FRIENDS

Welcome back everyone!  I moved to Saudi Arabia 2-1/2 years ago, and my last post feels like it was 2-1/2 years ago.  So for this post I thought I would keep it simple.

Water polo has been a part of my life for 25 years.  I strolled onto the pool deck for my first practice back in 1987, and I fell in love with the sport immediately.  Water polo walked with me through high school, followed me to Cal, and then, after a 14 year break, showed-up in my life again, here in Saudi Arabia.  It has been an amazing blessing in my life.  If you have never seen a live college or international match, you need to put it on your "to-do" list, because it's a great game.

I met Anthony Sawaya the first day I attended a practice with the Ras Tanura (some say Dhahran) Water Polo club here in Saudi.  We struck up an immediate friendship.  See Anthony went to Cal AND he played goalie for the Golden Bears.  Anthony is one of my best friends here in Kingdom.  This past week Anthony and his wife took me to dinner in recognition of my graduation from Thunderbird (another post coming!).  For a guy living in Saudi Arabia k-solo, that means a lot.

At the end of this week Anthony and his wife will be heading off on a nice, long vacation.  After many, many summers, and a lot of tough work for Saudi Aramco, Anthony is very deserving of this break.

Have a great vacation Anthony.  I'll miss our laughs and your competitive fire at practice.

Cal brothers at practice this past Friday morning.

VICTORY AGAIN...SORT OF

Well where has everyone been!  Ok, I've been swamped with work, school, water polo and shwarma consumption, but I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane as sort of a comeback post.

About 3 weeks ago I answered the call of champions again, and ran in the Bahrain Team Marathon.  Unlike last year's challenge though, I was dropped down to the 11th spot on the team.  This wasn't related to any performance factors, only because I was asked to participate at the last minute. 

"Pphhh.  Sure, I'll run that little trot."  I blurted out.

The morning of the race was much more mellow than 2010.  I woke-up at Martin's house around 8am, had some coffee, watched a little rugby, stretched for 3 minutes, and then took a nap...ok, I only stretched for 45 seconds.

Julie (Martin's wife), Martin and I headed out to our run posts.  The weather was incredible and I was actually feeling pretty good.  Both Martin and Julie performed their legs without incident, so I was fired-up when I took the baton.  I raced off down the road feeling very strong.  My leg was pretty simple this year, except that I was told it would feel longer than it actually was.

"You'll come down that hill and see a traffic light about 700 meters away.  By this time you'll be a bit winded, so turning here and heading for the finish line will be the desire.  But no mate, you have another light to run to, and it's another 1/2 mile away!"

Well I hit that light and sure enough, I was wishing the run was coming to an end.  This was about a mile and a half into my leg, so I was starting to feel winded (this is the one time I run during the year.).  I passed under the traffic light, briefly excited to be actually gaining on another runner ahead of me.  I tried to pick-up the pace.  Then, out of nowhere, a gawky running woman strode by me.  She was running with an odd hitch, but she was passing me with ease!  I suddenly felt like I was cracking cement with my lumbering strides.  That second light came much too late for me.  I turned the corner and the finish line was in the distance.  I pushed hard and passed that first runner towards the end.  That's the last time a 14 year old girl tries to outpace my running prowess.  VICTORY!!!!

Here's me with a sweet orange shirt and Cheerio-sized medal.

Ciao!

The Middle East enjoys a nice long break every year known as the Eid Holiday.  This year the holiday consisted of 4 days at the end of the first week of November.  This was spectacular because it ended-up being Saturday-Tuesday for us.  Furthermore, after much deliberation, Flowserve decided to give employees Wednesday off as well.  This meant we had a full seven weeks of vacation because our weekends were on either end of the holiday.

At first I wasn't too keen on traveling this year.  School has been really difficult with my new job and I figured I would relax around the apartment and catch-up on school and work.  I changed my mind after speaking to some of the guys on the water polo team.  Jim was heading to Munich with his wife, John was going to Tunisia with his wife, Abdi was already in California on holiday, and Anthony was going to his house in Spain.  So no water polo and a week to stir on school on work.  I had to do something.

Last year, if all of my loyal followers remember, I took a fantastic adventure to Kenya.  I didn't have as exotic of plans this year, but I was excited to take on Rome for a nice 4 day vacation.  I have never been to Italy and Rome seemed like the most logical place to start with such a small amount of time.  I did some hotel research and found a nice local hotel in the area where my parents stayed on their trip.  I purchased my ticket and prepped for a new adventure.

