Language Inferiority Complex

A major realization has occurred today in my life. I have a language inferiority complex. My two children have been blessed with a gene that allows them to absorb languages and become what I would call fluent. My son is fluent in Japanese and is very good with sign language. My daughter is fluent in German. I on the other hand have only taken enough Spanish to get thru the requirements of high school.

Today, I was sitting in a two hour meeting (which is suppose to be conducted entirely in English), but some heated discussions came up and a number of participants popped back into their native Arabic language. The owner’s rep noticed that I had a strange look on my face and stopped the Arabic bickering and said, “we need to get the meeting back to English, so that Tony can understand the situation.” 

The contracts on the hotel project say that all written and verbal communications will be official only if in English. Therefore the meetings and memos and meeting minutes will be in English. Part of my task is to review the meeting minutes and make sure that the translated version is using proper English. So the pressure is on for me to make sure I do not use run-on sentences and explain things precisely. That will be a stretch for me too.

On the way home from the office, my boss was chatting with a consultant in Arabic about some situation. It got rather heated too......I had no idea what was going on. When I went to the hotel restaurant for a relaxing dinner, the room was filled with Italian tourists on their way back home after having visited some of the Roman ruins near Benghazi. Again, I was deluged in another language. Why couldn’t I have inherited the special gene that my children have.......maybe I have it, but it is not awake yet......

I hope to get more into my Rosetta Stone software and start learning Arabic. It is a difficult language with all of its little sounds and inflections. Plus the dialect of Libya is a little different than that of the UAE and other arab nations. Wish me luck, I am really going to need it.

It is Good to be THE KING

Now that I have settled into my new spot as Senior Architect for the Benghazi project, I was given a surprise gift from our IT manager. He gave me a shiny new Sony digital camera with 12 Megapixels with a wide angle lens. I would have preferred an SLR, but I 

cannot complain. It should do a great job in documenting the terrific construction practices used in Libya. I did not know that anyone had thought about getting one for the department and now I don’t have to worry about taking my own camera to the job site. Pretty good deal.....

I hope no one tried to call my Libyan mobile number......I discovered that I only had 24 cents left on the meter. Here you have to buy phone cards and put credits into the phone. Similar to what I had to do in Abu Dhabi. It is an OK system, but just a hassle when you have your boss on the phone and the phone dies because there are not enough credits available.

Decided to do laundry today.......or should I say have laundry service pickup my laundry.

Another situation that I hope does not go wrong......the bellman likes to say “No Problem”. That is when I think there will be a “problem”. Have to wait and see how many shirts and pants come back bundled together for MY room.

Actually I am more interested in how many pairs of underwear come back to the room.

All in all a pretty good day today......solved a few construction detail issues on-site. Generated a lot of questions for our upcoming design coordination meeting for next week. Tuesday is one of the few days during the week that I do not have scheduled meetings, but you never know, they like to have what they call workshops around here to work out details and make selections for various materials.

BTW.....the imodium seems to be working......just thought everyone would like to know that.

Truly an international project

I am in the process of reviewing construction documents for the Benghazi 5 star hotel. To my surprise I discover that the architect/interior design firm is from Tunisia. They speak French and Arabic. Mixed among my drawings are notes and room labels in French. I thought is was bad enough having to remember metric from my Abu Dhabi project but now French too.


Speaking of metric. The Abu Dhabi standard was to draw everything in mm. Some of the dimensions got pretty large when you have a floor to floor height of 3400. That is fine. Here in Benghazi everything is measured on the drawings in centimeters. So I have to keep getting my iPhone app out and doing a quick calculation. Thank goodness for the iPhone.


It is a small world when you think about it......either that or the US of A has the best schools as we probably all know. The lead MEP designer went to school in the US and his in-laws live on the East side of Indianapolis. The owner's rep for the project went to architecture school at Texas A&M, so it is pretty easy to communicate with those two guys.


Now back at the hotel.........did America invent the wash cloth?
I know when I went to England I had to ask for a flannel at the hotel and they gave me a wash cloth. Well in Libya, they do not have the slightest idea what I am talking about for a wash cloth. So I have been using a hand towel instead. Gets the job done, but is rather cumbersome in the shower.


Stay tuned for more Northern Africa info..............

Anybody have some Imodium??

