London 2011

I just returned from a vacation in London.

The trip was a result of a change in my schedule.  I never have control of my schedule.  Originally, the plan was to go home during the Eid break and move my household goods and collect my wife.  As things typically go, my schedule changed and it appears that I am needed in the States for a meeting in late September or early October, so my "move" is delayed again.

For the break, we decided to meet halfway in London.

Not knowing what to expect, I would say it was one of the best vacations I've had in a long while.

We spent 8 days walking around London to see the sights and just having fun hanging out.

Got to see my wife after eight weeks and do what we like to do - drink beer.



Saw some strange street performers.





Took a tour of the city





Had a nice breakfast at a French Bakery behind the hotel.




Visited Westminster Abby



Learned about the Household Guard and became fascinated with them.

Saw more interesting street performers

Lots of Monuments to wars past.

Did some shopping at Harrod's - well sorta

Ate a typical English Breakfast - Double...

Got a tour of the Tower of London by a Beefeater.

Saw amazing views from the top of St. Pauls Cathedral

Saw a 3000 year old monument - a gift from Cleopatra to the City of London 

Saw amazing views from the London Eye

Visited the Queen at her weekend home at Windsor Castle

Saw serious young men with serious weapons!

Took a lot of pictures of Big Ben (Windsor Clock Tower, Ben is the Bell)

  



Went to Abbey Road - Mecca for Beatles Fans



Not to mention - Covent Garden, National Gallery, two plays - Momma Mia and The Kitchen; Picadilly Circus, dinner with a friend, countless pubs including Salisbury, Sherlock Holmes, The Clarence, Horse & Groom and the Ship and Shovel (say that 10 time fast) - had a beer with another friend, rode the Tube (or the London Underground), Buckingham Palace, took a train ride to the town of Windsor and several cab rides.

Arabian Sands

August 22, 2011

I just completed the book Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger.

It was recommended to me by our former regional president as a way to understand the Arab.  The book is a slow start and in the end it does paint a wonderful picture of the bedouin arabs that traveled around the peninsula in the middle of the last century before oil became prevalent and the wealth of the region changed the culture.

When I first started to write this entry I wasn't sure what to write about and what the book meant to me.  As I was driving back to the apartment tonight I saw a billboard for the Qatar Film Festival in October.  On the billboard there were images of what I would imagine was the typical Arab in the time of Thesiger's writings.  A presumably lost culture as the result of oil discovery and the impact it has had in this part of the world.

The result of the wealth from oil has taken a tribal culture and changed it in many ways, most notably to me it has created a sense of entitlement far beyond what I would have expected.  It has also created a very complex life for the Arabs.  The country is a state that is based in a conservative muslim tradition, with the impact of westerners converging on them to build the country.

Christians are infidels in the book and should be restricted from entering the country at a minimum, but death was often threatened if Thesiger went into an area without the proper permissions.  I often wonder if the feeling today is the same towards the expats who are here to help the country realize its vision.  We are looked down upon as infidels, only here to deliver a product or service because of the money available.

Qatar and the greater Arab world is a strange and complex place.  Thesiger's book does provide a romantic view of the bedu culture before oil arrived.  The world I am experiencing now is the result of the impact the oil wealth has and is having on this culture.

Thesiger feared this change in his book and I would say his fears have come true.

How to Read a Book

One of the benefits of living in Qatar by myself I have a lot of time to do the things I can never get to.  Reading and watching movies is a simple pleasure in life and I never make time to do either.  Well the long flights to Qatar and the quiet nights allow me to do both.

Recently, I picked up a book recommended several years ago by a proffessor of mine at the University of Baltimore.

How to Read a Book. The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading.

by Mortimer J. Adler

I just finished this book.

Everytime I told my wife that I was reading the book she would laugh and say that is funny.  You are reading a book on "How to Read a Book"!  It does seem funny, but the subject matter was engaging and in the end it is a very practical book and it was fun to read.  I would recommend the book to anyone looking for knowlege in books.

Mortimer Adler was a philosopher who found active and structured reading a requirment in learning and using the knowledge to make learned opinions on the information gathered.

The book is presented in four parts that are summarized below.

Key to the structure he provided in the book is the fifteen steps in performing analytical reading:

1. The first Stage of Analytical Reading: Rules for finding out what a book is about.
• Classify the book according to the kind and subject matter
• Stat what the whole book is about with the utmost brevity
• Enumerate its major parts in their order and relation, and outline these parts as you have outlined the whole.
• Define the problem or problems the author has tried to solve.
2. The second Stage of Analytical Reading: Rules for interpreting a Books Contents
• Come to tems with the author by interpreting his key words.
• Grasp the authors leading propositions by dealing with his most important sentences.
• Know the author's arguments by finding them in, or constructing them out of, sequences of sentences
• Determine which of his problems the author has solved, and which he has not; and of the latter, decide which the author knew he had failed to solve.
3. The third stage of Analytical Reading: Rules for Criticizing a Book as a Communication of Knowledge.
• General Maxims of Intellectual Etiquette
• Do not begin criticism until you have completed your outline and your interpretation of the book.
• Do not disagree disputatiously or contentiously.
• Demonstrate that you recognize the difference between knowledge and mere personal opinion by presenting good reasons for any critical judgement you make.
• Special Criteria for Points of Criticism
• Show wherin the author is uninformed
• Show wherin the author is misinformed
• Show wherin the author is illogical
• Show wherin the author's analysis or account is incomplete.

