A blur...from Kuwait to Dubai to Qater to Dubai

We've completed the 10th full day here without a break--though two very light days over the weekend--and our group is getting a bit travel weary.  I feel as though I've seen so much, but have had very little time to reflect on it.  Traveling in this part of the world seems a study in contrasts and it is very difficult not to think about the role of women in society at every turn.

I'm not sure that we can see the full  picture, but there is much to consider. As we're traveling in very western areas and are visibly western, our exposure is minimal.  Still, to see the veiled women identity checks at all the airports (I wanted to take a picture but was afraid to do so), the very fancy purses and the shoes seen under fully covered women, schools at which some of the girls cover their heads and others don't, and some of the conversations we have had about what parents will and will not allow their daughters to do, make it blatantly obvious that we've entered a very different culture.

The weekend in this part of the world starts on Thursday evening, and runs through Saturday evening.  So we arrived in Dubai at the start of the weekend, got settled into our hotel, crashed and then had a relatively relaxing Friday.  I ventured out in the heat and found a local mall, not particularly interesting--this one wasn't very high end, and I had to laugh, a food court is a food court anywhere in the world, even if the language on the signs is a bit different.

 I did think, however, that Gregg would be pleased to know that in the "low end" mall, one can find a Fishmonger shop.



Later, we met with alumnae of the five sister schools at a home in a fancy part of town. Like the other receptions, it was an evening full of lively conversation and connections.  Our collective alumnae come from all over the world, and we had a broad range of ages and experiences, including a group of Mt. Holyoke alumnae who were meeting for a "girls weekend" having come from Singapore and Pakistan, and a Wellesley alumna who was traveling the world and happened to be visiting a friend in Dubai.  A Smith alumna from the UAE has invited my colleagues and me to dinner in the desert later this week, and we're very much looking forward to it.

On Saturday we hosted a group of guidance counselors, and had an interesting conversation about working in this part of the world, as they were largely expats. Some were very new to the region while others had been here many years.  As they are working at international schools, it's not a truly local experience, but it is very hard to imagine that anything in Dubai is.  There doesn't seem to be as much construction here as the last time, but the scale of this place is almost beyond imagination. I think it is quite strange.

Jennifer Fondiller from Barnard and I decided to venture out on Saturday to see the Mall of Dubai where there's a famous water show--described as one of those over the top, only in Dubai events, but one that actually was quite nice and fun (pictured above).  I was quite surprised to find a full size ice arena in the mall--right next to the gold souk.....now that is something completely different. Of course it made me miss my hockey playing family terribly.  Somehow, I don't think hockey is very big here, despite the full size rink.

On Sunday we left our hotel before 5 a.m. and we flew to Qatar for a full day of school visits there (Sunday being the new Monday).  Doha seemed to me more like Dubai during our last visit, there was construction everywhere, and there did not seem to be any rhyme or reason to the city layout.  All of the buildings are extremely modern and I found myself wondering what the skyline would look like 20 years from now.

As has been the case throughout the region, the school visits were fascinating.  We were particularly warmly welcomed at the American School of Doha where the counseling staff had gone all out and prepared a poster for our visit.  From there we went to Qutar Academy which is in Education City where a number of well known American Universities have set up Middle Eastern campuses.  It was a sight to behold.  New, beautifully constructed buildings, but almost no one outside because of the heat. It did not look like any college campus with which I'm familiar.

The sign says Think, but at this late hour my capacity to do so is fading fast, so I'll sign off now and finish this post another day.