So seeing how today is my last day here I felt I would write one last blog post. This summer has been crazy to say the least. I've studied abroad in Florence, Italy for 7 weeks, I've worked in Doha, Qatar for 5 weeks, I've traveled to 6 different countries over the course of 3 months, and I've got to make memories that I will never forget. Over the past three summers I've been to different places and different parts of the world and this summer has topped both of those past summers. There have definitely been some set backs over the summer like my ankle and such but it has still be a great and amazing summer.
There are so many parts that I could say are my favorite parts of my summer but I'm going to narrow it down to two of them. First off, my favorite time while I was here was when my dad and I went to Dubai when I first got here. Even though it was a really fast trip (Two days and only One night) we got to see all of the main points in Dubai. I got to go to the top of the worlds tallest building and also got to go skiing in the middle of the desert. It was a blast and honestly I would have never been able to do that type of thing anywhere else or at any other time than when we went.
My second favorite part was when we went to Germany while studying abroad. In Germany, we had a blast and none of us actually knew anything or what was good to do in Munich. I think the best part of Germany was for sure when we went to the Olympic Stadium and watched Germany's first World Cup with 10,000 other Germans who we never met. We just got invited to go from like four Germans we met in the train station and since we didn't have anything else to do we went and it was awesome. All in All Germany made the greatest memories for us and it was a blast.
So false I'm going to say one more thing. All of my time in Florence was a blast too and made so many memories. I loved everything there was to love about Florence and getting to see and experience everything that I got to do was just amazing. Seeing the Statue of David and just seeing how life like it was was something I will never forget. Climbing to the top of the Duomo was another incredible experience. Seeing the tombs of Galileo and Michelangelo in Santa Crotia was crazy to me because of the history that was buried there. Florence is a wonderful city to study abroad in because there is so much history and honestly there is just a different way of life there that I'm glad i could see and live in.
My least favorite part about my whole time abroad was messing up my ankle while I was in Florence. As some of y'all may know I managed to do something to my ankle and it has basically been hurting me for about the last two months. Thank goodness though that I'm going home tonight and will get to get it checked out before to long. That was just the biggest let down for me because it held me out of doing some things with everyone else just because I couldn't handle it. Mostly it had to do with climbing and hiking mountains. I know pretty random but still. I'm mainly speaking of when we were in Switzerland and then in Cinque Terre.
Living in Doha has really changed a lot of how I few the middle east as well. Even though this is my second time here I still got to see and experience things that I would never be able to do or see other wise. Another thing that I've learned is that the working environment over here is so much different than anything else I've seen or heard about. Everything over here happens at a very slow pace. Everyone has a mentality of just doing things when it suits them best and it's something that I've never seen before. Also I feel like Americans have a mental image of what they think Middle Eastern's are like and I cant say I didn't either. But being here and meeting the Qatari's that I've met I don't have that image any more. The people here are very nice and very hospitable. I'm ready to be home though and get out of this humidity the makes the heat unbearable.
I leave here in less than 12 hours and I don't think I could be any more excited. It's going to be a great feeling to get home finally in the US to all my friends and family. It's been a great a memorable summer but by now I'm ready to be back in the states. Spencer I hope that is good enough for you.
For the last time,
TJ
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Pardon for the long absence
Dear Spencer,
This post is mainly for you.
So I started my four week here in Doha and that means I've started my four week of work as well. I'm learning quite a bit while I'm here and it's been quite a good experience. I'm working for three more days with the IT department here at UDC and then I'm moving on the the TComs Division of UDC. Do be honest I'm not really that sure what exactly I'll be doing with TComs but it should be a good time and just allow me to get even more experience while I'm here. Since I'm starting my four week here that also means that I'm about a week and half away from being home in the greatest city in the greatest state in the US and of course that would be Dallas.
By now I've been able to learn and to experience almost every single system that is operating here on the Pearl. Its a great experience and I'm getting to see stuff that I don't think I would ever be able to see in the states including the whole entire network infrastructure that companies would be hesitant to show an intern. I truly am lucky for the summer that I've been able to have.
