Dubai, Kuwaiti Stock Exchange, TV Appearances, and the Kuwaiti Parliament

Dubai, Kuwaiti Stock Exchange, "The Avenues" Mall, Media Appearances, and the Kuwaiti Parliament

Burj Al-Khalifa tower, Dubai, UAE. World's tallest tower at 2,722 ft.

This past weekend, we went on our third and final "side trip," this time to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. UAE is a more typical gulf state: little to no democracy, no legislature, heavily censored press, and deeply oppressed ex-pat workers. Perhaps due to the assertiveness of the rulers of UAE and Dubai, this emirate has seen massive development from a desert city no less than 15 years ago, to a sprawling economic that attracts high amounts of foreign investments. But unlike most such cities in the region, Dubai doesn't get it's spending money from oil, but rather from the institutionalizing of a carefully diversified industries, especially concerning it's international banking sector. Culturally, it is very different and considerabl more culturally liberal than Kuwait, with many more western tourists and workers, and many women who choose instead to wear Western clothing. The city is almost completely spotless, impeccably organized, has an amazing new public transportation system, and is a leading candidate for the 2022 World Exposition. Since they have a post-oil economic future unlike Doha and its UAE counterpart Abu Dhabi, it is shaping up to be one of the world's strongest cities in the 21st century.

While in Dubai, we went to the top of the world's tallest building, the "Burj Al-Khalifa," skiied at one of the world's only indoor skiing facilities at one of Dubai's man incredible malls, did a desert "dunebashing" tour, and spent time out on the very beautiful beaches. Dubai is an awesome place with a lot of energy, and I suggest that everyone go there if they have a chance and want a taste of the Middle East.

Twice-an-hour water show outside of Dubai Mall, coupled with music.

Skyline picture of Dubai, from top of Burj Al-Khalifa
 

"Dunebashing" jeeps in the desert. We drove around up and down the dunes, with big turns and jumps.

Overview of desert outside of Dubai
 

Myself and my friend Michael on a camel after dunebashing

Desert sunset near Dubai

Skiing in the desert - at "SkiDubai" in the Mall of the Emirates. Awesome and surreal experience;
never thought I'd be snow-skiing in June this year. Photo Credit: Wilco Carey

Site of Jumeira beach, the only public beach in Dubai. Water was very warm with big waves,
 so we were there for a while.

Good snapshot of old and new Dubai: a veiled woman on a beach in 110 degree + heat,
with brand-new skyscrapers and palm trees in background

Back in Kuwait....

Since we got back to Kuwait on Monday, we visited the Kuwaiti stock exchange (seen below), went to the Avenues mall,  and were interviewed by "KuwaitOne" TV.

The Kuwaiti stock exchange. Completely male trader on the bottom floor, and the women traders simply get a "trading room" upstairs which is about the size of a small conference room. Notice the photographs of the Emir in the background, a staple of any Kuwaiti institution. Although nominally supposed to be doing the same functions as NYSE traders, most of the traders in Kuwait were calmly sitting down, and it was very quite, unlike the chaotic frenzy of the NYSE.
 

The largest mall in Kuwait and one of the largest in the world,
 the "Avenues" mall is literally a series of indoor avenues, as seen above. 

Finally, we've been getting a rash of media appearances. Apparently not many American student groups come here.

Since yesterday and until we leave on Sunday, we've been followed around by a camera from the Ministry of Information (who we met with last week), who is sponsoring a documentary of us on KuwaitOne, a state-run (but not censored) news station. To supplement this, a few of us (not me) are getting interviewed tonight.

As promised earlier, from our meeting with comic book "The 99" creator Naif Al-Mutwah, CNN finally aired the story. I'm shown at 3:02 making some flailing arm movements, but my other classmates' quotes were used for the story. See video here: CNN Video

This one I AM in. This morning (6/12), we went on Kuwait's equivalent of "Good Morning America." I was one of the four students selected to be interviewed, and we discussed our studies in Kuwait, what we enjoy about Kuwaiti culture, and what we've done since our arrival. After the interview, we did a very "Today Show"-like move as we watched the guest chef cook, then we tried her food and commented on it. There's no video yet (it's airing tomorrow), so I have a pre-taping photo below. It was pretty nerve-wracking to be on the show, but it was a very fun thing to do and I was lucky to get picked to go on.

