RIT DUBAI CAMPUS
For starters, I went to bed at 11pm and woke up at 4am unable to fall back asleep. Thank you jet lag....not.
Outside the dorms (Etisalat Academy)
All of the students staying at the dorms ride a bus (free for students) that transports students to the campus and back to the dorms. The bus also goes to a different mall each night at 6pm except for Fridays. Friday is the day of rest for Muslims.
So, the first thing I did was get on the bus headed to RIT Dubai. The campus is only about 10-15 minutes from the dorms depending on traffic. When you google RIT Dubai, you see this huge pineapple looking place. At first, I thought this was the campus; however, the campus is actually right next to the pineapple building.
The building is 3 stories high. There are about 400 students total which seems crazy small compared to RIT New York which has about 20,000 students. I like that it is such a small campus because everyone knows everyone and here, that is a good thing. Everyone is SUPER nice.
Another cool thing is that the RIT Dubai campus building is shared by a lot of companies; so, part of the building is the school and the other parts are businesses. A lot of students co-op/intern at these companies.
It just so happens that the Porsche headquarters in the Middle East is located right across from RIT Dubai. Crazy huh?
Porsche Headquarters/Dealership
It is orientation week for all of the freshmen and study abroad students so it is kind of crazy around campus.
1st floor lobby (Ground floor)
Cafe on the first floor
This cafe has some delicious food for a great price! The owner/chef studied in Manhattan, NY and some of the students have told me that he is a 5-Star chef.
2nd Floor
Gym on the 3rd Floor
I will be spending tons of time at the gym. According to the girls here, not many girls use the gym. The athletes are really the only ones who use the gym and there are not many of them.
RIT Dubai has 3 men's sports (soccer, basketball, and volleyball) and 2 women's sports (basketball and volleyball). I am thinking about playing on both teams while I am here. I know....Megan and basketball. Hahaha. We will see what happens. The director said sports do not start for another month or so because it is too hot out for practices and games.
The keys have both English letters and Arabic!
Here are some pictures of the friends I have made so far and what we did at campus on this day....
Ping pong
Meeting freshmen
Playing a card game called Kent
BACK TO THE PINEAPPLE BUILDING
This building is called the DSO (Dubai Silicon Oasis). There are tons of companies located in this amazing building as well as banks, and restaurants.
One of Qistina's friends named Mario took a group of us to the DSO so that I could exchange my money at the bank inside. There, we also got lunch at Subway. You would be surprised at how much cheaper subway is here than it is in the United States. It was only about 15 Dirhams for a subway meal with cookies and a drink. That's about 4-5 US dollars.
The students tell me that without these covers for parking spaces, cars would probably catch on fire because it gets so hot here.
SUBWAY for lunch
ARABIC DINNER IN THE CITY
The friends that I made, Yara, Qista, Osama, Hossaine, and Tony all took me to an Arabic restaurant in Dubai for dinner.
1. Dubai is absolutely amazing. It is gorgeous! There are so many people and beautiful places.
2. "Fine dining" here is not as expensive as in other big cities in the US that I have been to.
There is not much else to say about the city. I will let you look at the pictures to get a feel for how amazing it really is.
THERE IS A VIDEO AT THE END OF THE WATER SHOW!
Marriot in the middle of the desert.
A building attached the mall called a "souk" which means market
A place to eat at a restaurant which has a great view of the Burj Khalifa which is the World's tallest tower
A cool hallway
That same place to eat
View from our restaurant on the balcony
The Burj Khalifa
The restaurant
Part of the Dubai Mall
How romantic! Boat rides during the water show
Friends :)
Water show
Food
Lemon w/mint drink. It sounds weird but it is actually soooooo good! Mmmm :)
Arabic food
Not sure what the real names are for the food; but, theres a humus dip, eggplant dip, raw meat (It's actually good!), bread, garlic dip, french fries, and more yummy foods!
Thankfully my friends ordered everything because I have no idea
The city at night. Theres sparkling lights in the water!
From left front to back and right front to back.
Tony, Yara, Osama, Megan, Qistina, Hossaine
Gelato. This is the best thing I have ever had!
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED SO FAR
2. Some things here are way cheaper than in the US; however, the most unexpected things can be way more expensive. It depends on where you go.
3. A lot of what is said about the middle east is not true, but a lot of it is.
4. Only 20% of the population in the UAE are locals (Emiratee). They are all super nice as well. Some of them choose not to dress in the traditional condura (priest looking outfit)
5. I should probably be more into politics than I actually am.
6. Everyone here is way more relaxed than people in NY
7. Everything is literally in the middle of the desert. It is crazy. Tons of palm trees but no grass....ever.
8. You will never be by yourself because if you are, people will come up to you and be like "Why are you sitting alone?"
9. IT IS HOT. The past 2 days have been like 95 degrees out and people think its "colder than usual"
10. Everything is very nice. Not necessarily extremely fancy except for in the city; but most everything is clean. You never really see any junk.
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