Hello everyone! Today was well balanced between work and play. It is the first entire day off since the start of the internship. We had the chance to sleep in a little. I woke up around 10 and took my time making breakfast and enjoying the morning. Soon after, I began to make some progress on my presentation preparation. On Saturday my team is responsible for giving a 40 minuet presentation. Not only did we have a presentation but all the interns had to take our first exam on the mater we have covered up to this point. Much of the afternoon was spent preparing for both. 
On a more exciting note… at 4:30 pm, we left Topaz Courts Apartments and headed for the desert to begin our desert adventure. We began our travels to Rub' al Khali or Empty Quarter Desert, one of the largest sand deserts in the world. After a 40-minute ride, we stopped to deflate the tires so it would be easier to drive on the sand and over the sand. I took so many pictures. I have chosen a few funny and good pictures for you to enjoy. This ride through the desert was like a real life roller coaster. The car flew over the dunes, slid around turns and dropped off hill like an action movie. Mike and I purposely sat in the back of the car to get the greatest roller coaster effect. Our vehicle got stuck on top of a dune. This would not be a good place to get stranded, for there was desert as far as your eye could see. Thankfully, another car on our voyage toed us over the ridge. The vehicles slid over the sand dunes and sometimes seemed to fall over sharp edges.
The drivers stopped a few times during the trip for soft drinks and to watch the sunset on the desert. Once the sun set the vehicles traveled about ten more minutes to the camp site for dinner. At the camp site, we were able to ride camels, get Henna tattoos, and. A barbecue and open bar was provided for dinner. We all sat on pillows at floor-level tables. At the end of the dinner hour, there was a belly-dancer that performed for the guests. One of my favorite parts of the night is when the entire campsite turned out the lights in order for us to view the dessert sky with zero light pollution. We sat in darkness for about 30 minutes. I was so relaxed and content lying underneath the starry sky letting my mind wonder. Towards the end I drifted into a light sleep. Knowing the jokers I went with they would have left me there for the night if they found me sound asleep. Haha. Around 10:30 pm, we boarded the vehicles to head back to Topaz Courts. This desert adventure provided us with a great opportunity to get closer to all the members of the internship. Unfortunately, after we got back to the apartments there was more work to be done. Most of the students stayed up until 2am in preparation for our exam the next day. All in all, such a wonderful day!
DINNER!!! The meal provided was authentic and delicious. Some appetizers included falaffl and zatar manakish (my new favorite appetizer simsum spice salt and light mint) For our main coarse, our barbecued chicken and lamb were well cooked and filled with smoky and sweet flavors. The hummus and mixed veggie salad provide a cooling sensation from the heavily spiced meal. Olives are a must have for me whenever they are offered. The sides of curry veggies and rice provided some nice flavors of the Arabic region.
Ok... during our adventure we stumbled upon this young boy stranded in the dessert making a sand castle. Haha. This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip thus far. This so called "boy" is actually one of the Lebanese University interns, Chris. We all had a good laugh over this picture, so enjoy!
Hey Sean,
ReplyDeleteDid you have to wear a construction helmet when giving your presentation? As stylish as that sounds, I could have sent you an official San Francisco Giant Pablo Sandoval “Panda Hat” to slip over the construction helmet. Stylish and professional, even by Dubai standards, although you might have to be a Giant fan to appreciate the practical application to the workplace.
What was the presentation about? 40 minutes can seem like an eternity if you don’t have a Dilbert cartoon or two. Haha. Who makes up the Review Committee? The Review Committee always has questions – probably another 40 minutes, at least. I’ve never seen a Review Committee say, “OK, cool, makes sense, exactly as I expected, I’ll buy it, where do we sign up?, here’s the funding, when you can begin the project?” Haha. Did you have any Ralph Kramden “humina, humina, humina” moments?
Dune bashing in Dubai – very cool . . . unless you’re an environmental engineer or find yourself in the middle of a sand storm – haha. Looks like fun. I guess there are not too many ecosystems in the middle of the desert to mess up. Then again, I watch the NatGeo channel – the desert life comes out at night when the temperature drops below 120 degrees. The desert equivalent of “lions, tigers and bears” is “scorpions, Arabian tahrs and jirds.” I was reading about the tiny, fun-loving-yet-docile, insect-eating Egyptian Spiny Mouse that inhabits the desert near Dubai. It’s like a small rat with porcupine quills. What will evolution think of next? Did you happen to see any? Apparently, they’re not very dangerous . . . unless eaten whole. I hate when that happens. Haha.
Your trip to the desert looked like great fun. Do they rent 450cc ATVs to handle the big dunes? As you remember in Hawaii they say – Go Big or Go Home. I assume the same is true with the dunes in the Dubai desert. I would be interested to know how the night sky looked with no air pollution or light pollution. Wasn’t the moon out that night? Was the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow? With skies that clear, were shooting stars prevalent? Carl Sagan, the Yale astronomer was quoted as saying, "A galaxy is composed of gas and dust and stars - billions upon billions of stars." Were you able to see that many? Any life out there? Let SETI know before the government takes away all funding. Too late.
Is that Chris in the photo practicing his impression of a human hourglass? Great photo – an engineer alone with his thoughts. Or is he digging? If he keeps digging beyond the 50 years of oil reserves, he’ll hit Pitcairn Island of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. Mr. Christian, who wuddah thunk it?
Before I conclude, a trivia question for you – What is the name of the desert that you visited and what does the name mean?
And a quote from Carl Sagan – “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.”
It’s great hearing about what you and the Dubai team are up to on the other side of the planet.
Thinking of you.
Love,
Dad