KuwaitOne set this morning, before taping

After KuwaitOne this morning, we went to the Kuwaiti parliament, a very place very different than what I've seen of the legislature in Washington. We were able to sit in on a debate session of parliament, where the topic was, at it often is, corruption in government jobs. The debate got very heated, and unlike the US, there is both direct addressing of other members of parliament (in the US you have to address your speech to "Mr. Speaker"), and there was very little decorum nor control over who was talking at any time. To culminate it well, it was ended when the speaker unilaterally decided to end session for the day, walking out after slamming the gavel down among yells of protest against the adjournment. 

Only a handful of days left in Kuwait, heading back on Sunday. 

Doha, KIPCO Tower, and Ministry of Information (5/31 - 6/4)

Doha, KIPCO Tower, and the Ministry of Information (5/31 - 6/5)

On the evening of the 31st, we touched down in Doha, Qatar after an hour-long flight from Kuwait City. Qatar is to the south of Kuwait, rests on the Persian Gulf, and like most states in the region (except Kuwait), has no absolutely no democratic participation in government. It has been ruled as an absolute monarchy, by the same family, for decades. Qatar's source of law is "Sharia" (Islamic law), although they permit alcohol in limited circumstances (like the hotel we were in), and it is heavily taxed. Doha is the capital city, and has in the past 10 years grown expansively due to oil revenue. As an indicator of this, it was just recently awarded the 2022 World Cup.  Among other things, we visited the Islamic Museum of Art, the "Souk," and the world headquarters of Al-Jazeera News.

The Islamic Museum of Art was opened in 2008, designed by I.M. Pei, and is the world's authoritative collection of Islamic Art. We studied the building in my Islamic Architecture course I took at BC, so I was really excited to see it in person and go inside.

Museum from front

Museum fountain, courtyard #1

Museum water garden, courtyard #2

Museum interior lobby

Museum interior lobby

Museum interior lobby fountain

Museum with downtown Doha in background

In front of Museum. Was taking a solo picture when I was surprised by the man behind me. Made the shot 10X better.

We also went to the headquarters of Al-Jazeera News, the largest and freest news organization in the Middle East. Although nominally under the ownership of the Qatari government, it is largely void of any interference. It made a name for itself most notably with its coverage of the Arab Spring. We were given a tour of the facilities.

Also in Doha, we went to the "Souk," an open-air shopping area much like the "Old Souk" in Kuwait City. Unlike the authenticity of the Kuwaiti Souk, the one below was actually produced only a few years ago to encourage tourism. 

Our first full day back in Kuwait, we saw the "KIPCO" Tower, a testament to the rapid economic expansionism that Kuwait has experienced. On our tour of the building by the property manager, we got to go on the roof of the building, and see the majority of Kuwait City. On the right of the picture below is "Al-Hamra" Tower, the tallest "sculpted" tower in the whole world. 

Today, we visited with the Kuwait "Minister of Information," who basically governs the media in Kuwait. On the surface, we are told that there is complete freedom of the press in Kuwait, but evidence shows otherwise.

FRIDAY: We leave for weekend in Dubai, UAE 

5/27-5/31: "The 99," Failaka Island, Dinner with the Al-Sabah's and Kuwait Investment Authority

5/27-5/31: "The 99," Failaka Island, 
Dinner with the Al-Sabah's, 
and the Kuwait Investment Authority

On Tuesday the 28th, we did a talk with Naif Al-Mutawa, the creator and author of "The 99," a revolutionary cartoon/comic book series that is attempting to, in his words, "provide better heroes for Muslim children" in the Middle East and around the world. Every new comic book edition/show introduces one of the 99 powers of Allah as listed in the Koran. By personalizing these powers with heroic characters, all from different countries, Al-Mutawah is attempting to dispel misconceptions about Islam, engender cross-cultural appreciation, and provide Muslim children non-extremist alternatives to look up to. Some religious figures in the Islamic world are against it because it personalizes Allah, and making God into a figure is banned in the religion. Some Right-wingers in the US and Europe, unsurprisingly, are against this show's expansion into Western media markets because of its lessons rooted in Islam, although they are peaceful ones that promote tolerance among cultures. Our  discussions with him were in part filmed by CNN, which is doing a piece on the series. I will post the link to the video once it is up.

The series has been spoken about by President Obama, and Al-Mutawah was recently named one of the top-50 "Influential Muslims" of the world. Al-Mutawa also operates one of Kuwait's only psychology clinics, in the same building.

