Blogs from Middle East - page 1193

These past couple of weeks have been very busy. I began volunteering two weeks ago with an after school program for teenagers with Autism. I am volunteering for six hours per week. With the students I swim, play on the computer, do arts and crafts, and just hang around. It's quite a challenge, but also interesting. On Saturday night, November 12, I went to Tel Aviv for a peace rally commemorating the 10th anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin was not only Prime Minister of Israel, he was also involved in nearly every face of the country's development. Every square inch of the street on which the ceremony took place was filled with people, the majority of whom were youth. In addition to several Israeli politicians and musicians, Bill Clinton also spoke. I am ... read more

Sigh, I'm leaving the CPF tomorrow early in the AM (3:45am...yawn) and today really all I want to do is sit around the office and relax. But on to the next part of my trip, back to Dubai, then on to Frankfurt and Barcelona... Finally! Working out here on slow computers, and early, early mornings really makes me appreciate the nice things and relaxing atmosphere the Calgary office has. For sure I will not miss the 12 hour days.... So, as timing would have it, I was supposed to pull out the big guns at breakfast, then it was moved to lunchtime, then dinner time, and then early morning again. I don't think I'm gonna make it out to set off the explosives. Too bad. We made it out to the wellsite in the late afternoon ... read more

Pretty uneventful day today, later on after work I will be at the Wadi Club for a good time BBQ, again celebrating the retirement of the same man as a few days ago (remember?? goat?). I will be avoiding the beer this time. One major event happened today however, and I officially un-retired from the pro tennis circuit. Today at lunch, I played tennis with 3 engineers here and one of them kindly offered to lend me his raquet. Game on. I didn't have proper shorts or shoes or other attire, but made due with what I had. I thought I was gonna have a tough time with the weather, as around 11:30am, the temperature around here gets to be about 33 °C, but it was breezy and nice. Sometimes I wish I was a guy ... read more

Through the gap in the hood in my sleeping bag I can see its still pitch black, and even inside the bag its cold now. I don’t need to pull my arm out to check my watch for the time though, as the second “Allah Akhbar, Allah Akhbar” (God is Great, God is Great) echoes across the empty steppe - it must be about half past five in the morning and time for pre-sunrise prayers. Not for us though and I roll over and bury my head in an attempt to warm up and return to sleep. The last line of the muezzin informs us in Arabic that being awake and in prayer is superior to sleeping, but right now the latter seems much more preferable. Waking again half an hour or so later I can ... read more

A beautiful horizon of dark turquoise water relaxes and tempts you to sit, to hear it longer, to listen to its moaning, soft up-and-down of the miniature breaking waves. Just within reach. Almost a complimentary sound, the arabic princess gracing the speakers above brings up images of her smooth and curving facial features, kind of like the arabic alphabet. She sings her song of anguish and loneliness, I presume, because the slow ballad rhythm slows the heartbeat and her sounds linger with rolled r's and k's. Alas, I am broken from her spell by the colorful sustainance arriving in the hands of an obvious non-native english speaker, but his English suffices to get across our salutations. Reds, yellows, pinks scatter the bed of greens, and the awaited salavation breaks through the dam. Pure bliss, to be ... read more