Recap of Field Trip 🐪

Our field trip to the Dubai Museum and The Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding was a fantastic time for everyone, as we enjoyed a rainy (!!), overcast day, a smooth trip, and plenty of hands-on learning. 

Together with Ms. Olivia's Class (3OP), we first visited the Dubai Museum where we explored the traditional weapons, music, and artifacts, then the underground "souk" area, which was just fascinating. The children were impressed to see the "Mannequin Challenge" (and "creepy") statues set up as they would've been in the not-too-distant past. It was particularly interesting to visit the pearl diving exhibit, as we recently read The Pearl Diver by Julia Johnson, a captivating fictional account based on real events. 

The class was also intrigued to see ancient findings from excavations of Jumeirah, Al Barsha, and Bur Dubai, as they included skeletons (eek!), as well as pottery, jewelry, and weapons from 3,000 B.C. 

After the museum, we went around the corner (by bus) to the historical neighborhood of Bastikiya and the Al Fahidi District in Bur Dubai.  We arrived, only to be greeted by a Bedouin with his pet falcon! The children loved it and made remarks like, "That was my first time ever seeing a real falcon!" They were so adorable to watch.

Then, we meandered our way through the maze of traditional homes to the cultural center where the students removed their shoes and entered the majlis area of a relatively old (1941) traditional wind-tower Emirati villa. 

Ms. Guiliana was our host and did an excellent job teaching the students about Emirati and Bedouin culture, customs, and life in the past. 

Then, we happily moved onto the next event, which was drinking Arab coffee (with lightly roasted Arabic coffee beans, cardamon and saffron), eating delicious dates and finally, enjoying a traditional meal. The children seemed to love the main course, especially the dessert, however, some did not particularly prefer the coffee as you will see from their expressions in the photos. :) 

While our class was downstairs, Ms. Olivia's class was upstairs painting.

Can liked it! 

Mariam and Sarah were terrific sports and seemed to like dressing up. :) 

After lunch, we went next door to enjoy tile painting on the roof! The setting was just beautiful--an old room with high ceilings and old wooden doors, which were open to the elements. The students were given an introduction about this type of painting, then set to work on their creations as classic Arabic music played softly in the background. The children so enjoyed the experience and seemed so relaxed. 

It was truly a fantastic day of hands-on learning that we will all remember for a long time to come. I hope you will enjoy these photos of our special day.