A Few Friends

I have met quite a few interesting people here in the Emirates at work. The project secretary is Syed Asef Sohail, or Asef. He is a very sociable person, and his roots are from Pakistan, but stays close to here with his family. He does all of our organizational and communication stuff for us, and he is quite indispensable. We have had deep discussions about life, including religion and politics.

One of the Process Engineers here is Bernhard McNicoll, from Montreal. He is a very astute well rounded person, and is willing to discuss any matter. He is diligent and authoritative around the camp. He likes to go to Abu Dhabi on weekends and stay at Le Meridien, where we can enjoy the corporate rates. If there is anyone capable of navigating these roads with authority, it is him.

I have rode with Robins Raphael a couple of times back from Dubai. He is personable and has a bold look about him. He has family in Dubai, and has informed me of some good investments in India.

Vijay Kumar comes from the coastal province of Kerala in Southern India. He speaks Malayalam and please notice the palindrome. Malayalam has roots in the Tamil and Sanskrit, and is a very robust, poetic language, not to be taken lightly by the faint of ear. He is a very quick drafter, a great asset to the team.

Reni Thomas Oomen is strongly involved with construction on our project. He is very pleasant, and his manner is expedient for communication with the labour force. He also knows Malayalam, and speaks it very quickly.

Efren, a good friend of mine, finally took a one month vacation back to the Phillipines after a very extended work period. I am glad to see he went back to see his family. He is very friendly, and has a safety role at the camp.

Camels and Sand Dunes

I went for a tour recently with a friend of mine. Being New Years Day it was a fitting day to strike out into the country and catch some sights. We were not disappointed. We went through a local town called Gayathi, and it is actually where a couple of local workers stay instead of staying in my camp. The town is very green (irrigated to fight the local dryness), and it has many modern amenities.

The next big thing on our tour was the appearance of camels and camel herders. Camel herding is a strong industry in the UAE, as they are used to preserve local heritage, and also for Camel racing, which is popular among the Arabs. Here are a few nice pictures of camels that we got up close. It was amazing to see a herd of them much like we would see a herd of cattle at home.

The sand is very prevalent in the South of the country. Notice the height and the rich colour. They are fun to run on, and actually have a hard crust like the snow drifts at home (when we get snow).

Liwa Oasis is a very attractive stop in the South of the Country. There are many green areas which are combinations of plantations and housing. Surprisingly there are plenty of hay crops here, as much is needed to feed the camels. We turned into a side road to see a plantation and proceeded to get stuck in the sand. A local helped us get out and we paid him 20 Dirhams. Here are some pics of the Liwa hotel, a very beautiful, but affordable stop at a high point of the Oasis. A restored fortress is also shown, which appeared to be made of sand mixed with a fibrous grass material.

SS