Catriona Aitken

final day in dubai!

It’s my final day of work, the weeks always seem to be shorter here as you never really get used to Friday and Saturday being the weekend!  I’m getting ready for my final meeting with Mohammad to review my placement and I’m looking forward to receiving some feedback and advice.

This week has seen the beginning of Ramadan which has been very interesting to experience.  We’ve missed spending our lunches with our friend and colleague Aisha as she is fasting.  Most people work shorter hours during Ramadan, including those who aren’t fasting which has been useful for getting last minute shopping at the malls before we go home and having more time in the evenings.  On Monday we went for dinner in Al Quasr at MJ’s (a steakhouse) with Karima and Peter's supervisor, who it was nice to finally meet.  Being a vegetarian I wasn’t sure this was going to be one of my favourite restaurants however it was a wonderful evening with great company and surprisingly good food too, with surprisingly good veggie alternatives.

It’ll be sad saying all our goodbyes today as we’ve been made so welcome here and have been so well looked after.  We’ve already said farewell to the Bytes staff-who have continuously kept us well fed and always brightened up our days with their smiles and friendliness.  Now the internship experience is nearly over I’m getting ready for another mini-adventure before returning home to Scotland.  I feel like it has gone by so quickly but at the same time it seems I’ve been here forever from the amount I’ve learned. 

Tonight I’ll be returning to Sri Lanka to catch up with the children and staff in the orphanage where I’ve spent a lot of time over the years doing voluntary work.  I’m expecting some major culture shock moving straight from the extravagant Dubai lifestyle to staying in the orphanage (it will be a bit more basic!)! I cannot wait though; it will be an extremely busy next 10 days!

Once again I’d like to thank everyone at Saltire and Jumeirah who enabled us to have this amazing experience and I look forward to catching up with everyone soon.  Also a thank you to Peter and Beth, its been great to share so many Dubai adventures with you both (and a lot of pic-n-mix!) J

My final weekend

Week 7 has been another week of meeting some fascinating people, Mr Guy Crawford, took the time to meet with myself and the other Saltire interns to have some interesting discussions about Scotland’s future, the Saltire Foundation and our experiences with Jumeirah.  We were very grateful that he took the time to meet us as you can imagine, he has an incredibly busy and fast paced schedule.    I redrafted some project proposals I had written up previously,I spotted a few corrections and sharpened them up. This was great as it demonstrated the progression of skills and my work over my time here.  I feel confident and happy with the proposals now whereas in the 1^st draft there were a few queries and areas of uncertainty.  I’m looking forward to handing over the proposals and discussing how they will come into place. 

During the week we continued to explore the huge choice of restaurants Jumeirah has to offer.  Eventually, we chose p2 in the Madinet Souk, where we enjoyed a fabulous dinner with my auntie and uncle.  They’re always a lot of fun and have really made us all feel at home here; we all especially enjoyed the pirate’s adventure!  I really enjoyed my final weekend in Dubai, which was well times as it coincided with the last night out with entertainment before Ramadan.  This meant there was a really great atmosphere as everyone made the most of their last night out for the whole month.   We went to Hed Kandi at the Madinet Arena which was a huge event and a great night out to end our summer internships.  After all our weekends packed with trying to see everything Dubai has to offer, we finally felt it was time to relax during the days and make good use of the swimming pool at Emirates Academy. 

swimming in the desert, sailing around the world

This week I’ve become familiar with the Global Reporting Initiative in sustainability and how a number of businesses are taking part in GRI reporting.  It involved disclosing the social, economic and environmental performance; this allows for monitoring and displays transparency.  It’s a big step in the CSR field as it requires publicly disclosing your practices and performance, allowing you to benchmark with other businesses.  It was really interesting to attend a small conference on the subject and there was a great presentation from a UK firm who will be working on the report.  Another highlight was meeting with a student doing a dissertation on finding out whether CSR practices are demanded by the hotel guests and how better practices can add value to the company.  It will be interesting to find out their results as to whether hotel guests are actually concerned when choosing a hotel of CSR practices.  Is a guest staying at the Burj concerned about environmental practice as they arrive by helicopter?  In this respect it is interesting on finding ways to try and provide luxury without guilt, finding alternatives to ensure the business is acting responsibly.

