School and the uneventful weekend

"Life's hard. It's even harder when you're stupid". -John Wayne

I really enjoy this quote, and am using it as inspiration to not make life any harder.

All is well over here in the UA of E. I've heard about the controversy in the states, sorry guys. Good luck with all of that, and I'll deal with it when I'm back in May.

School has picked up as of recent, causing us (the students of Drilling & Measurements ENG-1) to relax more on the weekends instead of traveling or going on exotic safaris. We are primarily studying MWD (Measuring While Drilling) tools right now, the foundation for our division. These tools are the ones that transmit real-time data up the mud column to the surface, and provide us measurements that let us know where we are underground once we deviate from a vertical hole.

This weekend consisted of going to the beach and starting to make the trek to Al Ain (Old Abu Dhabi). We didn't realize it was farther away from Abu Dhabi than Dubai, and promptly turned the cabs around and headed home. I didn't know that in the 60's they moved Abu Dhabi from Al Ain (where it had been for hundreds of years) to its current island.

I also tried pigeon last night; fried and grilled. Interesting taste, a mix between duck and chicken. I most likely will not be trying it again, but that would top the most bizarre foods I have tried on this trip.

Keep in touch,

Russell

Sorry about the lack of updates

Hey there readers (the few that I have left). Sorry about the lack of updates, things picked up in the old UA of E (that doesn't work at all, but oh well).

I just posted some more photos here. These pictures are from the beach in Abu Dhabi, as well as our little jaunt into the desert.

I'll catch you up on Dubai and then fill you in on the rest of my time to this point, so be ready for some reading action that may blast your cranium to the back of the auditorium...or wherever you choose to read this attempt at a blog.

My trip to Dubai was overwhelming. The town in under construction, similar to Abu Dhabi, but the finished areas are perfect to the smallest details. The Burj Khalifa is truly a wonder of the world. I've seen some tall buildings (Sears Tower, Empire State Building) but never did I have to lean back in order to see the entire building. Most know this as the Burj Dubai, but when the project went bankrupt (about halfway through construction) the Sheik of Abu Dhabi lent them a few billion to finish. No big deal; oh, and they had to change the name. Unfortunately the continuing problems with the building are keeping visitors from going to the top, so needless to say we did not walk up however many thousands of flights of stairs to the top. Malls in Dubai are crowded with Europeans, Arabs, and anyone else that has ventured into the bustling port city. If you notice in all the advertisements, it is filled with westerners instead of the native Emirates. We also ventured to the beach near the Burj Al Arab (7 star hotel) and I snapped a few pictures of that $7,000 (US) a night hotel. Visitors are allowed in if they pay for a $120 (US) cup of tea. I've heard its great tea.

The pictures from the beach are pretty straightforward, just a day relaxing in the sand and eating ice cream. The next day a group of us embarked on a little desert adventure and went dune driving (more so riding) which is similar to a roller coaster, rode a camel, and ate and drank under the stars in the middle of the desert. The pictures tell a much better story than I can.

I'm going to get back to studying, but I promise more will be posted.

We should be going back this weekend, so I will gather more stories.

Dubai

I went to Dubai today; pictures are on the site. Most of the pictures are lacking in artistic quality (surprise surprise) since I was trying to take them quick and focus on the town.

Will write more tomorrow (probably).

Pictures

I'll try to include this link in my future posts for new pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/rlwhitney87

I'll write more soon, going to go enjoy the weekend.