International Study UAE (Days 1)
Sunday, March 20 & 21, 2022
Submitted by Kim Baldwin
March 20, 2022– The majority of the KARL Class XV Associates departed Wichita, Manhattan or Kansas City to meet up at DFW for an extended layover before boarding our nearly 15-hour flight on Emirates Air from DFW to Dubai.
We left DFW at night and landed in Dubai at night. After getting through customs, we met up with Tiffani Trump and our guide Mamdaouh Goda and made our way to our hotel to get checked in, drop off our luggage, grab a bite to eat and then went to bed.
We would call the Al Seef Heritage Hotel Dubai, Curio Collection by Hilton our home for the first few days in the UAE. The hotel is located on the banks of Dubai Creek, located in the Al Seef heritage district, opposite famous spice and gold souks via water taxi.
DAY 2 (March 21, 2022) KARL Class XV’s first “official” day in Dubai was a FULL one! While many of the class associates planned to sleep until 6:00AM, the call to prayer led to many waking up before their cellphone alarms as the call was broadcast throughout the city on loudspeakers shortly after 5:00AM and could be heard in many of the hotel rooms.
After breakfast we started off the day At The Top. The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world. The building is 163 stories, but the observation deck is on the 124th floor.
The Burj’s elevator is incredibly fast and will get you to the 124th floor in one minute (it travels 10 meters per second).
The Burj is located at the Dubai Mall where one can find a plethora of restaurants, luxury clothing stores, and indoor aquarium, ice rink, water features and shops including everything from Christian Louboutin to KFC.
After visiting the Burj Khalifa and exploring portions of the Dubai Mall, Class XV went and explored a couple souks (markets) including the Gold Souk. The Gold Souk is Dubai’s traditional market with a lot of retailers—most being jewelry traders. Gold, platinum, diamonds and silver are all sold here.
There are multiple souks one can visit to find just about anything. Aside from the Gold Souk, the markets included spices, utensils, and fabrics to name just a few.
There were clothes and shoes, dried fruits and nuts, teas and spices, lamps, and fragrances available within the market. Vendors would generally stand at the entrance of their shops encouraging shoppers to come in and look around.
All items—including the gold—have asking prices, but it is customary (and expected) to negotiate to get better deals than the asking price.
From the souks KARL Class XV jumped into a couple abras (traditional boats) to ferry over the Dubai Creek for tea and lunch.
Abras are used as water taxis that charge very little per passenger. The drivers operate their boats with impressive speed and precision to move passengers across the Dubai Creek.
After we unloaded off the abras, the class walked over to the Center for Cultural Understanding, removed our shoes, and had an incredibly informative (and delicious) lunch session to learn about Emirate culture.
Yousef, our Emirate teacher for this meal, was very open to answering our questions regarding Emirate customs, history, government structure, and beliefs—including a question about arranged marriages vs. love marriages.
The meal consisted of multiple platters highlighting rice and lamb dishes.
We ended Day 1 in Dubai by loading up into some SUVs and heading out to the desert for some dune bashing. On our way out we saw our first group of camels walking alongside the road.
Dune bashing is definitely a recreational activity in the UAE. There are “pit stop” areas set up in the desert just off the highway where people and their hired dune bashers go. While the drivers are releasing the air in their tires to 15 psi, the customers can go use the toilets, purchase items, or enjoy food and drinks before heading out to the dunes.
Tires are deflated to 15psi to allow the SUVs to hug the curves of the sand dunes. I’m sure there are rules of engagement when it comes to dune bashing. I observed that our team of drivers always stayed in their designated spot within the caravan and that we had a lead car. The drivers have to receive special training in order to drive.
After the dune bashing, we traveled to another desert location for dinner and entertainment. Our open-air venue allowed KARL Class XV the opportunity to enjoy music and talent including an entertainer dancing with fire features. The meal consisted of a multitude of vegetables and a variety of grilled meats.
It was a FULL day that kept us all awake and moving and excited for the next day.
