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Saw these camels hitching a ride in Dubai.  They seemed more interested in where they had been than where they were going to.  I noticed that they would not turn their heads even for a second.  It must be wind in nostril syndrome.  Remember when you were a kid and you stuck your head out the window when there were no seat belt laws.

They smiled at me.  I think.  I was keeping even with their truck until I had to make an exit.  I don’t know where they were going but I presume they were not 1 million dollar racing camels.  Maybe they were just every day normal camels like you and me.

Many people are amazed that a person would choose to live his/her life in the Arab World, especially if the person comes from an advanced country such as would be found in North America or Europe.  The words dangerous, deprived, depressed, demoralized, denigrated, deranged, damned and daunting are used to indicated the possible tribulations that a person used to safe, sufficient, salient, superficial, superior, sensitive, selective and sensible would make the comparison of what you give up and what you get.

I always say for me; I would be a small cog in a big wheel in America but here I am a Big Gog in a small wheel.  What this means is that in a very highly elevated and regimented system like in the West there is little chance for the normal IQ people to make a dent, while in the Middle East where so many people would feel out of place, there is an opportunity to make your small efforts shine and to be amplified.

In the past 5 years there have been many high profiled managers who came to advise the rulers in this region to do this and that, which ultimately landed them in trouble.  This has actually bursted the bubble that made high profile movers and shakers in the west to loose much of their ever-shine.  There was a time where whatever any western high profile business figure said would go without question.  In the end they found that when the going gets rough, these people just leave.

I’ve been in the GCC countries for the last 24 years and have been involved in many firsts.  I designed and built the first shopping mall in Qatar, introduced the first amusement park in Qatar, built the first dolphinarium in Dubai and have helped many people with very simple business tasks that made their organizations shing.  And this I did with relatively little reward.  Mainly because I was not a company, or a high profiled person or had too much baggage that made my role too expensive.  The truth is that I was so excited to start and to these projects that I was happy just to be able to survive and have the great experience of doing something tremendous.

What I have learned in Arabia is that my friends are always there for me and they never forget me or discount me whether or not I am successful, have money or am high profile.  What I really learned is that I will not go without for whatever reason because the people that I have touched over the years will make sure that I am at their side IF I NEED TO BE.  It is only a matter of calling them and telling them that I want to do something.

In the West we are more secure in what we do because the system as a governmental rights issue supports us more than in the Middle East.  What is most supportive in the ME is that when  you are regarded as a good person who is deserving to be supported then it happens.  People will step forward to give you a hand.  Of course there are the normal human emotions of jalousie and regret, but I have seen even bitter competitors live side by side and kiss and hug each other in trying and happy times.  They put aside their business instincts to be in Majelis.

What is Majelis?  It is a place to gather to share your presence with people you care about.  It is a room surrounded by low lying chairs or pillows where you sit and share your experiences with people.  The Majelis is usually held by a prominent person such as a Sheihk or a popular business man.  The purpose in the old days was to keep up on the news and to share time together in order to create solidarity.  But it had evolved into a tool that became so important to stabilize relationships and to resolve disputes and find solutions to problems.  You could meet almost anybody in the majelis, as people came and went.  One way to resolve your problems with somebody was to hope to find them in majelis with influential people who could act as mediators.

During my 24 years I sat in many majelises and witnessed so many events where people had interacted in positive ways to very negative situations.  I tried to find our western equivalent.  The only thing I could find was a bar, tavern or pub, which usually created more problems than they solved (booze).  Our churches and social gatherings are not the same as they are focused on worship or fellowship and normally they have little to do with the people that we interact with on a daily basis.

I you hold majelis you can be sure that the people who come are those who have had something to do with you or may be family.  Anybody can show up at anybody’s majelis and cannot be rejected.  Event the Emir of the country if you want to go to his majelis then it is possible… it would raise a few eyebrows but it is entirely possible.