Adler also provides an outline for how to read practical books (such as this one), imaginative literature, stories, plays, and poems; history (interesting he encourages to keep in mind that history is written long after the fact and often romanticises the period; also autobiographies and biographies are from a single point of view and tends to make the person appear favorable); science and mathematics; philosopy; and finally social science.

The book concludes with a section on syntopical reading, wherein the reader is studying a particular topic by reading/researching several books.

Finally, the book concludes with a recommended reading list and exercises to demonstrate how to apply what is taught in this "practical" book.

I found the book very enjoyable and would recommend it to any serious reader.  I hope I live long enough to read the "recommended" list.

Qatar - August 8, 2011

I have been in Qatar since June 30th.  I guess it has been five weeks since I left the States.

You could say a lot has happened since I've gotten here and in some cases, not much has happened.  Over the past two weekends I've gone to Abu Dhabi to meet our Project Director there and to Dubai to meet our project director on the Dubai Metro as well as finish a proposal due today in Qatar.

The trips gave me a chance to do two things.  One, and most importantly is connecting with the local staff and understand their personalities and issues.  Try to make that connection and help develop solutions to their problems.

The issues both have are finding the right staff willing to come to the region for the right price.  I need to understand the barriers for those folks, whether it is an HR issue, salary, housing, etc.  I know this is solvable, but I need to engage with them.

The second benefit of leaving Doha over the past two weekends is getting out of Doha for a day or two.  Primarily, this is a small town with little to do outside of work - for me.  If I'm here I'm working.  By going to the other locations I can still work, but it is a diversion from the routine.

The biggest issue I need to solve (or at least mitigate) is how to make sure this assignment is as equally rewarding for my wife.  Now that she has left her job to prepare for her move, the question of "What am I going to do when I get there?" comes up more and more every time we talk.  I have directed her to the typical expat wives websites .

Qatar July 26th, 2011

Have almost been here a month and I've got a month to go before I go home and collect my bride.

We (my bride and I) are getting serious about our discussions regarding her move.  What to bring, how to pay our bills from here, timing of events at home and in Qatar.  It is an exciting, but scary time for both of us.

On the apartment front, I've bought everything I am going to buy before she gets here, except the furniture for the balcony.  I have been to the Home Centre and Carrefour to look at their wooden tables.  I think the Home Centre store will win.

On the project front, our regional president made a site visit to the one project we are managing in Qatar.  I'm sure it was a tick in the box that he visited the site and talked to senior staff.  After he left the Project Director and I sat down and started to map out the teaming requirements for the Doha Metro.  Wow.  What a powerful discussion for me.  It is amazing what can come pouring out of one person when the energy is right.  It is also amazing how two people can collaborate when a common goal is at hand.

I am really looking forward to this exercise and see how it plays out with teaming and winning work in Doha.

Qatar - July 23rd

I've been here 23 days now.  Just completed the third week.

So much happens in a day, much less three weeks.

I'm committed to making this a daily habit, so to catch up a bit I'll just recap as best I can what the last three weeks included.

I am settled into the apartment.
Cleaning is done by two guys every Saturday morning from 7-9. They do a fabulous job and all I have to do is watch.  Four weeks costs 340QAR or just under $100.  Nice.

I go to the Lusail project at least twice a week.  I'm trying to help our PD stay focused on the basics as well as learn and help with the issues on the project.

I have been going to the gym hit or miss over the last three weeks, but I'm proud to say I've been there everyday for the last six.  I am working on the 0 to 5K  Podrunner Intervals by DJBeatsmith every other day and on the off days I do the bike or elliptical.  I must say the treadmill seems to go faster, but both the bike an elliptical are fine after the first 15 minutes.  I have been doing the weight machines the days I do the treadmill.  My goal is to lose 40 pounds or about 20Kg.  There is a backstory to that and maybe one day I'll share it.

Yesterday I got to the point that I felt like I didn't have a lot of running to do to get  cable, internet or furniture so I took a ride to find the Catholic church.  I found the church and went to the 7:30p mass.  I must say the church is beautiful, but the kneelers are a bit hard on these American knees.  I think I was the only white face there - lots of Indians and Philipinos.  I'll add pictures later.

Today I'm grocery shopping and looking for balcony furniture, maybe I'll by a scale too.

Return to Qatar - Frustrations and successes and a cool tour

July 10, 2011

I left the U.S. on June 29th and arrived in Doha late on the 30th.  The down fall of the 14 hours of travel against the sun.  You lose fourteen hours in time and 7 time zones which equates to 21 hours of your life.  It is not all lost.  I spent 90 minutes in London Heathrow, which gave me a much needed chance to stretch my legs and get a cup of Starbucks.

I landed in Doha at 9:30p.m. picked up my car and went right to Carrefour to pick up some groceries and head to my appartment.  Make the bed and grab some sleep.  Of course, after 21 hours of travel (so to speak) the body isn't ready.  Tylenol PM to the rescue.

