Here and There Blog

Just inside Central Park. Mondo sets the GPS. Rambling through Central Park. The cache is found! Geo-cache - the game where you hunt for a hidden cache using GPS coordinates. Mondo and Ms. Kitty have become quite the addicts and they both own GPS devices for the simple purpose of finding caches. It's a combination of a workout, brain power, and an interactive game. People hid things, other people find them, put them back, and log the find. Our geo-cache adventures took us all over Central Park as we scrambled over rocks, crawled on the ground, got lost, and eventually had two successful finds.

The first full day in NY was full of the usual and the unexpected. We saw Spiderman 3 being filmed downtown. No stars in sight but we did get to see the Spidey stand-in suffering in the heat as green screen shots were being worked out. We hoped to see him get lifted up in the crane but that wasn't happening so we moved on. Later we had a Hugh Jackman possible almost sighting or a fake-out as we walked through Central Park. We walked by a tall white guy and then a couple seconds later some other guy was telling his friends that he just said Hi to Hugh Jackman. By the time we turned around to look, the possible Hugh was gone. I also did my first geo-cache. We took out the GPS and hunted in Central Park to find a micro cache. I would have never climbed all those rocks and dug in dirt on my hands and knees on my own but we did find the cache and it was really fun! Today we're geo-caching on Roosevelt Island. The only mis-step of the day was when I decided that we should check out ...

I do math in the strangest places. Here I am, on vacation in NYC, and I find myself at a Starbucks in mid-town Manhattan, taking my week 2 algebra quiz. I have watched a homeless man come in and harass the people with the small dogs, there are two "not all there" guys discussing world politics, the usual gay crowd has arrived for conversation and coffee, tourists have come and gone, and after 90 minutes, I'm still here. I'm also the only person on my computer and everyone is giving me the wide berth as if they can sense that I'm the one who doesn't belong. Mondo and I did the usual 2 hour walk about town last night and we both have blisters on our feet. Today I think we're off to Central Park and geo-caching. There are no events this weekend, we're just going to go with the flow. (And math)

Home! It was a long 28 hour transit from Kuwait to California but I'm home and having the normal reverse culture shock that goes with being gone for so long. I get so used to the crowds and the driving conditions of the Middle East, that having normal traffic and people who obey the standard rules of driving is a refreshing change of pace. Week 2 of algebra isn't any better than week 1 but the end is near! I am now finally more than 50% done with the degree program. I can't believe that I have been in school for a year already, although sometimes it seems like a decade.

I'm at the Kuwait airport and 90 minutes away from freedom! It is always such a chaotic work experience here, combined with a hotel staff that really learns who you are and what you do, that there is rarely a moment's peace in Kuwait. Even when I have that moment of peace, it's because there is nothing else to do and I'm staring at the Arab music channel and wishing there was a new music video rotation. Now I can only hope that the man who is sick and coughing germs all over the airport lounge is not on my flight. I'll only be home for 3 days before Mondo and I head out for the third annual NYC Memorial Day weekend trip. I'm looking forward to the excitment of NYC after life in the Middle East.

My last full day in Kuwait. The Amir dissolved the assembly yesterday and taht is big news. Hopefully this is a good sign of forward progress and not the reverse. Last night 30 girls were arreested for working in Internet Cafes and Billiard Halls after 7pm, according to a law that prohibits women from working in centres frequented by mainly men after 7:00 pm. This doesn't apply to restaurants or the mall where both men, women and familiies frequent until closing. The women are scheduled for deportation. "Thelma and Louise" run away. two Kuwaiti families reported to police that their daughters (ages 16 and 18) ran away after a family dispute. The usual drug arrests and car accident deaths. The smaller story which will have larger impact on the people is the water shortage. In the areas outside of Kuwait city, people are getting into fights at the local water wells. Water tankers are brining in water and traffic jams are clogging up the roads near the pump stations.

I missed this in the newspaper: The Ministry of Trade inspectors fournd Israeli cosmetics in a cooperative society in the capital. Inspectors interrogated the man responsible for the goods in the market who said he did not know the source of hte products. The man gave the inspectors the name of the company that supplied the products and a subsequent raid discovered (and I assume removed) a quantity of Israeli products. I couldn't take pictures but today we drove by a huge site in the desert that had hundreds of semi truck cabs and trailers, along with dozens or more tractors and heavy duty machinery. These are all getting staged for a convoy to Iraq for more rebuilding efforts in that country.

Nescafe and the Kuwait Times. It's literally the only way to start a morning in Kuwait. Today's paper was delivered in the English version so I was spared the search of the lobby to get my paper. I never really thought I would be happy to be in Kuwait but after Bahrain, it's nice to be in a normal business hotel and have relative calm. Bahrain is a poor country with limited space and natural resources. The US Naval Fleet has a major base there and the country has some industry and business but there is not a long term plan for tourism or life beyond oil. Bahrain is an open country in the sense that alcohol is permitted, bars are open, and the veil is not mandatory for women. People can wear what they want. At the same time there is a large traditional religious presence and you see both men and women in the traditional robes. The Saudi border is only 15 minutes away so on the weekend the city has an expanded population as the Saudi's come over for the shopping and the...

