Christmas Time in Indianapolis

Christmas in Fishers is great this year. Got to see lots of family members and close friends. I think I have been able to have some pork in one form or another each day of the week. Hard to believe that it is the end of 2010 already. I will be heading back to Libya on January 1st. Can't wait to figure out how to spend more time with Carol and the rest of the family. Now I just have to do some quick calculating to figure out how many vacation days I can put together for some quality time with family.
I will update the blog when I get back to Benghazi.....until then, I hope everyone has had a very Merry Christmas and I hope 2011 will be a great one too.

Back Home Again in Indiana

Just thought I would update everyone and let you know that I made it safe and sound to Indiana on Thursday, December 23rd. It was a long day but I made it without a hitch. I was up for nearly 32 hours from the time I woke up and went to work and then caught a flight from Benghazi to Tripoli. Then I stayed up all night in order to go to the airport for my flight to Rome. The flight from Rome to Chicago was a little over ten hours in the air. I will try to update my blog later, but for now I am having too much fun with family and friends. I hope you understand that the blog will be down for a bit until I catch my breath. I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and I hope that 2011 will be a great New Year for everyone.

God's Artistic Hands

Time for a moment of reflection again. Today the Mediterranean Sea was beautiful. The waves were coming into the shore and yet the wind was blowing from the land side out to the Sea. As the waves would crash on the shore the wind blowing over the waves would make the mist linger at the top of the curl and it looked like diamonds were flying into the sky. It is hard to describe and it is even harder to figure out how God can make such beautiful scenes like that everyday. Lots and lots of people are driving by and don't see the wonders of this fantastic world that we live in. I am so lucky that I got the chance today to see His marvelous handiwork. So while I am looking at diamonds in the Sea, everyone in Indiana is looking at white diamonds shimmering in the snow. Looks like a White Christmas this year. Can't wait......

Rainy Season

I love it when I get to extend my weekend beyond a one day weekend. Yes, we had a little wind storm again at the job site, so we got to leave the job site before the trailer lifted off the ground. The wind was really whipping up on the Sea and heading right into the hotel. Someone said the winds were hitting 50 MPH. It was strong enough to make the sand from the beach come over the four lane highway and land on our sidewalks in front of the hotel. You could see white caps all the way out to the horizon.  With that type of weather we do not have a very good internet connection which then plays havoc with getting drawings uploading to the folks at the Intercontinental Hotel Group. Even though the air temperature is about 55 degrees, a wind factor of 50 MPH makes things a little chilly.

The wind had calmed down in my neighborhood, so I thought I would walk to dinner. Had a great serving of spaghetti while I watched RAW WWE wrestling. Libyans seem to like that sort of entertainment. When I left the restaurant, it started to drizzle then the sky opened up and by the time I got home,  I was soaked.  Hopefully I will not catch a cold right before I fly out to Indy next week. I will keep my fingers crossed. 

Power to the People

I mentioned in my last blog that we have been having some power outages.  The power went out last night right after I ordered my pizza for dinner. I thought to myself, “well I wonder how long this is going to take just to get a pizza. “I could see into the kitchen from where I was sitting and I was pleasantly surprised to see a gas fired brick oven. So I got to eat my pizza in the dark. Actually by candlelight. The waiters went around and put candles on everyone’s table. Now mind you, the dining area that I was eating in is the men’s restaurant. The family restaurant is upstairs and men are not allowed up there unless you have your wife or girlfriend with you. So there I was  in the men’s dining area with romantic candle-lit tables. It just did not feel right for some reason……..

On the way home, I noticed that the elementary school near my house was having their school program. Can you imagine being in the middle of your first graders concert/program and the lights go out for about an hour.

I also discovered that when the power goes out, then the electronic strike on your exterior gate tends to not work with your key. I had to call my landlord and have him let me back into my apartment. He even gave me some candles and matches in case this power issue happens more often. I asked him if these power outages are common and his immediate response was “Welcome to Libya”. So I guess so.