Six Week Summary - what I did on my summer vacation

Today is June 28th.  I left Doha on May 19th for home.

During the last six weeks I spent a lot of time with my family and working on the Visa requirements to obtain a residency permit.  I didn't accomplish much else.

May 22nd.  One of the proudest of many proud moments was watching my youngest son - Joshua, graduate from College.  His many academic accomplishments and accolades received from school are a bit overwhelming.  I know this kid will go on to do great things.

While he doesn't know what his future holds, after graduation he found out he was accepted to Drexel's Bio-Medical Science PhD program and interviewed for a job at EA Sciences.  All indications are he'll go to school, but sure would like to know the outcome of the interview.  It was fun helping him prepare for the interview.

On June 11th at 11am another proud moment in the Harrison family occured.  My oldest son Gavin married the beautiful Kimberly Comes.  A true story book romance that only Harford County could produce.  Two kids grew up doing very similar things - same chureh, same elementary school (for a couple of years), same job in high school, met and dated and finally married.  It was a beautiful day.  I am very proud of my son and daughter in law.

In between I did some work:

May 23rd we had a division meeting to prepare for the upcoming Ops meeting presentation .

June 3rd I met with WMATA to close the book on the work we did regarding the Metro Matters project.  The client seemed satisfied with our presentation.

June 8th we presented to the Ops meeting.  The meeting went long because our division has a lot of things going on in our market.  Qatar being one of the topics of discussion resulted in an assignment to develop our strategy moving forward.

Doctors stuff:
The visa requires a physical along with HIV and Hepatitis B testing.  This took three trips to the doctor along with a trip to the lab for testing.

When visting with the doctor we discussed snoring that is causing my wife to complain.  It is a situation that apparently many men are facing in my age group.  Wives who can't take it any longer.

The doctor sent me to an ENT doc, who in turn sent me for a Sleep Study.  More on that later.

Yesterday my wife and I spent most of the day gathering stuff together to pack for my move on June 29th (tomorrow).  I'm up to three suitcases and counting.  She commented that with all I packed the closet still looked full.  Gotta get rid of some of this stuff.

Time to pick it up again

I haven't posted anything in a while.

Since my last post I've traveled to Doha with my wife for her look see, took her to Dubai to attend the UITP confernce and brought her home.

While we were there we found an apartment and picked out some furniture.  When I went back the furniture we picked out was unavailable and I was left to pick out some new stuff.

I've since returned to the US - on May 19th to attend my son Joshua's college graduation from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA. and my oldest son's, Gavin, wedding on June 11th.  Both are monumental moments for parents.  These two men make me very proud.

I am returning to Doha, Qatar on June 29th.  The travel plan is a bit different from the last three trips as I am flying out of BWI airport on British Airways instead of the Qatar Airways flight out of Dulles.

The reason for the extended stay, beyond the family events was to present my findings to our operations committee regarding the Qatar Integrated Rail Plan and to take care of personal business regarding my Visa.

Future postings will update the PROCESS for getting the visa.

Doha - Round 2

April 5, 2011

Getting ready for Doha Round 2.

This trip is a little bit more organized, but yet a bit disorganized.

Cathy and I are heading out tomorrow evening on the Qatar Airways non-stop from Dulles to Doha.  It is a long ride - 12 hours long.  We drop our bags in Doha and head to Dubai on Sunday for the UITP conference until Wednesday and then back to Doha.

The purpose of the trip, of course, is to further develop my presence in Qatar and pursue the rail projects there.

The primary purpose of the trip is to allow Cathy an opportunity to see the area and get comfortable with the idea of living in the region for the next 2-3 years.

I hope it goes well and we can move on from here.

I'll keep you posted.

Happy St. Patricks Day

Worked from home yesterday. Had a settlement on a home equity loan. The bank is around the corner from my favorite Irish Pub - Sean Bolans in Bel Air, MD.

I love the bag pipes, except for the constant tone from the bag.

March 16th - The world is small

Once again the world has shrunk.

Two days ago the Chief Operating Officer of the Florida Rail Enterprise announced he is leaving his post to assume a similar post in Qatar.

A long time client of ours, Nazih will be a familiar face in the region.

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2011/03/rail-enterprise-leader-is-leaving-florida-department-of-transportation-.html

Day 22 – Thursday, March 10th

Happy day today.  Going home.  I am so excited, but not anxious.  I have a fourteen hour flight, a funeral and a managers meeting to look forward to.  I think the flight will be the best part.  I arrive in DC at 2:30.  I figure with customs, baggage and transport to my car I’ll hit the DC beltway and 95 right at rush hour.  I’ll just keep focused and think about a Sean Bolans for dinner.

As always there is a story to tell at the airport.  In Doha and Dubai when you get to the airport you have to have your checked baggage x-rayed and the zippers tapped.  OK, line one and passport check number one.  I went to the US flight counter to drop my bags.  Large bag overweight, 3KGs.  Can’t open my bag to shift the weight.  Zipper is sealed and would require going through x-ray again.  Pay the overweight charge of 60 bucks, but not here sir you have to go to the cashier.  After you pay your bill, he’ll give you the boarding pass.  Yes, I’ll take your bags now, but you have to pay over there.