While times are changing, the past 20 years has seen a sharp decline in the number of majelises being held.. the tradition is still imporant and is surviving as people find out that it is the only real way to keep in close contact with the people who make up their lives.

I went to a wedding in the GCC.  Upon arrival we were greeted by the groom.  They have the sword dance and chant.  I don’t know what they are saying but I imagine that it has to do with behaving or there will be trouble.

We ate in a great hall, many lambs got the knife.  Also had some baby camel called Hiwar which is a delicacy reserved only for special occasions.  We left after a while when the final prayer was said and people had eaten and had given their final greetings.

I got the news that after a year of chemo and a successful result my brother’s cancer has surfaced again in his liver. I only learned from my wife in Italy we heard from my daughter who heard on facebook from my sister who heard from my brother directly. My brother Laird (see earlier post) had visited me just recently as we had just travelled together in Thailand to spend time together. At the time all seemed cured as his chemo was reported as successful. Well i just contacted him to get the heads up and found out he was in Jeddah KSA . We talked.. his voice was very distant and he was very deeply emotional as it seemed he was holding back to tell me the news, so I asked him. Then it came out as a low reserved flow of words… IT CAME BACK.

Those words said everything and then he said quitely to my question, “how bad?”, well he said they told me to put my thing in order and to have hope. The hope word didnt sound like hope but dispair. So I said come to Dubai for he week end, since I was back in Dubai from my weekly trip to Qatar. He gave some business excuses and then I asked if I could send him a ticket would me make time and come. It is set he is coming for a few days to be with me here… To spend some time together. Now I know the meaning. It is not expensive but irreplaceable…TIME.

Out in the middle of nowhere I find these tires.  It seems to me that it would take more effort to haul the tires out here then just to put them next to a municipal waste bin which are free.

This setting was absolutely beautify except for the tires.  Even the sand dunes refused to cover them up.  I suspect that they are recent.  Why?

I had my brother Laird over on a double visit as he was passing through and back to Saudi Arabia where he has had been working on an air handling project in a project called KAUST (King Abdullah University for Science and Technology).  Needless to say the project Kaust a lot and Laird was there during this trip to get their payments straightened out.

Actually, the greatest thing about this project is that I get to see him from time to time.  He comes to Dubai for R&R or does a 1 day hit and run.  But this last trip was most noteworthy.  Laird was diagnosed with a type of vigorous upper colon cancer about 4 months ago.  This was really bad news for our family as my mother had just left for eternity the year before.  While the word cancer isn’t always the end of the trail, his was serious since it was already stage 4 (meaning really invasive and aggressive).  He is 50 and very healthy, in spite of the fact he chewed tobacco, smoked cigarettes and had his fair share of drinking these past 4 or so decades.

Most remarkable is his fighter attitude and faith in his ambitions.  He doesn’t look at this as.. oh I have to completely change my life style and be good and now live healthy, which is one of the reasons’ why he is still smoking and drinking.  He did give up chew.  By the way never give your can of anything to a tobacco chewer and tell them to hold it for you.

I did manage to venture a, “don’t you think it would be a good time for a life style change?”, which is a nice way of staying, “Maybe, if you stop smoking and drinking NOW it will help in the fight to recover.”  What better excuse is there for quitting?

Laird has lots of stress on and off the job.  If there is such a thing as a worker messiah then Laird is it.  He is the guy you heap your problems on and walk away with a good feeling.  He doesn’t dream regular dreams.  When he was sleeping I was listening to his audible dream conversation.  In one part he stated, “OK (some name).. I think you have gone over your 10 minutes.”  I was trying to figure out what the other person was doing.

Because our parents were the educational types we argued a lot.  My dad was always right and so was my mother.  I remember clearly that I was always right too! All of our arguments went something like… statement…. (retort)… bullshit…(retort)… I aint listening to this load of crap.  Just take and swap out the retort with the other things and that is pretty much how it went.  When we were small we used crap or liar instead of bullshit… that was a really bad word.

