Sunrise in Ventura. The downside to a sunny beach morning is that the seagulls start screeching way to early in the day. There's nothing more annoying that waking up from a great sleep because the birds are partying. At least it's a sunny day!
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The bags are packed once again, this time for a 2 night stay in Ventura. Of all the days to drive across LA, this one had to be the rainy day. All I can hope for is minimal traffic and no accidents to mess up the routine. If there was ever a day to stay in, this would have been it but such is the weather!
For all the fun of the weekend, Monday comes and it sucks. Another full day of work and I was wondering if I would miss school. The answer is no, work has somehow filled in the gap and more. It's already 6:30 pm and I'm finishing up for the day and wondering how I'm going to make it through the next four. The saddest part is that I'm looking forward to Sunday to get caught up on work! I don't miss school at all and I thought that I would a little bit, but no. Moving on to something fun, the Oscars have come and gone. I'm glad that Helen Mirren won for The Queen. I saw The Departed which won best picture and best director. Since I didn't see all of the nominated movies, I can't compare but I didn't think the movie was great. It did what it was supposed to do and when so these days, I guess that makes a movie shoot right ahead of the rest of the pack. The Oscars are so much more fun when you have a clue what's going on. At least there's al...
What a great weekend! First - no school! Second - no work! Aussie Mac had a weekend free, so she made the trek to Carlsbad for one busy 48 hours. First up, no visit is complete without going to Karl Strauss, so Ms. Kitty joined us for Oatmeal Stout! Yum. There was Friday night! Follow up Friday to a perfect beach day on Saturday, followed by a Wal-Mart, Target, and misc. activities. Saturday was J.'s b-day event, so we drove to Temecula to celebrate the big 40 at Pechanga casino! It was the first time that I'd really done the whole Pechanga event and I have to say that penny and nickel slots are the thing! I gambled for a full hour on a whopping 60 cents! Good friends and good fun made for a great Saturday night! So here we get to Sunday and Aussie Mac is hell bent on destroying the hard drive in her old laptop so it can be discarded without worry. After taking the laptop outside and using a hammer, there is little left for a hacker to take away. What next? Lunch...
My grade (A) for the last class has posted so I spent the last few minutes completing the Diploma application. Now that everything is official, I feel much more relaxed. It is a strange thing to go to the website and not see any upcoming or current courses appear. My GPA was 3.78 which all things in math considered, was a very good GPA. I think my high schood GPA was slightly lower so at least I'm consistent.
There won't be much time for me to blog over the next three days. I'm about to go into an all-day meeting, followed by a mad dash to the airport to get back to LA tonight. I'm in meetings all day Tuesday and most of Wednesday. Then, yes, there is a slight let-up in my schedule and I can catch my breath! Today is note-worthy because it is the official last day of school. I logged in to post good-bye and that was that. I'm glad that stress is over with but I'll probably feel like I'm forgetting something for a few weeks until the realization sets in that it's finally over.
It's always nice to be home even if it's only for a few hours. The cat next door spotted me as soon as I pulled into the driveway and came running over to say hello. The kid's next door must have been really bored because I bounced about 7 balls back over the fence. It made such a loud noise that they came running out and were overjoyed to see their toys again. I think it rained because while it was dark and I couldn't see the yard, I walked over a lot of weeks that should not have existed. The Solar Molars were still chirping and the grass looked covered in weeds, so maybe the gopher is gone. I'll find out when the sun comes up. Of course the final travel on a bad travel day can never go well. One of my bags didn't make it on the same flight as me, so this morning I'm making a quick trip down the road to retrieve it. (The airline called and the bag is now there.) I love living next to a commuter airport, it makes late baggage so much less of a headache. The...
Almost home. I'm at LAX waiting for the Carlsbad flight, which has been delayed. This trip just won't end! The Starbucks boost is wearing off. All my plans for getting caught up this evening are going to melt into laundry and then Saturday will be jam packed with activities. It is good to be back in the US where phone calls are free again and I'm in the same groove as everyone around me. My first call today was to the travel agent to rearrange some details of the next Kuwait trip. My second call of the day was back to the travel agent for a Chicago/St. Louis trip at the end of April. Usually I return home and miss some of my friends overseas. This time, nothing. I know I'll be back soon and while the next trip is only 3 countries, it's still an intense workload in the 2 weeks that I'll be there.