Next stop passport control.  Lovely lady in a burka, no personality.  Third check of my passport.  Go through security, no sir you don’t have to take your computer out, or your shoes off.  Just remove your jacket please.  Go through scanner, fourth check of passport.

You have to pass through the duty free shop on your way to the gate, similar to Disney, but before the ride.  Why is everyone around the booze and electronics?  Nobody is looking at jewelry or the perfume.  Must say something about the world.

Stop to call the wife, have to make sure she is ok.  She’s watching American Idol and I’m keeping her from it.  Ok sweetie, love you.  I’m getting something for breakfast, hmmm.  Food court has a nice sign, but the food looks like lunch.  Go to another food court.  It looks like a school cafeteria.  Ok we’ll have a muffin, banana and oh the coffee looks like instant coffee – I’ll have the Lipton tea, no milk.  I’ve got plenty of time.  Eat breakfast, enjoy the tea, watch planes take off and land.  Boarding is at 7:20, its 7:05 better go find my gate.  Where is gate 15?  Sir, you have to go down past gate 14 and make a left.  Ok.  OMG.  There is a second security screening.  Of course, I get in the slow line.  Will I make my flight.  Wait in line, another passport and boarding pass check.  Fifth check since I got to the airport.

Drop bag on conveyor.  Sir, please remove your computer from the bag, take off your shoes, coat and belt – I’m heading home, I’ve got to take off my shoes.  Sixth passport check.  Get pat down after screening.  Get in line at the end of conveyor with the masses to collect my stuff.

Get in another line.  Observation 90% of the people in this line is Indian.  I know most of the workers in Doha are Pilipino or Indian, but damn.  Seventh passport check.  Down escalator to the bus.  People coming faster then the bus could fill.  People starting to stack up at the bottom of the escalator.  Mass confusion.  Finally get to the head of the line, another passport check – eight times in all.  Bus to the plane.  Go to my seat – hey this isn’t the one I selected when I checked in on line last night.

Oh well, I’ll be home today.

Day 21 – Tuesday, March 8th.

I went to the office in the morning in anticipation of seeing the “new” office.  Our local office is moving in to a modern facility in a couple of months.  The visit was supposed to be part of the executive tour, but it didn’t happen.

As luck would have it I was able to set up a last minute meeting with a local telecom company manager.  As with the other meetings I got a lot of advice on how to approach business and living in Doha.  The meeting was at the Four Seasons hotel.  This seems to be one of the common locations for folks to meet.  He agreed to look for ways for our two companies to work together.

While I was at that meeting I got a message from the PM from our airport project.  One of the contractors wants to move his scope from one PM company to our company.  I got a ride from the Four Seasons to the Intercon where he was having his meeting.  Amazing two back to back meetings at two different hotels.  It was a good meeting and another opportunity to meet others working in the region.  At the meeting two of our senior executives joined us.  At the end of the meeting, our regional president asked me how I was doing.  I’m fine I said.  He asked again.  I told him I’ve spent the last three weeks getting my feet under me and absorbing as much as I can.  He asked me to be patient and told me it took him two years to feel like he had hit critical mass in the region.  Two years, this is really going to be interesting.  I’m heading back to the states tomorrow.  Should  make for an interesting conversation with Mrs. You know who. 

The day was spent in the office day.  Caught up on expenses and spent the day compiling notes and preparing for the trip home.  The biggest issue was the overhead proposal.  Our production numbers are way down from the projections for the current year.  I think the recession has finally hit our business.  We are going to have to make cuts in areas that only hurt the business in the future.

I called the Siemens manager to find out what he knows about the Education City project.  No news.  He did tell me he was closing the deal on his Porsche and would be taking me for a ride when I return to Doha.

Back at the office I cleaned up some last minute stuff and went to the hotel to pack.

I went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant.  I ordered the shrimp fajitas.  They musta been tiger prawns, complete with the head.  The damn things looked like baby arms laying there.  It was good.  No complaints.

Day 20 – Monday, March 7th.

The focus today is to get the proposal done.  The team has too many people and they still don’t have focus, too many cooks in the kitchen.  We are making progress, but it is slow.

The big event today was lunch with senior executives visiting the region.  Of course, we ate at the Intercontinental hotel  - this time it was the Greek Restaurant.  Our office manager ordered the food.  Bring us some appetizers, lamb chops, kabobs, potatoes and desert.  OMG.  They brought one of each appetizer for three people (there were 12 people in total), 8 healthy lamb chops for each four people, same on kabobs (chicken and beef) a bowl of potatoes – we had to tell them to stop bringing food.  Finally, they brought desert.  Everyone got a cup of ice cream, piece of baklava and there were several plates of cut fruit put on the table.  No need for dinner tonight.

I had several Monday routine calls with the office in DC which extended the day.  In between calls my mother called to tell me my step father passed away.  She seemed relieved.  When you don’t know what the future holds in that situation it becomes very stressful.

Since there is no dinner tonight I thought I’d help the digestion by going to the gym and spending some time on the treadmill.  It felt good.

Day 19 – Sunday, March 6th.