The 99 Website
Al-Mutawa TED Talk

Classmates with Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa (center), photo by Wilco Carey

On Wednesday the 29th, we traveled by ferry to Failaka Island, a Kuwaiti island only several miles off the coast of Iraq and Iran. This island was Saddam's first target during the Gulf War, and the Iraqi military effectively destroyed most of it. Due to government disfunction, the destruction on this island has laid largely untouched since the offensive, more than 20 years after the attack. This is a gorgeous island that could likely be developed into a serious tourist destination, but government inaction unfortunately leaves it as if the War was only yesterday. The population, thousands before the War, is only about 100 today. We also saw camels on the island, and jet-skiied off the beaches in the Persian Gulf. 

Gulf War Iraqi military truck

Gulf-War Iraqi Tank

Gulf War Iraqi anti-aircraft gun

Wild camels

Camel herder

Camel

Gulf War damage on Failaka, mosque in background

Bank damaged in Gulf War 

Interior of bank damaged in Gulf War

Me jetskiing on Persian Gulf

On Thursday the 30th, we met with the two heads of the Kuwait Investment Authority, which is charged with making strategic investments with Kuwait's money to earn a return for the country's treasury, and providing an economic future after oil. It was a very interesting discussion, and we asked questions and discussed such issues as Kuwait's credit, the Kuwaiti welfare state, and the urgent problem of economic diversification after oil runs out. 

Also on Thursday, we had dinner with members of the Al-Sabah family, hosted by the daughter of the current Emir of Kuwait. It wasn't the "Emir's palace," but rather a huge compound/complex that houses a large group of the Al-Sabah family. It was fascinating to have discussions with them, and all of the boys on the trip wore our traditional Kuwaiti "dishdashas."

Boys of the trip with Badria Al-Sabah, the Emir's Granddaughter

And finally: Kuwait City...Fast!!

The Grand Mosque (5/25-26)

5/25-5/26

Unfortunately, the Jet Skiing in the Persian Gulf off of "Failaka Island," near Iraq and Iran was delayed until Wednesday.

On Saturday the 25th, we went to the "Grand Mosque" of Kuwait, a huge, state-run Islamic complex with a 10,000 person capacity outdoor prayer area, a women's prayer room, educational facilities, and recreational areas for children. The girls in our group were asked to wear Burkas while they were inside, and we had to go barefoot into the indoor prayer rooms. We had a guided tour by a teacher from the "Aware Center" of Kuwait, a group that educates visitors and people around the world on the basic tenets of Islam, and dispelling misconceptions on the religion. It is a very simple religion, and a presentation by the teacher cleared up a lot of my questions. This was the first mosque I had ever been to. 

On Sunday the 26th, we went to class and talked for  a while with Kuwaiti students at AUK (their Sunday is our Monday). It was staggering how great their english was, as a few of them spoke the language better than I ever have. At night, we went to the "American Mission Hospital" museum. Built on the sight of the old hospital itself, this museum chronicles the story of a group of Christian missionary doctors from the US who built this hospital in 1911, effectively introducing sophisticated healthcare to Kuwait. Before their arrival, Kuwaitis and many Muslims of the Arabian peninsula denounced healthcare remedies and accepted sickness as "God's will." While they did not achieve many conversions to Christianity, it established early good-will between Kuwait and the Western world. Also in the Museum were ancient artifacts from the Arabian peninsula, and ancient manuscripts of the Koran from as early as 700AD, only decades after the religion's founding. ***Sorry to say, we were not allowed to take pictures in this building, refer to website if you want to see what was inside: Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah Museum

The Grand Mosque of Kuwait

A few classmates and our professor wearing Burkas, which they had to have on to enter prayer areas.

An Imam (left) and our Mosque tour guide (right)

Child running down the colonnade of the main prayer area

Main prayer area, contrasted with the building of a massive skyscraper in the background

Main prayer area

Partial shot of Kuwait City skyline. The twisty building in the middle is the "Alhamra," the tallest "sculpted" tower in the world. 

Pita makers in the "Old Souk" open-air market. We were allowed to go in and make the bread ourselves.

Child running down street in "Old Souk" market

Kuwait City sunset over the Persian Gulf

Uniquely Kuwaiti contrast between run-down ex-pat housing on the right, and a high-class Mariott on the left. Run-down buildings among brand-new ones is a recurring theme in downtown Kuwait City.

Liberation Tower in Kuwait City

Walking by their table after dinner, this group of Kuwaiti men first offered us the food off of their plates, then asked us to take a picture of them, because they knew we are Americans. Walking around, many Kuwaitis shout things at us like "I love America" and "We love you!" It is obvious that most Kuwaitis adore America, due to our role in the First Gulf War and our current protection of their security. On the other hand, we also get a lot of stares because a big pack of American tourists stick out like sore thumbs.