The flight to Rome was a quick 6 hours.  I proceeded through customs and immigration and found the train into town.  The train ride was a pleasant 30 minutes.  Once into downtown Rome I pulled-out my directions to the hotel.  At stop #4, bus 960 would drop me off for a 500 meter walk to the hotel.  Simple enough.  As I rode along counting stops, I realized that we were only stopping when the bell was rung.  Great!  Nothing like carrying luggage around a city.  I quickly pulled the ringer and jumped off the bus.  The bus sign quickly notified me that I had gone 4 stops too far.  I started to trudge back the way I had been driven.  After 25 minutes of crisp walking I arrived at the proper stop.  500 meters right.  Ok.  500 meters up the street.  Nothing.  500 meters to the right.  Big zero.  500 meters down the street.  Strike 3.  By this time it was getting dark, so with all humility mustered, I called the hotel.  Ok, 500 meters in the one direction I hadn't traveled yet! 

I stumbled into this old classy building and meandered up to the 1st floor (1st floor in Europe is our 2nd floor in the US - don't ask).  Giseppe met me with a smile and proceeded to check me in, hand me a map, point out all of the great sites, note that breakfast was cooked by his mother between 7:30 and 10:00am, and show me to my room.  The room was clean and perfect.  Rome was waiting the next day.

This is one of the only trips I've taken where no funny stories took place.  I was a pure tourist.  Camera in tow, backpack and sucker-smile.  I decided after a morning talk with Giseppe to walk the entire city rather than take a bus or taxi.

The first morning I decided that the Pantheon and Coliseum were my targets.  Next to the Coliseum is the ancient city of Rome as well, so I could kill two birds with one stone.  Off I trudged at 8:30am, my map unfolded in front of my face as I tried to figure out how to get to the Pantheon, which turned out to be buried in the middle of the city.  Maps are great until you are on the ground level.  The city has classic stone roads and tight alley ways.  Streets don't take travelers straight, but through winding turns.  After 25 minutes of walking I came to a nice square and noticed the sign "Pantheon" with an arrow.  Thank goodness, because I wasn't confident of my position at this point.  10 more minutes of winding roads and the Pantheon unfolded in front of me.  Amazing.  This structure is ancient, and it is virtually untouched in the middle of the city.  If you walked one or two blocks over you would completely miss it, and yet is a huge structure.

The picture doesn't do justice to the enormity of this building, as well as the enormity against the backdrop of the city.  Entrance is free so I trooped on in and tried to take more pictures, which proved completely impossible because of the size.

And another

The size of the people against the building give some perspective.  I tried to take a picture of the famous dome above.  This dome is now only outdone by the dome in the cathedral at the Vatican.

Terrible, but all I could get - it doesn't do it justice.  Only a re-look at the outside photos can give you an idea of the size of this structure.

Completely satisfied at 10:30am, I decided to aim for the Coliseum, which was a ways away.  I started out on my next walk and came to a city square where a military tribute to old soldiers was taking place.  The building was amazing, and it was really nice to see the old veterans lined-up in front.

As I walked across the street and around this building I came onto a long, 3-lane, 2-way street.  At the end I could make out my destination.

Way off in the distance the Coliseum was growing out of the ground.  This is one of the first instances where the map didn't convey how close the structures were to each other.  I walked briskly down to the site and signed up for a tour.  The Coliseum is quite impressive from the outside.

Once inside, the Coliseum is equally impressive.  It's amazing that the structure has lasted this long.

The bottom half of the photo shows the underground portion of the Coliseum; so the tournament floor was actually laid over this area.  The underground portion housed the wild animals and prisoners used in the gladiator battles.  You can see a remake of the flooring on the far side of the area in the picture below.

Following the Coliseum tour, a free hour was offered touring the ancient ruins of Rome.  I gladly accepted and headed across the street with our tour group.  This part of Rome has all of the ancient squares and palace ruins of the early Caesars.

It was about 2pm now, and I was beat.  I started to head back to the hotel, grabbing lunch at a nice little Italian cafe on the way back.  I arrived back at around 4pm and took a nap before heading out for dinner at around 8pm.

The next day was Vatican day.  My gracious hosts had told me that it was likely to rain my second day and the Vatican was an indoor tour.  So my entire day was reserved for the walk, tour, and return.  I headed out at 8:30am again and slowly made my way to the opposite side of the city from my prior day's adventure.  I came to the crest of a nice incline and decided I needed to take a stair case down to the street that led all the way to the Vatican.  And here I was at the Spanish steps all of a sudden!

It was raining so the crowds weren't gathered to people watch, but it was easy to see how attractive a resting point this would be for people.  I turned and headed towards the Vatican.

The walk down this single street was very, very long, but it was easy because getting lost wasn't possible.  After about 30-40 minutes I was on the main street into the Vatican.  I took as many photos as possible because it is such a recognizable place from movies and travel sites.