I'm at the Frankfurt airport where I'm on my second espresso in an attempt to stay awake until I board the next plane. I'm hoping for a quiet flight where I can possibly get some sleep. All the people who were without tickets in Kuwait ended up getting on the flight to Frankfurt. It's better to fly in coach than wait another day for a business or first class seat to open up. The man sitting next to me has to fly to Kuwait every 6 weeks for business - now that's brutal!
8:00 pm. So close and still so far away. I have 2 hours before the airport shuttle and 6 more before the flight. This has been the longest, mindless day in a long time. Actually, I got a lot of work done but my brain is turning to mush. There are unattended children in the business lounge, I guess their parents are using this as a baby-sitting service. My patience is low and I am ready to be home. Well, almost there!
I've made it 4 hours into the wait. I wrote my last paper for school (the end is in 5 days) and got caught up on a couple of work tasks. I've looped Headline News over and over. Here it repeats about every 20 minutes, so you get the same news 3 times each hour and it never changes. I've drank enough coffee for a week. I talked to housekeeping, called the airline, and am texting everyone who's awake. Ten more hours to go at the hotel before the trip to the airport.
Another day, same window, same view. I slept in to minimize the amount of time that I had to spend in Kuwait on this bonus day. Took a long breakfast downstairs with my coffee and Kuwait Times. Chatted with the bellman, arranged for airport transportation, and here I am. Blogging before tackling work tasks. I realized that I spent last Valentine's Day in Kuwait. The same issues are still in the paper, in India, Muslim women in a strict sect are protecting against Indian Hindu women celebrating Valentine's Day. In Saudi Arabia, the secret shops that sell cards, hearts and candy are still operating and risking shut down. Kuwait has accepted. There are red heart balloons everywhere. When a huge chunk of the workforce is Filipino, some traditions naturally blend in with the local culture. The police report has the usual random arrest for drug runners, no alcohol busts yesterday, a rape (this is a big problem for the Filipina women here) and no murders. There was one major accide...
In all of my travels, this is the first time that a flight has been canceled and I have no other options but to stay another day in a city. There are always reroutes available but not tonight. Yes, the worst thing has happened. The United Airlines flight that I was so looking forward to is canceled because the snowstorm in Washington DC kept the airplane from ever departing the states. Tonights flight are all sold out and I am stuck for another day in Kuwait. I can't believe it. Worse yet, my nice business class ticket is all messed up and I'm stuck in coach due to lack of seats, even though the company paid for business class. Of course, I'll be happy to be on the plane in any seat, rather than stay a second or third day. I can't believe it. Me, Kuwait, and the Holiday Inn. Why could this not happen in a normal country like Jordan, the UAE, even Lebanon would be better than this!
Last day in Kuwait. It's a good day to leave, the sun is shining and the wind is crazy but at least there are no sandstorms or haze to delay the flights. Today's workload is light and since my meeting is at the hotel, it's quite possible that the only time I go outside today will be on the way to the airport. All the International flights usually depart around 1:00 am and that's what I'm stuck on today. At least for the first time I get to fly direct to Washington DC and can skip the Europe stop. This means over 14 hours on the same plane but it's worth it. Today the region is going about it's business. Kuwait can seemlessly have the day go by without concern for North Korea or Lebanon (which is sure to have a problem today) and even the George Bush is less of a topic than he used to be. There's concern about Iran that was never here before. The headline story in the Kuwait Times is about Kuwait Airways intent to buy 34 new planes. That's great news...
So here it is again, 7:30 pm in Kuwait and nothing to do. Work is done for the day, it's cold and raining, and I'm in a hotel room watching the same headline news over and over. There's only so much coffee and tea that one can drink for entertainment. Homework is even done for the day. This is life is dullsville. The Salt Lake City shootings did make the news here. People kill each other no matter where you are, the US, Lebanon, or Iraq. It makes no difference. The Kuwait police report listed 2 rapes, 1 car accident, 3 assaults, a few thefts, a duo-stabbing incident during a fight, a suicide attempt, the usual drug and alcohol arrest, and a random shooting, in yesterday's events. Then there was the case of the theft of 21 sheep from a stable. Kuwait. I leave on Thursday only to return 3 weeks later. Go figure.
