June 13th 2011

It is Monday night, and tomorrow is hump day. A little strange for it to be halfway through the week on a Tuesday, but I’ll take it.

If there is one thing that I will most likely mention time and time again, it will be the roads here in the Middle East are terrrrrrible. I can’t tell you how many times Brad and I have been lost in the city…even while using a map. Saturday we got lost. Sunday we got lost. Monday we got lost. Chances are tomorrow we will also get lost. The roadways and signs are absolutely absurd. Road signs that tell you you are heading to a certain destination are suddenly nothing but lies as you end up heading in the complete opposite direction. I like to consider myself somewhat directionally savvy, but not here. Braden has been humbled.

We were able to see Ski Dubai (the indoor ski slope at the Mall of the Emirates) last night. It was funny to see how many of these people who have never touched or even seen snow were having the time of their lives in it. Wish I had the same enthusiasm for the white stuff.

I am keeping busy at work with numerous different projects. I am still tired all the time, and by the end of the day I am usually done for. I hope this lethargy wears off soon.

Today Brad and I had a new and cool experience. There is a 3^rd intern in the office that just started yesterday. His name is Mohammed. He is Muslim with the full robe get up and all. He approached us just before lunch today and asked if we had ever tried a burger joint downstairs. We said no, and proceeded to make plans to grab some lunch with him. What a cultural experience this was. He is a couple of years younger than us, but looks about our age. I didn’t expect to hit it off with him as well as we did. We talked about everything from the U.S. to Dubai, from sports to skydiving (he just went skydiving over Dubai about a month ago). We were even able to bring up religion. I am fully convinced that Islam is one of the most misunderstood faiths on the Earth…along with Mormonism. I learned quite a bit about Islam in Michigan, as there were quite a few immigrants from the Middle East that lived there, but as I continue to have personal contact with members of the faith I find that they really are not too different from the faith that I practice. There are many things that I don’t understand and will continue to learn about, but I have sympathy for the many members of Islam that are discriminated against. We discussed the many similarities Mormonism and Islam have. The lifestyle they practice aligns quite a bit with the lifestyle I live. And just so everyone knows…not all of them are terrorists. I say that somewhat sarcastically, but let’s be honest, terrorism and Islam somehow seem to falsely co-exist among many Americans thinking. So next time you see a Muslim or Middle Eastern individual say hello. Believe it or not they will probably say hi back.