what the schell

60 pictures say 60,000 words

2008-06-09T03:18:00.001+04:00

IndieGoGo...!

2007-04-24T00:15:00.000+04:00

Don't just choose the movies to watch - choose the movies to make: http://www.indiegogo.com

Maldives AAR

2006-08-02T04:00:00.000+04:00

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B-Schell in the M-E

2006-07-31T17:04:00.000+04:00

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In case you haven't heard.. I am Berkeley Bound!

2006-07-13T19:23:00.000+04:00

Salalah, Oman

2006-07-12T18:12:00.000+04:00

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Jerusalem

2006-07-12T16:38:00.000+04:00

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World Cup 2006

2006-07-12T15:58:00.000+04:00

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Sana'a, Yemen

2006-06-27T01:09:00.000+04:00

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Cairo, Egypt

2006-06-27T00:57:00.000+04:00

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Istanbul, Turkey

2006-06-27T00:42:00.000+04:00

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Where the schell have you been?

2006-05-14T00:04:00.000+04:00

Well the blog is finally back up and running. Sorry for the sad showing on my part. Reason for the delay was three fold: 1) second phase of the project was finishing up in end of March and beginning of April so I was busy with work and not much else interesting to write about 2) I was anticipating the big visit to the middle east from Justin, Tim, Slava and Rob and was putting off any blogging until a recap of the trip 3) the big trip came and went and as always there was too much to discuss and I didn't know where to begin.

But now is the time to finally get back to blogging. I will get to the trip after a quick recap. The end of the project was fast and furious but we got the job done and they have us back for phase 3, which shall last until August or so (first week of August for me). Otherwise I have been a bit (or a lot) stressed out trying to figure out what to do and where to live post August. My plans for business school were put into some question by first not getting into Stanford (the bastards) and then not hearing back from Berkeley until just recently getting invited to interview (which I did this past weekend in Istanbul - which is absolutely amazing and the subject of the next blog). Along with that final round submission to Berkeley, I also applied in the last round to UCLA - which I have not heard back from yet. Also considered applying to two schools in Barcelona (IESE and ESADE) but decided I’d go crazy if I went straight from living in the Middle East for nine months to living in Barcelona for two years without any sort of break in between. To add a bit more drama I recently found out that the Global Challenge is likely to get canceled for 2008, which really sucks. It makes things a bit simpler for me by not having it looming overhead and something to plan around, but I would rather be able to make the decision myself. But it also gives the option of putting off business school for a year and attending in Barcelona or somewhere else abroad in 2008!

And in other news, I went to Chicago/Milwaukee for a quick trip for All Hands (DiamondCluster is selling off the Cluster half BTW, which may have a bit of an impact on me out here - we shall see) but more importantly for Richard and Jahna's wedding. I was honored to be an usher and it was an amazing and wonderful wedding. Very happy for them and it was the closest I have been to a bride and groom in quite a while - perhaps ever. Fabulous time.

Okay, back to the trip. Apart from the fact that I was a bit preoccupied with the above and other miscellaneous topics (although I am happy to hear that the "Eric we all love" was back for the RLJ/JP wedding), the trip was a success and I think everyone had quite an adventure. All the pics can be found at Rob’s sweet little wiki website. The trip was basically broken into three parts: 1) dubai/uae 2) oman 3) jordan.

Here are my (cryptic) personal highlights from each part:

Dubai/UAE
- Rob's obsession with cranes
- spotting roadside spies
- Emirati elbows
- eating hummos for 38 straight meals
- Slava sweet talking the guy to get us into trilogy
- the spot we staked out at trilogy rooftop
- chilling the final night outside at 360
- Tim Elms in a foreign country!

Oman
- getting completely lost in the remote mountains of Oman
- watching soccer with the lochals after our 6 hour mountain hiatus
- sketchy Moroccan dancing girls
- Muscat souk explorations and fish 69
- eating Omani on the floor
- Rob getting us lost again
- goat balls!

Jordan
- without a doubt Wadi Rum
- sacrifice point and the monastery in Petra
- meal for four for 7 bucks
- mud baths at the dead sea
- seeing the whole country in one day
- Justin getting mad at Slava!

And now FINALLY some pictures... Here are my favorites from the trip. I will spare you from describing each one, but take a look at the filenames for a bit more info - and of course click to get the big'ens...

Sandy Sand

2006-03-21T22:43:00.000+04:00

The desert. Oh so beautiful at times. Oh so sandy all of the time. I never thought too much about the desert to be honest. But living on the Arabian Peninsula there is not much chance to not think about the desert, as it's all around you in one way or the other. Even in the city there is sand here and there and everywhere. It's not a nuisance per se, but it's something you notice that is always a bit unusual. And then there are the dreaded sand storms which come down to Kuwait from Iraq and turn the lovely view from my office on the left into the miserable gloom of a view on the right!