So if it appears that my blogs are very short in length, it is not that I am tired of typing, it is so that I can get them completed before the power goes out. Maybe I should invest in an Amish generator.

More new experiences

Not a week goes by where I do not get to experience something new here in Libya. This week was no exception. Again, the Indiana DOT could learn a few things from the folks at the Benghazi road department.  It turns out that if the road crew needs to close down a section of the street in order to fill in a ditch they do the following. You put up barricades to block the street, then on each side of the intersection you pour a large pile of dirt along the sidewalk curb line so that cars can drive on the sidewalk in order to bypass the closed intersection.

You guessed it, Ali my driver took us up over the curb down the sidewalk and once we got passed the blocked intersection we went down the curb on the other side of the street. No need for traffic cops or any extra expense, after all how much can a little dirt cost.

I got the opportunity to go to a seminar today that dealt with making Libya more accessible to disabled residents. There were about 40 or 50 people that showed up for the session. The specific workshop that I attended dealt with “Accessible Tourism”. I thought that might be an appropriate one since I am working on the new hotel project. The information was good but the session lasted about twice as long as it should have since they would present part of it in Arabic and then had to repeat it in English. It was a long day……….

For some reason we are experiencing a number of power outages in the neighborhood today. Two one-hour sessions since 5:00 p.m. this evening. I had better get this blog posted before the next one hits. 

Upcoming seminar

At what temperature do mosquitoes stop flying around??  Evidently it is still warm enough for those pesky insects. I wish they would stop coming into my apartment. I thought I had all of the windows shut and even put a rug against the back door to block them out. Now I find that my exhaust fan to the bathroom has a direct opening to the outside. I will have to look into some way of blocking that passageway.

Another week is finished and just that much closer to the day that I fly off to Indy to celebrate Christmas with family and friends. I know I am counting down the days, so I am sure Carol is too.

Next week we have lots of high level meetings with our client. Then on Monday and Tuesday I get a chance to attend a seminar in Benghazi that deals with designing for Libyans with disabilities. Sort of an ADA seminar they are having here in town. Apparently President Gaddafi’s daughter is the chairperson for the organization that helps disabled people, single mom’s and low income residents. The seminar will be in Arabic, but they are going to have translators available for Americans that hang out in Benghazi. Should be an interesting event. I will give you an update next week.

Old Man Winter

December 8th and I had to break out my light jacket today. It was nearly 14 degrees C (57 F) here in sunny Benghazi. I have been able to wear my short sleeved golf shirts up until now and it is a good thing that Carol brought me a light fleece pullover for today. I will admit that I did not go overboard like one guy downtown today. He had on a quilted winter coat and a knit ski cap. That was a little much. If I stay in Benghazi too long, maybe I will think that 57 degrees deserves a snow suit too.
Things are moving along on the hotel project but at the rate we are completing things I do not think we will make the January deadline. Looks like June or July for a grand opening if you ask me. Keep your fingers crossed. My round-about way of getting to Indy for Christmas is as follows:
Benghazi to Tripoli on Wednesday the 22nd
Tripoli to Rome on the Thursday the 23rd
Rome to Chicago and Chicago to Indy....it will be a long day. I think I will sleep in a bit on the 24th.
I hope everyone has a fantastic Merry Christmas. Hope to be able to chat with a number of you during the Holidays. Don't worry, I will try to post up a few blogs before I fly out. Just got in the Christmas spirit this morning when I thought I saw my own breath.....bbrrrrrrrrrrr

