Bad Day, and the Burj al Arab

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Well, I had quite likely one of the most disappointing days in my life.  I discovered simultaneously that No, I will not ever be going back to Yemen, especially not on a scholarship I applied for this summer.  I curse this day.  I was hoping, just maybe, to stay on the peninsula awhile, but now it is blindingly obvious that this will not be the case. 

Worse, my university arbitrarily decided they paid me too much last quarter, and so took off twice as much this quarter, leaving me in a thousand dollar deficit.  So much for budgeting, guys!!  It's not like I was depending on that to survive or anything, because I am rich just like everyone else at AUD!!

Now that I realize I have no money and nowhere to go this summer...I guess I'll be heading back in a week.  And that dredges up a whole other depressing can of worms I don't even want to think about.

Now, you can understand why I wasn't in a real good mood, then, when they took us to the Burj al-Arab today.  This should have been a more cameraderie-inducing experience...but I was somewhat numb and disspirited with my disappointment.  We went into this suite which was seriously bigger than our house and our neighbor's house combined (not that we have a very big house); the suite had an upstairs, its own laptop, a view of the islands and Wild Wadi Themepark, and a series of repeating rooms!  It screamed "Esme Squalor's penthouse appartment!"  Oh, it was very in.  And for ten thousand dollars a night, I would hope so!

That said, I have never seen less elegant interior design in terms of color, plastic, and plywood.  I was particularly partial to the faux-gold panelling...at least, I believe it was faux.  I did not make any jokes about this at the time.

Here are the photos as promised.  I wish I taken more, but as I mentioned, I was too numb and torqued-out to really "get into" it.  Eat up while it's fresh!

You start the tour in the main lobby, which already shows you what the rest of the hotel is going to look like.  Really.  Click and take a look.

Reception Desk

Shudder, and move on.

You climb the stairs, and there you can look up the hollow interior of the hotel, which is the one really nice thing about it:

Top of the Burj

Rainbow Fountain!

Looking up

Here's the rest of my photos:

Ballroom

View of Wild Wadi, Madinat Jumeira

Pretty Design!

Me

Study Abroad Group at the Burj

In front of Madinat Jumeira

I did not take that last photo, so don't blame me because the lighting's all wrong.  In fact, I didn't take ANY of the last three, which is why they all suck!

Lastly, I wish I had more photos of the Burj to show you.  This simply does not do it justice.  I just wish I could show you how bad it was!