DAY 5--Thursday, March 24 – Summary of Activities
Submitted by Justin Kastner
After breakfast, the group departed by bus at 8:31am for the World Expo hosted by Dubai. En route, our tour guide Gouda explained that Dubai won the right to host the World Expo by winning an international competitive bidding process. To prepare, Dubai widened roads, enhanced infrastructure, etc. Gouda explained that the 1850 (1851?) Expo/World’s Fair/Exhibition was held in London, and that the Expo is held every 5 years. In 2015 it was in Milan, in 2020 (albeit delayed) it is in Dubai, and in 2025 it will be in Osaka, Japan.
The themes of Expos include “overcoming challenges.” For Dubai’s hosting, a focus on overcoming environmental challenges has been the focus. 192 countries are participating in the Expo.
Gouda exhorted us all to stay hydrated throughout the day, to catch some shade, and to enjoy the Expo! We departed the bus and went our own ways to visit various pavilions at the Expo.
Several hours later, the KARL crew (inspired but exhausted by the Expo!) returned to the bus for transport from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.
En route from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, Gouda explained a bit about the history of Islam, sharing that the etymological root word of Islam (salaam) means “peace,” and that Muslims worship the one creator God (Allah) while also acknowledging several prophets including the last prophet Mohammed. Gouda explained that the Lunar, Muslim calendar’s start date is when Mohammed went from Mecca to Medina. Muslims, Gouda explained, typically don’t work on Fridays, and Sunday is typically a work day.
Islam features the ethic of giving (akin to “tithing” in Old Testament lingo): “zakat.” The “hajj,” or pilgrimage to Mecca, is for those with money and good health. Muslims, before they pray, self-wash various parts of their bodies.
The KARL class stopped at the Grand Mosque built by Sheikh Zayad. 1997 marked the groundbreaking, and it was completed in 2007; Shiekh Zayad died in 2004 prior to its completion. The Mosque is 4.5 million square feet with 140 ft deep piles. It is very impressive! The marble for the Grand Mosque came from southern Italy, and other precious stones came from other countries. A team of women weavers hand-sewed the enormously large carpet in the Mosque; the pieces were flown in by airplane and sewn together into one carpet!
To enter the Grand Mosque, the KARL class went through dress/screening/security. As the class observed the impressive grounds and structures of the Mosque, they noticed, for example, an electronic clock indicating the Muslim/Lunar calendar dates and the five times of daily prayer. As the class exited the Mosque, the early-evening (golden hour?) ambiance was beautiful! The group then boarded the bus and headed to the hotel. While en route to the hotel, Gouda kindly asked the bus driver to stop so we could all take photos of the reflecting pool and the spectacularly lit Mosque at night. Amazing!
Day 7 – Saturday, March 26
Submitted by Andrew Wefald
Sat, Mar 26 Liwa Oasis
Focus: Bedouin Life / Rural Community / Zero Carbon
Day 7 continued at the Liwa Oasis. With a 5:00am wake up call, some of the group went to visit a local camel racetrack and watched as camels were being trained for racing. Those that got up early reported this was a fantastic event and were glad to have done this activity. I chose to sleep in, but the pictures looked great.
Later in the morning we had to say goodbye to two of our members. Darci had an accident on a four-wheeler and broke her arm. She left with Dr. Brown and made it home and had successful surgery! This incident aside, we all seemed to enjoy our time in Liwa and the pool and four-wheeling.
After breakfast at the hotel we departed around 11:00am for Abu Dhabi to visit Masdar City, a zero-carbon city project. This was really interesting and we learned what can be done around climate friendly city planning. The Siemens headquarters for the UAE is located here. We toured the visitors center and learned about some of the sustainability projects around the world.
More information about Masdar City can be found here:
https://masdar.ae/en/Masdar-Clean-Energy
And here: Dudgeon: A documentary on one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms
From Masdar City we took our bus to Al Ain and had a buffet dinner at our hotel. Our hotel was at the top of a mountain and had spectacular views – Jebel Hafeet, the second highest mountain in the Emirati.
One quote I remember from one of the presentations today was:
“Give me agriculture and I will give you civilization”
-- Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan (founder and late president of the UAE)
DAY 9 Monday, March 28 – Summary of Activities
Submitted by Justin Kastner
After breakfast and PCR tests, the group departed from their mountain-nested hotel (Mercure Grand Jebel Hafeet) discussing both Will Smith’s and Chris Rock’s Oscar antics from the night before (which everyone woke up reading about!) as well as what they might see today at the Emirates Bio Farm.