Sunday is the beginning of the work week in the Middle East.  I spent the day at the office, nothing of real significance. The usual conference calls with the proposal team.  Sunday is quiet because the US is not working.  Actually with the 8 hour difference in time the Middle East works two days before they hear from the US.  Not that folks aren’t available, but if you want to have a meeting access is limited until late on Monday.  Something to get used to and keep in mind as we move forward with the assignment.

Another dinner at the Souq Waqif, another grill, but this time I sampled the hammour.  Hammour is a white fish common to the area.  You can find it on every menu.  It was nice to get out of the hotel for dinner.

The day has had its drama.  My step father has had cancer for the last 18 months.  It seems he is in his final moments.  He is home with home hospice care, but he is having anxiety attacks and apparently has tried to get out of bed several times, but in his weak state needs help to stand.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t there to support the family.

Day 18 – Saturday, March 5th.

Having nothing to do today I decided to sleep in, eat breakfast late and go in to the office.  I finally caught up on the reading I’ve wanted to do since I arrived.  Only wanting to be in the office for a couple of hours I ended up working half a day.  Oh well, I hope my wife decides to join me.  I don’t think I can survive like this.

Every business trip I pack gym clothes.  It has only taken 15 days to get to the gym.  I wanted to walk on the treadmill, but they were all taken.  The trainer put me on the elliptical.  The biggest challenge was figuring out how to change channels on the built in TV and adjust the volume.  The trainer saw me struggling and helped me sort it out.  I must have looked awkward doing the elliptical and trying to figure out the TV.

Another manager in the region arrived today so we sampled the hotel wine bar.  It is a tapas restaurant.  If you spend a certain amount (which I don’t recall) you can get a bottle of wine at the market price.  Eat up fellas we need the discount.

Day 17 – Friday, March 4th.

Made friends with the HR guy sent to town to troubleshoot our issues with hiring and getting visas for our ex-pat employees.  It is amazing how bad it can be when you don’t have the right person driving the process.  Our current HR guy has no motivation and paperwork apparently doesn’t move.   Hopefully this guy will make a difference.  We need it.

I had a breakfast meeting with a business man who is the son of a former Ambassador and a cousin of a fellow employee.  It is interesting to get the perceptions and thoughts of people who do business in this country.  Nothing is straight forward.  Everything requires patience a in many cases the right partner.  As with the other meetings everyone is helpful with business and personal questions.

After the meeting I took a cab to the Intercontinental hotel and looked at the apartments. One and two bedroom apartments are available there.  I’m convinced it’ll take a two bedroom to provide enough space to keep my wife and I from killing each other.

Met up with my friend from HR and went to the City Center mall.  I picked up a few things including a “top up” card for my phone and walked most of the mall.  It is truly a very large mall.  It has multiple Starbucks stores, so you know it is big.  Not as big as the malls in Dubai, but impressive non the less.

We went back to the Intercontinental for dinner.  The hotel has a nice Mexican restaurant, the food was good and the beer better.  Damn it’s expensive though.

Day 16 – Thursday, March 3rd

Spent the day in the office compiling my notes from the last two days.  Nothing of significance to talk about today.  It is the end of the week and I’m looking at my second full weekend in the country.  I have a meeting in the morning, but I will spend the rest of the day looking at apartments and living options.

Day 15 – Wednesday, March 2nd

As I mentioned earlier we have a team in Dubai putting a proposal together for a project in Doha.  The team has limited understanding of the project and what the site conditions are, etc.  We flew them in to Doha and rented a van to tour the alignment.  Basically, we walked the whole 10KM alignment.  A lot of construction is currently going on and we wondered in to areas we weren’t welcome.  One site on the alignment was next to the UAE Embassy.  As we were poking around a guard with an AK 47 started to walk towards us, whoops.  Sorry sir, we really meant to walk in the other direction.  Seven white guys with engineering drawings, cameras and note pads.  I wonder what he was thinking.

Took the boys on a short tour of the other project sites in the city and had a meeting over lunch. 

Two days in the field just took it out of me.  I’ll sleep well tonight.

Day 14 – Tuesday, March 1st.

Can’t believe it is March already.

All day meeting and tour with a US construction firm assessing the market in Qatar and their entry strategy.  Good meeting, tour was capped with a site visit to Lusail.

Lusail is a planned community north of Doha.  It will house 200,000 people with hotels, entertainment and retail businesses.  They are going to create a main road that will be the Champs D’Eleysee of Lusail.  It will have a marina for 250 boats, its own Light Rail line, etc.  Today it is a barren desert.  The construction is all utilities and excavation.  It was a great tour.  Much of the work is being done by Qataridiar/Vinci Construction and a Chinese Contractor.  I understand the Chinese brought 25000 workers to the project.  Much of the excavation is being done by back hoe.  I don’t know if it is efficient, but there were rows of equipment.  In the distance it looked like a scene from Star Wars.  Wow.

At lunch we went to the Souq.  We all got meals made in a clay pot.  The food was much like stew.  Some got beef, lamb and one guy had to get the camel.  On the menu it was labeled as “baby camel”  I don’t know, but from watching him chew it looks like they were using the camel that lost the camel race.

