Today was not our most exciting day in the UAE. As our work week started, we faced the reality (after an incredible weekend) that we needed to get a ton of work done on our presentation. This was made more challenging and more fun at the same time given that our work day began and many of our friends in Europe and the US were posting and messaging us about their raging Saturday nights. 8:30am here is 12:30am back in Ohio, and 5:30 or 6:30am across Europe… wait, some of the European teams were out that late?? Regardless, the plan for tomorrow is to meet with the company’s CEO and CFO to share our ideas. While we had been working diligently last week, the Powerpoint deck had not been flushed out. So, today was spent hammering out the granular details of the slides, revising, discussing, revising again, and discussing even more.
For all those thinking that these trips are all fun and no work, this is definitely not the case, and today was proof. We worked from 8:30am until 7pm, and then worked again later tonight – all of this from the confines of our condo and the Caribou on the first floor of our building. Tomorrow will be the first day we actually go to the office and we are pretty excited about it – cabin fever during the work day set in days ago.
As we had some serious discussions, one thing lightened the mood again and again. We found pictures of Travis going down Poseidon’s Revenge at Atlantis yesterday (for those just tuning in, it is the craziest water slide in the world – you enter the ride standing up, the floor drops from under your feet and it’s virtually a straight vertical drop). There was something unusual about these pictures though. While all of us smiled in our pictures right before the floor opened, the next shot was always our faces in a panic as we dropped. With Travis, this was not the case. See for yourself, absolutely hilarious – or maybe it’s the cabin fever again, you tell me. The picture made all of us wonder if he has a pulse? No fear. Travis has been our wildcard throughout the trip. He may be a man of few words, but when the opportunity strikes, he’s down for the challenge: eating lamb brain, hot dog and french fry pizza, buying native attire to wear around town, or flying a quadricopter down the beach (possibly running surveillance operations – but we aren’t sure), you just never know with him. I’m starting to think he is Chuck Norris’ lost son. Either way, he has helped all of us feel more engaged in the culture.
Pic 1 – before the floor opened, Pic 2 – already has fallen 2 ft., Pic 3 – captured from a different time down the slide, almost out of view, dropped about 4 ft. – – Still no change in facial expression the whole time.
Munching on brain
Sand boarding in his new gear.
Enjoying hot dog and french fries pizza.
Travis with his quadricopter on the beach. Trying to do some recon work. It was pretty cool.
Anyway, we hope to have more exciting stories to share about our venture into the UAE business world tomorrow and the after work excursions we plan to have.
Off The Grid MBA 