Last year I signed up for a school trip called the First Year Global Experience through the Leeds School of Business. Each trip was to a different country and some were program based; I had chosen to go to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates with the Leeds Honors Program. All students would first take a class that taught them about the business and cultural practices of the country, then the actual trip takes place during Spring Break or after finals.
I was super excited to go to Dubai until I showed up to the first class where our faculty advisor said the trip was canceled because of COVID restrictions. It was heartbreaking: I didn’t think I would ever get to go there again, and Dubai is a once-in-a-lifetime location.
Fast forward a little more than a year, and I’ve now just gotten back from Dubai, one of the coolest experiences of my life. I got the opportunity to go on the trip as a sophomore (even though it was typically a freshman-only trip) from being a student mentor, where I felt I had even more freedom to get the most out of the trip without assignments or my grade to worry about. I’m breaking my trip up into a few distinct parts and highlighting what made everything so memorable.
The City
There’s definitely a reason many people know Dubai as a city but not the country it’s in, the UAE. Dubai is well-known as a city built up from the desert in less than 50 years, and getting to drive around and look at all the skyscrapers and unique architecture made me more in awe. The organization of the city is also unique (and a little dystopian), as it is divided up into districts. There’s the media district, industrial district, finance and business district, and more.
The best part of Dubai was how clean it was. I had never been in an environment where there was not a single piece of trash in sight; people were sweeping sidewalks and wiping down railings or marble staircases. There was no natural dirt and barely any rain, so it is easy to keep Dubai clean despite the over three million people living in it.
Dubai also felt incredibly safe, which has its own pros and cons. You’re able to walk around at any point of the night and not feel scared; there is almost no crime whatsoever in Dubai. With protection comes the sacrifice of privacy or personal freedom, however, since there are security cameras everywhere you look (yes, even outside) and a lot of the media is restricted.
The Cultural Activities
This trip was just as much of a cultural experience as it was a business trip. Though we still went to a consulting and finance company along with a couple of government agencies, I found the cultural activities more valuable.
On one of the days, we traveled to Abu Dhabi to visit the Grand Mosque. The significance of the building was inspiring and the architecture was unmatched to anything I had ever seen. Back in Dubai, we went to a Sikh and Hindu temple, which are directly next to each other. This gave me another perspective on all the nationalities, religions, and cultures that exist in the UAE and how they are able to coexist (for the most part). We also went to the Center for Cultural Understanding, where we had a traditional meal and learned more about Islamic Culture. It definitely helped clear up some misconceptions that I had and made me more open and appreciative of Islam.
One of the coolest things we did on our trip was going on a Heritage Desert Safari, where we rode buggies around the desert, held a hawk, had a traditional Bedouin meal with a music show, and rode camels. Being only 20 minutes outside the country of Oman, I felt incredibly isolated, but in a good way. It’s an experience I doubt I’ll ever have again, and one I’ll never forget.
The Non-Cultural Activities
As valuable as the cultural activities were, I also can’t forget to mention the yacht ride, architecture, half a dozen malls, and more that we discovered during my time there. Dubai has a lot of stuff to do. Anyone could spend weeks in the city and still not get through all the most popular tourist attractions, along with the less-known activities that only a local would know about.
All of the food was amazing in Dubai, especially this little restaurant that we went to near the marina one night. It was a local restaurant that cooked fish whole: eyes, bones, and scales included. While intimidating, it was some of the best fish I’d had.
The yacht ride was probably the best photo opportunity event, along with the most relaxing. I love being on or near the water any chance I get; getting to float around the marina and Arabian Gulf in warm weather while also getting a tour of the coast and architecture was a dream come true.
The Late Nights
Because we went to Dubai during Ramadan, a holy holiday in Islamic culture where practitioners fast during the day, everything was open until two or three in the morning. This meant that after our long days doing group activities or business visits, we’d change our clothes in the hotel and then be back out in the city 20 minutes later.
Although we usually just got dinner and never had a set activity, simply walking around the city and having some laughs was one of my favorite parts of being in Dubai. There comes a point where you’re so tired that anything that happens makes you laugh harder than you ever had before. Plus, when it was time to head to bed, I was usually asleep within a minute.
The People
Going to Dubai wouldn’t have been so amazing without the group that I traveled with. At first, I was a little nervous going with a group so large and composed mostly freshman students, but I had to remember that I was only a year older than them and had no liberty to look “down” on anyone. All of the students were great and were taking every opportunity to its fullest. They were also very open to everyone, making sure no one in the group felt left out.
I mostly hung out with the two other student mentors: two hilarious and caring seniors. When I think back to seeing the Burj Khalifa, I’ll be thinking of our inside jokes. When I think back to the long bus rides, I’ll be thinking of our laughter from wild stories. Nothing connects people like traveling to a foreign country together.
Lastly, all of the faculty members were wonderful. It was fun seeing the Honors Program and First Year Experience coordinators out of the school building and learning more about their lives as people rather than educators. I feel closer to them and know that I’ll be able to count on them if I have difficulty with anything in the future.
Dubai = 9.5/10
Going to Dubai was truly an unmatched experience in terms of cultural learning and jam-packed days. The only downfall of the trip was personal illness and nausea throughout the week along with the zero alone time, unless you want to count the few times I went down in an elevator by myself. Neither of these things did nearly enough to significantly impact the experience and I would go through it all again if I could.
It would be fun to take my family or friends back and show them around, especially now that I feel like an expert tour guide in the area (even though I’m really not). If you ever have the chance to travel to the UAE or even a place that you think is culturally different from where you live, you should definitely take the opportunity. It shows you a wider perspective on the world and gives you memorable experiences for years to come.