details

I've realized after reading some of the other students blogs that I definitely have not talked about half the things that I could. So, before I depart from Dubai, I will try to give more detail about the goings-on here.

Some of the prettiest architecture in Dubai is invested in the malls. Each mall has a different theme. I've already told you about Mall of the Emirates (ski dubai), but there are so many more to cover. Ibn Battuta, as the name suggests, follows the journey of the Muslim explorer of the same name, which means that each section of the mall is named after a place he visited i.e. China Court, Egypt Court, etc. Wafi mall (where I went to eat for my birthday) has an ancient Egyptian feel to it with pyramids and hieroglyphics; everything is ridiculously expensive there. Mercato mall has more of a Spanish feel to it with extremely pretty architecture.

The burj al-arab (the boat) is, of course, one of my favorite buildings, but the burj dubai (tallest building in the world) is kind of ugly. I wish i had time to take the elevator up to the top, though, because it would be cool to see the entire city laid out before you. You would think that when you fly in at night you would be able to see all the lights and stuff, but the smog is so thick here that you can't see anything until you get really close to the ground.

Taxis are really clean here compared to other cities. Every singly one is metered and prices aren't too bad. There is a 3 dirham starting price, which jumps to 20 dirhams when you take a taxi from the airport. There are also lady taxis that are called pink taxis, which operate from 4pm to 3am in case you do not feel comfortable taking a regular taxi.

Unfortunately, I must be off to study for finals, but I'll post more about my final impressions/thoughts about dubai and the university soon.