West-Bound and Down

Dear happy readers,

You may have noticed the month's lag and general neglect of this site. I attribute it to many factors, the first of which being sloth.

In truth, I have bee nbusy preparing the next stage of my life. I will be returning to the United States for good on October 15th. I'm moving to Arlington, Virgina, and will be working in the marketing and analytics unit of a VC-funded energy efficiency start-up called OPOWER. It should be a dynamic stretch role in a fast-moving company, and I am very excited about it. I urge you to check out the company here and note that Obama himself has already spoken there on cleantech jobs.

I am back and forth between DC and Dubai for interviews, homecoming and wrapping up my time here at Monitor. I had a good expat year, and great first job, but am ready to return to America to vote on things and express my various rights and sundry liberties.

I will be wrapping up the blog over the course of this next month, posting photos from my trips to Jordan and Nepal, as well as my outlook for the region.

Thank you for reading thus far. If my antics are wild or random enough in Arlington, which I will strive to make happen, look for a similar blog to come. In the meantime, please enjoy this documentary about my new abode.

Jordan I: Dead Sea

A couple weekends ago I did another whirlwind / escape the Gulf trip. I met up with the Monitor team in Amman, Jordan, then a couple of us branched off to the Dead Sea and Petra.

Just being in this area (Jordan, Lebanon) carries Biblical weight. Every exit was something straight out of the Gospels. The exit before the Dead Sea was for Bethany-By-The-Jordan, where Jesus was baptized. Across the dead sea from us lay Palestine and Israel:

I was taken aback when we got out of the car by the blatant warnings about the dangers of the Dead Sea. I knew it was salty, but this sign added an aire of danger to our beachside jaunt:

We were also surrounded by crying children who did not heed the sign. Tip: DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, PUT YOUR HEAD UNDERWATER AT THE DEAD SEA.

The buoyancy throws you off at first. I'm not the best swimmer, so the guarantee of not drowning was good. However, my legs floated a lot more than I used to, so it took me a few tries to regain my center of gravity.

After I mastered floating in the Dead Sea, the only thing left to do, naturally, was coat myself with the think mud at the bottom of the sea. It is supposed to make your skin healthy. It just made me feel dirty...


We then loaded up into our car and made it to Petra by nightfall. What unfolded the next day defies description in the English language. Book your trip to Petra now - I will share my experience tomorrow, insha'allah.

Ramadan Kareem!

Sighting the Moon

By the way, this is how Ramadan is determined:

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/government/uae-moon-sighting-committee-to-meet-on-tuesday-1.666246

A panel of "experts" and religious scholars gather to sight the moon. As the Hijri calendar is lunar, each month begins on the new moon. So if the Moon Sighting Committee doesn't see any moon, Ramadan is proclaimed. If it does, Ramadan is delayed until the next day.

This sighting has dire implications for my dinner tonight. I plan on eating after Maghrebi prayer but before moonrise. They'd best not proclaim Ramadan in the interim...

Ramadan and Its Discontents

Ramadan probably begins on Wednesday. I say probably not because I am too lazy to check the calendar, but rather the ulema must wait to view the moon later this week before they are properly sure than Ramadan is allowed to begin. It's kind of like Groundhog's Day in that regard. But no Bill Murray.

I first moved out to the Gulf in the middle of Ramadan 1430 (This Ramadan we are gonna party like it's 1431 -Hold up, it is-). I spent the first bit of it apartment-searching, and was frustrated by many of the special Ramadan laws:
-No music
-No eating in public
-No drinking (even water) in public
-Most ABC establishments are closed
-Open ABC establishments must keep all lights on
-No loud noises or singing
It was always a pretty restrictive atmosphere during the day. In Saudi Arabia, we confined ourselves to the hotel where we could at least order a room service shwarma if we felt peckish.

But at night in Saudi, everything changed. Upon the sundown call to prayer, everyone would eat the date given them, and proceed to engorge themselves on massive nightly feasts. Eating is tiring. My favorite iftar occurred in a large ballroom in downtown Riyadh. The buffet was probably 100 yards long, and I am only slightly exaggerating, and wound its way around the magnificent centerpiece: 1 whole baby camel, pressure boiled and served with rice.

I can appreciate the theoretical basis for Ramadan. Everyone spends lots of time with their families, spends their days fasting, reading the Quran and in prayer. But in practice, Ramadan is heavily commercialized and focused more around feasting and partying. Most Gulfis becoming essentially nocturnal, waking up late in the afternoon to avoid feeling too hungry. Malls are open til 4am, and have a month of Ramadan sales. In fact, Ramadan is not too different from the Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday season in the States.

I'm still torn over whether Ramadan should be a more austere, pious month, or if my opinion is too much of a double standard. Either way, for the next month I won't be fasting, but I will be feasting.

