A Short History of the UAE

The UAE is a confederation of seven independently ruled Emirates established in 1971. Before becoming independent, these Emirates were tribally organized sheikhdoms which ruled by the authority of the main power in the region, Britain. These sheikhdoms became known as the Trucial States for the numerous treaties the prominent families signed in the 19^th century with the British, handing over control of defense and foreign affairs for the region to the foreign power. The British had an interest in controlling the Arabian, or Trucial Coast in the late 18^th and early 19^th century to protect their trading interests in nearby India.

In the late 1960’s Britain decided to sever its treaties with the sheikhdoms, Bahrain, and Qatar. In 1971 these nine attempted to form a union of Arab emirates, but were unable to agree on suitable terms. As a result, Bahrain and Qatar announced their independence and the six remaining sheikhdoms formed the United Arab Emirates in 1972 (Ras al-Khaimah, originally part of Sharjah, joined as the seventh a year later).

The UAE is organized on the state, or Emirate level, with each ruling family maintaining control over the internal affairs of their Emirate. The power at the federal level is weak, but works to serve the interests of collective security, economic prosperity, and in the case of foreign affairs, political negotiation on behalf of the combined Emirates. The federal government has a Supreme Council of Rulers, made up of the seven individual rulers of the Emirates. The President and Vice President (often also the Prime Minister) are elected by this council every five years in accordance with the constitution, however in practice the Presidency always goes to the Al-Nahyan family of the capital, Abu Dhabi, and the Vice Presidency to the Al-Maktum ruler of Dubai. This derives from the fact that most of the oil, and therefore the wealth and economic resources of the state are found in the Emirates of those two rulers. Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan is the current President, and only the second in the history of the confederation.

The UAE is a member of the GCC, or Gulf Cooperation Council, formed in 1981 as a reaction to the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war which threatened regional security. The council seeks to enhance cooperation in the areas of security and trade, and includes five neighboring Gulf states; Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Presidency rotates yearly between the members.

The seven Emirates and their ruling families include: Abu Dhabi (Al-Nahyan), Dubai (Al-Maktum), Sharjah (Al-Qasimi), Ajmann (Al-Nuaimi), Ras al-Khaimah (Al-Qasismi, different branch), Fujairah (Al-Mualla), Umm al-Qaiwain (Al-Sharqi).

Interesting facts:
*Oil was first discovered in 1958 in Abu Dhabi.
*The UAE’s exact boarders are unknown to everyone except the governments of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It is therefore unclear where the boarders between the two countries, as well as the boarder between Oman and the UAE lie.
*According to the CIA’s figures, only 19% of the population are native Emiraties. This has several repercussions for issues including democracy, human rights, and stability (foreign born workers easily outnumber the native Muslim Arabs).
*Every year the country hosts two European Tour events (golf), and the richest horse race in the world, the Dubai World Cup.
*Al Fujayrah, and Umm al Qaywayn are relatively small, poor, and dependent on their wealthier neighbors for development grants.

What is it with Pizza Hut?

Something always happens when we decide we want pizza. Usually it's that the driver doesn't come to deliver it, but today we had a delivery with a bit of a twist.

When I walked outside the women's dorm to grab the food and pay the driver, our pizza was in mini form. They thought we had ordered a personal size pizza instead of a regularly sized small pizza. But when I went to pay the delivery man anyway, he kept stalling.

Delivery guy: Where are you from? Are you American?
Me: Yes, I'm from D.C.
DG: Oh, you go here for four years, for the fall?
Me: No, just for the summer. I'm going home.
DG: No, you can't leave. I must see you again. You are so beautiful (read white). You like Egypt?
Me: Um, as in the country? Yes. (I think he was going for Egyptians)
DG: You give me your phone number, we go out, I must see you again.
Me: Um, I don't have a mobile, no. Sorry, no.
DG: Please I must. You like Egypt?
Me: (starting to get weirded out) Yes. Here's the money. Thank you.
DG: No, please. Take my number. Please you are so beautiful.
Me: I don't have a pen. Sorry, thank you!

You get the basic idea. It went on like that for ten minutes while I tried to get him to accept the money. That and he didn't speak English well, so then I tried to communicate in Arabic, and I think he was excited that I knew the language. I was just trying to avoid a marriage proposal or kidnapping attempt! Anyway, kinda creepy but also kind of a nice boost to end the day. Kim spent a lot of time traveling in Egypt, so she thought it was hilarious because this type of thing happened to her all the time. She wants to come outside next time we get a delivery, but I told her to stay away so I didn't have any competition! Ha. At least being pasty white is good for something!

