I slept pretty well last night. Set my alarm to 8 am and was able to get up without much of a problem. My roommate Lynn came in last night and I think it will be very easy for us to room together.
I was thinking this would be a day of shopping and maybe going to have tea at the Emirates Palace Hotel, THE place to have tea, maybe order a camel meat hamburger, and maybe buy some gold out of the ATM machine!! I'm not so sure about the last 2 but the tea will be great.
However, our trip to the race track was scheduled for 11:30 this morning so I didn't have time to leave the hotel!
Off we went, 6 brave people, to ride around a track at high speeds! I have educated myself a little on what Formula 1 racing is. Formula 1 is an international (European and Asia mostly) form of racing with very high and precise standards for the cars as well as the racetracks. The only Formula 1 racetrack in the USA was built very recently in Texas. What we have in the USA is NASCAR. Both Formula 1 and NASCAR are owned by one family that oversee their franchises. NASCAR is owned by an American and Formula1 by an Italian. Enough of that. They have an annual Formula 1 race here in Abu Dhabi in November. People from all over the world come in and that section of town gets closed off because of the traffic and crowds.
Here is the race track.
We can get hamburgers at Johnny Rockets or Sushi at Sushi Central!
I'm not too sure about getting Sushi at a racetrack!!
Okay, it's my turn up! My white hood is for under my helmet, probably fire proof...
and maybe to absorb some of the sweat I am producing in high amounts!!
Doesn't it look like a snow mobile suit??
They dress me...now gloves and helmet.
I'm dying here in the heat but well protected!
Oops! They just notice I have sandals on! They need to get me shoes that are closed toes!
Hard to bend over in this suit but I manage to get the shoes on!
I'm really boiling-literally under here now!
I have empathy for fire fighters with their gear on, dealing with high heat.
My car is here and waiting!
My helper gets the seat belts ready for me.
And in I go. The car almost seems too little to fit me in but down I go.
They have to strap me in every which way-more involved than strapping a toddler in their car seat!
I think my driver is asking me how fast I want to go and I say: "I like fast!"
I figure why get into this rocket and only have it go as fast as my Smart car?
And off we go!
We had a green light and sped onto the track. The driver says that on the straightaways he was going 165 MPH! In a real Formula 1 race they might hit up to 200-235 mph. The gravitational pull at that speed made me feel like I couldn't control my head motion. My head went which ever way the turn was. I tried to look to see if the driver was able to control his head but as I couldn't turn my head, that was useless!!
He would drive REALLY fast up to the turn then hit the brakes while down shifting as we went through the curve and then flooring it again. It was about a 10 minute ride and there is nothing to do except hold on and enjoy the thrill of the ride. Any thoughts of picture taking from inside the car were forgotten as we sped though the first cones set up as if there was debris in the track! When I was done, I pealed of my suit and tried to cool down!
Another fun adventure. I can take this one off my bucket list!
Everywhere in Abu Dhabi city there is construction!
If you want to imagine what it might be like to be out working in this weather,
think of Minnesota's hottest and muggiest day. In Abu Dhabi, everyday is
90-100+ degrees with humidity, and then sand is constantly blowing in your face.
Another odd looking building in the city. This one is the headquarters for the main construction company here. It looks like a space ship crashed sideways into the sand.
Here is a side view of the same building shown above.
I asked about how could all these buildings be build on what is basically sand islands? Here is what he said:
They dig down about VERY deep to hit rock. They bring in stones the size of buses (or larger) and lay that out in the shape of the building to form the foundation. It seems like with billions in oil money, no project is too large or too difficult.
Some interesting information:
Foreigners cannot own land or own businesses in UAE. In the case of businesses, an Emirate must own 51% of the business. So if I (or you) want to start a business, I would have to find an Emirate to own it with me. And of course, there would be some sort of compensation to the Emirate even if he/she didn't put up any money to start the business or didn't work at the business. I guess it must be worth it since there is a lot of business being done here!
As far as land ownership, it used to be foreigners couldn't own land. Now the government has a law that establishes areas where foreigners can own land or houses(free zones). But you can only buy the land for 99 years and then it reverts back to the UAE government. So you own it now for a few generations and then either renegotiate for longer or give it back to the government.
We ended the evening with a welcome dinner for the team. It was three courses plus dessert. Most of the team members putting on the course have arrived from various parts of the world. Big groups from the US and Iran and fewer from Canada and India.
Our first course was sufficient for a full meal.
I was so surprised by the second and third courses, I forgot to take photos!!
Dessert was served on the patio with fresh fruit, sweets and flavored tobacco.
These friends from Iran are showing me how to do it.
I'm not sure I could ever really enjoy this--maybe if I was
younger and didn't care what I put into my body?!
Everyone gets their own mouth piece to put on the pipe when they smoke.
Well, tomorrow the work begins as we get ready for the course to start on Tuesday. Participants have begun to arrive. I'll share some cultural lessons as my friends so generously answer my stupid questions and help me understand why they do what they do.
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