When it comes down to it, though, just like any other type of terrain, the sand and desert if nothing else are made for exploring. My first desert explorations came in the form of two short trips to an area about an hour outside of Dubai. Not sure what the area is called, but it's well known because it's where many people go to drive around in the sand, whether it be on ATV, motorcycle, or Land Cruiser. When it comes down to it the area has some inklings of a tourist trap, but there are plenty of locals from Dubai and Abu Dhabi around getting their kicks driving around (and getting stuck in) the sand. My first trip was with a few coworkers where we rented some ATVs and drove around in the sand for a couple hours. We started off in a fenced off area that was an anarchist's dream - no rules, no order, just a handful of idiots driving up and down hills and around blind corners never knowing when you might crash into another hapless lunatic. Fantastic! After about twenty minutes of getting used to the quads and learning how to not get stuck in the sand (or at least how to get unstuck) we put our big boy pants on and ventured out into the real deal dunes. The main feature was a huge dune that took a bit of skill to make it up without getting stuck - at least in our moderately powered 250cc jobbies. Best part of course then being able to race down the back side of the dune. Good times indeed.

The second short jaunt to the area involved hiring a guy with a Land Cruiser to drive us around on a "Desert Safari". Oooh exotic. I did that with my friend Patti who was in town visiting from London. It basically involves him driving us around all over the dunes for an hour and a half as we pretend not to be crapping our pants nor getting car sick. Luckily neither happened in our case, but the driving was pretty intense. I was very impressed by the skill of our driver, but not surprised that half the people that go get a little queasy after bounding up and down sand dunes, sliding sideways here and there, and generally just getting jolted out of your seat constantly. Once again, fantastic! Our driver was an independent (i.e. not part of a tour group) named Amour from Zanzibar. He was a very cool guy who was just about to get his Emirati citizenship after living in Dubai for the last 25+ years with no citizenship or papers of any kind. He knew Dubai very well of course and told us lots of interesting stuff about all the changes that have occurred recently, and he also told us about how he was a stunt driver for Syriana which was filmed right around there. Anyway, Amour was a very skilled driver and we had a great time sliding all around the dunes.

We made a couple stops to check out the views, which were quite breathtaking. The desert was very beautiful, with gorgeous red and pink and orange tones that even a color blind guy like me could appreciate. We also made a stop at a little camel farm so Amour could pick up some fresh camel milk (literally fresh - straight from the source) and say hello to an old friend of his. The camels were quite hilarious looking, particularly the babies. Lanky.

The next desert exploration came when LuLu came up to Kuwait for a visit. Top of the agenda was a jaunt up to the border of Iraq, which is only about an hour and a half from Kuwait City. It was great to see a bit more of Kuwait besides the city, although the landscape of barren Kuwait is not quite as nice as what I saw before just outside of Dubai. However, road trips of any kind are always great - especially when you have little concept of how fast you're driving and you're in the middle of Kuwait so it doesn't matter much anyway! The driving was a bit tricky, however, because it was windy as schell up there as a sand storm was a brewin'. To be honest, the border itself was a bit anti-climatic, especially since we were not allowed to get to the actual border. I believe where we got to was a UN controlled border, which had little fan fair (no "Welcome to Iraq" signs) other than a concrete barrier telling us which way to go to get to Baghdad and Basra - for future reference.

Last but certainly not least, was an almost fully bona fide road trip that LuLu and I took to the east side of UAE to the emirate of Fujairah. (I am defining a bona fide road trip as requiring an overnight stay). However, this was most certainly a splendid day trip, culminating with random peeps stopping off on the side of the road at sunset to pray. Fantastic! Anyway, Fujairah is about two and a half hours from Dubai, so after having a nice breakfast at the Lime Tree Cafe and stopping off to pick up some snorkel gear we made it to Snoopy Rock mid-afternoon for our snorkeling adventures. On the way, we drove through some of the most amazing mountains I have ever seen. The mountains around there are so crazily craggily it is quite unreal. I was determined to get a decent photo of them while driving (and perhaps succeeded) but have not had a chance to pull them off of Miss LuLu's camera as of yet. However, check out her Scyphozoans post for some additional thoughts on the fun to be had at and along the way to Snoopy Rock. Anyway, the snorkeling was amazing - I saw 5 black tip reef sharks, a sea turtle and a vast array of very colorful fish. It was superb. Unfortunately, my accomplice suffered a handful of jellyfish stingings in the process. D'OH. I believe she will concur with me, however, that it was still a quality trip.

I leave you with a parting comment in tune with the driving theme: always buckle up. I did not realize Darth Vader was from Kuwait, but apparently he is. And apparently he speaks Arabic. And apparently he wears his seat belt. So you should too.. Happy road tripping..

Beyrouth

2006-03-04T22:51:00.000+04:00

There are two distinctive (yet perhaps interrelated) reasons why I chose to make Beirut my first bona fide Middle East weekend trip - the pivotal role it has played in the M.E. turmoil of the last few decades and the reputation it had before that turmoil and has regained since the civil war as the social capital of the Middle East. Beirut did not disappoint on either account, and even exceeded my high expectations. Not only was it a fascinating city to visit, but it is a place I could definitely see myself living - given the right circumstances and political climate. Pics of the trip... here.

