An Adventure of a Lifetime

This week I am in Al Ain in the emirate of Abu Dhabi to facilitate a workshop on collections analysis and how to get the most efficiencies from your library collections budget.  This is an experience of a lifetime and I have a feeling that the staff of the library are going to teach me much more than I teach them.

I left State College at 7:30pm on Friday evening, flew to Dulles and then shortly, it was on to Dubai.  It is about a 13 hour flight and I was appreciative of the fact that I could sleep for awhile (until Rome on the little airplane map) and also for the American from Colorado Springs that sat next to me and gave me some tips on the culture.  He works for a company he wouldn't name that is trying to win a defense contract and it was his third trip here.  Going through customs was easy and everyone was unfailingly polite.  I got out of the airport and just as Moza said, there was a man holding up a "Lisa German" sign who was hired to drive me from Dubai to Al Ain, the home of the United Arab Emirates University.  Everything was fine until I got to the hotel and they said they had no booking.  By this time it's almost 11pm and I'm very sleepy.  Thankfully Moza was awake and called the booking agent, and all was fine and I got to my room.

After a fitful sleep, I worked on my presentation and went over to the library to meet Moza. The workweek is Sunday through Thursday here.  It was lovely to meet her and the Deanship (a historian not a librarian).  We took a tour of the very new library and checked out the room for tomorrow.

Now it's back to work more on my presentation for the next three days.  I think Thursday will yield a trip to Dubai before I head home Friday morning.  Right now, I'm just taking in the wonderful food, unbelievable heat, and pleasantness and kindness of everyone I've met.