Last Day in Dubai...not so eventful

Yea so Friday was our day to just explore all of Dubai sadly I was not feeling so hot so all I got to explore was my bed. No biggie though I got to catch up on some sleep and I made sure to not lay on my butt all day because I would be sitting on it for the next few hours when we got on the plane back to Atlanta.
I have to say I could not have picked a better destination to do my study abroad I had so much fun (with moments of not so much fun sprinkled in there) but the experiences I had are worth more than anyone can ever know. It's really sad that I my time in Dubai is over especially because it was so short, but hey in what other moment in my life would I have gotten the opportunity to even travel here so thanks KSU and a special shoot out to my prof Dr. Ali you are truly the best and thank you for everything.

BYE BYE DUBAI!!!!!!!!!!!!

Desert Safari Part Deux

"Oh nothing much just riding a camel you like always"

When I was getting off the camel I swear I thought I was gonna fall off

Belly Dancer. She was really good

Henna Tatts

Not too many pictures but like I said I have a ton more on facebook.

Desert Safari

Honestly, I don't really have much to say so I'm going to let the pictures do the talking, but what I will say was that Desert Safari was the BEST EVER and our driver was too cool. Overall, definitely my favorite part of the trip and a fantastic way to end my Spring Break. So enjoy the pictures (certain pictures were not suitable or did not fit on here because my prof will be reading this so if you want to see more pics find me on facebook)!!!!!

So Mr. Camel was trying to give me a kiss but that was not in the cards for us

If you tell me that Eric isn't Awesome I'll just have to disagree

My boys!!!!

Yup I'm in the desert guys

Gorgeous sunset

3M....LAST BUSINESS VISIT!!!!!!

So our last business visit for our trip was 3M and really Dr. Ali saved the best for last. I had no idea that 3M was represented in every product I use. Going to the innovation center totally blew my mind. Walking around and playing with and learning more about all the products 3M makes really was the best way for our group to end our business visits. On a personal note the highlight of our visit was when Leila demonstrated how this liquid flame retardant worked by placing an Ipod in the liquid and the Ipod just continued to work as if it wasn't submerged in a liquid. Now I personally would never have placed my electronic devices in it but then again my name isn't Eric who actually put his Iphone in there. I mean his phone works fine but still I doubt Steve Jobs or Siri would have been happy with the one. Anyway, I really had a ton of fun on this visit which was perfect because after a nice break we were going to be picked up to go on DESERT SAFARI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grand Mosque

Going to the Grand Mosque truly was a memorable moment in the trip. It's just so majestic and beautiful and to think that this is where they go to prey it really shows how spiritual the Arabs are as a people. In order to even get in the Mosque all the women in the group had to wear a Keffiyeh, which is the traditional Arab clothing. Not gonna lie the fact that probably hundreds of other women have worn these before me did make me kind of itchy. Nevertheless I put it on and made my way into the Grand Mosque. Even before making our way inside the architecture of this place is remarkable but once you get inside it's just breathtaking, and what's even more amazing is that it is still under construction. Even though it was a short go around it is such a spiritual and beautiful place that just those few moments I was in there will stay with me forever.
Again I really am sorry, but mostly for me, that my camera decided to break and I missed out on some great photo ops.

IBM

Next stop IBM. As you may or may not know IBM is celebrating their 100th years as a company, no small feat, so it was really great for us to be able to you and visit such a successful company. The information being given to us was great; learning about how IBM is using Cloud technology was fascinating. Overall, there really isn't much to say about a company that has been around for a century. IBM has been able to adapt with the changing trends and put out technology that has serviced their customer effectively. Honestly, I'm excited to see what the next century holds for this chameleon of a company.

Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce

I have to start off by saying that I felt so official while I was here. I mean the entire setup was so amazing I felt so awesome. I mean they even made a banner for us and everything they really went all out for us and I appreciated it so much. During our talk with Omar I learned so much about Abu Dhabi and how it wants to transition from just being known or dependent on its oil to a more business savvy city. The entire set up of the chamber in itself just makes the process for anyone trying to start a business in Abu Dhabi a whole lot easier. Within the Chamber they have offices for basically everything. It really is a one stop shop, an idea I wish the U.S. would adopt in these circumstances because you really have to jump through so many hoops and go to so many places just to get one piece of paper. So seeing that a person, business or not, could walk into the Chamber and handle whatever business need they have all in one place and not have to run around the entire city was not only refreshing but admirable.
I was most interested in learning how open they are to new businesses coming to Abu Dhabi because you never know I may, in partnership with my dad, decide to expand our coffee import/export business to Abu Dhabi.

   Tell me that banner doesn't make us look legit