This weekend was quite fun as well. Thursday night we were invited to go over to one of my Dad's friends house for dinner. He was a Greek and so he invited over a bunch of people to come over and eat a massive amount of pork. It was a little slice of heaven for us. Friday we of course had church in the morning and then went out to eat afterwards with all of the other bachelor dad's whose families are back in the states. On a little side bar I don't think I'll get used to have church on a Friday morning and the weekends being Friday and Saturday. Later that night we went over to another friends house of my parents where we all played poker and just sat around and played for a few hours and just had a good time. Then on Saturday we got the pleasure of going onto the American Army Base and got a grand tour and then got to go to the the store that was on the base and do a little shopping. Then that night we were invited to go to one of the Richest men in Doha's house who lives on the Pearl. I don't think I've ever seen a spread like what they had for dinner. There were dishes that were 3 and half feet wide that were full of meat and there were three of them. One was fish, chicken, and lamb. It was incredible too. His house was one of the biggest houses I think I've ever been in too. It was three stores tall and dinner was on the lowest level where as the desert was on the third level. It was just amazing honestly.
It's been a busy few weeks and I promise I'll update more frequently over this next week and half.
TJ
This post is mainly for you.
So I started my four week here in Doha and that means I've started my four week of work as well. I'm learning quite a bit while I'm here and it's been quite a good experience. I'm working for three more days with the IT department here at UDC and then I'm moving on the the TComs Division of UDC. Do be honest I'm not really that sure what exactly I'll be doing with TComs but it should be a good time and just allow me to get even more experience while I'm here. Since I'm starting my four week here that also means that I'm about a week and half away from being home in the greatest city in the greatest state in the US and of course that would be Dallas.
By now I've been able to learn and to experience almost every single system that is operating here on the Pearl. Its a great experience and I'm getting to see stuff that I don't think I would ever be able to see in the states including the whole entire network infrastructure that companies would be hesitant to show an intern. I truly am lucky for the summer that I've been able to have.
This weekend was quite fun as well. Thursday night we were invited to go over to one of my Dad's friends house for dinner. He was a Greek and so he invited over a bunch of people to come over and eat a massive amount of pork. It was a little slice of heaven for us. Friday we of course had church in the morning and then went out to eat afterwards with all of the other bachelor dad's whose families are back in the states. On a little side bar I don't think I'll get used to have church on a Friday morning and the weekends being Friday and Saturday. Later that night we went over to another friends house of my parents where we all played poker and just sat around and played for a few hours and just had a good time. Then on Saturday we got the pleasure of going onto the American Army Base and got a grand tour and then got to go to the the store that was on the base and do a little shopping. Then that night we were invited to go to one of the Richest men in Doha's house who lives on the Pearl. I don't think I've ever seen a spread like what they had for dinner. There were dishes that were 3 and half feet wide that were full of meat and there were three of them. One was fish, chicken, and lamb. It was incredible too. His house was one of the biggest houses I think I've ever been in too. It was three stores tall and dinner was on the lowest level where as the desert was on the third level. It was just amazing honestly.
It's been a busy few weeks and I promise I'll update more frequently over this next week and half.
TJ
Monday, July 19, 2010
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
This weekend my Dad and I went to Dubai. We woke up pretty early on Friday morning and caught a flight at like 8 in the morning. We were zombies because we didn't really sleep much the night before. Luckily it wasn't that long of a flight and we got to the airport around 9 in the morning. Little did we know but we were getting picked up in a Bentley to go to the Armani hotel that was at the base of the world's tallest building. This was the nicest hotel I think that I've ever stayed at in my life. It was amazing. We had a personal concierge that helped us plan our whole entire day. It was amazing. Here is a picture of the view that we had out of our bedroom window.
After we got checked in and such we went over to Dubai Mall. It's actually on the left side of the picture above. It's the world's largest mall and it has around 1200 stores. It's massive. They have an aquarium in there that has to be about three stores tall and it has to be one of if not the largest one in the world. We also went into the world's largest candy store which was inside the mall. If you haven't realized the trend Dubai is all about the World's largest whatever. Oh we also went to Taco Bell inside the mall just because we desperately wanted mexican food and that was the closest that we could get.
The next big thing we did was we climbed the Burj Khalifa. That is the world's tallest building and let me tell you from the 128 floor observation deck you feel like your on top of the world but in fact your only about 2/3s the way up the building. It's ridiculously crazy and in the same it's awesome. It was a little upsetting though that it was so sandy and because of it we couldn't see some of the other famous parts of Dubai.
