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Welcome to my wonderful world of enjoyment,
Studies at Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University
Lives in Tempe, AZ
Single
Speaks English
Born on July 19
michelle-tea Gahhhhh I just wanna say I think it's great that you're studying in Dubai. ((:
Thanks, Michelle! It’s something I never would have thought I had the time or money for, but everything just kinda fell perfectly in place for it to work! This has been an amazing experience so far and I can’t wait to see what is coming up next.
Studying abroad in Dubai, UAE
Group pic on the front of the yacht in the Gulf with the Burj Al Arab in the background.
Dubai, again
So it’s been awhile since my last post, but I’ll try to sum up the trip as best as I can; I’ll start with this past weekend.
FRIDAY
Today, we brunched with ASU students & alumni in the United Arab Emirates. I met two Emirati undergraduate business students, in addition to a few university faculty and executives doing big things out here. It turns out His Excellency, the Minister of Economy of the UAE, is also a Sun Devil and joined us for brunch. Did I mention it was in Jumeirah Beach Hotel, one of the nicest hotels in Dubai?
SATURDAY
Five of us spent Friday night and most of Saturday up in Sharjah with an actual expatriate working in the UAE; he turned out to be a mutual friend of one of the guys we were with. Getting to experience the less glitzy areas of the UAE (most places pale in comparison to Dubai’s monumental developments) was pretty humbling. Still, the quality of living up in this other emirate was top notch and the living facilities were still amazing! We spent our time eating and shopping in the souks. We bought hookah sets for less than $40 and legit Beats headphones for $65. Haggling in the middle east can get you really far in life!
SUNDAY
One of the graduate students thought that renting a yacht for a few hours on the Persian Gulf would be a great idea. Fast forward through days of worried calls about the high winds and an hour delay of launch, and a group of 14 of us found ourselves riding the waves behind the most beautiful skyline in the world.
After a perfect two hours of yachting and swimming in the Gulf, we headed back to the Emirates Academy for 2pm class on a Sunday. Seriously. We knocked out some presentations, then headed to Bab al-Shams Desert Resort where we rode camels, witnessed falconry, practiced archery, and ate to our heart’s content.
Burj Bro Al Arab: because no trip is complete without a jumping picture.
Dubai: The First Days
I’m a little late on this, but I’ve decided to start documenting my study abroad trip to Dubai.
So here’s a little background:
- 24 hours aboard Virgin Atlantic from San Francisco to London-Heahtrow to Dubai (the second leg was definitely the best flight I’ve ever been on)
- Stranded in Dubai for 5 hours before getting into the hotel
- Staying in the Emirates Academy across the street from Wild Wadi & Burj Al Arab, and is 10 minutes from the beach
Yesterday we started introducing our research projects to the class; the whole program is based on sustainability, tourism, and culture in Dubai. Mine personally is centered around the two huge airports in Dubai and explores the impact that air travel has on the emirate’s tourism.
We took a trip to Middlesex University in Dubai to hear from an ASU alum teaching there, as well as other research pertaining to expatriatism in Dubai and the future of the emirate.
Afterwards, we headed out on a tour of the surrounding area, including the towering skyscrapers of Dubai, Atlantis on Palm Jumeirah, the Dubai Museum, the gold & spice souks, and the Dubai Mall.
A group of us, mostly undergrads, split off to explore the mall (thelargest in the world). Finding our way in the 4-story maze of storefronts with an aquarium, waterfall, and Olympic-size ice rink was crazy enough, and the fact that only a few of us have working cell phones made it that much harder. Right outside the mall stands the intimidating Burj Khalifa, and in between the two lies a fountain larger than the Bellagio’s.
Today, we explored the Dubai Cultural & Scientific Center where we witnessed a graduation of students from all over the Middle East. We then headed to the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, where we were given a tour of the building and briefed on the sustainability efforts and initiatives being implemented by the Chamber. The building they are located in is a gleaming blue tower situated right on the creek. Our tour guide was a very welcoming young Emirati woman who happened to be half-Filipina! She loved that I and one of our graduate students were both half-Filipino too, and was adamant that we keep in contact. In a country where less than 10% of the population are native Emiratis and most foreigners never interact with them, I’m honored to have made this connection in such a short amount of time.
Well hopefully that catches everyone up to speed with the first three and a half days of our amazing travels to the “fastest city in the world”. I’ll try to keep a more up to date journal with our future adventures over the next week and a half. Cheers from Dubai!
The cutest video of the day: Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu playing catch with a young fan.
the kid can throw
Everything about this kid is the coolest
This is awesome.
(via stadium-love-)
San Francisco-London-Dubai in the next 48 hours! #jetsetter 🌉🇺🇸✈🇬🇧🌃
I got all this money in my pocket, and this shit is goin’ up!
“Goin’ Up” - IamSu ft. Wiz Khalifa
Directed by Kreayshawn
(via stillhyphy)
About
July 19. Bay Area bred Sun Devil. Supply Chain Management. ΔΣΠ.
Baseball. Parkour. Screen Printing. Planes. Whovian. Baydestrian. $hmoplife. CFOPA. Krizz Kaliko. Macklemore. XV. MGK. Aussie Hip Hop. Oakland A's. SJ Sharks. SF 49ers.
LACE UP!
I post anything that's on my mind and reblog worthy posts.
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