We had a very special project as interns-to stay 2 nights at the luxurious and relaxing Bab Al Shams Desert Resort and Spa.  We all worked very hard on our tans and made great use of the infinity pool, where it would seem you can swim right into the heart of the desert. It was a great experience and fantastic of Peter’s department to arrange for us!

As if we weren’t spoiled enough this week we sailed around the world with my aunty, uncle and their very kind friends at the sailing club, who offered to take us along on their trip.  It was so peaceful to be out at sea and the views of Dubai were fantastic.  It was great to escape the feeling of being constantly surrounded by construction sites.  However, this didn’t last long. We soon discovered an island, which apparently wasn’t there a few weeks ago! 

Inevitably, like many of the other Saltire interns across the world, we too found ourselves in an Irish bar this weekend.  We went to meet a fellow Scot, Mr Stronach, who is the Executive Chef at Madinat and a serious Celtic fan! 

portraits and pirates (arg!)...

This week has been full of meetings and I’ve been learning more about carbon offsetting and some of the debates surrounding it. Carbon offsetting is a bit of a fad with businesses just paying for a ‘carbon neutral’ brand rather than changing their practices.  It’s an easy way out which Jumeirah aren’t taking which is good and are looking into changes of their practices which can reduce their carbon footprint.  Colleagues are strongly encouraged and rewarded to share ideas to improve things here and this is especially useful to corporate responsibility. It was great to read about a colleague whose environmental tips for the office had been recognized and will come into practice.

Also this week, we finally attended one of the orientation sessions with 80 other new colleagues. It was a great way to meet lots of people from all areas of Jumeirah.  We learnt more about cultural differences in the Middle East and played many team building games including the hilarious ‘who can put on the national dress within 60 seconds.’  It was a great experience and we met lots of interesting people. I got a bit of a shock to find that one of our colleagues had been drawing portraits of Peter and myself during a presentation-so we used his artistic skills to help us during the next team challenge.

Outside work we’re constantly discovering new sides to life in Dubai.  We went to a housewarming party with stunning views of the Dubai Marina and the harbor, a very glamerous place to live.   Also this weekend, my friend Eilidh arrived in Dubai to visit and break up her journey to Sri Lanka, where we’ve done a lot of projects with an orphanage there.  It was great fun to show her around Dubai and see a familiar face. I’m pleased she’ll send my wishes to the children there and let them know I’ll be over for my 4th trip soon enough, although it will be a flying one!  We met my aunty and uncle for a wonderful dinner at the sailing club, where we were unexpectedly joined by a local pirate (arg!), who has kindly offered to take us sailing next week.  Whilst it’s a daytrip, we’re hoping to venture around ‘the world’, anything’s possible in Dubai!

Half way already...

Jumeirah organized us a great tour of the magnificent Burj Al Arab, after seeing many pictures and video tours we were desperate to see it in person.  We went in the glass elevator to the Skyview bar where you really get a feel for how tall the Burj Al Arab is through the amazing views from the top; we even felt our ears pop in the lift! There was so much to see we wandered around being constantly amazed by it all.

This week I returned to Oasis Village, home to 6000 Jumeirah colleagues of 54 different nationalities.  I arranged a meeting with the Director of Accommodation, Colette, curious to find out more about how it all worked.  Dubai has a poor reputation for looking after lower grades of staff and providing unacceptable living and working conditions.  There is little protection for workers, often workers arrive in Dubai and have no other options but to accept these conditions.  However, I’ve heard that Oasis is known for being the best complex in Dubai.  This reflects well on Jumeirah and their values as there aren’t government regulations or pressures forcing them to provide decent accommodation, as there would be in the UK.  Speaking to Colette I understood that Jumeirah is concerned with colleague welfare and endeavor to create better conditions in the work and living environments.  I was told by another member of staff that many of the residents refer to Colette as a mother and Colette talks fondly of the residents also.  With a caring approach you are left with confidence that they are making a conscious effort to provide a good living environment for staff and I was impressed that they are constantly seeking ways to improve.  It was really interesting to hear about what activities they provide for staff, how all the different nationalities integrate and the challenges of trying to provide something for a diversity of interests.

