Why traveling is always an enlightening experience

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When I was in the fifth grade, my last year of Catholic Community school in Baltimore city, I used to sit in church almost every other day and just look around at all the students and think why are we here?

Why do we sing to and ask someone we have never met, and never will meet, for peace and good health? I never felt comfortable in church and only went because school and my grandmother forced me to for years.

This morning I received an email from Emirates offering a round-trip and hotel package from Dulles to Dubai at a discounted rate. OH PLEASE CAN I GO?

One small step for Muslim women- adding to the equality fight around the world.

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The treatment of women in Islam is another hot topic springing up about the Islamic religion while the world watches ISIL in the Middle East.

View of Dubai from the Burj Khalifa. Taken by TU Student/ Kayla Baines.

Even in modern Musim countries such as the United Arab Emirates, women are treated as second class citizens- and I, as a tourist, have experienced this.

Over this past summer, while ISIS was making its way down Iraq-headed toward Baghdad- I was in Dubai and Cyprus.

This year was the first time I was lucky enough to visit a majority Muslim country and also go to the Turkish occupied side of Cyprus.

Another brief introduction

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burjkhalifa, DXB, introduction, journalism, masscommunications, student, towsonuniversity

(Me with the Burj Khalifa in Dubai)

Hi, my name is Kayla Baines and I am starting my third year at Towson University!

My major is Mass Communications with a track in journalism and my minor is international studies.

I hope to one day perfect my spanish skills and learn another language or two so I can easily accomplish my life long goal of traveling everywhere and anywhere and living abroad.

Besides being a full time student, I have two jobs that keep me busy! And I am also a huge dog person…

I am forever happy to be back on my blog for another semester at Towson and cannot wait to see what my studies lead me to for the next two years!