Zayed University

Today we are at Zayed University, which is the public university that is federally-funded. What an incredible facility! I can't believe how nice the buildings are. The mission of the university is "to prepare Emirati students for a meaningful and successful twenty-first century personal and professional life; to graduate students who will help shape the future of the UAE; to support the economic and social advancement of the UAE; to lead innovation in higher education in the UAE through teaching, learning, research, and outreach; and to do so in a culturally diverse, humane, technologically advanced, and increasingly global environment."

On the drive over here we saw a number of camels being ridden across the desert, which makes me happy because everything they sell for souvenirs has a camel on it and I thought "watch me never even see ONE camel!" but apparently we are going to actually get an opportunity to ride one. Yes indeed.

I facilitated a discussion between the registrar and admissions staff from various universities in the UAE. They are talking about the same issues!! They said "students never read anything we send them" which, of course, is just true. What else can I say?

I have been eating a lot of traditional Arabic food and it's been quite good. The hummus here is actually very tasty and tabbouleh is always served as well, it seems. I discovered a new dessert, it's Egyptian, called Um Ali which means "mother of Ali". One of the staff members from AUS says his name is Ali and his mom makes it for him all the time.