On Friday we spent the day on the desert safari where we went dune bashing with a convoy of vehicles. It was great racing around the dunes and we weren’t sure how to respond to the ‘am I driving safely?’ on the sticker of the window which Beth and I had spent the whole trip trying to avoid getting concussion from!  After the dunes we went to a desert camp where we saw camels, smoked apple shisha, had a barbeque, got henna tattoos, tried on the national dress and watched some belly dancing.  Beth and I decided to take advantage of all the international films available to watch in the local mall’s cinema. We went to see the Bollywood movie ‘Singh is Kinng’, luckily English subtitles were provided to help us keep track of the story.  It was great fun, filled with colourful song and dance routines.  We’ll definitely be going to see another Bollywood film soon!

Ultimate Saltire t-shirt Pictures

After making it past security, Elizabeth and Catriona pop out of their taxi to don the beautiful Saltire t-shirts.  Thus creating the ultimate promotional photo of our 7 star internship experience.

sunbathing and skiing?!

Last weekend made us truly feel on holiday as we experienced some of the luxuries and adventures of Dubai living.  We began our long weekend with a few drinks at a bar.  To Beth’s and my surprise (and Peter’s envy)-it was Ladies Night-therefore free drinks for ourselves.  A great way to start the weekend although I can’t see ladies night catching on in Glasgow.  This was just the start of our weekend. 

On Thursday Beth, Peter and I all had our first ski lessons (in Dubai of all places!).  Whilst we were having a real giggle learning basics on the baby slopes-my Auntie Lianne was racing down the proper slopes gracefully.  I think we’ll be needing a bit more practice before we can make it look that effortless and I think I’ll need to work on my stopping skills some more!  Surprisingly, we all made it through the lesson without making use of our health insurance.  That evening we went to see Bob Sinclar at the World Trade Centre, it was a huge event with great atmosphere and made up for missing out on the UK summer festivals.  On Friday I watched Peter and Kieran go-karting, this could well be where a lot of Dubai’s driving habits arise from!   Saturday afternoon was spent relaxing on Marina beach-watching the camels go by. The weekends adventures ended trying to make it home with a taxi driver who insisted that ‘road closed’ signs didn’t mean ‘road closed’.  Rather, ‘drive around the signs and try not to end up in the excavations alongside the road’ and then having to turn around at the very end and come all the way back again!

After a weekend filled with adventures it was back to the office on Sunday morning for a new week.  It has been really interesting investigating some of the social problems in Dubai; cultural differences make some of the issues very different to the UK.  Charities can find it very difficult to get support from businesses when dealing with culturally sensitive issues.  Jumeirah seem willing to show their support in some interesting campaigns though, which is great.

  It was Peter’s 21^st birthday on Monday and Jumeirah organized a real treat for us.  Although Peter says he ‘eats like it’s his birthday everyday.’ I’m sure he’ll agree that dinner in the Madinat was something special.  We had such a magical evening, all dressed up and walking around the Madinat alongside the canals and having an amazing dinner at Segreto.

mall walking and moon sightings...

This week has vanished; we finished on the Wednesday as Thursday is a public holiday to mark Isra Wal Meraj, celebrating the ascension to heaven of Prophet Mohammed. Holidays catch you by surprise here as you have to wait for someone to announce them depending on sightings of the moon. 

I’ve been able to join Mohammed on some more meetings and participate in conferences this week.  This was a great opportunity to get out of the desert, meet people from various departments and share ideas how to bring CSR areas forward, whilst bearing in mind the affects on specific needs and capabilities.  They are really taking a united approach to ensure that responsibility is shared by all, this shows enthusiasm to ensure CSR is proactive throughout what they do.  This is key to move things further forward environmentally and socially, it’s exciting to be involved and discuss some very innovative ideas. 

