Two Trips to Bahrain

Last weekend a group of us from the office got a taxi and went to Bahrain for the day. It was a nice outing, my first trip away from Aramco since I got here ten weeks ago.  We started at an American restaurant called Rick’s Kountry Kitchen, which bills itself as the best American food in the Middle East!  For my group, the important thing was breakfast with bacon, and Rick’s delivered!  Eggs, fried potatoes, biscuit and gravy, and a big pile of bacon made a terrific breakfast! (yes, sorry, the picture is sideways - haven't quite mastered how iPhone codes picture direction!)

After breakfast we went across a large sand lot, and across a busy street to the Grand Mosque, the largest in Bahrain and one of the largest in the world! It is a modern building in the classic style – the dome is fiberglass, and the largest of its kind. The architecture is impressive, with loads of open space – a wonderful place to be still. Here are a few shots, scattered below; there are more on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/mark.gieringer ).

Yesterday I came back to Bahrain to get a new Saudi visa. The visa process is a little peculiar in Saudi Arabia – they seem very careful about who they give a visa to, but also totally inconsistent on how long the visa may be.  My initial 90-day visa expires on Monday, so I had to leave the country before then or be deported – and they are very serious about that. Many consultants came here with a 90-day, then went home to reapply and got a 5-year visa! 

 For some reason, though, this year they stopped giving long visas, opting for 6 months instead. So we come to Bahrain, and a local agent takes passport and official invitation letter to the Saudi consulate here and comes back with a new visa and I’m good for 6 months.  Except I will have to come back to Bahrain (or somewhere out of the country) every 30-days and come back in to Saudi.

It’s been a quiet trip after a rough start. Yesterday a taxi was supposed to pick me up at 0600 to bring me here, but they didn’t show up. I spent the next two and a half hours scrambling to find another taxi, but it is a holiday weekend and they were all booked.  I ended up at my office after a half-mile hike with loaded backpack, 95˚F temp at 0730, and a badly bruised right foot from a photo shoot two nights before (more on that in another post!!).

After quite a few phone calls and the assistance of several staff members, at 0820 I was finally in another taxi on my way to Bahrain, which lies across a 20-mile causeway from KSA.  In the center is a customs and immigration station, which normally takes an hour to get through, often takes 2-3 hours to get through, but today we hit the traffic perfectly and it took 10 minutes!  I was able to call the visa agent and he met me at my hotel to collect my passport, and then all I had to do was wait. BTW, I’m at the Ramada Hotel in Bahrain – very nice!!

So here I am, in a beautiful city, with many opportunities to explore and adventure and shop and see movies and eat! Sorry to disappoint, but no big stories here. I mostly stayed in my room.  Remember my bruised foot? By the time I got here it was swelled so big I couldn’t stand to keep a shoe on it and had to hobble to walk. I just couldn’t convince myself that traipsing around the mall or a fortress would be of any value or pleasure to me in that condition, so I stayed in with my foot elevated! I couldn’t find any ice, so I just had to rely on my good healing properties to get me past this.  I worked on some pictures, read part of a good book, did some work on a project for a client at home, and just took it easy. Enjoyed a lovely meal in the pub downstairs, and got a one-hour sports massage in the parlor by the pool – my big extravagance for the trip, which cost $32 U.S. – something I’d hoped to find in KSA but it just isn’t available there. I have regular massage at home for neck and shoulder problems, so this was a lovely surprise. Got to watch a great soccer match (Brazil v Uraguay, and topped off the day with a short but sweet talk with Dana (God bless the guys who came up with Skype!!). 

This morning almost all the swelling is out of my foot and I can wiggle my toes again! I made it downstairs and enjoyed an omelet, bacon, juice and coffee at the free breakfast buffet.  I will stay barefoot as much as I can and continue the stay-off-it therapy while waiting until this afternoon when I expect to get my passport back, then will taxi back to Dhahran for the rest of a three day weekend. It wasn’t planned to be, but last week the King decided it was time to change the work week from Sat-Wed, to Sun-Thu, starting next week, bringing KSA in line with the rest of the Gulf state’s business week.  It’s a good change, but will wreak havoc on a lot of travel plans this summer!