Lebanon was given the unfortunate fate of ending up between a rock and a hard place - both literally in Israel/Syria, as well as figuratively in Muslim/West. Basically instead of Syria and Israel fighting directly with each other at the risk of large scale escalation, they have used Lebanon as a playground to test the waters and work to increase their security. For many years the country has been pulled in all directions by over a dozen factions (Christians, Shi'a Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Druze, Palestinians, etc) some of which are purely Lebanese but most of which are controlled by another country. End result of course being the civil war that raged from 1975 to 1990, the end of which coming by most accounts only by the US coming to an agreement with Syria in order to gain their support in the Gulf War, at which time the Syrians were allowed to gain control of the last Christian controlled area within Beirut without threat of Israel attacking the incoming Syrian planes.

The subsequent chapter being Syrian control which ended only last year, and included the assassination of Hafik Hariri which most people think had Syrian involvement because of Hariri becoming increasingly anti-Syrian. The assassination site is still very evident even after over a year since the event, and there is an abundant quantity of pictures of the former PM throughout the city.

The timing of our visit was interesting in that it corresponding with an historic seven day national dialogue in which the leaders of the various factions are sitting down the address the key issues facing Lebanon regarding the assassination investigation, the implementation of UN Resolution 1559 (the departure of Syria), the contested status of current president, and disarmament of the military factions. As a result, there was some serious security in Downtown/Solidere in which the entire area was blocked off by machine gun toting army types. This put a damper on some of our touring, but provided an interesting twist as well. Nothing quite like wandering around the normally crowded but completely empty streets of Solidere, going through pat-down after pat-down as we nosed our way around the area. We somewhat successfully used them as our tour guides, although most spoke only French or Arabic, or just enough English to tell me to stop taking pictures.

How the Beirutis maintain their sanity through everything that's happened over the last 30 years is beyond me. Most seem to just try and enjoy the current peace and hope it will last. However, it doesn't seem to be something that most people are willing to really bet on. Perhaps it's just a matter of taking time to rebuild an entire city, but much of the city is still riddled with the effects of the war. Our taxi driver up to the Beiteddine Palace told us much about his fear of having to once again leave the country in the case of war, but also kept his spirits up with jokes about how Lebanon has many banana plants but that the monkeys all went back to Syria.

As far as the social aspects of Beirut, while it may be a surprise to those in the West there is no doubt that Beirut has the best nightlife in the Middle East (yes better than Dubai) and rivals the world's top cities as well. The vibrant nightlife is due to the passion of the Lebanese, the wide selection of delicious food available, the fantastic and artistic design of many of the restaurants / bars / clubs, the cosmopolitan culture, the stylishness of the people, and the influence of the AUB and LAU universities. It originated in the 60s when Beirut grew into the gateway between Europe and the Middle East when it was dubbed the "Paris of the Middle East". The civil war interrupted to festivities, but in the subsequent 15 years it has redeveloped in the areas of Solidere, Rue Monot, Gemmayzeh, and near AUB in Hamra. Oh and perhaps it's all so lively because the women of Beirut are so beautiful - and believe me they are!

Blogville, UAE

2006-02-28T23:17:00.000+04:00

Hello and welcome to my little blog. It's a friendly sort of place for friends and family to stop by every now and then to see what I'm up to, and hopefully drop a comment or two along the way. This first post will be a little blanket summary of what I've been up to since my last (and only) email after coming out here to the M.E.

Work is still work, spending four or so days a week in Kuwait for "Phase 2" of the IT Assessment. Overall we are helping them sort out their mish-mash of an IT Department by doing such things as mapping out their systems, preparing a project delivery handbook, and my piece which is an organizational redesign.

I still spend much of my time trying to break down the various stereotypes associated with Arabs and Muslims and figure out what is fact and what is fiction. Prime example of this relates to my previous anecdote about one of the client guys who "refused" to shake hands with the female on our project. Turns out this is rooted much more out of respect than disrespect (see The Handshake Dilemma) and unfortunately the negative connotation we initially perceived was actually encouraged rather than corrected by another (non Muslim) client employee. Moral of the story being there is a lot to filter through around here but the reality is usually a lot nicer than the perception.

And in recent news, I just moved out of the slums of the Grosvenor House into the ghetto of Dubai Marina. I had been hoping to move into an apartment from the beginning, but it took some time to get it all straightened out. Even after just one weekend, though, the change was very welcome because, as nice as the GH was, having a bit more stability and the psychological shift from hotel to apartment was fantastic. And in case it wasn't already obvious, it is just ludicrous that they have to give "hazard pay" to entice Western Expats to endure such hardships. Perhaps the perceptions that are killing Dubai Ports World are not all bad!

Beyond the Middle East, I also took a week off in January and went to Southampton, England for the first of a handful of training sessions for Global Challenge. The training was amazing - definitely put any doubts at ease over whether or not I wanted to do the race. The sailing was a blast and the people were very cool. We sailed around the Isle of Wight, did about a hundred sail changes and man overboard drills, and even went up all ninety-something feet of the mast. Fun, fun, fun. Check out the pics.

Thanks for tuning in to this intro of a post. Would love to here what everyone is up to so please feel free to add a comment or shoot me an email.

This weekend I am headed to Beirut so come back soon for an update...

~ E