Brotherly Love

I have noticed that different countries and different cultures are not so different. I was waiting the other day for my driver, so I was standing out in front my apartment. I noticed that a Libyan neighbor down the street has a couple of boys living there. The younger brother evidently said that he was going to ride in the front seat with his Dad. The other brother ran out of the house sooner and got in the front seat instead. You should have heard the little brother yell and scream and kick the car door. My Arabic is not too good yet, but I got the distinct feeling that he was telling his big brother off and saying it was not fair that he has to ride in the back when he called for the "co-pilot" seat earlier. Dad tried to calm him down, but he was not a happy camper to have to sit in the back seat. Hmmmm......reminds me when I had to sit in the back seat of our family car.......just teasing Craig.
My highlight of the weekend was when I went to the "WaterWorld" restaurant and saw three non-Libyan guests at one of the tables. When I heard English come out of all three guys, I thought I might have found some new friends. After awhile, I heard a strange sound in the way they were speaking.....every so often I would here, "eh". Sure enough, they were Canadians. Oh, well, that is pretty close to being an American.
They are working on some oil rig project in Libya. So I might meet up with them in the near future.

Internal promotion

I think that it is odd that time can go by so quickly when your eyes are closed for a split second and when they are open, time can almost stand still. My alarm went off this morning and I thought, "I will just lay here for a couple of minutes and then get up and get ready for work." When I woke up the clock had some how jumped forward by about 30 minutes. I thought it was impossible, my watch must be broken.....just my luck, I had to get ready quickly before the driver starts honking his horn and waking up the neighbors.
Speaking of honking horns. I asked one of my co-workers if there is any chapter in the Koran that deals with patience. He said, "Yes, we have a number of chapters that deal with patience." I said, "well I do not think that many Libyans have read those chapters, because the way they lay on the car horn after one second has passed at the stop light, indicates that they are not remembering what they read."

I got an internal promotion today. We have meetings every other day at 10 a.m. Our office boy brings in coffee for the meeting attendees about 10:30. Everyone gets a small cardboard cup of coffee or tea. Today I was promoted to a china cup and saucer for my coffee. Usually that level of service is only provided to the client and the project managers. In his eyes, I have moved up one more rung on the corporate ladder. That might be my early Christmas present. We will have to see if I maintain my new status level at the next meeting. I will keep you on the edge of your seats until Monday's blog.

American Football vs. World Football

Just got back from my favorite restaurant on my side of town. The place where the waiters would rather watch "WaterWorld" than give me my dinner check. I enjoy watching soccer (world football) but not every day of the week. The weekends are for football anything from high school on Friday, to college on Saturday and Pro ball on Sunday and Monday, but not every day of the week and on multiple channels.
Come on people, get a life. Tonight the entire broadcast was about Qatar being awarded the 2022 World Cup Games. For nearly an hour they showed the people of Qatar driving up and down the streets of Doha with flags waving and people standing and poking thru the sun roof on their limo. Is this going to go on for twelve more years......come on.....we are talking twelve years from now. It is exciting news but let's come down to reality. If I were a soccer player and I was fortunate enough to make it to the finals, I might want to reconsider. Doha is near Abu Dhabi and if the games are in the summer time, it will be pretty HOT to be playing soccer. Maybe the Qatar World Cup committee is going to have an open air-conditioned stadium. They have enough oil money to figure out how to do it..........Here is hoping that the hype will die down a bit so that I can get my dinner check in less than twenty minutes.

Time for reflection

Sorry I have not posted anything to the blog for the past few days. I am not sure if it is the jet lag or the difference in temperature between London and Benghazi, but I have really been tired this week. Maybe it is the fact that I had to work four days this week. I have only been working three days a week for the past few weeks. That extra day is a killer. Oh, well, at least I have Friday of this week to rest up.

I have been thinking about the past month or so and with Thanksgiving just passed, I have a lot to be thankful for. I have friends and family that are praying for me, I have a good job, I have been given opportunities to travel and see parts of the world that not many people get to see and I have a wonderful wife that keeps me sane when I hear her voice on the phone and when the internet is working I can see her face on Skype.

I am a lucky guy. A year ago, I was out of a job and now I am sitting on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea watching a new five star hotel go up with my help. Pretty cool…..

Thanks everyone for your support and I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.