Blogs from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Middle East - page 2

Well, it’s my final night here. I’ve just packed up most of my stuff and I’ll need to take it over to the SAC Center tomorrow morning. As soon as we’re done, Don and I will jump into a cab and head over the causeway (a long crowded bridge) to Bahrain, which is an island country off the coast of Saudi Arabia. It from there (at 10 pm) that I’ll fly to Amsterdam and then switch planes for Minneapolis. And so it ends. Two nights ago, Don and I headed to Khobar. He had bought a Persian-style carpet and runner, but his wife wanted something larger. When Don originally bought it, he requested some sort of box. The guy disappeared and came back with a brand new suitcase and a separate lock. Now that’s thinking outside ... read more

Today was a really good day. Not only is it the weekend tomorrow (TGIW), but today was a really fun day too. For the first time while here, I conducted two 45-minute training sessions. As Andy Oman will tell you, give a trainer a stage and you give him (or her) the world. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous standing in front of a group of Saudis talking about “Preparing for Feedback” but it went very well. I felt like I was connecting with them and they were engaged. I know I was! After a long time of conducting training sessions via phone and LiveMeeting it was a real treat standing in front of real live people. LiveMeeting training often has all of the charm of talking to a bulletin board for ... read more

In traditional Sunni Islam, the Five Pillars of Islam (أركان الإسلام) is the term given to the five duties incumbent on every Muslim. These duties are Shahada (Profession of Faith), Salat (Prayers), Zakat (Giving of Alms), Sawm (Fasting during Ramadan) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Salah is the name for the obligatory prayers that are performed five times a day, and are a direct link between the worshipper and God. There is no hierarchical authority in Islam and there are no priests. Prayers are led by a learned person who knows the Qur'an and is generally chosen by the congregation. Prayers are said at dawn, mid-day, late-afternoon, sunset and nightfall, and thus determine the rhythm of the entire day. These five prescribed prayers contain verses from the Qur'an, and are said in Arabic, the language of ... read more

When I first landed in the Dammam airport three weeks ago, I thought I had prepared myself for the cultural shift I was sure to experience. But the immediate effect of seeing a host of men and women at the airport in clothing dating back 3000 yrs was startling. It seems hard for westerners such as me to accept that other cultures have been able to hold on to their traditions over millenniums, in spite of what the rest of the world does. And yet, there is ample evidence of Saudi’s move into the modern world. The contrast between the traditional, ancient culture and the development of modernity can be confusing to the outsider. Take for instance on any day in Dhahran, you will see men dressed in the Saudi traditional Thobes and headdress driving huge ... read more

I’ve survived the very first day of the very first session. There are six sessions in total over a three week period, as well as “coaching days” between the two weekly sessions. Considering how our pre-game preparation went yesterday, today was relatively smooth. So in hindsight, it’s certainly better to have problems before, rather than during the real thing. I did have a wrestling match with a copy machine at the end of the day. All I wanted was to make one copy. Is that too much to ask? Obviously yes. When I put paper in the tray and tried to get it back in the machine, it would have none of that. I pushed and pulled, begged and pleaded, but to very little affect. Perhaps this copy machine only speaks Arabic? Then I managed disengage ... read more