Deutschland!

Hello all,

Been VERY busy the last couple of days, and have been in the air for 8 hours in the last 24 (ugh). Anyway, Frankfurt is awesome, I really love Germany as a country! Got checked in the hotel today (they let me check in 4 hours early, big bonus points!), and I spent much of the afternoon walking around Frankfurt. Saw some signs that Dweezil Zappa is playing a tribute to his dad, man I hope that comes to the U.S. it would be awesome! Had Currywurst for dinner, it's one of my 2 favorite foods here (the other being a Doner Kabob sandwich)

Took a short nap, and went to dinner at an Irish Pub and watched soccer with the other 100 people there (or Football as pretty much everyone else in the world calls it).

Gonna sleep in a little, have breakfast, then take the train back to the airport. Then it's off to the homeland...I am ready to be home to say the least!

Euros, Dollars, Dirhams, and Pounds....

It's my last day in Abu Dhabi. I leave tomorrow to head back to Cairo until Tuesday, where I will be visiting a local swim club and giving suggestions on a business model. This is becoming increasingly important in the Middle East, and they simply don't have the experience or know-how to set up things like this. As some of you know, I started my own business last year (www.globalswim.com) where I do consulting work with swim teams on how to best run an efficient program. I was taken to dinner 2 evenings ago by the president of the UAE Federation, and he asked me if I was willing to contract some consulting in the next year, so economy down and all, it may be a good year for me and my business!

Let me tell you about cell phones over here. They are relatively new to people here, and EVERYONE has one! They obviously aren't to the point where the phones are annoying yet, but when they ring, they WILL NOT answer it until their ring tone has completed the song (maybe 30 seconds long, and voices of Eminem, Fitty Cent, and Akon fill the air (usually at the loudest volume possible!).

VERY windy here today, and you can see the sandstorms in the distance, and a cloud of sand immerses downtown Abu Dhabi on the horizon...

My next report will come from Cairo, then from Frankfurt, Germany (I wish I had more time to stay here, as I really like Germany a lot!)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ron

Abu Dhabi Facts

I have spent countless hours talking to the people here, and have learned a ton of information since my stay here! Here is some of what I learned:

1) Abu Dhabi has only been a country for 38 years!

2) There are NO taxes here (hard to believe, I know, but true!)

3) Abu Dhabi is an island

4) People from about 30 different countries live here

5) It has gotten as hot as 118 degrees here in the summer...ugh!

6) 95% of the population practice Islam

7) Abu Dhabi is the site of offshore boating events, martial arts events, and the 2010 World Swimming Championships

8) In Formula Indy street racing, usually a course is set up to meet the needs of a large city (ex: Long Beach). Here: they created a course FIRST, then built a huge city around it to meet the course's needs! INSANE!!!

9) The internets screens and blocks a large percentage of information as to protect religious values and beliefs ( AOL Instant Messenger program wont work here)

10) UAE houses the largest aquarium in the world

One more day of the clinic, woo hoo! I am definately ready to head back soon, I can only stand so much heat and hospitality! BTW, asked to have my laundry done this morning, a few hours later it came back, every article of clothing was washed (and had the best smell ever!), perfectly folded, and my shirts and pants pressed and starched...I couldnt believe how nice it was!!!

Had a wonderful dinner last night at a huge outdoor courtyard under palm trees with singing troubadors and a nice ocean breeze, I could EASILY get spoiled here! But alas, I must admit I can only put up with seeing billions of dollars in wealth for only so long, reality calls!

Will report again soon, goodnite all!

Ron

The ideal resident for the UAE

Hello all, sorry for the delay in posting, been very busy and up very late (3am) the last couple of days...

DEFINATELY enjoying Abu Dhabi more than Cairo. It reminds me of California in many ways, I can see why many Americans take jobs here: the city is very similar to the US, and they get paid LOTS of money for a few years, then leave! The coach directors here have been very gracious in showing me the city, treating me to wonderful meals, and educating me on the history here...Last night we went out for pizza, and it was actually quite good. On the pizza? I can honestly say that I have never had a seafood pizza with cheese, shrimp, calimari, and caviar on it. It sounded disgusting at first, but was quite good! Of course I had my orange Fanta with it, lol. We then went out for coffee till around 12:30, at a coffee shop. Everyone knows each other here, it's a very social country!!

The clinic is going ok, I am not very happy with the time I have to cover lots of information. The Muslem people pray 5 times a day here, and specific times during the day. While teaching the clinic last night, my translator instructed me that we need to take a 10 min break for prayer, which I was fine with. What I WASN'T fine with is that everyone showed up 1 hour later! The non-Muslems were getting a bit irate at the whole ordeal, and were getting mad at me (to which I obviously had no control!). When I asked another coach what was going on, he said that basically praying only takes 5 min, but that everyone likes to socialize afterwards. So while I am waiting and twiddling my thumbs, they are outside the mosque chatting, having coffee and a smoke, and enjoying life! I definately don't yet understand why they do some of the things they do...

Tonight more clinic, then we are going to a professional soccer match which is held at the Sports Club where I am staying. Soccer (their football) is as big as our college football, and there will be 30,000 people here tonight. As I have never been to a pro soccer match, I'm looking forward to it. Afterwards, the UAE National Team coach (an American) is goint to take me out on the town. Should be interesting!

Five more days till I get home! Can't wait to eat normal food and take chances with the Swine Flu (obviously, Swine flu won't get here, as it is forbidden to eat / touch / have any contact with pigs...

Till next time!