If only I could make these things up....Let's start with America's new sweetheart Shamsudine. As you may recall, Shammy is the office boy/General Manager's helper from Bangladesh that works in my office. He has the nicest disposition, he always is very friendly and we have become friends. If I don't come into the office (because I am in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain or working the street with one of our reps) Shams will come find me to ask about my day and to find out where I was. My good friend Dan Scott (became friends in law school) was kind enough to send a birthday present to me in Dubai (finally got here on December 1st, more than a month after Dan mailed it) Shammy was like a kid on Christmas morning with this package from America. There is no mail delivery in the UAE, what few bills or mail you get, comes to your employers post office box (Transmed Overseas, PO box 1604, Dubai, UAE)....So I come back from lunch and there is Shammy waiting with the receptionist in the lobby...He can't wait to see what is in the package....So I took a look at it and said something to the effect that it is a present from a friend of mine (Dan had called on my birthday and told me he wanted to mail me a gift)...Well Shammy with glee in his voice says can we open it??? I said sure and before you could blink he's got scissors tearing into my package...It took me by surprise, but I was enjoying Shammy's joy! In the package was a Major League Baseball Johnny Bench Jersey (an awesome gift-thanks again Danno)...Well as nice a gift it was to me, Shammy was so disappointed...He was like an 8 year old on Christmas morning that opened up the present and found socks in the package, major disappointment...
Well after my fun exchange with him I decided it would be fun to give Shammy a gift from me, soooo I asked Shammy if I could take him to lunch for Christmas...it became a mini adventure in itself. Shammy is a devout Muslim, but told me he would except my "Christmas" invite. So we planned our lunch. We left the office headed to the Dubai Mall (Shammy told me he loves fried fish- so what's better than fish and chips at Social House). Now I knew Shammy rode his bicycle to work everyday, what I didn't know was that he does not ride in cars often. Shammy got car sick on our 15 minute drive, it was comical as he asked me how mad I would be if he threw up in my car...he cranked up the AC and we made it to the mall without leaving any residue in my car...(Thank God for small miracles). Shammy had never seen the free water show at the mall (check out the photos on my facebook) he loved it...We enjoyed our fish and chips...I bought him some roasted nuts and headed back to the office...I experienced the true spirit of Christmas...the giving...what a great time...
One of my strategic moves to get hit our sales goals was to move one of my favorite Account Executives to Al Ain. He is a chef from Lebanon (the country not my High school alma mater)-His name is Elie Nader. Well Bob and I decided we would take the trip to Al Ain to canvass its potential and check out the country of Oman which is bordering the Emirate of Abu Dhabi where the city of Al Ain is. The hour and a half drive to Al Ain goes through the desert. We must have seen over a hundred camels, some wild wandering in the desert next to the highway, others in the Camel farms where camels are sold...(for food, transportation and racing- no I have not eaten Camel yet, nor do I intend to)...Al Ain is a beautiful traditional Arab city of nearly 400,000 residents. (bout the size of Memphis TN). There is a lot of business opportunity there. We went up on the Mountain of Jabel Hafeet, where the hotel Mercure (beautiful property) lies at the top...from the summit you can see for miles, and the mountain itself serves as part of the border with The Islamic Republic of Oman. Well brilliant me, talked Bob into crossing the border with me.
After paying the exit fees for the UAE and then going through the Oman immigration border crossing and paying the appropriate fees there, we head into Oman....We drove straight into the desert and after driving for 45 minutes and seeing nothing except sand dunes and palm trees, we stopped at a petrol station to find out we were not headed to the part of Oman where the tourist visit. Turn around and then head across a different road towards civilization. It is getting late in the afternoon and we pass virtually no one for an hour (We are traveling at speeds approaching 180 Kms per hour) on the remote 4 lane highway. The road became two lanes and as I come around a bend, we run into an Oman Military check point. There were jeeps on both sides of the roads with mounted machine guns manned with military personnel. It reminded me of the old series "Rat Patrol". In the road were about a half dozen soldiers stopping us to check our "credentials". They asked us what we were doing there as they checked our Id's (I don't know why they might think 2 Americans driving through remote Oman in a leased car from the United Arab Emirates saying we are just looking around might be suspicious.) They actually let us pass after a couple of minutes, and I didn't get nervous until Bob snapped a picture of the one of the jeeps as we exited the traffic stop area.
A few minutes down the road we finally arrived in the border town of Buraimi, Oman. It was crowded with cars. Darkness had descended, we asked for directions to Dubai and was told we were over 3 hours away and given directions to where we could cross the border. After waiting to cross in heavy traffic, we were denied entry because we were at an "Arab only" checkpoint. So we drove a half hour to another crossing area. We had to go through immigration, and then through another military checkpoint. The officer there had my passport, and in a deep broken English voice said "where are you from"? I said the United States...He said "Where are you from" again...I said St Louis....then he said in an animated voice, that he had once been to Ohio...lol, he wanted to make conversation...we finally made it across the border and I arrived safe and sound back in lovely Dubai at about 9:30pm...what a long day...
Bob is leaving for the states next Wednesday, and Richard is headed home on December 24th. It will be interesting spending Christmas here in Dubai. Christmas Day is a normal business day here...I plan on working...
Sorry my blog was delayed, I will try and do better....
Thanks for the nice comment Susan, and you and all the rest of American friends will be in my thoughts...
John
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