Media City

Today started out with Dr. S’s favorite activity, shopping. Our trip was to visit the Al-Arabiyya studios, but like other companies here, they operate on Arab time, so we didn’t need to arrive until around noon. Al-Arabiyya is based in Dubai but is generally looked upon as Saudi owned, or funded, though its funding is also derived from other sources. They call themselves the more sensible, "less-sensationalist" news source, pitting themselves against Al-Jazeera. I haven’t been able to watch much of the channel, so I can’t offer any opinion on this one.

The Mercato mall, on the other hand, I can offer an opinion on. It was made to resemble an Italian village, so all the store facades and the promenades were colorful and featured artistic drawings of various Italian scenes. The girls settled in for a late breakfast at Paul’s, a popular French café, and the boys went off with Dr. S, who as usual was shopping with the intent to buy. I’ve never met a man who truly enjoyed shopping like Dr. S, or who was so devoted to buying things for his wife. This time he purchased two pairs of shoes, and was still debating over a Gucci watch for her as we left. Then it was on to the t.v. station.

As we arrived at Al-Arabiyya, the Zarqawi story had just broken, so even though it was a weekend, there were people everywhere scrambling to put together graphics, history, bios, and story script. The channel was also live as we were in the studio, so we were able to watch the anchors real time and observe from the control room as well. We even managed a few minutes with the top Al-Arabiyya executive, whose name currently escapes me. Dr. S tells us that he is the number one media person in the Arab world, so perhaps I should work on finding his name…

Al-Arabiyya

After bumming around the studios we headed, where else, to a mall! This time it was the Madeenatee Jumeira, or Jumeira City mall. It’s all indoors, but designed to look like an outdoor souq, so everything is wood carved and draped with canvas. The outdoor patios of the restaurant area resemble the canals of Venice, with boats leading, via waterways, to the hotels surrounding the mall. Everything there was overpriced, but it was a great area, and we enjoyed a nice Italian meal! One of the highlights of this mall is its proximity to both the Burj al-Arab and the homes of the ruling family. We were able to pass by their mansions, and I’m not even sure what to equate them to. Each home was probably a good 8 times larger than the White House. I’d love, love, love to get a look inside, but let’s be realistic. The palaces are guarded heavily, and audiences are granted in a separate location, ensuring the privacy of the family. Then I thought about marrying a member of the family to get a look, but they tend to marry cousins. Oh well.

On the set of a program. Dina and Aiya, two AUS students from our class joined us.

Olan highjacked my camera and this was the result.

Kara plays correspondent.

Media City

Outside Jumeira City mall. On the left is one of the hotels.

Matt and I on the restuarant patio. That's the Burj in the background.

Inside the mall.

I forgot to put this one up earlier. Matt workin' the camera.

Abu Dhabi

Yesterday was our much anticipated trip to the capital of the UAE, Abu Dhabi, and the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies Research, one of only a few think tanks in the region.

Abu Dhabi is a three hour drive from Sharjah, and resembles the drive from Chicago to D.C. in that it’s pretty much flat with nothing to look at. Occasionally a mansion would pop up in the middle of nowhere, but the more we drive around this country the more you realize that it’s really just a giant sandbox with the occasional sandcastle, and a few populated cities. The only other thing we saw was a camel track, of which there are a few here in the Emirates. Camel racing is the national sport of the UAE, and the season is held from October-April, so unfortunately I won’t be able to watch any races. We also passed by a new mosque being built to commemorate Sheikh Zayd Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late ruler of Abu Dhabi. When completed, the mosque will be one of the largest in the world and will hold roughly 32,000 worshipers. It’s white, majestic, and palatial; truly a beautiful work of art.

Here's the only article I could find on the mosque...

Finally we arrived at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies Research, or ECSSR. The facility was established in 1994 as an “independent academic instiution to facilitate objective research on key political and socio-economic issues, topics, and developments affecting the UAE and the Gulf region.” The center's main building is all marble and wood paneling, with glass windows. The rooms are filled with rich fabrics, dazzling crystal chandeliers, and lush carpets. It’s as though every portion of the building was designed as candy for the eyes. It didn’t matter which way you turned, something would cause you to ‘oo’ and ‘ah.’ Even the elevators were beautiful! The flat panel televisions in the lobby welcomed us as the ‘Delegation from the American University of Sharjah,’ and we were immediately escorted into a presentation room to learn about the center. Inside the room we found close to thirty movie theater style seats, only larger and extra comfortable. In front of every seat was a lovely wooden table with a box of tissues and a packet of materials the center had supplied for each of us. Established by the ruling family, the center has limitless resources, and it showed in our surroundings and in the staff's generous hospitality.

