Y'all might be sick of them by now, but that's too bad.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Half of February is gone?
This has been such a busy last couple of weeks! So of course I have neglected posting more pictures and tidbits about my life. There are some more Dubai pictures I want to share, so maybe I'll post some more this afternoon.
Classes have been busy. I dropped my British History class towards the beginning, and now I only have 2 classes a day mon-thurs and 1 on friday. It gives me a lot more time to do all the reading I need to do.
Last week a woman named Ayaan Hirsi Ali came to campus to speak and it was a very big deal. The auditorium was completely full, students were organizing against her and handing out pamphlets and the question and answer session at the end of her talk was full of tension and bad feelings. She's a Muslim woman advocating for women's rights in the middle east and against Islamic law, and to some degree against Islam entirely. So she's a very controversial woman, and the security was tight because she's had several attempts made on her life. It was very uncomfortable, but in an academic way that sparks discussion, which is a very cool part of college.
And on a different note, Saturday was Disneyland!!! It was Taylor's 19th birthday, so he got into the park for free and Scott, Adela and I went with him. We got there at 830, a half an hour after park opening, and we managed to do almost all the rides by 4 or 5 in the afternoon. It was pouring most of the time we were there, which meant the park was pretty empty for a weekend, and all the lines were short, or nonexistant. We only had to wait 15 minutes for Space Mountain, which is normally somewhere between 50 and 90. Taylor and I went on Splash Mountain, but we weren't far along the ride before it got stuck and they had to send someone up to help us all out of the logs. We got to walk back down through Splash Mountain and go out the back. They gave us all free fast-passes for the inconvenience, but since there weren't really any lines anyway it didn't matter much. Taylor and I had lunch at the Blue Bayou, which is the restaurant in the middle of the Pirates of the Caribbean. It was really good food, and Taylor got free chocolate mousse for his birthday, which I was generous enough to help him eat.
Mom comes down here tomorrow for parents weekend. That means I should clean my room, I guess.
Miss you all!
Classes have been busy. I dropped my British History class towards the beginning, and now I only have 2 classes a day mon-thurs and 1 on friday. It gives me a lot more time to do all the reading I need to do.
Last week a woman named Ayaan Hirsi Ali came to campus to speak and it was a very big deal. The auditorium was completely full, students were organizing against her and handing out pamphlets and the question and answer session at the end of her talk was full of tension and bad feelings. She's a Muslim woman advocating for women's rights in the middle east and against Islamic law, and to some degree against Islam entirely. So she's a very controversial woman, and the security was tight because she's had several attempts made on her life. It was very uncomfortable, but in an academic way that sparks discussion, which is a very cool part of college.
And on a different note, Saturday was Disneyland!!! It was Taylor's 19th birthday, so he got into the park for free and Scott, Adela and I went with him. We got there at 830, a half an hour after park opening, and we managed to do almost all the rides by 4 or 5 in the afternoon. It was pouring most of the time we were there, which meant the park was pretty empty for a weekend, and all the lines were short, or nonexistant. We only had to wait 15 minutes for Space Mountain, which is normally somewhere between 50 and 90. Taylor and I went on Splash Mountain, but we weren't far along the ride before it got stuck and they had to send someone up to help us all out of the logs. We got to walk back down through Splash Mountain and go out the back. They gave us all free fast-passes for the inconvenience, but since there weren't really any lines anyway it didn't matter much. Taylor and I had lunch at the Blue Bayou, which is the restaurant in the middle of the Pirates of the Caribbean. It was really good food, and Taylor got free chocolate mousse for his birthday, which I was generous enough to help him eat.
Mom comes down here tomorrow for parents weekend. That means I should clean my room, I guess.
Miss you all!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Here it Goes Again
I'm a lot busier than I expected to be. Last semester was much easier and a little misleading that way. I'm dropping my class on the British Empire. It doesn't fulfill any requirements and it's the class I'm least attached too. It could've been fun, but so far I feel inundated with reading, so cutting out the work for it might make my life just a little easier. And I'm still taking 4 classes, a full course load.
Last week we got a new president, and I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the inauguration before class with a room packed with other students. It was a good moment in time. There was a lot of unity and spirit in that living room.
Ok, so now more from Dubai, since that is what I promised.
All these pictures (above) were taken at Madinat Jumeirah, the shopping center I mentioned at the end of my last post.
These 2 are of Ski Dubai, an indoor (!) ski slope located in the Mall of the Emirates. The same mall has a massive toy store, and a large WinCo sized grocery store. The escalators near the grocery store are more like uphill and downhill moving sidewalks so that one can take their shopping cart on it with them.
This one is also of the Mall of the Emirates.
These 4 are from Wafi, which is another mall with an Egyptian theme. The first is of Khan Murjan, an open air restaurant with Middle-Eastern food. Dad and I ate dinner there one night, and I ordered prawns, which came fully shelled with heads and legs and all.
A mosque. Lots of these around.
These last 4 are taken inside the Dubai Mall, where they have a huge aquarium with a tunnel that you can walk through inside of it, like Newport. Dad and I happened by it at the same time they had divers inside the aquarium feeding the sharks and rays.
This is it for now. More next time.
Last week we got a new president, and I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the inauguration before class with a room packed with other students. It was a good moment in time. There was a lot of unity and spirit in that living room.
Ok, so now more from Dubai, since that is what I promised.
All these pictures (above) were taken at Madinat Jumeirah, the shopping center I mentioned at the end of my last post.
These 2 are of Ski Dubai, an indoor (!) ski slope located in the Mall of the Emirates. The same mall has a massive toy store, and a large WinCo sized grocery store. The escalators near the grocery store are more like uphill and downhill moving sidewalks so that one can take their shopping cart on it with them.
This one is also of the Mall of the Emirates.
These 4 are from Wafi, which is another mall with an Egyptian theme. The first is of Khan Murjan, an open air restaurant with Middle-Eastern food. Dad and I ate dinner there one night, and I ordered prawns, which came fully shelled with heads and legs and all.
A mosque. Lots of these around.These last 4 are taken inside the Dubai Mall, where they have a huge aquarium with a tunnel that you can walk through inside of it, like Newport. Dad and I happened by it at the same time they had divers inside the aquarium feeding the sharks and rays.
This is it for now. More next time.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Ariel Goes to Dubai
The plane ride to Dubai took an entire day. It was roughly 11 hours between Portland and Amsterdam, a 3 hour lay-over, and then another 7 or so hours to Dubai. Snowy wasn't fond of me leaving.
It was exciting to see my dad again, after so long. I got to see where he lives and works and eats and all that. And he got to act as tour guide and show me around to all the attractions.
Along Sheik Zayed road in downtown Dubai are many of the tall buildings that make the city famous:
Side mirrors on cars everywhere boast the same disclaimer, albeit in different languages:
Madinat Jumeirah is a resort and shopping center built in an older style amidst all the newer ones. It was a ne
at place to visit and buy souvenirs, and one of the first places we went:
Well, I have class in 15 minutes. I'll post more soon.
It was exciting to see my dad again, after so long. I got to see where he lives and works and eats and all that. And he got to act as tour guide and show me around to all the attractions.Along Sheik Zayed road in downtown Dubai are many of the tall buildings that make the city famous:
Side mirrors on cars everywhere boast the same disclaimer, albeit in different languages:
Madinat Jumeirah is a resort and shopping center built in an older style amidst all the newer ones. It was a ne
at place to visit and buy souvenirs, and one of the first places we went:
Well, I have class in 15 minutes. I'll post more soon.
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