Abu Dhabi and (Ski) Dubai

Although we are now in Jordan, I'll post on our stay in the United Arab Emirates. The schedule has been so full (and I had a bout of flu) that I haven't had a chance to post for several days. Our three days in the UAE were full, productive and adventurous! From the airport you can feel the pace of change in the UAE; I had read and heard about all of the construction in Dubai, learned that 10% of the world's heavy construction cranes are in the UAE, and still, the magnitude of the construction was difficult to grasp. Here's just one shot of many entire city sections under construction:


On Sunday, we went to Abu Dhabi for a school visit and meeting with the state department. Both were successful, and both provided us with good background for our next day of visits in Daubi as well as a greater appreciation for the region. My Sunday concluded with a trip to Sharjah, one of the lesser known of the seven Emirates. There I met with a Smith alumna who headed the Sharjah Ladies Club (a very fancy club indeed, and I was sad that I didn't have time to accept the spa invitation). My hostess described what she saw as significant differences between Dubai and Sharjah, although they were distinctions lost on me, particularly as I sat in traffic for over an hour to travel the very short distance from the hotel to her place of work. This was followed by a meeting in Dubai with parents of a soon to be graduating senior. Monday was another long day with a full slate of school visits and a dinner to which we invited counselors from across the country.

With three hours between the last school visit and dinner with counselors, what self respecting admission person would not head to the mall? (OK sometimes in New York it's art museums). In this case the Mall of Emirates, where there is a ski slope. Totally over the top, and thus totally in keeping with Dubai. We decided we had to do it, if only for the photo op.







They outfit you completely, ski's, boots, poles, jacket pants and socks. You have to bring your own gloves...Two quick runs down the slope -- I can't say it was great skiing, but the lift line was minimal. A quick change, and we were ready for work.



Less than an hour later we're talking about the advantages of attending a women's college with a group of guidance counselors.



Now that's a full day! From there it was on to Jordan, the subject of another post (hopefully with a faster internet connection).