkling that the course packet is a little less than what students normally receive for grad level course readings.

Not much happened, as our first real class is Wednesday, but we were assigned the topics to present for our 20 minute lead presentations. After our course intro, Professor Salloukh walked us over to the Chemistry Building/NAB (New Academic Building) where we would have our Arabic class. Only two students (myself included) from my program are taking Advanced Arabic. However, the professor is letting the other students audit our class. Likewise, me and Matt (the other AA trooper) are allowed to receive one-on-one or combined Arabic tutoring from the Tutorial professor who will take all the other non Advanded Arabic students under her wing.

Now, I have to describe the room in which our class is held; it is fantastic! As I mentioned a short while ago, we were in a Translation Room that has all the up to date equipment needed for intense language instruction. In the center of the room sits a main console with two computer monitors and a number of headsets attached to a device that kind of looks like a remote control. What these are, I really don't know but I am sure will find out soon enough. There are 5 booths in the room as well that are the same as the booths interpreters use in the United Nations. SO COOL!

When class let out, Matt, Mike, Lamees, Kim, and I went to lunch at Abela and tried some more Middle Eastern food; today I had chicken satay. So good...

Ah, how could I forget! Our 7th member of our program arrived yesterday. Her name is Ann/Anne (sp?) and she is a Georgetown grad student taking a year long academic leave to work for the embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. I admire her bravery to work there because of the fact that there is still bombing aimed at the city. Additionally, since suicided bombings are the new trend, she has to be cautious about that.

I don't know if it's coming up on your screens, but I've added a new link: Baghdad Burning
It is a blog written by an Iraqi woman who recently won a Pulitzer Prize for her work. Also, a book was published using her actual blog entries. Kara is worried about her because she hasn't updated since May 2nd. She apparently never lets that much time go on without posting. We hope that she is safe and that it's just the lack of internet, but these days you can never be sure.

Alright, well that is all I have for now. Tonight one of Professor Salloukh's students is taking us out to Dubai. I have no idea what is in store for us but it should be a good time!

xoxo
OLAN

First Night Out in Dubai 22/05/2006

Thehabtu illa al-mata'am mumtazeen fee Century Village.

Tonight, some AUS Int'l Studies students took us out to a fabulous restaurant in Century Village. Interestingly enough, it is connected to Irish Village and The Cellar which are full of wonderful restaurants that actually serve alcohol. Here, it is looked down upon for an Arab to drink alcohol (in public) and the drinking age is 21 like it is in the states. Luckily, they are more lenient here ;)

The restaurant (the name I wasn't able to catch) served traditional Middle Eastern food ranging from fattoush and kofta to hummus and lahm bi ajeen and much, much more! There were so many of us that we sat at a long table and it was always full of dishes and dishes of food. A few of us did order our own shishas and I had the AUS students pick a flavor for me. They selected grape which was pretty light but very tasty.

Around half way through dinner, the stereo playing music from popular Arab artists stopped and we had a live performer! He was amazing and it created such a traditional yet familiar atmosphere. (note from Kara: I love Middle Eastern music, you can't help but feel moved by it!)

Then we sat with fresh, empty plates for about 30 minutes. Matt and I got pretty anxious about desert and constantly asked each other and anyone who would listen: "Ayna hall'wah??" (Where is desert??) Eventually, the waiters came out with huge plates of watermelon and sweet cheese which turned out to be a tasty combination.

We left around 11:30pm because us women have a strict curfew of midnight on weekdays and 1:00am on weekends. We drove back with Professor Gassan who sped us to campus with 10 minutes to spare.

Kara on our meal tonight: "When in Rome, you still don't eat the raw meat"

xoxo
OLAN