Kuwait. After the first shock of having to deal with it again, life settles into the usual routine. Go to the office, chat with the top guy. Go to the classroom and deliver a training presentation. Let everyone in the room argue and debate the merits of the materials. Tell them that if they continue to debate, I will keep them in the room for 8 hours instead of 3. The room goes silent and buisness continues on. Back at the hotel, the staff rarely changes. As a result, I'm still on the spotlight as room service knows me, the housekeeping staff knows me, and even the guy at the metal detection machine knows me. There are not many American businesswomen here, although there are quite a lot of European businesswomen in Kuwait. In the morning, it's the usual coffee and Kuwait Times. Really, I love the print edition of the Kuwait Times. Today's headline is all about "Self-censorship the norm for media in Kuwait." The article discusses the reprisals that face journalists...
It's 12:30 am Monday morning in Kuwait. I'm back. The only way to describe the feeling is like this.... In Oman, you exit the airplane and a shuttle bus takes you to the terminal. The bus is full and everyone is talking on the bus. In Qatar, you exit the airplane and a shuttle bus takes you to the terminal. The bus is full and everyone is talking on the bus. In Kuwait, you exit the airplane and get on the bus. As the bus pulls away and heads to the terminal, the bus is full on passengers but there is only silence. Welcome to Kuwait.
The city of Doha, in Qatar from the hotel. There is an ocean here but it smells like the industrial port and fish. Most people come to Qatar for business but not vacation. This country is moving a full pace to be a business leader so the airplane was full of people from everywhere in the world. Customs was a matter of minutes, instead of the long detailed process in Oman. The running theme over the last few days is the airline ticketing agent wants to send us on to the next city. Each stop has been for less than 24 hours, so it looks like a connection instead of a layover. We've had to reconfirm our tickets twice a day, to ensure we have seats that night. Here, when a flight is overbooked, it really is and it's the passenger's responsibility to reconfirm or the seat is gone. Back at the Doha airport, we were in the same holding pen as one of the Arab regions biggest pop stars. It would be the equivalent as sitting in the same room as Gwen Stefani and her entourage except t...
Muscat, Oman - the view from the 6th floor balcony of my hotel room. Local law requires that all building exteriors are to be painted white and there are no exceptions. As a result, there is a lot of neon and colored sparklers to draw attention to area businesses. I won't see much of Oman on this trip but it's supposed to be one of the most diverse countries for the ocean and mountains in the Gulf Coast Countries. Oman used to be British ruled until about 30-35 years ago. The hotel is swarming with tourists. I don't know what they're all going to do, we're several hours from the ocean and I haven't seen any reason yet why I would come all the way here to relax. The Times of Oman is focused more on business and a good variety of news, instead of regional conflicts. That stuff is in there but the articles are more balanced in nature than what is in print in Jordan and Lebanon.
The sun is shining at last in Amman. This won't do me much good since it's another day of work and more work but at least everyone is in a better mood. There was a fun article in today's paper that has nothing to do with war or regional conflict. It turns out that there is a writer who's a Trekkie. There was a fairly long article about the history of the Klingon language and how it's moved past Trek and into mainstream linguistics studies. I knew I should have moved on beyond K'Plaa and actually tried to keep up with this. Who needs all these other languages if we can just speak Klingon? My life in Jordan is revovling around the hotel and work. I could be working anywhere in the world right now and I wouldn't even notice. Life on the road takes on a strange normalacy of coffee in the lounge, endless meetings, and long work days, and then coffee in the lounge. I have spent so much time in the region now that I scarcely notice women in burkas, men in robes, ...