The scene was just as presented in countless movies, photos and trip memories, except for the 30 minute entrance line I stood in.

Once inside the Vatican, I decided to go big and pay the $25 to walk up to the top of the cathedral.  This was recommended by Old Reliable, Rick Steve, so I went for it.  Right after dropping the cash I passed a sign that warned of the walk.  No warning could have done this climb justice.  It was 380 steps up to the open dome portion of the cathedral, but another 300 steps up to the top of the cathedral, and people were crammed up the small, small walk tunnels.  It was miserable, and I was sweating like crazy.  It was all worth it once I was out on the balcony area though.

Coming down was 50 times easier, and I was excited to head into the cathedral.  Once again my photos don't do any justice to the beauty of Michelango's art and the immensity of the area.

The area is huge, and a lot of cordoned off from the public.  People are everywhere, snapping photos and violating personal space rules.  The dome above is incredible.

This picture is sideways, but you can see an example of the walls and art around the cathedral.  Here is a famous Michelango sculpture of Mary holding Jesus following his Crucifiction.

Once again, my photo taking skills are sorely lacking.

The last day I wandered about buying some Christmas gifts and enjoying some local restaurants.  The entire trip was incredible, and my hosts at the Golden Hotel were awesome.  I highly recommend a stop in Rome if you're traveling at all in Europe.  It is 2-3 hours from France, England or any other country visited in Europe, and it is totally worth the extra money.  The people are wonderful and the quality of the experience is second to none.  Ciao!

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

Saudi Arabia is difficult to describe to people.  The typical idea of a desert usually doesn't really represent the country, or at least the Eastern Province, very well.

I was driving to work a couple of weeks ago and took a picture of the road ahead.  This is about 10 miles from the new factory where I now work.

The road signs point to all of the places one can drive from this part of the country: Kuwait, Riyadh, Abqaiq, the airport, and on and on.  In the distance a new housing development is almost completed.  No rolling dunes of sand though; just a lot of dust and rock.  It's peaceful at night, and even more peaceful on Friday mornings, when prayers take place.

That is one empty road, but peaceful as well!  If you remember my blog on Saudi driving, then you can understand how nice Friday mornings are for cruising.  This is on my way to water polo at 7am, so even more empty than normal.

Fast forward to last week and I was on my way to Hong Kong for my second, and final, Regional Business Environment Course for my Thunderbird MBA.  Talk about a difference!  After 5 days of intensive class we were treated to a Bay Cruise and light show.  The light show turned out to just be all of the skyline buildings firing-up, but it was still incredible.

One of the buildings was enormous.  It seemed to loom over us the entire time we were on the boat.

There were a load of Korean and Chinese tourists on the boat, which lead to some awesome dance sessions to watch later in the evening.  Sadly I have no pictures of that melee.

I visited Hong Kong with my Dad in 1987 and it was still a budding city; the bay was incredible, but there was still growth to come.  As you can see from the pictures above, there is very little room for anything now.  One thing that did make it through time are the old boats that the local citizens have used for centuries.  I captured one with my camera.

I had a great trip and learned a lot in my class.  I'm now back in Saudi Arabia, plugging away in my job again.  More adventures are soon to come!

FINALLY

I had a chance to check on my 1952 Panhead on my last trip to Houston.  I was back in town getting my visit visa to Saudi Arabia renewed.  The trip ended-up being quite exhausting as I started my first week of work and hustled around getting my personal items moved (thanks Mom and Dad!).

On my last day in Houston I stopped by MC Creations just to see if the old Panhead was running.  I wasn't sure what to expect; the last time in town the bike still had little knicks and knacks left untended.  Much to my surprise the bike was finished and running.  I got to kick start this bike to life after 15 years of patient part collection and construction.  Here it is everyone.  How about that custom seat that Gregg and his guys at MC Creations made for me...a nice surprise.

MOVIN, MOVIN, MOVIN

On August 1st I submitted my resignation to Wilson Supply.  I had worked at Wilson for 10 years.  It was very difficult to step in a new direction, but I received an amazing opportunity to move into manufacturing, a segment of business I have always been interested in.

Flowserve Company approached me to be the General Manager of their Saudi Arabia JV facility.  I leaped at the opportunity.  They had built a first class valve manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia and had rightfully set their sights high.  With all of the energy construction work going on in Saudi Arabia, this was a very wise move by Flowserve.  Here's a picture of the factory from the street.

Unfortunately, one piece of my package was not as advantageous as I would have preferred: My personal items in storage would not be paid for by Flowserve.  I would have to find a place to put my personal items, or I would have to take over the monthly storage fee.

