Dubai Was a Blast!

During the week of March 30, 2014 I traveled to Dubai to deliver my CCDE Practical Bootcamp class. The above picture is our class photo from the week (I need to remember to do this for future classes). From left-to-right: Asad, Jeriel, Jeremy (me), Evgeny, Alexander, Hamed and Mazin. Only Hamed is a local… thank you for your hospitality! The rest traveled from Europe, Africa and the Middle East region to immerse themselves in a week of network design concepts, case studies and practice exams.
I had such a great time delivering the class that I am already planning to return to Dubai in early 2015 to teach it again. According to those who live in the area, the winter and early spring months are the best time to visit; the weather can get quite unbearable beginning in May. We hit highs of 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 C) while I was in town, which was quite a departure from the snow and ice of my hometown in the US. I couldn’t imagine trying to walk outside during the summer highs of 120 degrees F! If you are interested in attending my next Dubai class (likely January 18-23 or February 1-5, 2015) please email me and I will provide details as they become available.
As for leisure, I was able to find a bit of time in the evenings to visit the world’s largest mall and travel to the observation deck of the world’s tallest building. The Burj Khalifa is remarkably tall; I worked for some time in New York City and became accustomed to living among the skyscrapers. Even the new Liberty Tower in Manhattan does not tower over neighboring buildings in quite the same way as the Burj Khalifa. I was also able visit the Madinat Jumeirah resort and meet up with Sam, a previous student and active CCDE who lives in Dubai. Dubai is an impressive location to hold a class; I am looking forward to returning!
Thank you once more to those who attended this class, and good luck to all my friends and students who are planning to take the CCDE practical exam in May! If you’d like to learn more about my online training, please visit http://www.jeremyfilliben.com/p/self-paced-ccde-practice-exam-training.html. If you would like to attend my next CCDE bootcamp in the US, visit http://www.jeremyfilliben.com/p/ccde-practical-bootcamp.html.