US Embassy: One Step Ahead of Terrorists

We get these emails from the Embassy on occassion. Don't worry, I never go to Qassim. That is where they stone women for having two X chromosomes:

WARDEN MESSAGE
August 4, 2010

The Embassy requests that wardens pass the following message in its entirety to members of the American Community:

U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, the Consulate General in Dhahran and the Consulate General in Jeddah advise American citizens in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that we have received credible information that an unidentified extremist(s) in Saudi Arabia may be planning to attack Westerners working and living in al-Qasim, Saudi Arabia. The timing and method of potential attacks are currently unknown. The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Consulate General Dhahran and Consulate General Jeddah remind U.S. citizens to exercise prudence and enhanced security awareness at all times.

GCC: Technology to Preserve the State

You may think people in the Middle East would be worried about the rising tensions across the region, particularly the skirmish yesterday between Israel and Lebanon, posturing by Ahmadinejad, and Hassan Nasrallah's upcoming claim that he has proof of Israel's role in Rafiq Hariri's (the namesake of the new Georgetown business school building, among other achievements) assassination. You would be wrong.

What stole headlines this week was the UAE's imminent and KSA's immediate ban on BlackBerry services. KSA shuts off BlackBerry on Friday, the UAE in October. This move is likely sparked by the Gulf's paranoia about destabilizing activity, be it terrorism, assassination, or women's rights.

I, for one, have not made the jump to Smart Phones, but they are a staple in my industry and we are trying to figure out how to cope without BBM or ubiquitous email access. Not the best move for countries trying to attract businesses.

On the other hand, Saudi immigration is using technology to stop another important problem: Women leaving the country without their mahram (male relative): ARTICLE HERE

Travel Bucket List

My time in the Middle East is winding down, so I'm trying to get in as many low-cost trips as possible.

I'm headed to Jordan next weekend to see Petra
I have flights booked to Nepal in mid-August
Other than that I'm trying to hit up Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Syria, Kurdistan? and potentially Cyprus before I head out. Which is going to keep me rather busy. So I booked 9 flights yesterday to get started.

If you've been to any, please email me with travel tips!

WTF Tuesday

Ok,admittedly this article is less shocking than other WTF Tuesday posts, but it's approaching Ramadan and most Saudis are leaving the country soon so it's the best I got:

Article on the Booming Beauty Industry in Riyadh

My favorite quotes:

Sheikh Mohammad al-Habadan, a religious commentator, recently suggested that women should show nothing more than one eye in public. Revealing both, he said, could still promote lascivious thoughts.

Some beauty salons ... display stickers pointing out the dangers of damnation associated with plucking eyebrows

This article does bring up some interesting discussions about the lives of women in Saudi society. For more, I recommend Girls of Riyadh, a true story following the lives of four upper-class Riyadhi girls. A quick read, and very intriguing. Buy it on your Kindle!

WTF Tuesday

I don't know what is wrong with Gulf, or the Emirati media, but Tuesday just seems to be the day for the oddest stories:

WTF Tuesday

Millennial-Style Travel

I'm in the process of perfecting my weekend getaway planning:

Sunday: Determine Destination

Monday: Book Cheap Round-Trip Ticket

Tuesday: Book Hostel for Thursday Night

Wednesday: Download Relevant Lonely Planet Guide (via KindleDX)

Thursday: Depart, Read LP En Route, Figure Out the Rest on Arrival

Saturday: Return to Dubai

Sunday: Repeat

This weekend: ATHENS, the birthplace of democracy!

Hagia Sophia

Inside and Out. This building was big.

Ibn Ibn Battuta Visits Dubai

The blog link below is to a post by a fellow Gtown alum and Middle East ex-pat, Ibn Ibn Battuta. IIB lives in Morocco but has traveled all over the region. This post is of his day-long layover in Dubai. It is a bit factually inaccurate and generalizes too much, but I enjoy seeing other people's perspective on the city I call home:

IBN IBN BATTUTA'S POST

The Constant Vacuumer

We spent part of one morning in Istanbul checking out the intricacies of the interior tiling of the Blue Mosque (pictures coming soon). It is the largest mosque I've ever been in, and the entire carpeted floor is vacuumed five times a day. The only catch is that it takes hours to vacuum due to its size. So this one poor guy's life's work is to continuously vacuum the Blue Mosque. Let this be his tribute:

Istanbul Spice Market

Sometimes I wish cameras could capture smells...

WTF Tuesday

I found this ridiculous article whilst scanning the news today:

SAUDI WOMEN THREATEN TO BREASTFEED DRIVERS TO MAKE THEM THEIR SONS IN BID TO ALLOW FEMALE DRIVERS

Istanbul

Last week was my birthday. It was also the last week of my case. Ergo, I was in the office til 11:30pm on my birthday. Less than ideal.

