So on the night that my Florida Gators lost to the Georgia Bulldogs, I was reminiscing about my years at undergrad and how much the school has changed. Then it hit me, wow, I’m old AF (as fudge/fish/Freud). As many of you know, I started this blog while living Beijing, China in the mid 2010s, however, I ended up working about 6-7 days a week doing freelance work for my company (cha-ching!), so I didn’t have much time to keep up with this blog.

Since then, I’ve moved back to the States to give my hair a break from Beijing’s pollution, find a husband and get a PhD. Of that trifecta, only one aim has worked out — I’m now a blonde with amazing curls. Go figure. With that said, I’m currently enrolled in a graduate public administration problem (side focus in cybersecurity), and my research focus so far has been the spatial mismatch between low-income housing and affordable transportation. But maybe you don’t care. You don’t have to, I suppose.

Moving on, I found I missed writing about my experiences simply for the sake of doing so, even if no one reads. I wouldn’t be surprised as I have no idea how to use WordPress so my page setup could be more streamlined (on my Winter Break to-do list). Anyway, since coming back, I’ve still been traveling and musing about my last trip being Dubai during Ramadan… and my next trip to Guatemala upcoming.  Unfortunately, I slept though Dubai (shoutout to the JW Marriott Marquis hotel for being awesome — highly recommend!),but Guatemala (and Belize) will be the first trip on this page revival. And I’ll have a real camera. See you then! Feel free to follow my IG: @jaycreatesalpha

-Jay

Dubai was hot as fish grease. Still trying to figure out why I went in July.

“At the Top Hostel” – Great prices. Basic breakfast. Acceptable landscape views. TERRIBLE wi-fi. Okay location. Prepping for the trip, I was wondering if my pants would be too tight but I was fine the whole trip. No weird looks. 😉

 

Mall of Emirates – GREAT wifi. One of the few places you can buy food in the daytime (note the privacy walls erected so the view of us heathens eating food during Ramadan is obstructed):

 

 

 

Day trip to Abu Dhabi to visit the Grand Sheikh Zayed Mosque (one of the few mosques open to the public). They provide abayas and head scarves, but I wore a man’s scarf bc I knew it was clean since i’d just bought it. 🤷‍♀️