The occasion was IB math curriculum training with a group of colleagues, originally planned to occur a month into school but, with delay followed by delay, actually taking place the weekend before and first day of school.
Fortunately, the IB training was first-rate, Dubai was a stark contrast to Jeddah, and the group of us returned in time for the first day of academic classes no worse for wear.
Dubai, like much of the rest of the planet, has been adversely affected by the world's economic downturn. In Dubai's case, the telltales are cancelled or delayed construction projects (I'd never seen so many still cranes towering over a cityscape), and, on a personal plus side, the opportunity to stay in a five-star hotel (due to slashed rates), the Emirate Towers, about the last place you'd catch me staying were the tab not someone else's. The room I shared with a colleague apparently goes for $900 per night on the hotel's website, though I doubt anyone is paying that these days.
Dubai's sidewalks are clean and continuous, streets are well marked, smooth, and spotless, cars drive with seeming civility and an apparent recognition of the rules, and building construction in general seems to have been executed to a high standard. Interestingly, Dubai doesn't have the oil SA has, though it has attracted impressive business investment and parlayed that into a fusion of Las Vegas and Singapore. It is apparently a very popular vacation destination for those with money, whether native or expat, from the more religiously conservative corners of the middle east; with the incredible sums being spent on oil in the region, you can imagine how many folks that might be. Heck, it even sports the world's new tallest building, and one of the few seven-star hotels, if you're into those sorts of things. Still, I'm not sure I'd go back. There are many places in the middle east with a great deal more historical attraction to them, which is why we're increasingly talking about heading to Egypt, Jordan, or even Turkey when wanderlust hits again. Thanks for reading, Dubai David
Dear Jemmifer, David, Hayden and Logan,
ReplyDeleteWe're really impressed with the contents and quality of your blog, that includes you Hayden. We'd delight in learning more about the curriculum you both are teaching and that the boys are exposed to as well. Thanks for blogging. Love, Daddo/G