BUT, I made up for that on the weekend with an impromptu trip to Turkey. FlyDubai, a discount carrier, offers round-trip tickets for $250.

Istanbul is a pretty awesome city. It doesn't quite defeat Beirut on my favorite cities quite yet, but it's mixture of history and contemporary culture are appreciated.

I'll be posting a few things over the coming days on my time there. For now, I leave you with a couple of my favorite photos:

Me in front of my favorite Istanbul mosque


The Hagia Sophia, as seen from Galata Tower, with the Golden Horn in the foreground and the Sea of Marmara behind

World Cup - USA vs. England

I've been watching a lot of the World Cup these past two days, which unfortunately interferes with the end of my case. Whatever, I have my priorities straight. We've been watching at Barasti, the large beach bar I tend to frequent. They've built what they called "Barasti Beach Stadium" - essentially a glorified igloo - to show the games.


It's actually pretty cool, the stadium holds 1,000+ fans and has a huge projector screen. I was there last night with a few friends. I may have made this clear in previous posts, but the Dubai ex-pat scene is British-dominated. Particularly at Barasti. So Barasti Beach Stadium last night was ~970 British fans and about 30 Americans, crowded near the emergency exit in case things got ugly. It was a good way to actually meet Americans here.

So when Gerrard edged it past Howard in the 4th minute, the stadium went beserk. But when Dempsey got lucky in the 40th minute, it was absolutely silent. Except for 30 Americans in the corner rallying around 1 handkerchief-sized flag.


Not sure why Green looks so confused. He let the ball slip through his fingers. Just like the rest of the Empire...

Follow Up on Justice Fail III

A few weeks ago I posted a story on the alleged rape of an 18-year old Emirati girl in Abu Dhabi. You will all be relieved to know that the girl was mistaken. She was not raped - in fact she retracted her statement to that end a few weeks ago, instead saying she was beaten by her brother (and that this is what caused the bodily harm that was mistaken for injuries sustained during the rape).

We can all rest assured that justice was carried out fairly here, and that the accused rapists can go back to living their wholesome, constructive lives.

The article is HERE

My favorite quote:

"Under Sharia law, in order for a defendant to be charged with rape or sex outside wedlock, the court requires either a confession from all defendants or for four mature men, in good standing, to testify that they witnessed the act."

Please allow me the retract the statements of understanding and tolerance I posted in Justice Fail III.

The Only Pun in the Gulf

Detector-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named

Many of you may recall a recent security scandal in Iraq. A UK firm, ASTC Ltd., sold $85 million in bomb detection equipment to the Iraqi government over a period of two years. A blessing, for Iarq has pretty high demand for bomb detection equipment. ASTC's flagship product is the ADE-651 "Magic Wand." A catchy name, thought American military officials. But how does it work? Upon taking apart the ADE-651, BBC correspondents found...an RFID chip...and some snake oil. There wasn't even a power source. A U.S. official was quoted as saying the "Magic Wands" work "on the same principle as the Ouija Board" - on the power of suggestion. Given that there are no working components, and no possible reason for it to work, you may find it surprising that the "Magic Wand" was in common use across Iraq since 2007.

You may find it surprising, until you get to know the man in charge. Meet Major General Jehad Al-Jabiri, head of the Iraqi Interior Ministry's Directorate of Combating Explosives:

"Whether it's magic or scientific, I don't care as long as it detects bombs."

"I know more about this issue than the Americans do. In fact, I know more about bombs than anyone in the world."

But, Major General, are you a wizard?

Reliance on these wands has probably led to hundreds of unnecessary deaths in Baghdad and other major cities. The United Kingdom has imprisoned the head of ASTC, Jim McKormick. The US Justice Department has specifically warned the Iraqi government about these products. So surely Major General Al-Jabiri has seen the light? Wrong. After an exhaustive review, the Iraqi government has concluded that a few of the "Magic Wands" were fake or defective, but they will be replaced by ones that work.

WHY DO I BRING THIS UP?

Any Saudi hotel worth staying in is protected by concrete barriers, a couple check points and at least 1 50 caliber machine gun. This is all due to specific threats on Westerners in the Kingdom since 2003. My hotel in Khobar has the same set up, with a four man guard searching every car that enters. Do they ask for my passport? No. Do they look into the trunk? No. Under the wheel wells? No. Why not?

Because they employ an ADE-651. Every day when returning from work my car stops as a Saudi National Guardsman walks slowly by the car, his Magic Wand antennae hanging limply to the ground.

I'd love to get a photo or video of them doing it, just so you see how ridiculous it is. But, and I'm not exaggerating, I would probably be detained.

By the way, my sources are articles entitled:
IRAQ SWEARS BY BOMB DETECTOR US SEES AS USELESS
MAGIC WAND BOMB DETECTOR IS A FRAUD; PROBABLY KILLED HUNDREDS