Profile: Giuseppe Mangiacotti
EXCEL Dubai Blog
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| Giuseppe Mangiacotti, Business Administration |
Blog 6
Final words…
Dubai is a city built on the slogan, “If we build it, they will come.” Sure enough, they have not failed to build. Everywhere you look, hundreds and thousands of cranes are seen on the horizon, working twenty-four hours a day. Everywhere we went, we heard the phrases: the biggest, the fastest, the tallest, and the most luxurious. All that the tourists and locals in the area can do is spend their time exploring and witnessing a “World City” in the making. Although 95% of Dubai’s plans are just an imaginative idea of a ruler’s vision that architects are free to explore beyond the boundaries of construction, I believe that one day Dubai will reach its goals. Although it may take ten, twenty, or even fifty years, Dubai has already made its mark on the world and now serves as an example of what the future may hold in terms of architectural designs and luxurious hospitalities.
Additionally, Dubai has more to offer than just their extravagant plans for the future. The hospitality and kindness of the people was well beyond expected. Everywhere we went our group was treated with immense respect and kindness, whether we were at a company meeting or just being tourists visiting sights. The people were extremely welcoming and appreciative of our diversity, making this experience that much more unforgettable.
In the end, this trip was all made possible by to the EXCEL program, the Marshall School of Business and Sean O’Connell, who organized the trip. This journey helped our group gain extensive knowledge on various aspects of business in the area. I believe everyone, including myself, truly grew personally and professionally due to this experience. Besides all the fun and extravagant sights we visited, the long–lasting friendships that were made along the way are the most memorable and unforgettable part of this entire journey. The EXCEL program to Dubai was beyond a success and everyone who made this trip possible deserves to be awarded.
Thank you and I hope that I have made this trip an enjoyable and descriptive journey for all to read!
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Blog 5
March 20-21, 2009
Last two days of freedom
After five days of following the rigorous schedule of company visits - which surprisingly turned out to be extremely exciting and some of the most memorable moments of the trip - the last two days we had the freedom to wander into the city on our own. On Friday, we had a desert safari planned for the entire afternoon and evening. Although it was optional, I do not think anyone failed to attend.
The desert safari was compromised of many activities, ending with a traditional barbeque dinner deep in the desert. The first part of the safari consisted of driving SUV’s on top of sand dunes at high speeds. I have to say it was quite the roller coaster ride. Sliding and drifting through the sand was a spectacular adventure and at the same time extremely exhausting. Some people even got carsick and had to eject their lunches from their stomachs at one point during the ride. Once the car ride ended, we all got to ride camels. Since it was my first time on a camel, I was a bit nervous since some of the camels did not look too friendly. Once the sun started disappearing into the horizon, we all entered an area surrounded by cabanas where dinner was served and belly dancers entertained us. They even had booths with henna tattoo artists, where anyone could just walk up to them and request a design to be drawn on their body. I got my name written in Arabic on my arm, which turned out to look pretty good.
The best time of the night happened when they shut off all the lights and made us all lay down on the floor. The purpose of this was so that we could stare up into the dark-abyss-sky filled with sparkling stars and get a view of the night sky that could hardly be seen anywhere else nowadays. It was spectacular to say the least.
The following day, a few members of the group and I went to Atlantis, another enormous marina-life themed hotel located in one of the man-made islands in Dubai. They had a water park and private beaches. The water park did not have extremely rapid or intense rides, but they had this slide called “the leap of faith” which was a straight drop, at almost a 90-degree angle. The coolest part of this ride is at the bottom; you go through a glass tunnel, which is located inside a massive aquarium, so fishes and sharks were swimming all around me while I slid down. Once again, it was AMAZING! It took awhile to convince “JayHo” and “Gaby”, two group members that went with me, to actually try the slide, but in the end, everybody attempted it and was highly grateful for our peer pressure.
Once we all got tired of the slides, we went to one of the hotel’s private beaches and had our first swim in the gulf’s ocean water. You might think the day ended there, but then we were off to The Mall of Emirates, another enormous shopping mall development in Dubai. This is the mall where Ski Dubai is located (an indoor skiing slope) but unfortunately, due to lack of time, I did not have the chance to try it out.