In a previous blog posting, I mentioned that we work from Sunday to Thursday. Well, that is if you are in Tripoli. Here in Benghazi and because the hotel has a set schedule for completion, we are working a six day work week.


So this past Friday (one day weekend) was spent trying to figure out what I ate that did not agree with my stomach........I think it was the Greek salad at a terrific Italian restaurant. So be careful when you come over to Libya and partake of some of their vegetables. I am still trying to get my system back in order.


The wi-fi at the hotel is not the greatest, but I can really get a good connection at the job trailer. With the 6 hour difference in time, it makes it difficult to get quality chats in with family and friends. 


I think I will cut this blog short........after all who wants to hear about my stomach issues.


I will keep you posted on further developments.

Batter up........

Well it appears that things are going to be a little crazier in Benghazi than I thought.

I have been on the job site now for about three days. The assistant project manager for the hotel project has been informed that some new projects for RWA have been finalized. He will be moving to Tripoli to help get some of the new projects underway. That means that I will be taking over as the new assistant project manager of the five star hotel. The pressure is on now..........

We had a three hour project meeting today. One thing that came out of that meeting is the desire of the client to send the project management team to the various home offices of many of the products that will be used in the hotel. If I play my cards right, I might get to go to Rome to check out the furniture supplier for the hotel and maybe even on to Thailand to check out the carpet company. Those Delta Skymiles are really going to mount up quickly.

Tomorrow is Friday. That is the weekend for me......I think I will sleep in and try to get ready to go back to work on Saturday. We work six day weeks in Benghazi. Nothing else to do.

I have added some more photos of the project for your enjoyment. As you will see from the side entry photo, the scale of the building is substantial. The guy standing next to the column can show you that we will not have any trouble getting a semi-truck under the drive up area.

The stone work on the outside of the building is Egyptian stone panels. Most of the marble in the bathrooms and the floor areas are Spanish marble. As soon as we get a large floor area installed, I will try to get some photos ready for you.

Give me more power Scotty

Captain Kirk had problems with power and I wish I had Scotty around to give me more power and wi-fi.
We are very spoiled in the USA with our need for more power.....Tim Allen might be able to figure out a way to get it, but Benghazi has not. Only one outlet in the hotel room that is not being used for something like a refrigerator and a TV. The best wi-fi access that I have is the one at the construction trailer.

I arrived in Benghazi last night around 9:00 p.m. The hotel is OK. Not like the fine accommodations in Tripoli. The breakfast was good......never saw so many kinds of bread for breakfast. Got to the job trailer which is actually pretty nice compared to the one that I worked out of at the JW Marriott site. Tile floors, AC and a great wi-fi. Might have to use my Magic Jack connection from the trailer if I cannot get the wi-fi at the hotel to work better.

My first assignment at the hotel site was to review the ceramic tile that is being installed in the lower level of the hotel. Five rooms have been done and the consistency of the installation was not very good. Looks like they will have to replace most of it and try again. I guess I have to be the "bad cop" for awhile.

The hotel has 400 rooms and is 8 stories. About half a million square feet of hotel space including ballrooms and of course a Turkish coffee lounge area. Huge outdoor swimming pool.

I will post some pictures later today.

Finally arrived

For those of you that might not know, I have taken on a new job for RW Armstrong Engineers. They are headquartered in Indianapolis. They have given me an opportunity to travel the world before. When I was in Abu Dhabi, I was helping RWA out on some projects in the UAE. They have hired me to be part of their team for some new projects in the country of Libya.


I arrived in Tripoli on Sept. 17th. The route that I took was Indy to NY to Amsterdam to Tripoli.
The last leg of the journey was great, because I had the whole row of seats to myself and a great view out my window of the Mediterranean Sea. Not a cloud in the sky as we flew over Sicily. Approximately 5800 flight miles. So my Delta Skymiles are going to start racking up some big numbers with this architectural assignment.


My work week in Libya is Sunday thru Thursday, with some occasional work days on Saturday. The time difference in Libya is Indy plus 6 hours. 
The temperarture in Tripoli this week is scheduled to be in the low 90's. When I get to Benghazi later in the week, the temperature there is usually a few degrees lower, say high 80's.


I hope to give you frequent updates to my blog page. So be sure to check it often.
Talk to you soon.