Day 2 - Heritage Tour, Class, Out on the town

Jet lagged but filled with adrenaline for the first full day, we hopped on the bus at 8 am to depart for the Sheikh Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding (SMCCU).  Upon arrival we were greeted by our host, Mr. Nasif Kayed.  Nasif really made the experience as he was funny, informative and insightful.  He encouraged us to ask the question "why" as we discussed numerous topics such as history, culture, religion.  The slogan at the cultural center is "Open doors. Open minds" giving our group an opportunity to really open up and ask questions we had all been wondering about the Arab world.  A few things that I found interesting are as follows.  Fisrt we learned that pearls were the original trade item.  Next we viewed the different types of houses begining with those made with goat hair, then palm tree leaves and eventually coral.  A common curiosity was about the dress - which we learned are called abayas (for the women) and thobes (for the men).  The people dress the same for unity.  According to the Quran one must be modest, not materialistic and they try to limit distractions by covering womens hair/knees/shoulders.  Following the tour we enjoyed a delicious brunch where we were served dates, coffee and traditional Emerati food.  We learned that they serve coffee and dates before meals as an act of hospitality.  Little did I know, coffee dates back to the 15th century originally from Yemen.  This was a great way to begin the trip!

Lunch at SMCCU

Group Tour at SMCCU

After lunch we headed to our host university, AUE, for two seminars.  We first heard from Professor Nabeel Jurdi,  Provost/VP for Academic Affairs.  Professor Nabeel gave a lesson on how to negotiate in the Gulf.  He stressed the importance of finding a common denominator between the two parties and establishing a friendship rather than looking at them as competition.  Once the lecture was complete we had a mock negotiation between two classmates.  After a quick tea break which also included sandwiches and dessert (common among "tea breaks" here) we received a presentation from Mr. Dimitris Floros, Global Corporate Account Manager, Global Sales for Emirates Airline.  His presentation was very informative, giving us a solid understanding of the brand and how it competes in the ever changing airline industry.

Mr. Floros lecture at AUE

Running on about 4 hours of sleep each we decided why not go out and explore the town.  We headed to the Dubai Mall area for dinner and drinks.  We wound up at the most American bar you could possibly find called The Claw.  We also got our first view of the amazing fountain show (that puts Vegas to shame) and the extremity that the Dubai Mall is.  The crowd was a melting pot of people, the most interesting thing to me was seeing little kids up so late at night.  I'm exhausted just writing this and can't wait to see what is in store for tomorrow!