Adam Gardner

Doesn't that name just rollll off the tongue? Adam, aDaM, ADAM, adam, aDam, adAm...

I'd like to take this opportunity tonight to respond to an email that I received from Mr. Gardner concerning my blogging habits - apparently there is a problem with the frequency with which I post on my blog.

Mr. Gardner,

If I may, I would like to start off by saying that I enjoyed your blog this summer. It was well-written, witty, and contributed to making my day not as boring as it could have been, all while while providing an insight into major league sports - specifically baseball, the quintessential American sport after lacrosse - that the typical sports fan simply can not hope to ever achieve from a lifetime of ESPN servitude. For that I commend you.

Now, where you have left off, I have picked up. I do not try to write well-written posts, nor witty ones. My goal is to brighten the occasional day for the millions of readers out there with eye-catching photos, not forcing, but enticing the viewer to question his or her place in life, and what impact they have had on the world outside of their immediate community of family and friends. While Adam may have done this with Pomona words and baseball (again, well done Adam), I attempt this feat with a camera phone and crappy work laptop (and more often than not a digital Canon Rebel XT with Sigma DC 18-125mm zoom lens). Who is the better man, eh? Who is more erudite, eh?

Ok, I'm tired of trying to be 'whitty' as Mr. Froman would say, so I'm just going to post some photos of my recent trip to Sanaa, the well-known capital city of Yemen (plus, I know that Adam's response to this will far surpass anything that I have in my verbal repertoire, so I'm just going to shut up). Adam, I will do my best to post more often, though I'm doing a lot of travelling these days and the internet in some of these places in Mesopotamia aren't quite the same as the broadband experience we've gotten used to in the West.


For those of you that didn't take geography in school, Yemen is on the south-eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, next to Saudi Arabia and Oman (Dubai is to the northeast, across the Persian Gulf from Iran and next to the Straight of Hormuz). Here's a map for y'all to take a gander at:


Pretty cool region, isn't it? So far I've been to the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, and Qatar. Next on the list is probably Bahrain, and then Saudi, and who knows after that (Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are up to bat sometime soon too).

Yemen was an intriguing place, first off due to the fears I've heard people express about traveling in the country. I found it safe, without any fear of harm or kidnapping (a few French tourists have been guest-napped, as they call it, to use as collateral in securing government concessions in some of the unruly areas). I'll write more about the city later, but here's my last one for now, standing on top of the old city gate, with the old city behind me, while chewing qat (this is also the same vantage point that the World Bank uses in their Yemen pic).

Muscat...

So, where do I start? This is a photo of three guys (obviously) spending their evening chilling on a bench in the souk in Old Muscat. I'm not sure if it was a textile souk, or a more, as the shops and stalls were selling almost everything - from fake Brasilian soccer jerseys to the traditional Omani dagger. I think the coolest part though was when walking through the spice section, where you could find frankincense, mirrh, along with tons of other spices. Can you believe that you can still get this stuff? I feel like I'm in the Bible or something - three wise men anyone??

All in all, Muscat was a pretty city, and I'm glad that Mark and I chose to drive here from Dubai instead of fly. Granted the drive was about 5 hours (which isn't that bad - Adam and I would do that for a freakin weekend of skiing at June) and took us through some interesting terrain, most notably in the mountains and through the desert. Driving along the coast here is not like driving along Highway 1 on the West Coast; it's straight and boring. I keep hearing how fantastic the beaches are supposed to be, but I guess the only way to really get to 'em is by 4x4, which I will be more than happy to try once I get my UAE residence visa, open a bank account, get some financing, insurance, and then, most importantly, a car... Baby steps, as they say. We only just signed the contract for our office, which means that we still have a week or two before we are officially registered in Dubai, and another 5 days from getting our residence visas. Boy, I sure do love bureacracy and red tape, don't you?

Ok, one more pic and then it's off to a lunch meeting with some guy that probably can't get us any business...


Camel crossing anyone???

Welcome to Dubai (not Qatar...)

So this is a view of the new Dubai Marina area (where my boss's apartment is), from the coffee shop abutting the marina itself. From the looks of it, Dubai is going through some serious construction... I've heard that 20% of the world's cranes are currently in Dubai, and if they were all here there would still be enough work for 20 more years. Pretty crazy if you ask me.

My coworker and I are currently living in some executive furnished apartments in Jumeira, which is about 15 minutes from here. The office that we're going to get is also not far from Dubai Marina, just about a 10 minute drive to the left of the picture above.

This is a decent shot* from Madinat Jumeira, a sort of outdoor mall/souk (also not far from Dubai Marina), where we grabbed lunch this afternoon with the boss of all bosses, Pedro. He's in town on a stopover to KL. All in all, a pretty good lunch if you ask me: a great view of the Burj Jumeira Hotel, and a decent meal of tuna and veal with some veggies, all topped of with a nice glass of merlot. Life could be worse.

It's been 4 days since my move to Dubai now, and there sure is a lot to take in.

* Both these pics were shot with my little Samsung SGH-P310 phone's camera. Though it's only 2MP, it manages to take some pretty decent shots., don't ya think?