Abu Dhabi Part Seven

Alright. Time to try to finish up the posts about my Abu Dhabi trip. My last post finished telling about the Desert Safari. The following day was our first training day at Al Ain. This is a much more rural town (in the desert!) and more traditionally Muslim even than what we had seen in Abu Dhabi. We trained at the University where they have a U shaped facility. One side is women only and the other side is men only. The bottom of the U contains a lecture hall that allows each group to stay on their own side but still hear a single speaker present. The sides are mirror images. Both have their own library as well as their own mosque.

Our class was on the "women's" side. Our group was wonderful to work with. They were extremely appreciative that we were there but they are, obviously, fighting a lot of political battles that are keeping them from achieving credentialing as quickly as they would like. They are very passionate about their jobs and their programs. They were a pleasure to work with!

Following training, we just spend an evening enjoying the resort. Amanda and I wandered around, took pictures and had a "romantic" dinner at the hotel buffet under the stars. Afterward, we wandered over to the Sheesha bar where we enjoyed some more sheesha and just relaxed.

The next day was our last day of training. Following training. We went to the Bawati Mall. We shopped for several hours and didn't even make a dent. The stores were mostly "western" stores but there were a few local and European shops mixed in.

After arriving back at the hotel, we packed for our long journey home. The following morning, the airport transportation picked us up at 5am for the drive to the Dubai airport. Our 16 hour flight took off at 9am.

Travel home was uneventful (except for the screaming baby that they took off the plane from Houston to Cleveland!) it was just LONG!!! Due to the time change, our Friday was 32 hours long and 28 hours of it was spent in cars or airports. The first/business class travel arrangements were super luxurious but 16 hours on a plane are still 16 hours on a plane. I will be spending the rest of today and tomorrow recovering!