For our final night in Dubai, most members of the group headed out to celebrate our journey. The celebration, like most evenings, went deep into the night; since we had a plane to catch at five in the morning, we all figured out that the smartest thing to do was to skip the sleeping stage. We eventually headed back to the hotel. I packed with my roommate Hassan so we wouldn’t forget anything, had one last delicious breakfast at the hotel, and headed out to the airport to finish this spectacular journey.
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Blog 4
March 18, 2009
Visit to Abu Dhabi
Half way into our trip, we all went to Abu Dhabi where we had a few company visits on Wednesday and a few the following morning. This was a nice addition to the trip since we were able to get a different perspective of the United Arab Emirates by visiting a city that was actually established and built way before Dubai. The drive from Dubai to Abu Dhabi was only about two hours, giving me the perfect opportunity to catch up on my sleep.
The companies that we visited the first day were TDIC, another tourism and development company, and then the National Newspaper of Abu Dhabi. I have to say that these visits were not as exciting as the ones we attended in Dubai, but nonetheless they were still extensively informative about their extravagant projects. The visit to the National Newspaper was an interesting experience; we were actually taken to their work station which had flat screen TV’s positioned everywhere playing news from around the world to keep everyone updated, while dozens of journalists sat writing their daily stories. It gave me a perspective on how a newspaper is actually put together.
The best part of our short trip to Abu Dhabi occurred at night, when most of the group had dinner at a traditional Lebanese restaurant (for those students worried about not eating enough on these trips, I can assure you that you will never feel empty-stomached or have a shortage of food). Every plate brought to the table was delicious, especially the mint-lemonades, which became a popular drink amongst everyone. After dinner we ended up visiting the Emirates Palace, a hotel known worldwide for its grandeur and luxuriousness. Just like the Burj Arab, this hotel was INCREDIBLE! It did take us awhile to get into the hotel because a conference was going on and the security guards weren’t letting people in; but in the end, after a few talks with the guards, we all got in.
The following morning we had a short visit with a company, and then visited one of the biggest Mosques in the United Arab Emirates. Although we were not able to go inside the mosque due to a high-profile individual visiting it at the time we arrived, it was still a beautiful sight to see. The atmosphere and environment around the mosque was rich in culture and traditions, making me appreciate and gain a new perspective of their religious ways.
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Blog 3
March 16, 2009
What a day this was! Amazing! One company visit after the other lavished us with surprises that I was truly not ready for. The first company we visited was Jumeirah, a tourism and hospitality management company. They are responsible for the development of the only Seven-Star Hotel in the world, called the Burj Arab. What made this company visit unforgettable is that we were actually given a private tour of the hotel, for which we otherwise would have had to pay around fifty dollars to visit on our own. Although I would love to share my experience with you about what I witnessed inside this hotel, words cannot do justice to describing the luxuriousness of this development. It seemed as if everything was made of gold and diamonds, and after having a tour of one of the suites, I don’t think I ever saw my hotel room at the Crown Plaza with the same excitement again.
I experienced an interesting aspect of this hotel that demonstrated how much hospitality and service is valued when I went for a quick visit to the bathroom. Upon entering, I saw that there was a man standing next to the sink whose sole purpose was to turn on the water to wash your hands, pump soap directly into your palm, and then hand you a towel to dry them. I have to say, I felt like a true king for a few seconds.
After leaving the Burj Arab with amused-filled eyes, we all headed to visit Nakheel and Oqyana. These two companies are responsible for the development of the World Islands; a set of man made islands off the coast of Dubai that are shaped like the world. The room where the presentation took place was nicer than any movie theater I have been to so far. We all sat in leather couches, had orange juice served to us, and watched amazing images of their projects on a projector with surround sound. After an hour of being amazed by their future plans, our entire group was taken on boats to actually visit one of the islands: Australia. The boat ride was extremely fun because we had a view of Dubai’s coastline, as well as felt somewhat like James Bond dressed with suits going at maximum velocity on these speedboats (I have quite the imagination). Once we actually got to the island of Australia, it was quite the disappointment. All we got to see was a patch of sand in the middle of the water, with not a single construction in sight. This seemed to be a recurring theme in Dubai, hundreds of spectacular projects and ideas, but almost none of them actually completed or even started.
