UAE Guest Post by Dan Koch

Dan Koch's reflection on our family trip to the UAE:

What I appreciated about the culture in the UAE is that they loved children and were not afraid to approach us as obvious outsiders.  Here in the US I have long felt that maybe we had a complex of some nature and I just couldn’t pin what I meant, until now. 

The complex I speak of is the level of superiority or arrogance we have in general as Americans.  History speaks for itself for how we as Americans have treated those that are not of certain backgrounds.  Do I think we have the greatest armed forces?  Yes.  Do I live in the greatest Country? Yes. I am proud to live here and am blessed.  It isn’t about pride in one’s country.  It is about how we are viewed elsewhere and how we present ourselves as a people.  

From our trip to the UAE I learned a sense of humbleness from being different.  Look at the some of comments I got from posting one picture inside the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.  This reflects what I am speaking of in a big picture. Ever since 9/11 I have seen the term terrorist evolve from Hans Gruber in Die Hard to anyone wearing a Kandara and Keffiyeh.  This is what has been pumped into our brains from the Internet and television media.  I am guilty for privately making jokes with many of you on many topics including this and am not above reproach.    

I don’t get like this much because of my professional 7-5 job and I strive to remain politically neutral in order to not lose the public trust.  I am going to cross that line for this case. Not everyone can go to the Middle East to learn life lessons as Libby, Joe, Lynn and I recently have.  Here is my conclusion.  We walk on eggshells within our own country, we throw eggs at others while simultaneously calling foul if one is thrown back.  Here is the translation. The evolution of the education system, general association that anyone who wears a Kandara and Keffiyeh must be a terrorist and comments from overseas outlets on Ferguson and how dare they judge us here in America. 

We lack many things here and I can’t change this Country and I can’t change Missouri.  For those of you in Missouri, Tom Schweich’s suicide and the rumored and unconfirmed reasons behind it is another example.  An outsider in the world of politics, wanting to make a difference in the State and rumored to be gaining momentum in the Governor’s race and one’s religious background comes up as a way to smear him and lose public trust.  Yes, that is politics.  It is also an example (if true) of the arrogance and nature our supposed leaders have that I speak of.  Mr. Schweich was described in one article I read as genuine and humble.  Those are qualities we need in our leaders. Someone pushed the wrong buttons and it led to the premature death of a person.  Behavior like that is what we do here and it is embarrassing. Heck, behavior like that motivates me to run for governor just because I am an outsider and could or would drive people nuts for using logic and efficiency over looking better than someone else.  I don’t care that I don’t have the legislative experience or that I am not an attorney which somehow in some eyes is a pre-qualifier.  I also don’t have the funds or time to take away from work and my family to campaign across Missouri but dang it burns my hide to see this happened.  I am surrounded by genuine and humble leaders in Platte County and I wish there were more as you move up the legislative chain.

 

I was not privileged enough to meet Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum or Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during our visit.  Although it would have been an honor and a blessing to meet the aforementioned leaders and visionaries, I had the honor of meeting and interacting with the everyday public just as I get to do in making my living as a public servant.  A gentleman at the Fish Market in Abu Dhabi approached us to ask how we like it in the UAE. We obviously looked different and this man didn’t hesitate to strike up a conversation and welcome us.  A shopkeeper at the Central Souk greeted us and made us feel welcome and at home. Besides the awesome memories with my family, the welcoming nature I experienced and observed towards obvious outsiders is something I will now work on thanks to this trip. 

World Records in the UAE

The UAE boasts an extensive list of World Record holders.  We were able to visit quite a few of them during our week in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.  Here are a few pictures and links if you'd like to learn more about all this big stuff.

Tallest Building:

Burg Khalifa 2,717 feet

http://www.burjkhalifafaq.info

Most Visited Mall:

Dubai Mall -12 million square feet

http://www.emaar.com/en/what-we-do/malls/the-dubai-mall.aspx

Inside the Dubai Mall:

Largest Candy Store:

Candylicious in the Dubai Mall 10,000 sq. ft.

http://www.thedubaimall.com/en/shop/chocolates_confectionary_ice_cream/candylicious.aspx

Largest Indoor Aquarium:

Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo- 10 million liters of water

Largest Acrylic Panel:

Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo - 32.8 m X 8.3 m X 750 mm

http://www.thedubaiaquarium.com/en/Default.aspx

 

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is the 3rd Largest Mosque and holds 3 world records. http://alshindagah.com/shindagah83/culture_2.htm

Largest Hand-Knotted carpet:

1,200 artisans, 2.2 billion knots

Largest Chandelier: 10-meters in diameter and has a height of 15 meters, incorporates one million Swarovski crystals.

