Part 2 Abu Dhabi
Part 2 Abu Dhabi
Thursday January 9th
Thursday, January 9th- Tuesday January 14th
We started off our visit to Abu Dhabi on Yas Island, a popular tourism sector and home to Ferrari World which has the fastest roller coaster in the world. The rest of the afternoon was spent in Khalifa City, the UAE’s first sustainable city. Here we raced around in driverless vehicles and learned about the history of the UAE’s sustainability efforts and the future of energy studies. The final part of the afternoon was contrasted with a visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, one of the world’s largest and most inclusive mosques, welcoming those from all religions and nationalities, a capacity of up to 40,000 visitors per day. The mosque was constructed in 1998 by British, Italian, and Emirati Architects, and borrows design inspiration from Turkey, Morocco, Pakistan, and Egypt.
Friday January 10th
The next morning it was time to road trip to Al Ain. Our first stop was the mountains of Al Ain, a great photo opportunity. The afternoon ended with a historical visit to the Al Ain Oasis, which is a 2,000 acre site that is centered around the Sheik Zayed Palace Museum. It was recently opened to the public in November of 2016 and we were free to roam the palace quarters to experience some of the rich history ourselves. The Al Ain Oasis was originally a site established from two wells and was a headquarters of the UAE’s traditional irrigation system known has ‘falaj’.This oasis is home to about 147,000 date palms, as well was up to 100 different types of vegetation, and a fully operative camel farm. As we wandered the palace later that afternoon, we were surprised by the roar of thunder that came over the hillside, lightning hit soon after, followed by about 10 minutes of heavy rainfall. Some of us ran towards the palace corridors to seek shelter and SWIM, who skipped a shower that day, didn’t mind getting a little wet.
Saturday January 11th
The next day we drove to the neighborhood of Al Ras Al Akhdar to explore the grandiose Presidential Palace, Qasr Al Watan. This palace was recently opened to the public in 2019 and operates as a meeting place for the nations federal cabinet, Sheikhs Kahlifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of the UAE) and Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces). The architecture was awe inspiring and the grounds were expansive. It’s museum like layout allowed for an interactive journey, revealing the governance, knowledge, and craftsmanship of the nation.
We ended the afternoon in the town of Al Ras Al Akhdar, visiting the Heritage Village Museum, and the Qasr al-Hosn Palace, which is the oldest stone building in the capital of Abu Dhabi.
Sunday January 12th
During our final morning in Abu Dhabi, we visited the town of Al Samha, where we were given a presentation on the industrial infrastructure of the Abu Dhabi ports. Later that afternoon, we headed back into town to visit the company headquarters ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company). After we were greeted by the hospitality team, we were given a brief presentation on the history of the UAE’s hydrocarbon value chain. Our presenter shifted the focus from the current view of the oil and gas economy and mentioned ADNOC’s continuing mission to be the world's leading energy producer. To compensate for the current depletion of the land’s natural resources, ADNOC has extensive framework in place, for the re-forestation of mangroves and seagrass plantations, as well as for the restoration of coral reefs. The presentation was concluded with ADNOC’s 2030 plan to focus on partnership, technology, and the workforce (human capital) that contribute to the UAE's continual growth and success as a nation.
Afterwords, we were given an extensive tour of the impressive office building which includes an open floor plan consisting of Arabic coffee bars and themed meeting rooms. There is also a floor home to about 10 different restaurants and a separate level with a state of the art gym facility, spa, and locker rooms. ADNOC employs about 10,000 individuals, and the company's facilities are open to its labor force at all hours of the work day, even on weekends.
We ended our eventful evening with a group reflection dinner and to commemorate the last night in Abu Dhabi, SWIM stayed up all hours of evening dancing to the live music in a small club in Mina Al Siyah. Good thing we were able to catch up on sleep on the flight back home!
Monday January 13th
The end! The bittersweet flight back to the USA.
Tuesday January 14th
Can we get a rewind?
What a great experience to see first had the marketing systems of varied businesses, in a new culture.
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