We then went and walked around Dubai Mall for a little bit longer before we went back to our hotel which was really close. Then that night we went to the Burj Al-Arab. It's the building that looks like a sail in case you were wondering. We actually got to take a Maserati to dinner that night and when we pulled up there was a Ferrari, Lamborghini, and an Audi R8. Talk about a star studded car display. We went up to the Sky Bar which was really cool inside and got to see a different part of Dubai that you couldn't really see earlier in the day. We then went to dinner at one of the most incredible restaurants ever. I just cant think of the name.
The next day was quite exciting. First off my dad and I decided to not really push a clock at all in the morning which was amazing because we needed the sleep. Then we went out to Atlantis that was on the orignal man made island called the Palm Islands. Honestly the Palm Islands weren't that impressive because they didn't help to generate the way of living like the Pearl does. We walked around Atlantis for awhile were then again there was another giant aquarium that was actually a lot cooler than the one at the Dubai Mall because it looked a lot more thought out and the fish were a lot bigger. We then went to the most important part of our trip On The Border.
It was some of the best food that I've ever had because we hadn't eaten Mexican food in so long. It was great and honestly the only let down was that they didn't have queso which we were craving big time. After that we went to the mall of the Emirates and most famous for there indoor snow skiing in the middle east. My dad and I decided to go skiing and it was incredible. I walked in there in sandals and shorts and 110 degree weather into 29 degree skiing weather. It wasn't the biggest ski slope but it was a lot of fun. It was weird though to see families just riding the lifts up and down like three or four times in a row before getting off.
It was great to go to Dubai and it was wonderful to just relax and enjoy a little weekend get away from life for awhile. But we are back to work now so stay tuned for more work updates.
After we got checked in and such we went over to Dubai Mall. It's actually on the left side of the picture above. It's the world's largest mall and it has around 1200 stores. It's massive. They have an aquarium in there that has to be about three stores tall and it has to be one of if not the largest one in the world. We also went into the world's largest candy store which was inside the mall. If you haven't realized the trend Dubai is all about the World's largest whatever. Oh we also went to Taco Bell inside the mall just because we desperately wanted mexican food and that was the closest that we could get.
The next big thing we did was we climbed the Burj Khalifa. That is the world's tallest building and let me tell you from the 128 floor observation deck you feel like your on top of the world but in fact your only about 2/3s the way up the building. It's ridiculously crazy and in the same it's awesome. It was a little upsetting though that it was so sandy and because of it we couldn't see some of the other famous parts of Dubai.
We then went and walked around Dubai Mall for a little bit longer before we went back to our hotel which was really close. Then that night we went to the Burj Al-Arab. It's the building that looks like a sail in case you were wondering. We actually got to take a Maserati to dinner that night and when we pulled up there was a Ferrari, Lamborghini, and an Audi R8. Talk about a star studded car display. We went up to the Sky Bar which was really cool inside and got to see a different part of Dubai that you couldn't really see earlier in the day. We then went to dinner at one of the most incredible restaurants ever. I just cant think of the name.
The next day was quite exciting. First off my dad and I decided to not really push a clock at all in the morning which was amazing because we needed the sleep. Then we went out to Atlantis that was on the orignal man made island called the Palm Islands. Honestly the Palm Islands weren't that impressive because they didn't help to generate the way of living like the Pearl does. We walked around Atlantis for awhile were then again there was another giant aquarium that was actually a lot cooler than the one at the Dubai Mall because it looked a lot more thought out and the fish were a lot bigger. We then went to the most important part of our trip On The Border.
It was some of the best food that I've ever had because we hadn't eaten Mexican food in so long. It was great and honestly the only let down was that they didn't have queso which we were craving big time. After that we went to the mall of the Emirates and most famous for there indoor snow skiing in the middle east. My dad and I decided to go skiing and it was incredible. I walked in there in sandals and shorts and 110 degree weather into 29 degree skiing weather. It wasn't the biggest ski slope but it was a lot of fun. It was weird though to see families just riding the lifts up and down like three or four times in a row before getting off.
It was great to go to Dubai and it was wonderful to just relax and enjoy a little weekend get away from life for awhile. But we are back to work now so stay tuned for more work updates.