We’ve finally got round to taking advantage of the gym in our apartment blocks, as the only exercise we’ve really done so far is ‘mall walking’.  Considering the size of the malls here though, it definitely deserves to be classed as a sport!  However, any health benefits of mall walking are always counteracted by Peter's doughnut addiction taking over the expedition :)

Another week full of adventures...

Corporate responsibility is really taking off in the Middle East now with more and more companies creating a department dedicated to it. Currently, Jumeirah just has the director Mohammed looking after it. As it is a fairly new department I’ve really been able to get involved at the heart of it all, there’s so much scope as its just beginning. I’ve attended a few environmental meetings this week which has been interesting with companies proposing services for carbon offsetting. There is very little pressure through regulation to ensure businesses are environmentally responsible here. However, a number of businesses are trying to set the mark and hopefully others will follow. I also got to attend a presentation at the UNICEF headquarters in Dubai, it was great to hear about all of their projects and discuss where Jumeirah could best help out with their future goals. It was a bit of an adventure getting there as Dubai is a huge construction site (with supposedly more construction workers than citizens) We left our office in the desert and ended up driving through a construction site with excavations either side and then eventually working our way through all the UN security. I handed in my drafts of the policy and the Help? volunteer proposal and am now working on some ideas for the staff accommodation complexes. I managed to have a wee look around Mina A Salam and Al Quasr at Madinat Jumeirah for a meeting and lunch which was really fun, they’re absolutely stunning. Got a bit of a surprise though, when we bumped into the CEO and the Executive Chairman at lunch. We weren’t introduced which led to a bit of a giggle all round when I asked which department the CEO was from! He is planning to meet us near the end of our trip which we’re all looking forward too.

Dubai looks very glamorous at night, so a colleague (who is not as terrified of the roads and crazy driving as we are!) took us on a wee cruise to the palm island and around Dubai Marina . We had lots of celebrations for Beths 21st at the weekend.  To finish off Beths birthday weekend Jumeirah sorted us out with some tickets for a trip to Wild Wadi Water Park. It was great fun and so nice to spend the day outside without toasting!

from Glasgow's summer to 52 degrees...

The first week has absolutely flown by; we’ve been made so welcome at work by everyone.  Saw a few camels on the way to work on our first day as we’re out in the desert.  I've been finding out more about Jumeirah, where they’re at involving corporate social responsibility and their goals with future projects.  There’s lots of really interesting things going on so I’m sure I’ll be kept busy for the next couple of months.  I’ve started work on creating their charity policy, which at first was a bit daunting!  However, it’s getting there which has given me a lot more confidence to apply what I’ve learned and practiced at uni.  I’m also looking forward to one of my next projects-setting up a forum called ‘Help?’ on the employee server, where employees can discuss voluntary work, search for placements/fundraisers or volunteers for projects/events.  There are also a lot of environmental projects beginning which I’ll be working alongside Beth on.

We’ve had a great week exploring Dubai, wandering several shopping malls (we’re lucky Peter hasn’t swapped us for camels yet with us dragging him around the shops!)  We’ve also had a couple of beach trips although it’s so hot it’s difficult to stay outside too long (it was 52 degrees on Monday). We met up with my auntie and uncle for dinner on Tuesday at the sailing club which was great to see some familiar faces.  We all entered a raffle there and I won 900 dirhams which is about 100 pounds.  It was a great surprise so I’m donating it to some charities I’ve worked with in Sri Lanka for the past few summers. A friend from the office took us out in Dubai on Thursday night which was great fun. On Saturday we went exploring the old textile, spice and gold souks then went on an abra trip.   The old souks are like being in a different world from Dubai’s malls and hotels.  We’ve been so busy this week, being thrown into Dubais’culture has been fascinating and we’ve adapted quickly. We’ve managed to get used to the 4am call to prayer now!  :)