More about Bahrain later but it is a poor country, a strange country, and it's future is uncertain. I'm not ready to go back anytime soon. The water is beautiful yes, but it's no paradise. This morning I wake up in Kuwait to my favorite newspaper in the world - The Kuwait Times! Yes, today's gripping headlines include: Saudi women battle the bulge. It's all about the obesity problem that women hide under the robes. Well I can tell you it's also the men and not just the Saudi's. Kuwaiti's are downright big and fat, and I see a lot more pot bellies on men and women who wear the traditional robes than people who wear jeans. Speaking of jeans, the next byline reads: 'Muslim' jeans cause stir in conservative Pakistan. There's a new line of jeans that was designed just to wear during prayer time to allow more freedom of movement. Extra large pockets are added for prayer beads and and other items. They look like rapper pants. Some war stuff is g...

The last of the math classes began today! Advanced algebra is here and it's a good feeling to know that the end is near. Today's Dubai paper tells us that 'CIA planes used emirates airports' in covert global 'rendition' programme. Apparently people snatching has been going on and political prisoners are being taken to secret detentions in Europe, Egypt, and/or Syria. I'm not fully sold on the credibility of the Khaleej Times, since a major section of the paper is devoted to celebrity gossip. Also all of the political critcism deals with other countries but not with the Emirates. It's interesting to note that while the future of Blackberry is dubious, there was a major launch of the service in the Emirates yesterday.

All countries face external problems. Today’s Khaleej Times in Dubai reports that cargo ships sent from the UAE to Somalia face problems from pirates and hijacking of vessels of of the Somaili coast. Local headlines concern the safety of construction workers who have to work throughout the day in high heat conditions, the abuse of housemaids from other countries, and the murder of a sailor by his captain on a Norwegian oil tanker. The business page reveals the true concerns of Dubai – the economy, the sliding dollar, the need for budget hotels, and the rising cost of mortgage rates. It’s been 6 months since I’ve been here and there are new hotels, resorts, shopping malls and condos everywhere. This type of market is bound to create a rising cost for everything. Meanwhile on CNN, I see that the US and Libya are restoring diplomatic ties so I guess that means we’re all friends again and now we can travel there to see the Roman ruins and give Libya our tourist dollars.

This restaurant is in Batroun which is located about 45 minutes north of Beirut when the roads are clear, 2 hours during traffic. Called Pearl Beach, the buildings are set right into the hillside. We ate on The Rock, a dining area built on a large ocean rock.

On a day like this, Lebanese beer tastes great!

Today I had to go to North Lebanon for work. On the way there, we passed by Byblos, the city of the Phoenicians. The sea wall still stands where it was built to protect people from the high seas and some of the old buildings from Roman times are there too. The beauty of the place is the ocean community and the old village that is in the heart of the city.

The protest is over and Beirut is back to as normal as it ever gets. Since I didn't take any pictures yesterday, here are some more of the Roman ruins in Jerash, Jordan.

Beirut. Gotta love it. I arrived at 1:00 pm this afternoon and went straight to the hotel. A few minutes later, my phone rang and it was a friend telling me to stay inside until 6:00 pm and not leave the hotel because there's a major strike/protest going on downtown agaisnst government reforms/policy. Sure enough, I turn on the local news and thousands of people are protesting in downtown Beirut. This would explain the different route that the taxi driver took today. I can see I'm in for another trip of schedule adjustments. It's never dull. It was sad to say good-bye to Amman. I was lucky this time to have a few free hours to see the sights. I didn't go into the Dead Sea, just looked at it from the hotel. The access is monitored and we weren't hotel guests or on an excursion. The drive is through 30 minutes of desert and then the Dead Sea appears. The area is green from the Jordan River and there are busloads of tourists that were on the road. I asked where the...

I ended up having lunch at the Dead Sea today. It was only a 30 minute drive from Amman. We passed through a few checkpoints along the way but were only pulled over once. The resorts have tight security going into the parking lot and there is an x-ray to get into the hotel even for lunch. Afterwards there was time for the quick photo and then back to Amman for work.

The day was hazy and it's hard to make out the the last row of the mountains but the very back mountain range is in Israel. There are plenty of border checkpoints in Jordan near the border and it reminded me of all the border patrol checkpoints in San Diego. The Road of Columns is in Jerash and one of the more striking features of the Roman ruins in the city.

I'm back in Jordan and at the start of a 5 country trip. As usual, here's the view from the window of the city and then a contrasting view of the countryside. Once you get just a few miles outside of Amman, the houses are fewer and the country is wide open and green. Today's headlines in the Jordan Times aree about the British helicopter, possible censor of The Da Vinci Code, strikes in Gaza, and the focus on Iran and it's nukes. I have a full day of work ahead of me so I'm off!

Once in a while, I really do take a short break from work and math. It's been a couple of weeks since I've done so but I had the opportunity to go to the Wild Animal Park for a few hours and walk the trails. On this day, the tiger made a rare patrol along the fence. Of course, I could never get the photo when the tiger was looking at the camera but a tail is better than nothing!