AD MEN

Justin

It seems like the days are blending in and I don’t really know when is what o what day we were at Dubai. Unfortunately, I didn’t really get to explore Dubai but from what I’ve experienced so far, it was amazing!

What truly sets Dubai different from all the places I have been was its ability to blend in both distinct culture and innovation. They stayed true to their religion and traditional roots by their immigration customs wearing traditional clothes, and in the other hand, their airport celebrates its best Wi-Fi in the world “Wow-Fi”.

Dubai was able to build a thriving city in the middle of the desert. I was really impressed by the growth of the city. Another aspect that stuck out to me was the diversity in the city.

With the little time that I had in Dubai, I think it challenged my misconception of how the middle-east is always in turmoil on terror attacks. This is all we see I the news but what we missed is the diamond and gold of the middle east like Dubai. How innovation and tradition co-exist and blends in together.

Adding on, I met a lot of Filipinos in Dubai, which I was surprised to find out. I was able to talk to them in my native language and asked about their experiences and the way they migrated to Dubai.

If I had more time, I would have loved to experience more of Dubai and to see its landmarks, but also to get to know the culture because we have this perception that Islamic countries like Dubai are barbaric and oppressive and I wanted to see that and how that is applied to the people.

 

Leni

What makes Dubai unique, in my opinion, is the amazing architecture of the buildings and also the vast amounts of wealth in the country of the UAE. It’s obvious that there is much wealth in the country. One could tell from the high-rise buildings and expensive merchandise. I think that a lot of the country’s wealth comes from oil, and it’s crazy that only 20% of Dubai’s population are locals, while 80% are foreigners. That’s a lot of tourism and foreign business. Another thing that makes Dubai unique are the amount of different religions that are all accepted. These unique aspects changed my pre-conceived ideas greatly. Before going to Dubai, I thought that other religions would not be accepted in the country because it is dominantly Muslim. From what I have learned about Middle-Eastern countries, Muslims don’t usually get along with other religions. I am not sure if this is true or just another stereotype about the Muslim people because there are many. Going to Dubai has changed the way I think about and look at the Muslim people and the Middle-East in general.

​

Javier

What makes Dubai unique is that it’s a very clean and drug-free country. There are about 2 million people that live in Dubai – 80% foreigners and 20% locals. I still felt like I had the American mind set because even though I was able to sight see, I still had to be careful of my surroundings. The food and tourist attraction was surprisingly cheap.  But just staying there for a few nights or just a night, the prices are out of this world. There was a hotel that we stopped at during the tour that charged anywhere from $500USD to $30,000USD a night.

My ideas about Dubai was you’re still able to have a great time in Dubai. But it’s still very expensive to stay. Also even if you’re going to a store, you still need to be careful and don’t assume you’re going to have a happy welcome just because you’re a tourist.

 

Bryan

One of the things that I’ve noticed that makes Dubai unique so far is how westernized it is. I didn’t expect English to be so prevalent amongst the culture there., but many of the signs and much of the advertising is in English. It was also interesting actually being in a middle-eastern country and seeing many of the local Dubaians working at the airport. They did not seem like the friendliest group, by and large. Where some cultures tend to be more smiling and welcoming, the men I encountered at the airport all seemed very stern and stand-offish. It’s too bad that we did not have more time to spend there, however, I would have liked to get to know them better and experience their culture further.

Another aspect of Dubai that I think qualifies it as unique is its vast modern architecture and growth. Over the last 40 years the city has exploded and it boasts some impressive modern attributes.; the world’s tallest building being one of them. All in all, my perception of the city and country have changed, and my intrigue to learn more and find out how much more will change has only gone up. I’d love to come back to the city and find out what else it has to offer.

 

Jackson

Dubai is unique because they are not like many other big cities. The first thing I notice is that Dubai tends to actually finish their construction projects. Other cities tend to start construction projects and take forever to finish them. I did also notice that the main religion in Dubai is very centered on Islamic/Muslim. Crazy fact we heard on the tour was that the city was made up of 80% immigrants and 20% locals.

My pre-conceived idea was that it was a very rich tow Most of these beliefs were confirmed through their architecture and real estate. It was fun being on the tour bus and looking at all of the nice cars. Just like many cities, they had their poorer areas, however they are able to keep the city very clean and have limited amounts of crime.

 

Kristin

Dubai is so unique because the country sprung up only 40 years ago so everything there is new! They have the tallest building in the world, a wonder of the world in Palm Island. It is also economically booming and has a very low crime rate. Because only 20% of its population is local, it is very diverse.

I was expecting Dubai to be very economically booming seems nice real estate and cars and that held true once we were there. In regards to its diversity, I was expecting the city to be heavier on the locals and because of the Islamic religion, I expected more people to be dressed in their traditional attire. That was tru, but like I said above, only 20% of its population wsa locals and the country (from what we saw) was very open to all different kinds of people.

Something that I didn’t expect to see was the importance and honor of their president. Along the highway, pictures of the president and former president were posted o billboards, on murals, etc. which is something we don’t really see in the U.S. so I thought that was very interesting.

 

Nick

Dubai was very unique in several ways. It is obviously a very wealth city and I noticed the people of Dubai rightfully take pride in that. The city was incredibly clean for being so large and populated. I really enjoyed seeing all of the nice and exotic cars while driving around. The population was very diverse and full of different ethnicities as well.

Going into Dubai, I did not have too many pre-conceived ideas. Of course, the middle-east is associated with danger and terrorism, but I knew Dubai was different. The city is very advanced and civilized, so I was not surprised when I felt safe in the city.