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My desk
with my ventura laptop that will be shipped back to America soon enough...I went to bed at about 2 am and was sound asleep, dreaming of Eric Northman, when my phone rang at 4:17 am. RJ. "Oh shoot Spencerinho! Did I wake you?" It was fine - I'd kind of left him hanging and we needed to talk roommate stuff anyway. But I was completely unable to fall back asleep. I took a shower at 6, ate my grapefruite, had a cup of tea and then dried my hair. Let me just say: I don't know what it is in the water here, but my hair feels AMAZING! I was so scared because in humid climates, my hair tends to curl up like a big poodle; I know some people like that and think my hair looks good in a gazillion ringlets, but it just makes me as frazzled as it looks!
I was ready to walk out the door by 8 and it was a good thing as the drivers came at 8:26; earlier than they said due to traffic. I got to the office, met the HR lady and about 15 other people. They walked me to my office, set up my computer, and just kind of left me! Haha.
my office
big and plain. I want to hang some pictures! or MAPS! That was fine, except when I have nothing to do I get very restless. So, I did some Malibu inclinometer plots, which I will send to the poor people who have to take over the project I abandoned in such a hurry! Hopefully this will help.
When those were done, I started to read my book I was requested to get: "
Quaternary carbonate and evaporite sedimentary facies and their ancient analogues". Why they didn't name it "UAE Geology" I have no idea... It was interesting (to me) as it reminded me of coastal engineering as well as the project I had almost taken on for grad school before I quit - carbonate petrology and the ooids in the Bahamas (yes, I quit this). And I could still hear Professor Major talking about "the dolomite problem." So, I got side tracked with memories before Joevet came to take me to lunch.
Joevet is Eric's (the guy who I'm replacing) girlfriend. She and her Filipino friends make lunch and share it amongst each other everyday. She offered a little to me and it was yummy. There was rice, vegetable salad, some beef thing, some pork and liver thing and peanut brittle. It made excited to have my own place with a kitchen so I could contribute. Joevet is very friendly and I look forward to talking more with her. I felt a little anti social as my eyes kept drooping.
I spoke with my new boss, Khaled, at around 11:30 and he gave me an indication of what types of projects I'll be working on. First, I'm going to help with some reports from another office to get familiar with how things are done here and then I'll probably be working on the rail line in Qatar as THE engineer. So, I am extremely excited to get started. I think I'll need to dust off the cobwebs from my brain from when I first started working and actually did engineering, but reading some of the reports they had on the network, I think I'll be ok and able to catch on quickly. Plus, the woman across the hall, Samar Slim (seriously, the best name ever), was really friendly and knows her stuff; she seems very willing to help and I hope she turns out to be somewhat of a mentor.
Listening to many of the people talking in the office, I became even more convinced that I want to take an Arabic class. I don't think it is necessary as all business is done in English, but I think it would help endear me more to the clients if I could at least have minimal conversational skills. I started to look up Arabic classes in my area and there are a few weekend courses; however, I didn't want to commit until I knew exactly what would be required of me and my work schedule.
I also wondered how the heck I was getting home, so I familiarized myself with the metro system. As most people know about me, I LOVE maps and can stare at them for hours. I only looked for about 30 minutes though. So, now I have an idea of where a lot of things are in Dubai - neighborhoods, metro stops, supermarkets, yoga studios (none of them by my hotel, dagnammit!). Wow - I actually did do a lot today I think.
Khaled had told me to leave early if I needed to get some sleep. He understands how hard it is to adjust to the time change and said that would be perfectly fine for the next few days. I was able to hold on until 2:30, when I asked the receptionist (one of the Filipino ladies I just met) to call for a cab. I think I'll be doing a cab for the next few days until I get more familiar with the metro route. I've never had jet lag before. The only time it was even close was when I spent my summer in England at 15 years old; but that was more because I didn't sleep a wink on the flight, which annoyed the crap out of my grandmother!
I won't be able to get a car until I get a bank account, which I can't get until I get my visa, which I can't get until they get my degree attested. So, we're talking a few weeks here. Until then I have to use my American bank account, buy some nice new clothes at it appears the engineers dress up, and just hit the gym at my hotel. They pay us monthly here and I can't wait for my first check!
Ok, eyelids are definitely drooping. Pbot out.
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Jamal
non-member comment
Awesome!!
Wow, I've read through all your posts now and you have a great blog! I'm also heading down there this summer, I have an internship at a marine company and it's gonna be my first time travelling alone as well so I can't wait!! Keep up the posting! Looking forward to your next post :D