Blogs from Saudi Arabia, Middle East - page 18

Every day, especially in the morning when I’m walking to breakfast or the SAC Center, I hear sounds that sound a lot like an owl. It’s pretty loud and it comes from all over. You can hear these birds at all times of the day, every day. They sound louder in the morning perhaps because it’s quieter. I asked one of the Participants what the sound was and they said it was a desert pigeon (not a dessert pigeon, by the way). See www.drhashimbehbehani.com/desertpigeon.html for a bit more detail. The sand storm has blown away and it was bright and sunny today. The wind that was around during the few sand storm days is also gone. You’ll note of course that the weather returned to nice just when the weekend here ended. The not nice weather ... read more

The Weekend It’s the weekend (here) and I’m in a really good mood this morning. Yesterday my hotel phone alarm didn’t go off (user error, I’m sure), but fortunately I have an alarm clock back-up and that jolted me awake. Thank God for back-up systems! I was looking forward to sleeping late with no alarm clocks. So I slept to 6:30 and then got up. How decadent. :) I went to breakfast this morning at The Dining Hall. I’m embarrassed to say how inexpensive the food is there. Obviously it is highly subsidized. I had an “everything” omelet, a plate of bacon, and a mug of coffee for 11 SAR, which is about $2.75. The bacon is obviously not pork, and I have no idea what it is made of, but I try not to ... read more

Would you say "It's Sanding Out"? It’s been great interacting with the Participants because I’ve never talked to a Saudi before. I had a pretty long discussion today with a guy who is a helicopter pilot for Aramco. Ironically, he was in Grand Forks, ND during 9/11 and his mother was worried about him (she didn’t know that Grand Forks isn’t anywhere near NY)! Of course my mother is worried about me being here, so perhaps mothers are the same the world over. Today was a sand-storm and the sky turned a beautiful golden color. Everyone from here laughed at me when I got excited about the sandstorm, but then the consultants came out and were equally impressed so I didn’t feel as much like as much of a dork. It’s not like a snowstorm made ... read more

Coaching Day My friend eve knows what the weird bird is that I photographed! It’s called a Hoopoe. According to Wikepedia, “The Hoopoe is widespread in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, as well as Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. It migrates from all but the southernmost part of its range to the tropics in winter. Hoopoes were considered sacred in Ancient Egypt and symbols of virtue in Persia, but were thought of as thieves across much of Europe and harbingers of war in Scandinavia.” Today was the last day in the cycle. In between Assessment Centers, there is one day for coaches to meet people that went through the process previously. It’s a much easier day for me because there are no assessments done. I gave a presentation to the client staff, and then did mostly ... read more

First day with Saudi Participants I didn’t have time to scout out the route to the Assessment Center last night because Esbjorn and I went to Khobar and it was dark when we got back. So of course, it was even harder to find it this morning - in the dark. Wait, there’s more. So I walk down the three flights of stairs from my room, go outside, and it’s raining! What the heck? It’s Saudi Arabia, for crying out loud. Fortunately, being a good prepared Minnesotan, I had packed a umbrella. (I did leave my snow boots at home, however.) Fortunately, I went back because it took four times as long to get there as it should. I kept thinking of that stupid Family Circus cartoon where the kid goes all over the place to ... read more