Day 13 – Monday, February 28th.

Tomorrow is a meeting with a potential contractor partner.  Meeting appears one sided, but the paper today has the following article:

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/144146-take-part-in-2022-projects-pm.html

This meeting could be very important.

Spent the day preparing materials for the meeting.  Presentation, tours, I think we are prepared.

Office boy (40 year old man) is learning.  Plain tea, no sugar, no milk.  Water too, please. Nice.

Day 12 – Observations

People always say Sir.  Welcome Sir, Yes Sir, Can I help you sir.

There is always a box of Kleenex (or Queenex) on the table at the restaurant.  There is always a Napkin and flatware wrapped in a napkin placed at the table after you are seated.

You are asked if you want water at the restaurant, if yes, then its still or sparkling, next question is “room temperature or chilled”.  They bring a liter bottle and pour it and come back and keep pouring it until it is gone.

There is a garden hose (so to speak) next to the toilet with a spray nozzle.  It took me a while to figure out why.  I’ll let you figure it out on your own.

Regardless of the garden hose there is a bidet – haven’t and probably won’t figure that one out. 

The toilets don’t flush clean the first time through.

The switches are “European Standard”.  Didn’t know that until an Architect explained to me that the switches are outside of the bathroom and the only outlet in the bathroom is a low voltage “shaver outlet”.  The hair dryer is in a drawer in the bathroom and you have to turn on the electric from a switch outside of the room.

TV is limited to news – Al Jazerra, CNN, CNBC – Arabic and English, some channels like MTV, E and random network shows.  Everything else is in Arabic.  Some have told me it depends on the hotel or cable package you buy.

Day 11 – Saturday.

One of the guys rented a car for the day.  The plan was to look around.  His wife gave him a list of things to check out and report on.  So we got together at 9am for our adventure.

First lesson on Doha – make sure your arrangements are clear. The guy delivering the car came to the hotel, called the guys room and of course we were sitting in the lobby.  No answer, no delivery.  Everything got worked out and we were on the road at 11.

First stop was to look at furniture.  I think I’ll stick with the furnished apartment idea.  The furniture is either cheap and gaudy or expensive and gaudy.  There is an American furniture store.  Too expensive.

Next we went to the Giant grocery store.  Saturday morning is a busy day (Friday is the Muslim day of prayer so the day starts out slow).  The store seemed fairly normal.  Similar to a Target or WalMart there were household goods and groceries.  They had all the brand name groceries you’d find in the US.  We made a matrix of the prices.  It appears to be a little more expensive then the US overall.

From there we went looking for a Villa to get a feel for the housing options.  Not a good idea.  We were told to just ride around and talked to the guards.  If something was available they would let you look.  Of course, everywhere we stopped nothing was available.  I think the best thing for our staff to do is lock in with a realtor.  We went to look at apartments (my option).  They can be pricey, but very easy.  Just move in.  Price includes maid service everyday, linen service twice a week, discounts in the restaurants, laundry, pool, weight room, internet and cable.  We also looked at a club (Four Seasons), the club provides a gym, spa, pool, and beach.  Pretty pricey though.

One of the villas we looked at came from an advertisement in the paper.  Nice place, but what the hell.  It was a couple renting the villa and they lived on the third floor.  They were trying to rent the first and second floor to whoever would take it.  No private entrance, no private passageway.  Two of us wanted to leave right away, but one guy insisted on talking to them to find out how to make it work.  Let’s go guys this won’t work.

We stopped at a car dealer.  As a point of reference there is only one dealer of each type in Doha.  You want a Nissan you go to the Nissan dealer and get one.  You don’t like the price – tough.  When you walk into the showroom you look at the car and the price.  If you are interested you go find a salesman, who may or may not be there at that time.  Not like the US for sure.

Went to the Souq Waqif for dinner.  As I understand it the souq was run down and small a few years ago.  The government knocked it down and rebuilt it.  Now it has the same look and feel of a souq, but it has several modern restaurants.  We went to another grill and guess what? Kabobs on the menu.  One guy wanted to order the camel dish.  When he asked I heard one of the funniest lines I’ve heard since arriving.  The waiter responded “Sorry sir, the camel did not come in today”.  I guess the camel gets to live another day.

Day 10 – Friday.

This is my first weekend in Qatar.  Actually, the first day I wasn’t feeling the drag of jet lag.  What a miserable feeling.  My sleep cycle was pretty messed up the first 2-3 days and the trip to Dubai, although worth every minute of it was not as enjoyable because I felt like I wanted to lay down and sleep most of the time.

Our office manager took the group for a tour of Qatar, actually Doha.  Most of what there is in the country is Doha, the Corniche, West Bay (downtown business district) and new developments like the Pearl and Lusail, well Lusail is still undeveloped desert.  More on what is going on with Lusail later.  We went to a mall called Vellagio.  If you’ve been to the Venetian in Las Vegas you’ll know what Vellagio looks like.  Beautiful modern store fronts with a ceiling painted like the sky.  We had lunch at the Lebanese grill, all appetizers.  There are kabobs on the menu.  There is a theme here.