Work Update
While I'm waiting for my pictures to upload and such I figured I would write an update on my job. This week started my second week and it has been exciting so far. Yesterday and today I got to work in an area called CCTV or Closed Circuit Television. These are basically cameras that are linked back to a single room over the internet. I actually got to learn how the system worked, how they were relayed back into the main control room, the backbone of the system, and then I actually got to sit down and play around with the cameras and the system.
Tomorrow I'm getting to work on the incident management system. It's basically the system that tells the operators were there are fire alarms and other types of alarms. It isn't the most difficult of systems but I've seen it in action once so I'm excited to see the system again tomorrow and actually learn about what makes the system work. It should be a very interesting day.
Stayed tuned for an update about my Dad and I's trip to Dubai.
Tomorrow I'm getting to work on the incident management system. It's basically the system that tells the operators were there are fire alarms and other types of alarms. It isn't the most difficult of systems but I've seen it in action once so I'm excited to see the system again tomorrow and actually learn about what makes the system work. It should be a very interesting day.
Stayed tuned for an update about my Dad and I's trip to Dubai.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Work
It's been a few days so I thought I would update everyone on what was going on. First I just wanted to let everyone know that two days ago it was 53 degrees Celsius at one point. Thats about 126 degrees and with the heat index it felt like it was about 145. It makes Texas feel like it's the middle of December. Either way though I'm loving work. It's been a great time so far and I'm learning a lot here that I don't think I would ever learn in the States. I've been able to visit the Command Center that will handle everything on the island when it's all done. There have been some slow times at work but it's ok I've also learned a lot since starting.
This weekend should be fun too cause A it's the weekend and B my dad and I are going to Dubai this weekend. It's bound to be a lot of fun and honestly I cant wait. It's going to be a really fun weekend. We are actually getting to stay in the world's tallest building too. I'm pretty excited about going. Well we are leaving at 7:50 in the morning so I'm off to sleep. I'll post more on Saturday when we get back with pictures of Dubai.
This weekend should be fun too cause A it's the weekend and B my dad and I are going to Dubai this weekend. It's bound to be a lot of fun and honestly I cant wait. It's going to be a really fun weekend. We are actually getting to stay in the world's tallest building too. I'm pretty excited about going. Well we are leaving at 7:50 in the morning so I'm off to sleep. I'll post more on Saturday when we get back with pictures of Dubai.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Doha, Qatar
Yesterday was a very long day of travel but it was a good one because it meant that I was coming to Qatar. We left Florence at around midnight and then took a three and half hour bus ride to Rome. We then got to just wait in the Airport until your flight got to leave. At least my flight was pretty early. Austin and Eli's flight didn't leave till around 6:30 in the afternoon Italy time. Either way I finally got here to Doha around 9:30 at night and stepped off the plane into 95 degree weather.
Today was my first day of my month long internship. It was actually really pleasant. I started at around 8 o'clock in the morning and got done around 5 in the afternoon. It was a semi busy day but it was like anyones first day and it was pretty slow. I'm looking forward to the rest of my time here and I think that I'm going to be able to learn a lot. It's a pretty slow day posts wise but I'm excited to be here and there will be more to come as my time here goes on.
Trent
Today was my first day of my month long internship. It was actually really pleasant. I started at around 8 o'clock in the morning and got done around 5 in the afternoon. It was a semi busy day but it was like anyones first day and it was pretty slow. I'm looking forward to the rest of my time here and I think that I'm going to be able to learn a lot. It's a pretty slow day posts wise but I'm excited to be here and there will be more to come as my time here goes on.
Trent
Friday, July 9, 2010
The End of a Great Trip
Well today is the last day we have in Florence. In 12 hours we will begin to get on a bus and we will start our very long and very early journey to Rome so that we can be dropped off at the airport in time to get the first person to their flight at like 6:30 in the morning. Luckily mine isn't to far behind it at 8:50. Either way, it's just weird to leave a place that you've called home for the last two months and move on to something completely different. Eli and Austin are going home which is what I was going to be doing as well before I got my internship. So instead of going home I still have another month which I'm actually really excited about. There is something about leaving a place and just going to meet up with your dad in Doha that is exciting and honestly I'm really excited about going. Leaving Florence will be hard but I'm ready for the next chapter of my summer and that chapter begins in a little over 30 hours. I might post again before I leave tonight but we'll see.
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