More soon on a some other architecture in Bahrain, and couple of recent, terrific photo shoots!

A morning at the beach

A few weeks ago I spent a few hours at the beach. Aramco has locations all over Saudi Arabia, and one of them is on the coast of the Gulf of Arabia, called Ras Tanura. Part of the site is a private beach, probably a mile long, just for employees.

I went over to meet a guy who was selling me a printer and monitor. I need the monitor, and my friend needed the printer so it worked out very well.  Aramco provides a fleet of buses that go all over the region, and one of them goes back and forth to RT several times a day. So I loaded a camera and my backpack and hat and took the mid-morning bus for an hour-long drive.

Not much to report on the drive - hot, dry, desolate. Everything is made of concrete, so even the buildings that are painted tend to blend into the background. I noticed several communities well off the highway that most people wouldn't have noticed, just because I was really looking and happened to see something stick up above the horizon that didn't below there.

The beach was lovely. I do love big water. It calls to me just like mountains do and I could spend way too much time in, on, or near either and be very happy doing it. But this beach was all mine. No one was there until a lifeguard showed up 30 minutes later, climbed into his tower, and tried to get comfortable.

The water was turquoise and much cooler than I expected, but relatively calm.  I don't think they get much tidal action here, and the waves are driven by the wind which was howling. Not quite a gale but way beyond a stiff wind! The visibility was surprisingly low - the haze that always hangs on the desert was here too - just a brown smudge always across the horizon.

And it was hot - 100+ at 10 a.m.  But I wore my hat and stayed mostly in the shade. I didn't want to swim, mostly I just wanted to see and hear the water, and I enjoyed doing that for about an hour.

 I had nice lunch at a small cafe right off the beach, and it was pleasant to sit under an umbrella outside and still enjoy the sight and sound while eating. Then it was time to call my contact, who was going to meet me with the gear so I could get on the 1 p.m. bus back to Dhahran. Turns out he had typed his number wrong when he emailed it to me, so I couldn't call him! Sadly, he ignored the very thorough plan I sent him of where I would be at what time and even what color shirt I would be wearing (I figured orange would stand out easily enough!)  He didn't call me until I was back on camp and walking into my room!

Oh well, I had a nice morning, saw a new place I'd wanted to see, and we ended up meeting last week to get the stuff.  Not a perfect day according to plan, but all in all it worked out just fine!

Night strike!

I do love it when the universe validates my decisions, even if sometimes it's more of a surprise than you care to have! MANY years ago I had a motorcycle I bought from my best friend's dad (thanks Jack!!). One day I was on the highway, driving the speed limit which at the time was a fearsome 55 mph! (how did you handle such speed?? you're probably wondering!)  Anyway, suddenly I saw something coming at my head, but before I could do anything about it (remember the awesome speed - ooohh) "it" struck me right between my left temple and and the open edge of the helmet. It shook me for a second, then I realized that "it" was moving right behind my ear inside the helmet!!  Let's say I executed an emergency-stop-and-rip-the-helmet-off-my-head maneuver only to find a still struggling bumble bee. Whoa. No goggles, no face shield, but wonderfully lucky!

The resulting decision was to never ride any kind of fast, open, motorized vehicle without something to protect my eyes, and I have never deviated from that rule. So when I got my scooter almost ready for the road I knew I needed something for my eyes. The helmet I inherited with the scooter is ok, but there is no visor or face shield - definitely not the Shui helmet I had a long time ago (full face coverage with flip up visor). I don't like goggles - they obstruct my vision too much - so I found a good pair of clear safety glasses to use.

This evening after work I came back to my room too tired to focus on anything, and I don't nap very well, so I got on the scooter for a little exploration - which usually means ride around to a place I can go scramble in the rocks.  It was quite dark, but there is very little traffic on camp at night, and suddenly it was deja vu all over again. I was going 40 kph (about 25 mph) and I saw something coming toward me. It hit just barely on the right side of my nose, right at the bridge of the safety glasses, rolled right across the lens and disappeared. I don't even know what it was.

