Good-bai

 Our class trip to Dubai was truly a life-changing experience that I will never forget. Many lessons were learned by all of us. For example, I learned that 10 hour flights are as bad as they sound, and I start losing it around halfway through! On a more serious note, I learned that venturing out of my comfort zone (Very, very far) can ultimately pay off greatly.

 The first full day was lost to traveling. We arrived in Dubai on Monday morning after leaving Atlanta on Saturday. Later that day we got to experience a true Arabian dinner in the middle of the desert. After an afternoon of dune bashing, watching a falconry show, and riding very tall camels, I tried many different foods including falafel and lamb. Peyton and I even got beautiful Henna tattoos as well! I even impulsively decided to climb up a huge dune and slid down it on a snowboard. Not even halfway up the steep slope was I regretting it immensely, yet I persisted and eventually reached the top, breathless. The ride down was blissfully relaxing but over far too quickly, yet I would do it again. 

The next day, the group and I took a yellow boat water tour of the Isle of Palms and many other incredible structures, like the “Seven Star” hotel right on the coastline. After trying desperately to tame our unruly hair from the wind, we attended the Edutech conference in a huge ballroom. I filmed the panel while the other students talked about Miss Vicki‘s class and teaching habits that should be followed. Everyone, in my opinion, did really well, and many people loved the panel. We even received an invite to a school from one of the teachers that attended the conference, but unfortunately, we could not fit it into our busy schedule. 

On our final day in Dubai, we all got up early and quickly ate breakfast so we could start our full day of touring. First, we drove to the palm of Jumeirah and buried our toes in the sand on the beach there. Then we ate lunch and looked around one of the many marinas, or malls, in Dubai. After that, we all traveled back in time as we walked through a museum of ancient Middle Eastern life. There was even an exhibit that made visitors feel as if they were underwater, looking up at the people casting their nets hoping to catch fish. Later that evening the class got to experience one of the coolest parts of the trip, which was seeing Dubai glow in the night from the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. I could see every vein of the city glowing from beneath me through the windows. there is a scene in one of my favorite movies called Ferris Bueller‘s Day Off where the students press their heads against the windows of the Empire State building and look down at the ground below. I copied this idea and saw the streets flowing with traffic below. That is one sight I will never forget. After exiting the Burj Khalifa, we made it just in time for a huge and brilliant fountain show directly outside of the monument. The water sprayed higher than any other, and I think we were all surprised that none of us ended up soaked. 

On the plane rides back, I think we all breathed a sigh of relief that we were heading home, but it was truly bittersweet. I know I’ll miss Dubai with all its luxuries and gorgeous sights, but I’m so glad I went on this once-in-a-lifetime trip. 

Thank you to the adults and students that made this a safe and fun trip, and thank you to Mrs. Vicki for giving us this incredible opportunity. I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. 

Goodbye Dubai

I am sad to leave, but at least we all got some cool souvenirs. The educational conference was awesome. In fact, our speakers did so good that the whole group was invited to go and tour a school there, but we did not get to go because we did not have clearance. We had a fun, cool, and great group from Westwood Schools speak such as: Brent Johnson, Brantley Shiver, Spence Cranford, Peyton Worsham, Levi Warren, Jonte Harris, and the person that made all of the trip possible, Mrs. Vicki Davis. We also cannot forget our filmer, Perry Fears. I am very proud of our speakers, filmers, and parents for never saying no but instead went and tried new, interesting, and cool things such as: a desert Barbecue, dune bashing, sandboarding (especially Brantley Shiver), riding on boats for tours, and climbing to the top of the Burj Khalifa, and going to the Dubai Mall. The trip was very educational and we always learned cool new things, such as: the Burj Khalifa was inspired by the spider lily, and I also learned that the Burj Khalifa will only be the tallest building in the world for about a year, because China is building one taller, but Dubai is already working on one taller than China’s tower and naming it the Burj Dubai. I noticed something odd about the buildings there, if you go look at the buildings closely and you will notice that no building has a normal shape. They are built in the forms of all different shapes such as: pyramids, prisms, and a lot of them have domes on top of them or have something protruding from them. The architecture there also has very many different influences of different countries such as: Italy, America, Rome, and Greece that is put into the way it looks, or how it was built. I have also learned that also being the world’s richest city, everything there cost a lot of money and it is hard to get a good deal there on anything you try to buy. One of the interesting things in Dubai is that they believe in polygamy, which means the men can marry up to four women. One of the amazing things about Dubai and the people there is the productivity rate, and work ethic, because where it would take 5 years to build a building here in America, it only takes them a little over a year. The leader of Dubai is called a Sheik, which means the son of, and his name is Sheik Mohammed, so his name in English means” the son of Mohammed” I have also learned that everything in Dubai has to have “The World’s Biggest Everything”, so if you order a small order of fries they fill up a whole box with fries. There are a lot of exotic cars in Dubai, but after a day there you realize what the normal cars are. The normal cars consist of: Range Rovers, Hyundai, Audis, and Porsches.

Heading to Dubai: New Adventures for the Wildcats

Tomorrow, seven students, four parents and I will be heading to Dubai to present at the Edutech Middle East Conference. We'll be presenting and learning but we'll also be learning about the culture, foods and more. We're ready to go