I went into action mode and my parents jumped-in as well.  We decided to move most of my items to a new home we'd jointly purchased in Park City, Utah.  My Mom and Dad were action-superstars.  We coordinated with the moving company to unpack all of the key items I wanted to move (the balance remained in storage) and be ready to load them into a U-Haul that my Mom and Dad would drive from Houston to Park City.  Priorities were being juggled and flights were in full-swing; I flew into Houston from Saudi Arabia to take care of my visa and help move while my parents flew in from Utah.  Etter efficiency was in high gear.

After two wonderful days complete with dinner and laughs, we met at Road Runner storage company and watched them load up my personal items.  Road Runner was awesome and my Mom and Dad were ready to go by mid-afternoon (save for some super-support from friends to get my records as well - SHOUT OUT!).  By that time the realization of a 3-day drive in a U-Haul at 60mph had set in and loopiness had taken over.

Three days later my Mom and Dad rumbled and bumbled into Park City, personal items in tow!  They spent the next couple of weeks moving, shifting, rearranging and constructing.  The house gladly accepted all of my personal items and my Mom rocked at fitting my stuff into the otherwise rugged theme of the house:

Classic Porsche posters - CHECK

Music pictures and Record player - CHECK

Water Polo stuff and Hanging Globe Man - CHECK!

Chevelle - CHECK!  Yes, the old Chevelle was brought-up a week after my parents arrived and is resting in the garage.  Sorry no pictures of old faithful

Books - CHECK!!! A towering feat that pretty much wiped-out my movin' Mom and Dad when unloading the U-Haul

Awesome scenery...already present....

So things are settled and now I'm working away at my new job.  Mom and Dad, thank you for such a wonderful time in Houston and for being the backbone of this entire effort.

WOW!!! IS THIS LIFE IN SAUDI ARABIA!!!

A few weeks ago I was firing-up the day with my typical Yahoo headline scan; it was the weekend and I was relaxing with the TV on, ready to catch-up on some school work.  One of the titles on the Yahoo front page was the following:

July 7, 2011

Early this morning, the Sun erupted with an explosion I can only describe as ginormous. We’re in no danger from it, but the size and scope of this thing are simply spectacular.

The article then went on to explain some of the technical details.  Blah, blah, blah.  About halfway down the article this picture was attached. 

Under this rather intimidating and frightening photo was just the word "Yowza!"  Now I'm pretty sure "Yowza" isn't a scientific term, but it does do some justice to the imensity of this event in the scientific realm.  A couple of other key phrases from the article:

This event blasted something like a billion tons of material away from the Sun.

and the equally drastic....

Note the size of it, too: while it started from a small region on the Sun’s surface, it quickly expanded into a plume easily as big as the Sun itself! I’d estimate its size at well over a million kilometers across.

Fast forward a week and I'm in the office working away.  Altaf comes into my office following his lunch break.  He is sweating fountains of liquid from his forehead, neck, hair, eyeballs, toes, etc. 

"It is hot.  And it's humid!  Very hot."

Yeah, yeah, yeah it's hot here from April to October.  Nothing new.  A couple of hours later I closed up shop and headed for home.  I walked out of the building into a world class hair dryer blasting at my body.  Within 100 yards I was sweating profusely.  By the time I had arrived at my car, I was wiping off my head every 3 seconds.  I quickly went into "Heat-Combat Mode".  The first step is to air out the car.  I fired on the motor, blasted the A/C and let it AIIIRRRR.

Step 2 of the airing process is to roll down the windows.  This is an extreme measure, required only when there is a chance that the driver may pass out once in the car with the door closed.  I went with the window roll-down to be safe.

I was oozing more and more sweat as I waited for the 2-step airing process to finish.  After a couple of minutes I was ready to jump into my mobile heater oven.  I grabbed a quick photo as I climbed in.

It's a little hard to read, but it says "43".  Translated to Farenheit, that's a very manageable 109.  Child's play for Saudi Arabia.  But I was sweating like crazy.  What was the humidity factor in this mama?

Later that evening I stepped out of my apartment to head to my car and crossed paths with my neighbor.  A 4 year veteran in Saudi Arabia, he quickly commented, "It is brutally hot mate.  Do you know what the temperature was today with the humidity factor included (rhetorical)?  58 degrees!!  It basically felt like it was 136 degrees Farenheit today!"  You know what, I pondered, that is close to the temperature on the sun I bet...

So apparently that explosion on the sun got to Earth faster than scientists predicted, or at least it got to Saudi Arabia quicker.  But hey, the good news is that we were back to a dry heat today - it was 43 and it felt great!  I can deal with that.