If the bee all those years ago had hit an inch or so closer to my nose it would have taken out my eye. Without the safety glasses tonight I'd probably still be in the ER tonight trying to see.
Good decision, eh?

So then I found a place to scramble in the rocks and other things, so here are two pictures for the night. One is on a fairway of the golf course. They have 9 holes lit every night until 10 p.m., and I was surprised nobody was out there tonight because it was very pleasant.

The next picture is on the jabel (stony hill) just east and above the golf course, and the rock and I are lit up by the golf course lights! Even in a grainy iPhone shot that's a lot of light.

Third shot is to show off something I found at the commissary last night. I've always loved peanut butter, and in the past few years have bought organic PB - nothing but nuts. All I've been able to find here til now was the normal, full of sugar and extra stuff Jif and Skippy and "peanut spread" made here. Didn't try the local stuff, and Jif is too sweet (although, as the empty jar below indicates, still better than nothing!). But I found this one and tried it tonight with crackers - perfect!! It was expensive, but worth it.  Best to all, more soon!

A little run in the desert

I don't run anymore. I dream about running, though, and I am always flying along - long strides that cover massive territory and it is effortless and smooth and exhilarating! When I'm awake, though, I've done enough damage to my knees and ankles over the years that if I try to run more than 30 yards I'm gonna be in big trouble trying to walk the next day.

So last week when a friend at work - a crazy barefoot runner - asked me Wednesday afternoon (our Friday!) if I wanted to come take pictures of a race his running club was having that afternoon, I was hesitant for two reasons. First, I don't have my gear with me, and I knew my travel camera couldn't deliver what I'd want to get. Second, see the first paragraph above - if I can't run I don't enjoy being around people who are.

But Ron said please because they'd never had any good pictures made, and offered the use of his camera (Canon 5D) and all his lenses, and I didn't have any Skype dates with home set, so I told him I could come by.  I showed up at the designated spot a little early to check the layout, which by the way used to be a golf course. If you look at the shot below they are running on what was the cart path alongside a sand fairway! Talk about a hardscrabble course!

I found Ron and he showed me his bag with a solid camera and some great lenses.  I've shot maybe a dozen pix before with a 5D, but it is very similar to the other Canons I've had, so no big problem making it work. The biggest problem is, with digital cameras of that vintage, the view screen on the back is small and dark. No matter what adjustments I made I couldn't discern any difference in exposure, so I made my best guess and shot away.

 I wanted to get as many different things as I could, but didn't have a lot of time. This was a 4K race, with two circuits around this and another ancient golf hole, and the runners starting at intervals. I wanted to get some action shots, and just couldn't get what I wanted from one spot, so I went to the bottom of the straight stretch and then sprinted up the hill with each set of runners to come along

I think I actually did pretty well, for a camera and lens set I'd never picked up before, and had to guess at the settings. There's a different set of these on my Facebook page if you want to see more. Ron put dozens on the running group's FB page (straight out of the camera) and got hundreds of likes, but apparently you must be invited by the Lord Himself to see that site, so I didn't get to see any of them for several days till I made it over to his house to copy them.

 And the biggest surprise was that I didn't hurt anywhere after all this. This was literally the most I've run at one time in years, and it felt pretty good. Probably because I wasn't thinking about running, but about my position relative to the runner, the height and angle to hold the camera, not getting in the runner's way, making sure I wasn't running off into the brush and rocks, etc. If I'd been thinking about running, I would only have been thinking that my legs were gonna start hurting any second.

Ron said I should join the group and I honestly had to laugh. I know I must've been a sight, giant round man stumbling up that hill with a camera in his hand, but the coach commented on Ron's facebook post about the fantastic pictures, and wondered if his friend wouldn't mind coming back for the next two events. We'll see!

On the road again. . .