En route to the Emirates Bio Farm, the group could see the UAE-Oman border in the distance. The Emirates Bio Farm, established in 2016, was the principal stop for the day. Speaker and operations manager Yazen Al Kodmani delivered a talk in a greenhouse and then escorted the class on a tour of the farm’s grounds. In his talk, Yazen quoted Sheik Zayed: “Give me agriculture, and I’ll give you civilization.” Indeed, Sheik Zayed was a major supporter of agriculture-related initiatives in the UAE; he helped establish in 1972 the Mezyad Experimental Farm. That initial effort is of significance personally to Yazen, as his father came to the UAE to work on the Mezyad Experimental Farm in 1976.
Yazen went on to explain how various efforts (e.g., a wheat farm in 1978) were proven not sustainable due to water needs; however, the early efforts at agriculture did reveal the promise of greenhouse-based agriculture. A key development in the history of agriculture in the UAE happened in 1995 with the establishment of the Emirates Bio Fertilizer Factory.
Despite the advances in the last few decades, today 80% of the UAE’s food supply is still imported. Quite simply, there are high farming costs in the UAE, and the UAE does not engage in protectionist (e.g. quotas) practices, which makes it doubly challenging for UAE farmers to compete. However, there are some opportunities—for example, different kinds of vegetables that can be grown here. He later asserted that “conventional agriculture should be out of the question here,” with the exception of oyster harvesting (due to the ideal environmental conditions for the fast growth of oysters).
Yazen emphasized that he believes restaurant menus should reflect only what is sustainably available locally. Yazen explained that the Emirates Bio Farm is a family business, which he now manages. He is involved in the wider food industry, too, as he strives to influence chefs to use local, sustainable crops.
Yazen emphasized how the UAE is a true entrepot (import-export) nexus for the global trade. $20bn in agriculture/food comes into (is imported into) the country, and $18bn of agriculture/food goes out (is exported out of) the country.
Interesting fact: 20% of the world’s dates comes from the UAE.
With respect to water usage, Yazen explained that his farms and others rely on ancient aquifers; overall in the country, 50% of water comes from groundwater, and 50% comes from ocean water (that is desalinated). He noted that there is an initiative to introduce more saline-tolerant crops.
The closer a farm is to the ocean, the higher the salinity of the groundwater.
An interesting discussion unfolded with Yazen about Geographically-Indicated (GI) food items that can be marketed as being from the UAE: Dates and Camel Milk.
During the tour of the Emirates Bio Farm, the class observed or learned about their outdoor-farm and indoor-greenhouse growing of the following: cabbage, broccoli, okra, carrots, cucumbers, lemons, mulberries, celery, corn, onions, tomatoes, peppers, etc. For the greenhouse-based production, the Dutch have been especially influential on seed development; the Netherlands, because of its reliance on above-ground agriculture, has developed sustainable varieties that can “work” in the UAE. Yazen noted that to farm with greenhouses, you need to be inland and away from the coastal humidity (because of greenhouses relying on evaporative cooling technology).
He noted that with the additional years of farming outdoors, biological material has been built up along with the introduction of conventional weeds (despite using heat-treated fertilizer inputs). The farm uses drip irrigation (from 16 wells, 200 meters deep, drawing on water from aquifers); there are high costs with pumping this water to the farm. For fertilizer, Yazen noted that chicken manure and fish fertilizers are mixed in with the water drips. Yazen indicated that “soil building” is a real thing, but can take 20 years.
Yazen noted that food fraud is a massive problem in the UAE; such criminal mis-labeling of foods is perpetuated by the “middleman” problem in international trade.
Yazen noted that solar energy is used in his operations, but he can’t use it all the time, and that is a challenge.
Yazen explained that, apart from a 5% VAT tax, there are no personal or corporate taxes in the UAE. However, he said that may change as “corporate taxes will start next year.”
The class then left the Bio Farm and drove 1.5 hours to Dubai for a late lunch outdoors in Old Dubai, some last-minute market shopping, etc.
The group then headed to the Rotana Bandar Hotel for a brief check-in and stay until an 11:30pm departure to the airport.
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