I tried like hell to avoid any argument with Laird until he said buying a fuckin cup of coffee for two bucks at Starbucks is just so fuckin stupin dont you think - just as I was sipping my Starbucks coffee and he the one I bought him!  Not to show I was so offended I said, “Yeah Laird, its just like paying five bucks for a pack of cigarettes”.  He smiled as he tapped his pack to pack it down, and we both considered that was fair enough.. kill the seeds of an argument before they grow.

I told Laird, let’s just avoid talking about religion and politics, sex was OK but wasn’t a good idea to discuss in the UAE in public.  So we sat there looking around the cafe as people walked up and down the Qasba board walk.

When I go home I got on the internet to read my mail and my brother got on the other computer to check his mail.  I asked him if he ever saw my web site or the many links that I sent him regarding my poems and short stories.  He looked surprised and said, “you wrote poems and short stories?”.  I said yes, a long time ago I sent you links.  He said, ” you know I don’t have time for links.  If it is not written in my email I dont follow links! So where are they?”.

I loaded up the poems from my blog and I read them to him one by one and the short stories.  When I got to the poem about our mother he looked over at a picture of mom that I had in a picture frame next to my bed.  Actually, there were two pictures.  One of my mother in the hospital bed smiling with oxygen tubes ( I asked her to smile and she barely coherent and conscious gave me a big big but painful smile).

Wanting to have something from her, I asked to write on a piece of paper “I Love you Christopher”.  I came out a little cryptic but it is still in my wallet.

My brother Laird (right) was diagnosed with cancer and in this shot was on his 3rd chemotherapy session.  When he came to see me in Dubai he warned…”you won’t recognize me because I have no hair… what didn’t fall out I had to shave”.

I decided that when he would get here I would be just like him so he would be in good company so I went to a barber in Dubai Festival City just 10 minutes before his flight arrived.  I said “Quick I have to get to the airport with no hair… how long will it take”.  A glimmer went off in the eye of the barber.  I presume that this is a dream cut.  Wack Wack Wack and go away.  In 3 minutes it was all gone

I went to the airport but got a good look at myself and memorized my look so I would know what my brother would look like.

I found him.  Almost wearing the same thing as me!

We had some good quality time to talk about a variety of job issues.  He loves to talk shop and so do I.  He did tell me he was scared and that he wasn’t feeling so good.  I don’t know what it was but as soon as I cut off all of my hair I started to feel more fragile myself.  I joked with him and said .. “I find ouselves together and feel that even me like I have cancer.”  Although it is not true I did find myself acting different, more careful and more deliberate.

Did you know that more bottled water is sold and used in the Arabian Gulf countries than in any other country in the world per capita!  Even the relatively low income person buys or insists on having bottled water.  The cost ranges from 2 cents per glass for the budget supermarket water to $2.5 per glass in a bar.

There are more water producers than other beverage producers.  The majors such as Coke, Pepsi and Nestle all have their own brands. 

Water is imported from several European and CIS  countries. 

There are people who wash their bodies with Evian water.

When going to a restaurant you are asked Evian or house water?  House meaning a cheaper brand.

Almost NOBODY drinks tap water.  It is not advised due to the fact that the water tanks are many times teaming with aquatic life.  The water is warm or hot which is ideal for bacterial growth.

The larger supermarkets have complete isles for just water products.

You can find chilled water dispensing coin operated machines around the town.

The average person consumes 2.5 litres of bottled water per day.

Do the math.  In the UAE this translates to 4million x 2.5 litres 10 million litres per day. Or 3.65 million cubic meters of water per year.

You can imagine how much plastic is consumed just for water bottles.  It is one of the most ubiquitous forms of waste in dumps in the Gulf Countries.

Water is sometimes more expensive than gasoline and tastes better.

The chik Bin Hindi Avenue of only the TOP TOP brands closed due to lack of sales.  The remnants are shops that are basically ghost shops with semi dismembered manequins.  Quite a dreary site.