2/3 of the way into the trip and I have officially lost all track of time, the day of the week, and what's happening beyond the next 24 hours. I'm managing to get the homework done on time but only because I wrote all my papers in advance and then penciled in the posting dates on my calendar. I'm in the last 2 weeks of school at last! It didn't snow in Amman but it was cold yesterday. Luckily, or not, I was inside working all of the day so there could have been a snowstorm or a monsoon and I would have never noticed. Today Jordan is remembering the 8th anniversary of King Hussein's death. I'm not sure how that will impact traffic or work but it's not a holiday so the impact should be minimal.
The view of wet and rainy Amman from the hotel window. This week has been non-stop work. I get picked up in the morning and don't get back until 7:30 at night. There's not much to sightsee right now. The tourist areas are closed due to snow and everything is outdoors anyway. There's no protection from the rain or the cold.
This morning's Jordan paper focuses on war topics in Gaza, Kabul, Baghdad, and other regional conflicts. The King is on the front page in a room with Arab Israelis where discussions are going on to protect Islamic shrines in Jerusalem. The Queen made it to page two where she is shown accepting an award from UNICEF for her work on increaseing awareness of how to prevent family violence. George W is not in the paper. But - in the way that always makes me wonder, Chewbacca is in the paper. The story about a wookie impersonater being booked for head-butting a tour guide in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater, made page 8. No Super Bowl news but the game probably wasn't over at press time.
As the day winds down in Jordan, the US is still 4 hours away from the Super Bowl. The game was finally mentioned on TV tonight and other than me, no one tuned into the topic. By the time I wake up in the morning, the game will have been over and gone with barely a notice overseas. It always is a disconnect how far removed I am from normal social activities that take place at home when I travel. There is a whole different life here where the day is paced different and work has a far bigger impact on people's lives than at home. There are also less distractions from work and politics and a nine hour work day easily rolls into an eleven hour work day.
No snow in Amman but the roads in the south are all closed due to snow and ice. It's cold and rainy outside. The Super Bowl isn't even a blip on the radar here. I didn't realize it was Super Bowl Sunday until Homer made that post. I'm sure CNN Sports will show it live or on a time delay or at least the highlights at some point. The big sports news here is that Italy has suspended all soccer games because of the repeated soccer hooligan violence. The paper is the usual Iraq death count, Palestinian issues, and Middle East crisis stories. There wasn't one mention of the King & Queen's activities in today's paper which is pretty unusual.
Amman, Jordan. It's about 40F and snow is in the forecast. This is an unexpected turn of events and I may find myself buying a coat tomorrow. I managed to lose my sweatshirt in Singapore and now when I need the extra layers, I'm out of luck. Beirut airport was like a ghost town. No one was traveling in or out except for the Jordan flight and there were all of 20 people on the plane. At least security was quick.
Driving through the streets of Beirut, the impact of the war is evident everywhere. Entire buildings are ruined and you as you look inside homes, you can see what people were doing when the bombs hit. At one house, the kitchen drawers were open and it looked as if cooking or dinner had been going on right before the evacuation notice came. There were so many bridges destroyed, that there isn't money to fund repairs to them all. Residents in smaller towns may have detours for years. A recent report lists that out of 98 bridges either destroyed or damaged, only 18 are under repair. Another 42 are funded but there is not enough man-power or supplies to even schedule repair dates. 38 small bridges are left without funding or repair status. Even so, people find a way and there is a sense that events will take a turn for the better because the only other option is civil war. This is where the entire nation is finally in agreement, that civil war is not an option.
Taken from the front seat of the car, this photo doesn't do the mountains justice but there are three major ranges that are snowcapped right now. This does make the city cold and while it's sunny, we're all wearing jackets. Below, the constant line of traffic as everyone weaves their way around town to avoid potholes, closures, and detours.
By now you should recognize this hotel view. It's a beautiful, sunny day in Beirut. The snow covered mountains make a stark backdrop to the city. The traffic is as bad as ever and the sound of car horns fills the air. Today, was a good arrival day. No one has closed off the streets and there is a cautiously optimistic outlook today. My taxi driver showed me the damage on the airport road from where the tires were burned last week. Then we drove by the Arab University and he showed me the burnt out vehicles and the TV station where the sniper shot four people dead. We also passed new security checkpoints that were not here a few months ago.