Our subsequent tour of the facility brought us to meeting rooms, outdoor sanctuaries, and a state of the art media center. The media department has the job of tracking every news source; internet, print, and television. They even receive the New York Times via electronic means before New Yorkers do! They also provide the service of breaking news or alerting VIP’s (designated as the top two hundred individuals in the country) to any of the day's important events. VIP’s are alerted by a text messaging service, and can even request the center to tape specific programming for them. I just soaked up the opportunity to watch t.v. I even got to watch a few minutes of jeopardy, which was one of the programs they had on the 100+ television screens on the front wall.

My favorite part of the center is the library, which is unusal because in general that’s a building I try to avoid. Their library contains a number of rare Arabic texts and documents, along with the usual periodicals and research materials. But the best thing about the library is the services they provide. The researchers at the library will pull together material for you on any topic, literally going through and photocopying for you relevant passages, chapters, and articles in books or magazines. They do this free of charge. It’s like the ultimate academic tool. I’ve never heard of such a thing. And they practically beg you to use the service. While we were there the lady kept asking us, “Is there anything we can do for you? Any paper topics you need us to dig up research on? We’d love to help!” Dr. S kept any of us from answering with an emphatic 'yes!' (we all have 20+ page research papers to complete for his course) I guess if you’re a true academic, this type of thing is your calling. They have professors from as far away as Lebanon take advantage of their generous services. Everything about the facility, from the rooms to the staff are top-rate, proving money really can buy some wonderful things!

Click here to learn about the ECSSR

The rest of Abu Dhabi we saw by car. At one point we jumped out to take pictures of a palace built for GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) meetings. The sand in the UAE wasn’t good enough, so soft Moroccan sand was flown in for the palace beach, in yet another example of what you can do with too much money. I could describe how grand this palace was, but I feel like every building I see here is just magnificent, and really words can’t do justice to them, so I’ll stop trying and start focusing on obtaining pictures.

The drive home was an event. We got caught in the infamous UAE rush hour (all afternoon), and this meant being in bumper to bumper traffic with buses full of foreign labor workers, the ones that have a habit of staring at us. Eventually Dr. S, getting tired of observing the car jockeying and stares, exiled me to what has now been termed the quarantine seat, which sits by him, in the front of the bus, and can be protected from outside viewing by curtains. Then he told Kim, still in the back, to cover her hair. We stayed in this new arrangement until the car exited the highway. Dr. S had some good advice for me on masters programs in Middle East Studies. Apparently the U.K. is the place to be, so I'm going to start looking into specific schools in the near future. All in all, a long, driving filled day, but a good one :)

A portion of downtown Abu Dhabi.

Hanging out on th e Arabian Sea/ Persian Gulf.

The palace that houses the GCC meetings and delegates.

'One Hell of a Day'

*Note: This entry was originally posted yesterday, but due to blogger problems has re-posted a day late.

Which is appropriate given that today is 6.06.2006

At 46C it today was hotter than any other since we’ve been here. The plan was to head over to Emirates Mall for a shopping/Ski Dubai trip after classes finished, and then to have a group dinner. Pretty simple plan, right?

Wrong. Everyone in the program went on the trip, and to get there we called two different taxis. As we were approaching Emirates mall, our cab driver, instead of taking a left into the complex, kept driving straight ahead, into the construction zone of Dubai and away from the mall. After a half mile, I asked where he was going, and he replied that this was the way but he needed to make a U-turn. After another mile and two turns in the opposite direction from the mall, it became clear that this driver was trying to milk our fare for all it was worth and scam on the fact that we were obviously tourists. Now this is one of those awkward situations I seem to find myself in more often than I’d like. It’s not in my nature to be quiet and let people get away with this type of activity, since they count on you not wanting to sound impolite to carry off their schemes. And of course I don't appreciate being taken advantage of. At the same time, if I start to challenge the driver by asking him where he’s going and why he's taking us the wrong way, I risk embarrassing and upsetting the other people in the car with whom I’m spending the rest of the day. So I tested the waters by making comments about what the driver was doing, and finally the guys realized how far away we were, and we all had a good laugh. The driver had the nerve to then take a side road, parallel to and obviously slower than the highway right next to it to get back to the mall!

