Abu Dhabi Awards

Since I left off, we've visited two model schools here in Abu Dhabi. As I hinted at before, it's a really interesting case study to see what a country might do to build a school system from scratch if given virtually unlimited resources and the expertise of top educators from around the world. Many of the administrators we met with were Western, and it seemed like this experience was especially necessary for the colleges and universities seeking accredidation from North American standard-setters.I visited a boys model school and the funniest/cutest thing was a group of 7 - 9 year olds, who were clearly told to do their very best, belting out an Emirate national song. "Long live Emirates! Long live Emirates! I love my country and my country loves me!" All to the back-up beats of a standing casio keyboard. It was really cute, and also sort of hilarious.


Boys and girls go to separate schools from grade school through university. The classes at Abu Dhabi University are actually teleconferenced together, and the women's and men's wings of campus are entirely separate. This underscores a general social separation between unmarried men and women. Publicly, men and women rarely mix, and dating is "officially" unheard of. However, as technology infiltrates this modern metropolis, I wonder how long traditional notions of sex separation will last. With the advent of text messaging, facebook, gchat and MTV, it seems impossible to keep these young people apart forever.

Last night, we attended the Abu Dhabi Awards. This is sort of equivalent to the Oscars, extremely impressive to say the least. Men and women leaders from throughout the state were honored for making Abu Dhabi a better place. Among the honorees was a researcher, a female dentist, and an educator. I was really impressed by the fact that the organizer of the event was also honored at the end. To get to attend one of the most important formal events of the year while in the UAE was truly an honor. In fact, our group even shook hands with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi! The Emirate citizens strongly venerate their leader. (That's an understatement.) It's interesting to contrast this love and adoration with the political wrangling apparent in the United States. I can't imagine loving an elected official like that...