After work yesterday I came back to my room, changed, and went out to reinstall the lock on scooter, but I couldn't get it to fit together. It seemed like the piece in the lock that fit into the switch was installed backward, and there was a screw missing to attach the two.  I figured the screw had been dropped and lost, and thought the locksmith would have to reverse that part, so I changed again and ran to catch the 5 p.m. bus back to Khobar and made it with 2 minutes to spare!

I got there and the locksmith door was locked! I figured he left for a break, and text Ron if he'd found an extra screw. About that time the guy came back and we went in and he was grinning and laughing. He got to his workbench and showed me the missing screw that he forgot to put back. Then he got the two parts to align and work perfectly. 5 minutes total!

Because I took the late bus, and since traffic was horrible and it took almost an hour to get down there, it was already time to head for the bus stop. Being adventurous, I thought I'd walk to a different pickup point at the Safeway store. I knew roughly where it was, so I headed in that direction. On the way I remembered the very tight fit it would be to install one of the mounting screws for the lock assembly so I stepped into a hardware store where David and I had gone Thursday morning. I bought a little shorty Phillips screwdriver and a pair of safety glasses. The scooter has an old helmet with it, but there is no face shield and I don't like goggles. I figured safety glasses would do a better job than nothing of protecting my eyes from bugs and wind-borne sand.

I got to the bus stop with enough time to take some nearby pictures right at sunset. Here is one of them, my first shot of the Arabian Gulf.  More tomorrow!

Got back to camp and came to my room thinking I would put the thing together today after work, but the more I thought about it I just had to know if it would work, so I gathered my tools and bits and went out. It didn't take me long at all to put things back together, and I only forgot one thing - to put a cable tie around the wires to keep them from rubbing and shorting out. I'll take care of that next time I have the hood up!

Moment of truth - I put the key in the ignition, turned it, walked around to the other side, squeezed the brake lever (didn't know about this required step on Thursday!!), kicked the starter pedal one time and it started and just sat there and quietly purred. Most of the scooters around here buzz. Loudly. This one was so quiet I wasn't sure it was running at first! Wow! Now I had to get it all put back together - covers and such - and take it for a spin! I'd really worried about putting all these plastic cover pieces back together but they went very nicely. All the lights worked, turn signals worked. Hard to believe!

And it rode smoother and nicer and more stable than the one I kept up for friend while she was gone! I had to work for it, but this turned out well. I rode it to the gas station to top it off - the only one on camp which is supposed to close at 8. It was 8:30 but they were still open. The gas gauge (which works!!) said there was about 1/3 of a tank, and I filled it up for about SR1.5, about 35 cents!  Used the starter button this time to start it and it fired right up again, rode back and parked it. Now I've got wheels and can get anywhere on camp I need to go, which is all I wanted it for! Now I have to go wash it - it's been collecting dust for 6 months!

Cold, Ankle, Scooter

It's late, but I want to just add a quick note that my cold is almost all gone - a little residual drainage that makes me cough every once in a while, but 95% better - yaay!

Likewise, my ankle is doing well. I got up Friday morning and it worked, and I proceeded to go about my day - a little slower than usual, but just fine. Went to Khobar to find the locksmith but apparently all the skilled trade shops close on Friday - just like on Sunday at home. But I had a nice trip, navigated myself around and made it back safely.

So today I went back, found the locksmith, and he fixed my lock! Turns out the guy I bought it from just flat out lied to me when he told me he hadn't tried to jimmy the lock (which it turns out he'd told other people a different story). The truth came out when the locksmith got it apart and showed me the damage done inside. But he repaired it and made me a new key for much less than it would have cost to just have the lock fixed at home.

By the time I got back, though, it was dark and I was tired. It had been a hot day with a strong wind bringing in a lot of dust. Tomorrow after work I'll reassemble lock and switch and covers on the scooter and see if I can get it to start!

Here's today's temperature - yes, that shows a high of 113 F at 2 pm. Luckily I didn't leave work til 4 pm when it had cooled off to a much nicer 108!!