Left there and went to the Pearl.  What a beautiful development.  Mixed use residential and retail with a man made cove.  Only about 50% of the buildings are completed.  I wonder what it’ll cost to live there.  It is on the other side of Doha from the office, but it might just be worth the commute.

Went to the City Center Mall.  It is the largest mall in Doha.  Carrefour is located in this mall.  Carrefour is a French chain much like Wal-Mart.  I got a pay as you go phone and now I have a local number.  Later in the day I sent the number out to folks and a manager in Dubai welcomed me to the region.  When I asked him about his comment he said getting a local number is like changing your status on Facebook.

That night we were invited to a house party of an architect our firm has used in the past.  It was a young couple about to have their first baby.  When they moved to Doha they lived in an apartment.  Now with the family coming they wanted more room and the amenities of a compound (all houses in Doha are behind a wall that isolates and protects the community.  The villa is a three bedroom semi detached villa.  It was a very nice house and ready for the baby.  They were a lovely couple, but interesting.  He is from New York City and she is half American and half Japanese.  They are giving the baby a Japanese name and working to create the character that will represent his name, oh yeah it’s going to be a boy.  Another point of note – I had my first beer in Doha.  As I have learned the way you buy alcohol is to either go to  a hotel or get a liquor license and go to the one package goods store in the country.  Your annual allowance is equal to 10% of your salary.

Day 9 – Back to Qatar – almost feels like home.

Seems odd to say, but in a way I was glad to leave Dubai and get back to Doha.  That is where my work is and will be for the foreseeable future.  I got to the office around 12 and found I had a meeting back at the hotel with the boss’ brother.

Meet the boss’ brother.  He has a company that provides engineering services and currently has people working on the New Doha International Airport (NDIA).  With the economy in Greece having its difficulties he is thinking he will concentrate on building his business in the Middle East (like who isn’t).  On the plane back from Dubai a guy from Egis was announcing to the airplane (talking to an associate on his phone) that he was heading to Doha to look into opportunities at the airport in Qatar.

It was a good introductory meeting.  Nothing significant except his son, recently completing his Masters at the the London School of Business offered to go to Doha and build his father’s business.  It will be his business one day, but the son may need some time to mature in business before coming in to the family business.   We’ll see where this goes.

That night I was invited to dinner with the new General Manager in Doha for Siemens.  He had been “commuting” to Doha and will now take a permanent residence.  He has been with Siemens for several years having lived in China and I believe North America.  Used to work with one of our engineers at Knorr Brake.  What a small world.  I am starting to build my local network.

Our local manager loves buffets.  I guess they are ok, never been a fan myself.  They are dry restaurants, so when my new German friend asked for a beer the best he could get was the non-alcoholic type.  Next time we’ll go somewhere else…

Day 8 – Off to Abu Dhabi, or looking for Nermal

You’ll have to look up Garfield to find out who Nermal is, but he agitated Garfield to the point that Garfield shipped him to Abu Dhabi.  You’d have to know my son Gavin to enjoy the question.  “Did you look for Nermal?”

Abu Dhabi is our regional headquarters.  I went there to meet the power base and check in with our President, who it turns out resigned from the position that day, only to leave the outgoing President stranded in country.  Oh well, such is life.

One of the amazing sites in Abu Dhabi is the Sheikh Zayed Mosque.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Zayed_Mosque  Sheikh Zayed is the founder and first president of the UAE.  He is buried at this site.  My first reaction when I saw it was a modern day St Peter's Bascillica in the muslim world.

One thing that came up in every conversation was the uprising in Libya on the heels of Egypt and Bahrain.  Many people in the UAE and Qatar feel safe that these countries are stable, but the whacko in Libya is finally getting his due.  Both the UAE and Qatar have very small indigenous populations.  In Qatar the speculation is that only 30% of the 1.7M people are locals.  The rest are here to work in the oil fields, design and build the infrastructure that they are spending the oil money on.

The drive between Dubai and Abu Dhabi is a 90 minute drive.  On the drive back to Dubai the road was severely congested.  I understand the road was full of people who live in Dubai and work in Abu Dhabi.  During the downturn people had to go to AD to find work.  Another observation on the way down the road, there were cars pulling off the road so the folks could pray.  They were pulling off and laying the prayer rug in front of the car to pray – ARE THEY CRAZY.

The drive back was pleasant and other then the traffic not much to talk about.

I went to dinner that night to the Iranian Grill.  I think every restaurant in this region has kabobs on the menu.  I learned that Kofta is ground meat.  So if you get Lamb Kofta it is ground meat on stick and grilled.  The food was good.  We had a smorgasbord of food, appetizers and conversation.

After dinner we went to the Mall of Dubai to see the fountain show, unfortunately we were too late.  I did see the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building and known as a vertical city.  The building has restaurants, offices and apartments.  Wow.  The location has a building called The Address.  The only trivia I was told about the building is it has the highest priced hookers in town.

Day 7 – Proposal efforts

I spent today working with folks sent to the region to work on proposals.  Meeting with local staff I quickly realized they had no direction.  We spent the day to understand the proposal requirements who is doing what – and thank God we received a 21 day extension.  The reinforcements are coming.

