Kicking-Off My Next Adventure: Dubai & Uganda

It's finally happening folks!

I am resurrecting my travel blog as I have finally made my way over to Uganda for the summer. The trip was long and tiring but not without its perks. I managed to take advantage of a layover in Dubai and take a quick peek at the city at night. I will dash off a few highlights via some extended ramblings. =) Oh, and it takes about 20 minutes to upload a single photo, so I'd like to make the disclaimer that blogs may be more rambling heavy than picture heavy. That being said, please read on if you so desire!

Basically, everything in Dubai is bright, and shiny, and new! Case in point - here's the new terminal at the airport exclusively for Emirates.

Then, of course, there are the iconic burjes of the city: Burj ( برج‎ being the Arabic word for tower) Al Arab and Burj Khalifa, which is now the tallest building in the world. Sorry. The poor picture quality doesn't do the structure any justice. It was so tall, I couldn't even fit the whole thing in the picture.

My tour of Dubai consisted mostly of a driving/drive-by tour of the city, so part and parcel of my experience was a fun game I made up for myself in search of the "best" license plate. I realize this may seem utterly and completely lame and inane, but the impetus for it is quite relevant to how things operate socially and culturally in Dubai. Basically, the lower your license plate number, the wealthier you are. Not only is the car a status symbol, but the license plate solidifies the degree of your wealth because to have a plate like the one below, you have to pay thousands of dollars extra for the "good" plate number.
If your car doesn't even have a letter on the license plate, then you must really be somebody!! I was told that the Sheikh of UAE has like 5 of the same car all with the plate number 1 on them. And speaking of cars - there must be more luxury and exotic cars per capita than any other country in the world. It's like an Aston Martin is the Toyota Camry of Dubai.

Anyway, shout-out to my old colleague and friend for driving me all around to see the city in the middle of the night!!

Now, onto my arrival in Uganda...

Lake Victoria (2nd largest lake in the world)

It really is the beautiful country that everyone said it to be. The driver who came to pick me up from the airport proudly boasted of his country as he quoted Winston Churchill, who dubbed Uganda as 'the Pearl of Africa'.

Here's a look at the BRAC country office in Uganda. Pretty nice huh? This is where I will be based out of and working for the bulk of my summer when I am not out in the field.

As beautiful as the country appears to be, the people seem even lovelier. Everyone here as been just so wonderful, friendly, and welcoming. Being back here again instantly reminded me of what I loved about Africa the first time around, and an overwhelming sense of comfort and familiarity seemed to well up inside as I took all of this in my first day. All in all, I think that it is going to be a fruitful and amazing time in Uganda.

And as they say here, "You are welcome!" So come visit!!!