The Cast of Characters In Dubai

I feel blessed to be travelling with such a great group of people from Kennesaw State University. There are eight of us, and all but one are MBA students.

The exception to the rule is the beautiful and talented Renee Newton. Renee just turned 21 the day before we left for Dubai, and she is a junior business major at KSU. She grew up in Canton and has an amazing spirit for exploring and learning, it's as striking as her fabulous red hair.

Yoko Okino is an international student from Japan, and she is concentrating in Finance within her MBA program. Yoko came to the US because of her husband's job, he works in pharmacuetical sales. She loves Atlanta and we are sad that she will be moving to New Jersey soon as her husband has been transferred again for work. However, the good news is they are planning on returning home to Japan in a few years, which means their 5-year-old son will get the benefits of being raised in both countries.

Matthew Buckner works full-time at a carpet manufacturing company while pursuing his MBA, and he is both kind and responsible in both his work and his studies. His smile lights up the room, and his fascination with learning about middle eastern cultures is driven in part by the many friends he has from Persia/Iran. Matthew is always a great source of comic relief, most of the time not intentionally, which makes it even funnier! I explored the Spice & Gold Souks with Matthew and Krista [that's another story all it's own] and I have to say that we laughed so hard, I bet the shop vendors thought we were drunk, nuts or a little of each.

Krista Czerwinski is originally from Minnesota, and came to KSU to complete her MBA on a full scholarship after spending several years in Central & South America as a Peace Corps volunteer. Krista is a kindred soul of mine -- she always looks at the world in terms of what she can learn from it, and I love the graceful and gentle way that she reaches out to people. She's also a runner and huge fan of the outdoors. I'm hoping to introduce her to my friends in the OACS outdoors club when we get home so she can meet some more people of like minds while she's here in Georgia.

Erol Aydin is originally from Turkey, but immigrated to the US along with 40 other members of his family over the past 15 years. He runs a successful car dealership in Atlanta while completing his MBA, and already has a degree in Engineering from a university in Turkey. Erol is Muslim, and that comes in handy while we are touring Dubai because he's able to explain a lot of things to us that we don't know about the daily prayer calls, Muslim customs and traditions and what to expect in a mosque. Erol is also addicted to his video camera -- we often have to drag him out of shops, alleyways and other random places that will forever be captured on film now that he's been there. LOL!!

Rumbi Moyo is an MBA student at Kennesaw who actually received a partial scholarship to participate in our trip to Dubai. She previously studied at Xavier University in New Orleans, and she is the resident glamour queen of the group. We could all learn something about the beautiful way she lights up a picture or the fervor with which she explores the mall. :) Rumbi's family is also from Africa and she's been so excited to see influences from Africa such as peri-peri restaurants and other cultural mixes here in Dubai.

Dr. Radwan Ali rounds out the group and somehow manages to keep us all from getting lost and on track for our busy itinerary. It's been wonderful to see how much he's enjoying the plans he put together in 2009 as they are coming together this week. He's also the best reference for Arabic translations and food suggestions as he is Palestinian, and has family here in the UAE. We are going to dinner with his nephew in Abu Dhabi tomorrow evening.

Stay tuned for more stories ..... if I ever have enough time to get back on the computer!