UAEDRL day 2

DAY 2 of our trip took us to Dubai's neighboring city of Sharjah, a city of around 1million seen more as a blue-collar or commuter population, though home to perhaps more cultural and educational facilities. We spent part of our day at the American University Sharjah [AUS] with some students and faculty of the Architecture department there. Presentations were given both by us and them, as we shared a conversation about design in the U.A.E.



As you can see by the photos, the American University (most educational facilities are also 'imported') is a large campus with vast lawns and college buildings - much different than the AA's little house in London.
After our workshop, we travelled through the Sharjah traffic jam toward the shore for our first glimpse at the beach - sadly a dissappointly depressing destination, but still warm weather and a break from the roads.

In the evening we travelled back to Dubai and visited the Mall of the Emirates (the largest mall in the world - though i don't believe it is actually bigger than MN's Mall of America), and had our hand at late-night snowskiing at the infamous Ski Dubai - the largest (of course) indoor ski mountain. So yes, my 3rd time skiing, was in the desert at 11pm. yep, bizarre.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lindsaycarol/UAE2