Cyprus

After finishing my papers and projects I headed to Cyprus to meet with Rotary clubs in Limassol and Nicosia. We were put up in a hotel in Limassol becasue one of the Rotarians owned it. While there Rotary was very helpful providing us with accomadation, transportation, food, and sight seeing opportunities. During our time there we gave 5 presentations and met with the Rotaract VDDR. The first night there we were brought to a traditional Cyprus mese. The food was amazing. The next day the same Rotarian brought us to a old Cypriate village and to the Roman ruins in Kourion. The area was suffering from a drought so it was not as green as it usually is during this time of year but it was had impressive views. The next day we gave a presentation to a Nicosia club. After that we had a chance to tour Nicosia and enter into the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus. You even need your passport to get to this part of the city. Though there is political turmiol about this and many of the Greek Cypriates did not like the area, it was a nice opportunity to practice a little Turkish. The difference between the two parts of the country was obvious; the Turkish side was much more improverished. Our final night there the same Rotarian that brought us to the mese dinner also brought us to a Christmas concert. It was a nice cultural experience even though it was primarily the British who were singing and in the crowded.

Once returning to Dubai I just studied and took exams. I also hung out with all the American study abroads who headed back for the states for one last time. It will be interesting to meet the American study abroads next semester.

Atlantis Fireworks/Oman

In early November Atlantis put on the worlds largest fireworks show. They spent over four million alone on the fireworks and 20M for the party itself. I got to see the fireworks from a beach by my place with a bunch of friends from AUD. The firworks show lite up the whole Palm Jumeriah and lasted about ten minutes. A few weeks after this event was Thanksgiving. The school put on a Thanksgiving lunch for all the students but it was not comparable to home cooked american food. That weekend I went to rugby 7's. It is a rugby tournament which takes place in Dubai every year. There were about 50,000 in attendance. That was a lot of fun and it introduced me into the sport of rugby. The following weekend a friend and I went to Muscat, Oman by bus. It was about a 6 hour bus ride but since very few people were on the bus and got to spread out and sleep comfortably. This city is much smaller and more beautiful than Dubai. It is a city built around the mountains. We spent two days there before heading back to Dubai. The way back took longer and the security was a little more strict. My freind and I were taken off the bus and searched with a few others. Once returning to Dubai I had to focus on final papers and projects.