Driving to Abu Dhabi

Last week I was back in the United Arab Emirates for this year's junior varsity volleyball tournament. My boys played well, but I have to admit it was a disheartening sixth (out of six) place finish. What was fascinating for me was that this time the school decided to fly us into Dubai and then we took a bus to Abu Dhabi, a 2-3 hour drive. The bonus - a chance to see some of the unusual architecture scattered around Dubai, Abu Dhabi and regions between. There are the twisty tall buildings that dominate the Dubai skyline. Some unusual ones that for some reason made me think of snails or mice. One that looked like a wheel, while another reminded me of the train of a wedding dress. There is always an overwhelming mosque - this time the pure white Sheikh Zayed mosque, along with smaller ones dotted around the city. One thing for sure, it is a big change from the architecture you see in Delhi!

The AES boys and girls jv volleyball teams

UAE snapshot: Dubai

Organised, clean streets. Sandy coloured...well, everything. Tall buildings and then taller buildings. Even the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa with more than 160 floors. I didn't see much when I took the girls jv soccer team to Dubai but I was able to get the sense that this city is very different from Delhi. The majority of our sightseeing occurred in the mall. I know, that sounds ridiculous, but they are teenage girls and there was actually quite a bit to see there. The first night we got there just in time to catch the end of the large fountain display set to music. For some reason the sight of jets of water splashing in time with music is a bit magical. The last day of our trip we returned and took the opportunity to go up the tallest tower, you know the one that Tom Cruise scales in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Sadly you are not allowed to go up to the very top, but I'll be honest, the 125 floors we went up was plenty high for me. From there the cars at the stoplight look like toys and you are looking down on, well, just about everything in the city. You can see the sea on one side and to the other the vast expanse of sand that makes up the majority of the rest of the United Arab Emirates. Suddenly huge sandstorms make a lot more sense to me. After that I had a few more hours to kill, time to see what else the Dubai mall has to offer. Besides the aquarium, which I didn't think I had enough time to do justice to, I found the waterfall. The waterfall is an indoor two story fountain which has metal divers skimming down the surface. By the time I was finished admiring the smooth lines I had just enough time to go looking for some dark chocolate in a specialty food store before meeting the team to head to the airport. I guess the mall had more to offer in its air conditioned comfort then I expected!

Now, finally, a few weeks into summer vacation, I am done with the stories from my travels this part year. I just hope I will be able to remain more on top of it this next school year.