Dear Colleagues ? it is Friday, 14 July ? Michele?s birthday, Bastille Day (bon annee France!), and a day of rest. Nothing ?official? to happen today, so we?re all taking it easy after a hectic week.
Yesterday was a long day? We started by leaving Al Ain around 8 a.m. to pick up the Iraqis at the dorms, then to head off to Sharjah (one of the 7 emirates that make up the UAE). It is interesting to note that the men?s and women?s dorms are remote from each other and they are pretty far away from the campuses as well. UAEU must have a decent way to shuttle people around, as the distances could not be negotiated on foot (particularly when the weather is hot in the early part of Fall semester or the late part of Spring semester). And, as you might imagine, ?access? to the women?s dorms is well- guarded (an understatement).
Our first stop was at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), where Lorin Ritchie, University Librarian, had graciously arranged for a tour of the new library by our whole group. This is a beautiful, well-designed, functional new library, so our Iraqi colleagues got to see what is possible with good planning and a fair amount of money. The Iraqis asked lots of questions ? they are particularly interested in how technology and E-resources are planned for and used. AUS, similar to other AU?s in the Gulf, has a very small Arabic collection, and the Iraqis were very curious about automated Arabic cataloging and online access to these materials. Lorin also arranged for lunch for the group ? again, very gracious and generous. All in all, the visit to AUS was a major success and very valuable for people to actual see what is possible!
AUS is physically located in an area of Sharjah known as University City. Our next visit was to the brand-spanking new Public Library of Sharjah, just down the boulevard. The building is enormous, to say the least ? perhaps cavernous describes it best for me. The collections are arranged in their own unique way, using an A to Z room location guide. Each large room has two entrances, one for men and one for women. There are also separate Internet Rooms for each gender ? fairly typical for this part of the Gulf. The ?feel? of the public library was interesting in that it is not near any of the population, so one wonders how much use it will get. However, as a statement, it sure is a bold one (at least physically). It will be interesting to hear what the Iraqis have to say when we chat about the two libraries on Saturday?
Okay, by now it was around 5:00 p.m., so the last part of the day was an excursion to the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai. On the way, there, we rode by the Sheikh Maktoum residence (ruler of Dubai) and on the road there are hundreds of peacocks, preening and showing of themselves. This is the Gulf, so all things are possible!
The Mall of the Emirates is enormous ? teeming with people of all types, and it is especially interesting to see the women dressed in every fashion imaginable ? from head-to-toe covering to the latest slinky fashions. The shops are mostly high-end ? this is the land of discretionary income ? and the place was busy, busy, busy ? the ?buzz? was palpable.
One truly marvelous indication of what is ?possible? is the Ski Dubai place attached to the Mall. Okay, I am not making this up ? take a look at the we site www.skidxb.com and you will see why those of us who live in the Gulf region do say ?only in the Gulf? when something like this is built!!
So, all of the above is the Yin of the day. The Yang of this excursion was herding the Iraqis back to the bus. We planned for a shopping trip of about 1 ? hours at the Mall. It was very easy to get disoriented in this place, as the again the scale is enormous. Most of the Iraqis made it back on time, but several went missing, which was a challenge, to say the least. Search parties formed, with yours truly as scout leader. We eventually found all of the Iraqis sans one, who we were very worried about (a woman). After 45 minutes or so, I found her, very worried, at a very different place than where she had hoped to be. It seems she got lost and then came close to panic at being found. But, like most stories, this one had a happy ending ? lots of salaams and apologies, but all accounted for.
We began our trek back to Al Ain. Ali, our fabulous driver, pulled over on the highway, flagged down a taxi, and Miss Carla headed off to the airport. Carla has to get back to the USA so she can wrap things up for her next life event- working in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She?ll be a school librarian there, spreading the name of Simmons and good librarianship even further. Carla has done yeoman?s work on this project, both last year and this, and all wished her well. Carla made some new and long-lasting friends with the Iraqis ? was lovely to see the interactions they had ? good for Carla, good for the Iraqis, good for all of us!
So, as I write this on a quiet Friday morning, I?m reminded of last year in Amman when the days were long and chock-full of ?experiences.? We get up early, work, play, eat late (it at all) and get to bed late. Doing this kind of time-and-location intensive training seems glamorous (which it is), but it also requires an emotional as well as an intellectual commitment from those who do the teaching and the translating. Pat, Michael, Will, Michele and David have been going full-speed ahead, with Cynthia about to jump on the train. By the end of each day, folks are tired, and rightfully so. BUT, there is no grousing, because everyone cares so much about what is being done to make a positive statement about our profession and our desire to see things develop well for Iraq and the Iraqis.
One final note for this blog entry: David deserves yet another mention, as he has used his far-ranging connections to set up just about everything we do here. We are all so appreciative of his efforts, the Iraqis just beam when they are around him, and his UAE friends clearly like (love) and admire him. UCLA ? you employ a gem of a librarian!!