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.