A Peek into the Future

We had a six hour flight from Istanbul to the U.A.E which ended up getting us to our extremely nice hotel and in our rooms at 4:00 A.M. We got some sleep before our wake up call at 9:30 A.M. To begin our tour of Abu Dhabi with our alumni Dan Render and Kate, a Fulbright scholar who had graduated from Georgetown in May and was living in Abu Dhabi for a year while studying green energy and resources in the fast developing city.

Abu Dhabi was so strange to see. Giant glass skyscrapers filled the city and seemed to pop up over night. Our hotel was surrounded by construction sites and all of the buildings were immaculate. At night they were all lit up with neon lights of all colors.

The first stop we made was to a welcome center where we got to see a video of what Abu Dhabi had developed around over centuries and what their culture believes in. The models of the projected city were gorgeous. Giant gardens and beautiful buildings covered the land and their man made islands were perfectly shaped on the coast.

Dan explained to us that the Sheiks that control the land development mostly just build what they want to see without any thought of the future and how it will work. At one point in time a sheik decided he wanted a connection from Abu Dhabi to Dubai without checking to see if the connection would work and if there was land and money for it. The next day the project was begun and is still in the beginning stages because they later found out that the resources for the project are shorter than expected. Dan was telling us about the effort by Western architects to push green design in the harsh climate, but many of the leaders who want things built don't know about the options for design and worry it will make their buildings less pretty than the ones they are competing with.

We stopped at a small beachfront where we were able to put our feet in the ocean before walking through a park. We talked to Kate about our clothes and what was appropriate to wear in an extremely strict Islamic culture. We were told it is safer to wear clothes with sleeves and shorts or skirts that go down past our knees which we were all able to do even though it was 85 or 86 degrees out.

After the park we went to a small shopping mall called the Souk. Shopping seems to be a big part of the life in the U.A.E. The last stop of the day was a visit to another Alums office Gensler to see the current project he was working on before heading back to the hotel. That night we went to find some food which was a bit of a search but ended up being easier than expected.

Our second day we went on an excursion to Dubai with Kate, Dan and another alum Damen. We arrived in Dubai after a two hour bus ride and began by having a short visit to the city museum. Wax figurines covered the dark rooms which was slightly creepy but very effective.

After visiting the museum we spent an hour walking around creek side park where we all skipped rocks and walked around. The Dubai mall is one of the most amazing shopping malls I've ever been to.

We were told to get a quick bite to eat before meeting to go up to the top of the Burg Kalifa. The Burg is the tallest building in the world. Fun fact: if you take the re-bar used in its structure placed end to end it can stretch three-fourths of the way around the world. The observation deck was outside but was enclosed with glass panels. Pretty insane.

The last stop of the day was to the Dubai mall where on the way in we saw a white Lamborghini as well as many other million dollar cars parked in the valet parking. We headed into the mall to look around for a while as well as check out the attached indoor skiing slope. The skiDubai place was packed and it was fun to see people who usually never see snow running around playing in snow suits.

By the end of the day we were all very tired and I was extremely unlucky in picking up the contagious sore throat and cough that had been going around the past week.

The next day we woke up later giving time to work on homework and other things before meeting to talk about the places we would visit with Dan Render. Dan showed us a project called Masdar City which a sustainable city in the middle of the desert. There are no cars only PR2s as taxis that are automatic. The streets are self shading and the buildings work together to make a sustainable microclimate.

We left to see the Grand Mosque first but we were unable to see it in the morning because it was prayer time. We continued to our next stop which was a quick lunch from a grocery store before riding to the exterior of Masdar city where we loaded into our first automated taxis. We rode into the port and our guide took us up into the University which is stationed in Masdar as a prototype station for its future. The city was amazing to see. It was like looking a hundred years in the future. The only issue Dan has mentioned is that the project didn't take into account of repurposing that the rest if the world will need to make their towns sustainable with Masdar as a model.

On our way back we stopped to see Aldar a development contracting firm that is working on districts that are soon to be built in Abu Dhabi and part of them that are already built. We stopped at Ferrari World for a short visit after that and then a last minute visit to the Grand Mosque that was extremely fast.

We got back to the hotel with enough time for a quick dinner with our friends before beginning our late night journey to Singapore.

Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite

We left Istanbul to drive to Cannakale early in the morning. We left to catch a ferry when Mr. B our guide said there might be an issue. It was very windy that morning from a storm on the Bosphorous and all of the ports we had passed so far were closed. We were told there was one last port to check and if it was closed we would have to stay the night on the bus. We were in luck! The port was open but the line to board the ferry was long and getting longer every minute. We got in line but had to wait through two ferries before we got onto one. It was so windy on top of the ferry it was not very fun to be out in. Once we crossed it was only a minute or two drive to our hotel. The hotel was a cute small place. They even put out Turkish Delight for us in our rooms.

Cannakale was a small city but also a college town so it was full of cafes and small little bars. We walked down the shore to see the wooden horse from the movie Troy and then around the town until we were hungry. We stopped at a smaller place where they gave us an upstairs seating area that was filled with their classic books. We got a really delicious macaroni meal and had the beer Efes which is the name of Ephesus the town we were going to in a few days.

The next morning we woke up and boarded the bus with all of our bags to drive to Troy and then onto an even smaller town to stay in for the night. Troy was pretty unreal to see. Of course with our luck the wooden was under construction at the time but the rest of the city was neat to see. There were layers and layers of parts of the city that had evolved over time. After boarding the bus we headed onto our next stop.

We arrived in Cappadocia late at night just in time to eat dinner and explore around the hotel. A group of us signed up to go on a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the rock formations but it was cancelled in the morning due to bad weather. The dinner that night was delicious at the hotel. After dinner we all went our separate ways to do homework, work out, and some swam.

We also had to deal with our first issue of one of our group members that had picked up bed bugs at a previous hotel. He had been so itchy from all of the bites that he could no longer get sleep at night. We all pooled our money and began a bed bug fund so that if anyone got them they could get their things washed and try and get rid of the issue. We also looked up facts together and briefed everyone on how to check for bed bugs in the future.

Early the next day after waking up at five A.M. To find out the hot air balloon ride was cancelled we set off to see the underground city. When we arrived at the city they explained that people with asthma and heart problems should not enter the city. I thought the warning was one of those disclaimers they put on everything but as we entered the door and began descending down the steep narrow stairways. The underground cities were used in the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. The people had carved out 12 stories of rooms and spaces including kitchens, stables, churches, meeting halls, and bedrooms under ground. The stairs continued winding down into smaller and smaller rooms while getting narrower. They have only excavated 8 of the 12 floors but that was far enough for me. I started feeling my heart rate increase while crouching through the hallways. It was pretty terrifying for a minute until we reached taller spaces and began heading back up. I am so happy I saw the city and braved the small spaces.

The next stop was the churches carved into the rock. The churches were small but were decoratively painted and very impressive. We got to walk around and take some fun pictures in the area before heading to see the castle used in the 6th century. We climbed up to the top of the rock and could see all of Cappadocia before heading out to explore on our own to sketch.

Not knowing we would be climbing around on the rocks, I wore shoes that had very little tread. We ended up climbing through holes in the rocks and taking photos. I took a few pictures of my friends in a small carved out cave before deciding to head down after them with the warning to watch out for the hole around the corner from the one I was entering. As I neared the hole my feet began to slide and I knew I was a goner. I slide down and jumped to the ground in the cave when I began to slip down again into the hole next to the one I began to fall through. Terrified not knowing how far down the hole was since we were on a cliff I closed my eyes until my feet hit the ground four feet down. I was so shaken up but all in one piece and only minor scrapes. I began calling for help to get me out of the hole. It took people a few minutes to find me but Jake came to the rescue and helped me out. Phew!

Our last outdoor stop was called the three beauties which was a rock formation and steep cliff that a few of us decided to climb down and see what was at the bottom before climbing back up to take some more photos.

The last stop of the day was a pottery factory where they gave a demonstration of how the pottery was traditionally thrown and then chose one person from the group to try the technique. Hana was chosen out of our group. Haha She made it clear that the ancient technique was much harder than they made it look.

At the end of the day we had a great dinner and prepared for an early morning of driving back 10 hours to Istanbul where we would head to the airport. The drive was very long but I got a lot of sleep and in the stops at the gas stations we got to see even more of the traditional Islamic culture.

The gas station was full of people and men wearing green hats which we found out were the hats worn by the men making their pilgrimage to Mecca. It was prayer time and the bathrooms were filled with women washing their hands and feet in the sinks before praying which was crazy to see. As we left we saw the bus of men in green hats pulling out as all of the people stood in the parking lot waving goodbye to their loved ones.

We finally arrived in Istanbul around six where we boarded our flight to the U.A.E.!