Well as we were pulling in, I asked the guys if they were really planning on paying the 82 dirham fare, since I felt we should only have to pay the 65-70 the meter read the first time we were at the mall. Not wanting to make a fuss, they paid him 80 (with no complaint from him since he knew he’d ripped us off) and got out of the cab. Right behind us the ladies got out, and they flat out refused to pay their driver anything. This inevitably created a huge scene, with numerous spectators as Lamees berated the cab driver and the cab drivers yelled right back. I figured if she was putting up a fight, I’d let our driver know we knew that he ripped us off. Of course, since neither of them knew much English or Arabic we didn’t get very far. Long story short, we tried to get the police involved, but none of us had a mobile and the cabbies wouldn’t call (because they knew they’d lose their licenses) and so our driver sped away and the girls’ driver, who still hadn’t been paid, followed us around the mall. After fifteen minutes the girls, excluding Anne, just walked off. So I had to deal with the second cab driver, who felt he should be paid because we paid the first driver. I asked him why he followed the first cab if he knew the proper destination and had been in the turn lane to go into the mall, for which he had no answer. Anne eventually paid him, and brought an end to a 45 minute argument which we ultimately lost.

Originally the plan for the night was for Mike, Olan and I to ski while everyone else shopped, and then to meet up later for dinner. Matt had relayed the 8:30 meeting time for dinner to the girls before they had run off, but that still left Mike and I without Olan. We lapped the mall in an effort to track her down, and when that failed, we set off to do some skiing.

This adventure was easily the highlight of the day. For 150 dirham (which includes a 10d deposit on your ski pass) we received a two-hour ski pass, snowpants, a ski jacket, and equipment. We’d been so hot all day that we were excited to jump into the giant refrigerator that is Ski Dubai.

Outside temperature: 45C/113F

Inside Ski Dubai: -2C/28F

After a quick change we headed up an indoor escalator to the bottom of the ski lift. The minute we stepped inside it was as if we had turned into five year old children experiencing the first snow of the year. We hopped on our skiis/board, and headed straight for the only chairlift, a five person lift that moved slower than anything I’d ever ridden. I’m talking slooooooow! We had plenty of time to get the lay of the land, which wasn't difficult because there’re really only two runs, with a few jumps positioned in the middle. You have the choice of unloading halfway up the hill, or continuing on to the top. The only good thing about the speed (or lack thereof) of the chairlift is that it gives you time to engage in the great people watching spectacle that characterizes Ski Dubai. They have a rule that you can only ski if you’re experienced, otherwise you're requited to take a lesson. There are however, clearly a number of people who try to play off being able to ski in order to avoid the extra expense of a ski instructor. There were even people who couldn’t get off the chairlift without falling, and the thing barely moved.

Mike and I lasted a good hour before we realized our hands were frozen and we couldn’t feel our ears. After three weeks in 100+ heat, the sudden change really worked its way into our system. It probably didn’t help that neither of us had been provided with gloves or a hat. We needed two trips inside to warm up, but all in all we had a good time. The two hour pass was a good call; you’d be hard pressed to spend more time than that in a facility with only two runs. I should also mention that for an additional cost there is a snow park with small tubing runs, an ice slide, and a play area, but it looked more like a children's thing, so Mike and I just did the runs. We also kept our keys, deciding the 10d deposit was worth a good souvenir!

After our ski session, everything went downhill again. We ran into Lamees and Olan, who, through a misunderstanding, thought that we were skiing at 8:30, not eating, and so had missed out. They took Kim with them and returned home to the dorms, understandably upset at how the day had turned out. The boys, Anne, and I went to Chilies for dinner, which is a popular place here in the UAE. Everyone was starving, but our server was nonexistent for the greater part of the over two hours it took us to order, receive our food, and order again for dessert. Then, as our waiter was bringing out another round of drinks and milkshakes for Mike and I, he accidently dropped the whole tray, milkshakes and all, into Anne’s lap. She was covered, the table and chair were coated, and Mike and I got splashed. In the history of spills, this was the motherload. It was the perfect ending to our drama filled day! We did get a free meal out of it, but Anne smelled like strawberry for the rest of the night, and the rest of us, unable to find a bar in which to end the evening, left the mall and waited anxiously for 6.7.06 to roll in.

Ski Dubai information




Mike and I before hitting the slopes!

