Drinking Is So Funny

I am writing this post in haste, so I apologize if there are any grammatical errors. I’m going to a friend’s house for dinner before I go to a Halloween party. It’s at Nassimi beach. I told her I was coming before I found out that the party is free before 8 (it’s 6:29). Oops! I cancelled on her yesterday, so I don’t want to cancel two times in a row.

I haven’t had much sleep this week because of three exams. So last night, I just went to sleep and got some laundry done. Tomorrow is the desert safari, and Sunday back to school, ugh.

It was an interesting experience shopping for a costume. Ill tell you about it later. Right now, I’d like to talk about something that I’ve been thinking about since my last post.

My father reads my blog, and he was worried about me when I talked about going to Buddha Bar. He forgot one very important detail: I DON’T DRINK. I never have. I don’t smoke either. It’s rare for American college students to not drink, so here when I say I don’t drink, they assume I’m a Muslim.

I am not a Muslim, and I don’t think there’s anything morally wrong with drinking. I just think it distorts your behavior, and I’d like to live a long, healthy life. Same reason why I don’t smoke. It’s extremely unhealthy.

People smoke so much here that my lungs are getting enough. They smoke at school. They smoke in clubs and bars. It’s horrible! My German friend told me they smoke even more in Germany than they do here. For some reason, I thought Americans smoked the most. Boy, was I wrong!

Anyway, up until now, I’ve been really skeptical about going to bars and clubs. I have a fear of vomit. I know that sounds silly, but every time I see a movie where there’s drinking, someone vomits (yes, I know you shouldn’t judge things by what you see in the movies). Nevertheless, drunk people are soooo funny. It’s fun to watch how people are before they start drinking, and how they gradually, and gradually, get crazier.

Bars and clubs are also a good place to meet people. There’s a culture here at school that I’m not really into. More on that later. It’s more likely for someone to approach me at a bar, than at the mall or the movies, and I am looking for a job...

What a Long Week!

Sunday night at Aldo

Sorry I took so long to write! As I previously mentioned, I went to a career fair in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. Monday night, I went to the Mall of the Emirates to shop for something to wear the next day. I also had other items to purchase. I went to Home Center, Forever 21, and Debenhams. I was supposed to go to Carrefour too, but I was there from 6-10, and by that time, I was beat.

Career Fair Attire

When I got back home, there was a breast cancer awareness event in the new dorm. Somehow I ended up staying up until 2am, and waking up at 6am to prepare for the career fair. I had to print some things at the library, like how to ride the bus from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, my career fair registration number, and a list of companies that were attending. I was also going to finish my Arabic homework before I left, but that didn’t happen.

My ride picked me up at 11am. We had a nice talk in the car about, culture, economy and job searching. I’ve noticed that at AUD, there is not much competition when we you want something.  A lot of people expect things to fall in their lap, without them ever having to lift a finger.

Yes, this is bad, but this is an advantage to me. Since most AUD students graduate in the spring, there aren’t many accounting majors, I have a US degree, and a lot of students are lazy and passive, I’d say my chances of finding a job are high.

The career fair was great, although many of the companies were hiring only locals. Out of the companies that were hiring international citizens, not many were hiring accountants, and out of those, not many were in Dubai.

The highlight of the career fair was the career advice I got from a NAJAH psychologist. He basically told me what I needed to do to get a job here. It was very helpful. Even though I walked away with very few prospects, it wasn’t a waste of time. I came back to Dubai, with some very useful knowledge.

I arrived at the fair at 12:00pm, and was done by 5:30pm. My feet were killing me, so I sat down for awhile before catching a cab. The cab ride was about 20 minutes, and cost 20 AED (about $6). The bus ride was 1.5 hours and cost 15 AED (about $5). When I got off the bus, I had to take another cab to get to school, which cost 40 AED (about $10). The first taxi driver asked me why I didn’t take a cab all the way to school and I asked him how much it cost, he said about 270 AED (about $70). I said well the bus is only 15 AED!

Anyway, when I got to the bus station there was only a ten-minute wait. The bus ride felt so long. My phone was dying so I couldn’t talk on the phone. I had to conserve energy in case of an emergency. I was so tired, since I had only four hours of sleep.

When I woke up we were passing my school. I was so sad. I wish they had created a special bus stop just for me. It took ten minutes to catch a cab, and about 20 minutes to get home from there. I left ADNEC at about 6:30pm, and got home at about 8:30pm.

Southern Dishes

Wednesday, I had to go back to Mall of the Emirates to go to Carrefour, my favorite place to go.  My 2^nd Cali friend went with me so it was more bearable. We made fried chicken, Mac N Cheese, and Brownies. It was all so delicious. We watched Changeling (good movie) and Beloved.

Thursday, I had a midterm in Arabic, so I crammed as hard as I could. One of my friends was leaving the next day and I missed her farewell dinner, so after I took a nap I tried to see her. I was worried because I thought I wasn’t going to be able to say goodbye. In the end, I did. I saw her at 3am, and I promised to keep in touch with her.

God Bless America! (Written 9/3)

I am trying not to complain. Be positive, Lara! I have not yet experienced culture shock, but I’ve noticed a lot of differences. First of all, why can’t the U.S. switch to the metric system like everyone else?! It’s really hard getting used to currency AND measurement differences. Luckily, there’s an app for that. I just type it into my handy dandy phone, and viola! I know how many dollars or inches an item is.

Yesterday, my roommate and I took a taxi to shop at Carrefour in the Mall of the Emirates. That’s where the indoor ski slope is located. It is the biggest mall ever!! It’s like a city. It was sooooo crowded, it was like Black Friday. They have three food courts and the escalators are lake ramps instead of steps.  WooooooW!

Carrefour is like the Walmart of UAE, but I’ve noticed some differences. It’s huge:

like three Sam’s Clubs but together, but the variety is lacking. I was looking for a bath math and all they had was the cheap rubber ones with flowers on it. I would say it’s more like a Dollar General than a Walmart. Also, when I ask the workers were something is, they barely speak English and they don’t understand me.

Based on what I’ve seen in Carrefour, it seems like I would have to spend an arm and a leg to get what I am accustomed to. So I’m going to make some adjustments. After all, I’m only going to be here three months.

After Carrefour, we went back home to put our groceries away. It is a long walk to the dorm from the gate, so I will make sure not to buy any more water from Carrefour (the Unimart on campus delivers for free). We took a break, then went to Dubai Mall to get my roommates contacts. By then, it was around ten and not very busy and we could actually enjoy the mall without worrying about getting ran over. Dubai has wonderfall malls. I can’t wait to explore the rest of the city!