I
was invited to the United Arab Emirates in November, 2011 as a participant of
the World Robot Olympiad. I was proud of myself because I was selected as a
member of the Russian National Robot team. My adventure started from the
flight departure in Moscow. We took off at 1:00 a.m., but I didn’t want to
sleep at all because I was persistently thinking about the competition. Before the
landing in Dubai I was lucky to watch a gorgeous sunrise! There were no clouds
and the red sun was rising from behind the Persian Gulf. I was happy and
thought that the sun was greeting me. What
is your idea of an Arab country? As for me, I imagined endless and uninhabited
desert, camels, Arabs in white and black national clothes, etc. But in fact I
saw high skyscrapers, expensive cars and perfect environment. I met polite and
well-educated people. That’s what attracted me in the Emirates. It became the
country of my dream. Many
exotic things impressed me in the UAE and the first was the smell of perfume.
This sweet and fresh smell was everywhere but I liked it very much. Also I was
impressed by beautiful waterfalls. You may think: ‘Stop! Are there any
waterfalls in the desert country?’ And I tell – yes! There are lots of big
artificial waterfalls! They make the feeling of cool, fresh air, so it isn’t
hot anywhere at all. To be honest, it was very cold inside some buildings and
my friends even went outside to warm up. Chicken is the key ingredient of local
cuisine: chicken sausages, chicken cutlets and shaurma. As for me, I found
Arabian shaurma and chicken sausages very delicious. When
my friends and I moved to Dubai from Abu Dhabi, I had fallen asleep in our bus
before we set off. One hour later I woke up and noticed that our bus was moving
on the road crossing the real desert. It was very unusual, because in Russia
you always see fields and forests between cities and I hardly believed that
forty years ago Arabs lived here in small villages, surrounded by sands!
Everything changed as soon as we arrived in Dubai. It was full of skyscrapers!
I’d never seen anything of the kind! I felt like an ant among giants. And
the main "giant” was Burj Khalifa – the highest skyscraper in the world. At night we went to its observatory situated on the 124th floor and
saw a breathtaking view. The city was full of lights, cars on the streets
looked as a stream of running fireflies and I could see everything for miles
away! It was fantastic! I spent one week in the UAE and visited many tourist attractions such as Palm Island, Dubai Historic Museum, Ferrari World and many others, but it’s impossible to write about everything in one article. I liked this trip very much and I am looking forward to visiting this entrancing and unforgettable country again. P.S. Our team hasn’t got any prizes in the competition, but we were not disappointed, because we got valuable experience and positive emotions during that trip =)
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