…..and dollars and pounds and euros. On the heels of my post-case-competition-lost luggage adventure, I arrived in Abu Dhabi. I would soon join sixteen of my classmates and friends for a Spring Break trip that would turn out to be, in a word, epic. My trip, in fact everyone’s trip, started months earlier when we were more concerned with the thick heat emanating from the Barcelona sidewalks, let alone Spring Break.
Meet Ebrahim (there is no need for anonymity, for this man should bask in the glory about what would transpire). Anyone from Section B will tell you, Ebrahim is from the Emirates and he also is from the oil industry – this we have known from Day 1. The guy is impressive. He nods his head yes more than a bobblehead on a dashboard, instantly luring you into agreement with his opinion. He also has a portfolio of mannerisms that include agile wrist twists and poorly timed air quotes. He is the most active listener and animated story teller at ESADE (sorry Italians). So this Ebrahim had an idea that he proposed very early into our time served here at ESADE. He wanted to get a group of students to go on a high end Spring Break trip to the UAE – so sans alcohol, bikinis and beach time and sans charming backing packing adventures through Europe. Hmmmmm.
Undeterred by anyone’s opinion and driven by a sincere and extraordinarily selfless desire to show ‘us’ what it’s like in ‘his’ world, Ebrahim spent months putting together eight days of escapades. The pitch sounded great when he presented it to a group of club Presidents – but the price tag seemed a bit high. 2,800 Euros on top of tuition and costs of merely existing for the term of an MBA program - he got a few murmurs before adding in the caveat that he had arranged a sponsor that would end up footing a good portion of the bill. And so the uptake was a little stronger and seventeen of us embarked on his adventure for our maiden voyage to the UAE as ambassadors of ESADE.
The group spent the first day at Masdar City hopping around in tiny cars that drove themselves and eating a spread with a Sheikh. Stilts lined up her Plan B as one of the sister wives of said Sheikh and tried to shake her nickname. Still without luggage, I joined them at dinner after a swift attempt to put together a makeshift wardrobe in ten minutes at the Abu Dhabi mall – I had enough time to order a frilly drink with a title related to pirates and parrots – enter Petey the Porcelain Parrot who adorned my drink.
Petey spent the next day with me while I made attempt number two in the mall – still no luggage. The group headed off to ADIA for a ‘colorful’ session at the world’s largest sovereign fund’s headquarters. A safari was on the docket for the evening so we headed for the Souk to buy ‘authentic’ outfits for event. The divas, excuse me…..the men….took about 45 minutes to pick out a white dishdash while the women fumbled through stacks of colorful traditional Bedouin dress – in 10 minutes…..I’m just pointing that out. After an hour trip towards the isolated desert we hurled ourselves up and down the expansive sand dunes at angles that tested the integrity of our Toyota’s manufacturing. We rode camels, got henna tattoos and belly danced like a robot would.
The next few days followed suit in both in terms of colorful presentations and exhilarating nighttime adventures. Petey had a few accidents along the way, cracked his face and got kidnapped, but that is a story for another day. We were warmly greeted on the executive floor of NGSCO and learned all about natural gas shipping (and pirates!). With the acting CEO by our side, we threw our best questions at the presenters to dive more into the business and their culture. I will never be in that board room again and likely neither will some of the guys that presented to us. What stood out the most from that visit was the pride and grace that their CEO showed towards his employees – with a noted smile of pride towards our fearless leader Ebrahim.
And so it would continue with visits to Etisalat and then a full day of eating with ADCO at both their headquarters and out at an oil field. There was a game of hide and seek with Petey in the Grand Mosque, rides at Ferrari World, securing lost luggage and more and more and more food. We travelled out to Dubai and stopped by GE before Emirates Airlines. They fed us and then took us to the engineering facilities for a tour of the site as well as one of their fully equipped A380s – first class cabins come with a door, a bar and a shower…..for two (redefining the rules of the Mile High Club).
With amazing days filled with board rooms, CEO’s and corporate presentations behind us, we headed out for sushi dinner, sake bombs and dancing at the Atlantis out on Palm Island in Dubai. Some of us headed home at 12, others at 3 and the daring stumbled in after 6. It was our one night of ‘spring break’ and we figured we were on the home stretch. Or final day in the UAE was not to be taken lightly and was – with the intent of being redundant – epic.
Without obligation, we were invited into the home of one of Ebrahim’s sisters for lunch. We knew this was going to be special, but we did not anticipate the magnitude of the experience – an experience I cannot do justice to even with my professional vicarious story telling details skills. In traditional manner, the women were received in one part of the home and the men in another. After a few glasses of juice and far too many bites of chocolate, around thirty women and children filed in to greet us. Conversation was slow at first as we tiptoed into the newfound cultural environment, but the opportunity to see behind the abaya was the first of many special moments. We moved into another section of the house to eat. My new fascination with the word ‘YES’ got me in trouble as his family offered up more and more food of which I was unable to discern ingredients or anticipate taste. I think I tried everything…..sample size was uniformly five spoonful’s. We muttered under our breath to each other our workout regimens when we got back to Barcelona. After a 32 course meal from the floor, we untwisted ourselves without an ounce of grace and began our goodbyes. A quick tour through the living quarters showed us what can only be described as the results of Extreme Home Makeover UAE Edition! Eventually, we begrudgingly reunited with the men and were presented gifts by the children and family. Off we headed for the airport.
For 14 days I was in the US, UK, Spain and UAE – with the local currency from each place burning holes in my pockets, but now it was the end of this journey.
Ebrahim’s every other word on the trip was ‘very’ and his message and desire were that we leave with a positive impression of his homeland. We knew before every getting onto a flight out to Abu Dhabi we were in for a treat and that we would see great things. What we didn’t know was that epic and special perhaps do not do justice to the trip. The man behind it all showed us something to be cherished for a lifetime and we will forever be ‘very, very, veeeeeery’ grateful that this one time we ditched bikinis, backpacks and boats for dishdashes, abayas and camels.
But now, what the hell am I going to do with all these dirhams, pounds and dollars!
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