Largest Dome of its Kind:

32.8 meters in diameter, height of 70 meters from the inside and 85 meters from the outside

Largest Man-Made Island:

Palm Jumeirah 

http://www.nakheel.com/en/communities/palm-jumeirah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGlzeCbM-Ek

Largest Truck Stop:

This record holder, the I-80 Truck Stop, is in Iowa, not the UAE, but I had to include it. We stopped there on our drive home from Chicago, and I just had to laugh.  I am proud that Iowa has anything that is the “World’s Largest,” but it seemed funny after seeing such extraordinary things in the UAE. 

Best Spring Break EVER

Our family recently had the amazing opportunity to go way outside of our box on the other side of the world.  Through my husband’s obsession with “deal” websites and our out of the ordinary ability to make a snap decision on Christmas Day, we purchased really inexpensive plane tickets to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.  We were able to spend our Spring Break week at the gorgeous St. Regis Saadiyat Island Hotel on the Persian Gulf.  We saw this trip as a once in a lifetime chance, but now that we are home, we are already making lists of what we want to do when we go back.  And we will go back. I’m sure of it.

I could go on for days about everything we did, everything we saw, the people we met, the fun we had, etc., but I won’t.  Instead, in the next few posts, I will share lists of Top 5s or Top 10s of different aspects of our trip.  I might even have a guest post or two from my family. 

The first question everyone has asked is “What did you do there?” so here are the biggies.

Top 5 Activities of our Trip to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, UAE

1. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – The shear size of this structure was breathtaking in and of itself.  However, the details in every inch of the mosque made it truly amazing.  This place glorifies God, but it also humbled me.  The hours and talent that went into building and furnishing the mosque is extraordinary.  Each tiny mosaic tile, each knot in the world’s largest hand knotted carpet, each carving in the marble, every crystal in each massive chandelier, was touched by human hands.  Human hands that were working to create a place of worship.  I was humbled by the fact that I was welcomed in openly even though I don’t practice the Muslim religion.  There was no fee for entering, though I would have gladly paid.  I don’t expect to ever go into another structure that will take my breath way like this mosque did. 

2. Pool and Beach Time at the St. Regis Saadiyat – The pictures do the talking here.  Imagine relaxed family time, gentle breezes, and a lifeguard staff that throws dive sticks for your kids when they are the only people in the pool. (Yes, the entire staff was this nice to our kids, as well as to us.)

3. Souk Shopping – Souks are markets in the UAE. We visited a fresh fish souk, a fruit and vegetable souk, and a few different clothing and souvenir souks.  The most popular items were dates, scarves, hand made carpets, various textiles, and jewelry.   Negotiating prices is expected in all of these places so we had a lot of fun haggling with the shop owners to get the “best price.”  We happened to be early morning customers in a few of the shops and they were willing to get their day started by giving us even better deals than they would when business started picking up.  The funny thing about this is that we were the first customers in a lot of the souks and it was after 10 in the morning.  The cities are certainly fast paced, but they aren’t in a hurry to get started too early.  That part of the    lifestyle is something I miss already.

4. Atlantis Aquaventure Water Park on The Palm – The Atlantis Resort is on the world’s largest man-made island, the Palm Jumeirah, near Dubai.  We didn’t have a lot of time to spend at this water park after our late arrival in to Dubai, but the time we had was well worth it.  Lynn and I did several of the water slides multiple times.  She loved the “Shark Attack” slide.  It ended with a tunnel through an aquarium that housed several sharks and large rays.  The boys did the “Leap of Faith,” but couldn’t convince the girls to try it out.  The idea of a near vertical drop was just too scary for both of us.  We didn’t get any pictures here, but if you want to see the park, check out http://www.atlantisthepalm.com .

5. Burj Khalifa – This building is the tallest in the world at 2,717 feet.  It has 160 habitable floors.  We went to the 124^th floor observation deck.  We could have paid more to go higher, but that seemed unnecessary considering how high we already were. Check out http://www.burjkhalifafaq.info for more interesting facts and stats.  As a note to anyone who may someday want to make a trip to the Burj Khalifa, the time on your ticket does matter.  We were under the impression that it didn’t and we were very late and very wrong.  We paid more money to change the time on our ticket.  That being said, the man who had to pull us out of line to do this also took us back to the front of the line after we got new tickets.  The staff was all extremely nice even in an uncomfortable situation. This is tourist attraction that must be experienced, but once is enough.