When the company visits ended for the day, most of the group decided to visit the historical part of Dubai that night. This was quite a change for us because we actually finally saw the locals of the area and the Souk Market; a district where hundreds of alleys filled with souvenir shops are located. We also had dinner at this traditional Indian restaurant that had belly dancers dancing on stage. It was an interesting experience. It made me feel as if I was in India for a moment, but unfortunately I was not able to eat any of their food. Everything was extremely spicy, even the bread!
This day ended deep into the night, but even with the lack of sleep, the excitement for the next company visits, like Tiger Woods Dubai and Dubai Land, kept us all going as if it was an adrenaline shot.
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Blog 2
March 15,2009
Day after arrival
At last our group arrived in Dubai after a sixteen-hour flight, which surprisingly seemed to go by more quickly than anticipated. Emirates Air was the airline that flew us to our destination and since it is one of the top airlines in the world, I have to say I was not disappointed. With an advanced entertainment system on board, which I had never seen before in any other airline, I knew this flight was just the starting point of an amazing journey.
Within hours of landing, we were all off to bed since the next day we were expected to meet with four companies. Although I was extremely tired from the flight, I was looking forward to the following day since one of the companies we were going to visit was Emirates Air.
The next morning we had two company meetings in the hotel’s conference room. In the early afternoon we were off to visit the Emirates Air College; a school where future airline employees train. This visit was extremely informative and well beyond my expectation of what we were going to be doing. We got to witness safety classes in action, learned about their makeup/cosmetic class, and even got to walk inside a replica of an Airbus 380, which is the most advanced and luxurious plane on the market so far. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, we were taken to a giant pool where three airplane replicas were floating, simulating real life emergencies. Not only did we learn about the airline, but we got to witness how airline employees are trained, making this company visit a memorable one.
After one last meeting, which ended around five o’clock, we all headed back to the Crown Plaza 5-Star Hotel we were staying in. This hotel, like everything in Dubai, is extremely luxurious; each room is filled with technological amenities that took me quite a while to get used to. Everything in the room could be controlled by the touch of a button, even the curtains in the shower!
The day ended with a group dinner down at the marina in Dubai - an open walkway filled with restaurants and tourists seeking to spend a relaxing night under the star-filled-sky.
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Blog 1
March 4, 2009, Los Angeles
When I first opened my email inbox and read about the EXCEL program heading to Dubai during Spring Break, imagining myself actually being a part of this journey was just another adventurous idea running through my mind. Fast-forwarding in time, a week from now I will be hundreds of feet in the air on a sixteen-hour non-stop flight to Dubai. Can’t say I saw this adventure coming!
Just having heard about Dubai and their extensive movement towards development and construction - turning a strip of desert into an unprecedented city pushing the limits of architecture and technology - I truly cannot wait to witness it all. Furthermore, after having seen the daily schedule for our business meetings, I must say the companies that we are visiting are incredible. A few of them are responsible for some of the most extravagant construction developments in Dubai, such as the World Islands or Dubai Land, making me that much more excited.
Although I have traveled all my life to all sides of the world, I have to say I am a bit nervous, since I have never been to the Middle East. They have a unique culture, quite different from western societies. Now that I’ve learned various unique ethics and gestures performed in Islamic countries in order to be respectful, I just hope to remember them all and to not offend anyone unknowingly. Nonetheless, in addition to learning about the ways business is conducted in the area, I am ready to experience all that Dubai and its culture has to offer.
As far as packing goes, I will most likely start the day before departure due to midterms taking up most of my time, but I have no need to worry. I have been keeping a list of items I should bring with me, which grows on a daily basis, so I will not forget anything at the last minute; that is, I sure hope I won’t. As for the most important item to take, I will not forget my digital camera so I can be ready to document the entire trip.
Well, my name is Giuseppe and I am glad to be able to share this experience so that future students can refer to these and form their own opinions about the program. For now I am off to study, but it won’t be long till I write my second blog from hundreds of miles away in a hotel room in Dubai.
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