Later in the day I was invited to dinner in Old Dubai with a friend.  We met at the Arabian Courtyard and took a quick walk through the Souk, looked at Dubai Creek and returned to the restaurant for a feeding frenzy of some of the best Indian food I’ve ever had.  I’m typically not a fan of the food, but this place does it right, complete with musical entertainment by a sitar player, replaced by a larger group of musicians, female singers and dancers.  The voices were incredible and you would think they were singing through some sort of synthesizer.  I didn’t understand the words, but the music was great.

I'll post some pictures on this blog in the near future.

Day 6 – Monday, February 21st. Off to Dubai

On Monday I took off for a three day visit to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.  I was looking forward to it for various reasons.

Primarily I wanted to see Dubai.  I’ve heard so much about it over the years and the project we are doing there.  My curiosity was up, but I’ve also heard Doha will be the next Dubai.  In seven years Dubai has gone from nothing to Disneyworld on steroids.  I wanted to see it.

As this journey started, this beginning was no different.  I got to the airport to find my ticket wasn’t issued and I’d have to buy a ticket – WHAT!?  I was told I’d have to get to the airport two hours in advance of my flight – thank God, I had to wait in line to get my bag x-rayed, go to the check in desk to find out I didn’t have a ticket and go back out to the Qatar airlines ticket desk to buy a ticket.  Like I said it takes me two times to get anything right.

Got to the gate in plenty of time and off to Dubai I go.

I was met at the airport in Dubai by an old friend who whisked me through Dubai to our project office.  At the office, I was invited to lunch and off we went.  Initial impression, Dubai is a mix of Disney World and New York City, Doha is kinda like Baltimore.

After lunch I was given a presentation on our work with the RTA on the Dubai Metro then off to the Metro Station for a ride on the system.  I could talk about the architecture, which is fascinating, the interior decorations, the large raised steel bits on the floor to guide the sight impaired, the contactless smart card system used for fare payment, the “gold” level car with a special section for women and children, the simple beauty of the car interiors.  A lot to take in on a first visit, but what really struck me was how quiet the system was.  Very quiet and it had a very smooth start and stop.  Totally automated except for the attendant that checked tickets when folks boarded the “Gold” car to make sure they had the right ticket.   Nice.

Rode the Metro system to the Mall of the Emirates. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mall_of_the_Emirates

Ski Dubai is located in this mall, as well as many major US and UK retailers.  How funny to see people on a lift and skiing down a small hill.  There was a tubing ride for small children and a sledding run too.  Nice.

I was promised dinner at the Iranian Grill.  We drove over to the grill and got a table.  As soon as we sat down it started to rain.  Who knew, rain in the desert.  The place cleared like a tornado was coming.  People took off for cover in every direction.  No Iranian Grill tonight.  We ended up at a, of all things, steak house.  The food was good, conversation delightful.

Very tired out, still not adjusting to the time change.

Day 5 – February 20^th.

I couldn’t wake up.  Edgar called me at 8 am to see if I was ready.  Of course I was ready – not.  I slept until 11am.  I could not and would not wake up until I slept off the Tylenol taken the night before.  God this jet lag was getting the best of me.  I was warned.  The first few days I’d want to sleep during the day and be awake at night.  True so far.

I did get up and went to the office.  First Day in the local office and I get there at 12.  Oh well, its gotta get better.

I was put in an office with two other folks.  One engineer and one BD guy recently hired by our Commercial Business Unit to sell hospital work.  He has been to Iraq and has been in Qatar for two years, his contract with that company ran out.  He was excited to work on the big projects Qatar offers, not the little add on projects he worked on in the US.

I missed breakfast and was on the verge of missing lunch.  As luck would have it the BD guy had just gotten lunch and he had a sandwich to share.  Starving and having no idea where to go for food (not to mention I just got to the office) I took him up on his offer.  It was thin on meat and veggies and heavy on bread.  Oh well, I was hungry.

I noticed my new friend was sniffling and coughing a bit, so I asked if he was catching a cold.  "No", he said, "I went to the Camel Races over the weekend and I think I’m allergic to them".  OK.

I was warned the office wasn’t much and don’t get discouraged.  I found the office delightful.  Engineers working 2-3 to a cubicle, just a little crowded, but nothing worse then what I had experienced at various times in may career in construction trailers and transit agency offices.  It could do.  I don’t think it is the kind of place you’d bring a client.  And the human condition is lacking.  We are moving to new digs in late March or April.  The new place is supposed to be owned by one of the best landlords in the country - related to the Emir I'm sure.  Hopefully the schedule won't slip. 

Just some quick observations :

No wireless in the office, Ethernet cable only, had to open a port for the Internet, not everyone gets access.  Told the new office would have wireless.

There is an office boy and a driver.  Both very important to know.

I met the office boy when he came over and asked “sir, can I get you something – tea, coffee?"  First off, he isn’t a boy – he’s a man of at least 40.  I couldn’t think of an answer, but it was right after that turkey sandwich, so a glass of water would be great.  This led to the second question – is chilled ok?  OK, no one randomly comes over asks me if I need anything when they meet me the first time and secondly, I didn’t know you had a choice with water - chilled will be fine.

I’ve got a lot to learn.  This is getting interesting now.