Friday, November 11, 2005

Clicking My Heels

Economy seating and airport lounges...the typical complaints. In Frankfurt, I had to have just one last taste...though it had surely been more than 5 months since I had McD's, it was a matter of principle. Except for the bad euro-club pop music being piped in, it was perfect. The remains are shown below.


I stayed in a really nice hotel in Dubai, 4 level atrium to welcome the guests, 40 foot palm trees...indoors of course, ingratiating employees everywhere...quite fancy by my standards.


"Really nice" in Dubai means low end. Oil wealth changes standards I guess. So it will be polar opposites in 24 hours.

Countless hours of travel and I arrived. As others have noted, the wrecked and burnt out airplane welcomes you to Kabul. The steep descent into the airport is not welcoming. There were some people, Omar and others, to greet us (unknown to me till I got of the flight, two others working for AEAI came with me). They had me stand to the side while everything was taken care of. Not waiting in lines is always nice.

We got our luggage and were shuffled to the guest houses. I met with Jack, my boss, and my co-workers and housemates. I was given a brief introduction to what I will be doing (don't worry, excruciating and mundane details are sure to follow in future posts). Settled into my room, took a short nap, had dinner, we watched Lord of the Rings 2, and then I went to go battle jet-lag. Looks like it'll be a non-stop party, tonight I think we watch Lord of the Rings 3.

I'm living in the appropriately named "glitter house." Four levels of marble floors. My room is on the upper (3rd) floor, a large roof deck surrounds it, providing great views of the city. The view off the deck that greeted me last night, a simple reminder that this aint Kansas.


The same reminder was there in the morning. I gather this will be a constant reminder of where I am. I'm guessing it wont be the only one.

I changed the comments setting to allow anonymous posting. Enjoy.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday, Quasim!

Keep it up with the updates!

Anonymous said...

First and foremost - HAPPY BIRTHDAY...our brown boy is getting soooo old.

Looking forward to more details and pictures, including but not limited to a picture of your hott wife when you find her.

Give Jack a "what's up jack-o" for me.

Jad El-Zein said...

Just realized you have no idea who posted that last anonymous comment...that would be me.

Anonymous said...

What Jenn said.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday dear friend.
Glad to see you made it. Miss you already.

Anonymous said...

Alan I like your new Blog. I love you so much. Have fun in Salt Lake City!
We miss you. -Mom

Anonymous said...

Wrong Blog

Craig said...

Alan: if you're reading this, happy birthday!

Anonymous said...

Alan, you are the best. I like your style. Kid, you got the goods!
Emotion Lotion! Takin it to the stars!

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Quasim! Ryan and I will go celebrate at BDC for you. Thanks for setting up the blog, and please don't turn into a hobbitt-dork while you are there.

-K.

Anonymous said...

Notice the pack of Camels hiding in the McD's picture.

Anonymous said...

q-sounds like your accommodations are exact opposite of mine, which are somewhere between dorm and prison. thank god for the shomers, who make life worth living. . .
keep me posted and be safe!

Anonymous said...

Hi Quasim!

Happy Birthday (belated)! Wow, this is my first blog experience. Looks like you guys have all the electricity you need! Just kidding, seriously...you are doing a great thing and while I'd love to say I could give up my comforts for a greater cause, I hope that I really would follow through like you did if the time ever came. Well, we all miss you tons...

Ashley :o)

Anonymous said...

Hi There!
Great sites, its sounds as if you are settling in. I hope you everything you need. Let us know if we can send anything back with my dad when he returns from his holiday.
Stay warm and safe.
Love the El-Zeins
By the Way, Ramzy is going to be a big brother! Very exciting!