Inside Ski Dubai

At the bottom of the lift.

At the top of the run.

Yep, he's King of the World!

Go figure this was my attempt at not looking awkward in a picture.

You get the idea.

The Blue Souq

I think Olan talked about this in one of her earlier posts, but The American University of Sharjah is located at the end of a large compound known as University City. The compound also includes the gender segregated University of Sharjah, the Police Academy, the Medical school, a Technical college, and probably a few other things I’m forgetting. The entire community is gated, and rests about twenty minutes outside of Sharjah city. In order to leave campus, then, you’re forced to take a taxi. This inevitably means putting your life in the hands of a man who probably doesn’t speak English or Arabic and, at least in my experience, doesn’t always know where he’s going. In addition, no seatbelts + speeds in excess of 120mph being de rigour + no signaling + tailgating at high speeds + hundreds of roundabouts + crazy drivers = a recipe for an early death. So if I don’t post for a few days, the most likely cause, behind procrastination, would be death by car accident.

Yesterday, six of us brave souls ventured out in taxis to the Central, or Blue Souq in downtown Sharjah. The ordeal of calling for a taxi here is even worse than in Washington, D.C. (where they refuse sometimes to come “all the way out” to American University, grr) and it’s complicated by the fact that none of us have mobiles. There are certain taxis that the university trusts, and will let onto campus, and others that it won’t. If your called cab fails to show up, you’re left hoping against hope that a stray taxi will somehow find its way to AUS and pick you up. Such was the case yesterday, and it took us over an hour standing out in the intense heat to find a taxi driver who would take us into town.

Once at the souq, however, we had a great time. Everyone needed to shop for friends and family back home, and souqs are the better alternative to malls because you stand a good chance of finding affordable, authentic, and unique gifts, unlike at the malls where everything is westernized. We split up to go wander around, and I found myself in numerous fabric shops. The textiles here are mostly handmade and imported from places like Nepal and Kashmir. You just don’t see these types of fabrics, designs and colors back at home. The one aspect of shopping in the UAE that I’m neither familiar nor comfortable with is bargaining. It’s not that I’m not good at it, it’s just that the shopowners are so skilled at making you feel terrible when you finally do get your asking price, that I feel guilty even after a good purchase. A little ridiculous, I know, but I can’t help it. Of course the other part is that these men tear their shops apart trying to help you find what you’re looking for, and when you have to walk away without a purchase, that doesn’t feel so great either. Unless you're Mike, who likes to "set 'em up, and knock 'em down." Boys.

The boys were utterly clueless, so I spent most of my time helping them pick out appropriate table cloths for their moms back home. If someone needs my help when discussing color, length, design, or shape, you know they must be really badly off. All came away with purchases though, and it was onto the Persian rugs. I was never much of a girly girl in that I’ve never had a thing for specific clothing designers, or a penchant for Tiffany’s jewelry or anything, but I think I’ve found my jewelry equivalent. The Persian rugs here are all handmade and just incredible. I don’t really have anywhere to put one, but that didn’t stop me from almost splurging ! I couldn’t find a carpet that I absolutely had to have, so no purchases were made, but I will continue to look and with any luck I’ll come home with one in my suitcase! Overall my shopping adventure was mildly successful. I returned with a few small items that I think the intended recipients will enjoy.

The ride home was another ordeal, especially when we discovered the cab driver really had no clue where he was going. I wasn’t looking forward to possibly being stranded in the middle of a city that is pretty much completely foreign to me. He was also a reckless driver, so I spent the majority of the ride looking out the side window and contemplating which way I would roll if he slammed into the cars in front of us. We made it home in one piece though, and I can’t wait until we have an opportunity to return to the souq!

*Boo to public laundry machines. They are almost always out of order, or break when you're using them, or the other people using them put random things like gym bags in the washer and it gets shredded and then you have to deal with that nastiness. D.C., Sharjah, it doesn't matter. Laundry woes are all the same :(

Desert photographs

Matt, Mike, Olan and I pre-dune bashing!

The boys and Olan in front of our ride.

One of many desert shots taken while riding over the dunes.

I like this shot because you can just make out all the SUV's.

This is me at the end of my dune run, just prior to doing a faceplant.

My roommate :)

Just a beautiful shot.

That's me holding a hawk and trying not to look terrified!

Matt, Olan, Kim and Michael in traditional bedouin dress.

The bellydancer shows Mike a few moves.

We've always got to have a car shot :)