My first blog. I feel socially networked.

Well, I'm here in Bahrain now and I've decided to start a blog to record the various aspects of life in the middle east, my experiences at work and at play, and any other things that come to mind. Please bear with me. I've have never had a diary and never been one to take pictures, much less write something to be consumed by the public.

As we got ready to land in Bahrain, the pilot announced the weather conditions. It was something to the effect of, "... we'll be landing in Bahrain in 20 minutes. The temperature is 31oC. Due to prevalent winds throughout the gulf region, visibility is limited due to blowing sand." Sand?!?! Middle East, here I come.

When I arrived, I waited for my luggage. I found one suitcase after 10 minutes and waiting another 15 minutes for my second suitcase to arrive. When the conveyor stopped, I looked around and didn't see anything resembling my suitcase. I asked if there was any luggage, and the worker said 'no'. I kept looking around and decided to check on a few bags that had been taken off the belt by a worker. And then I saw it, my brand new suitcase (I bought it less than a week ago!) wrapped in duct tape. Lesson to the wise... DO NOT buy American Tourister luggage. Big mistake.

I went through the exit and looked for the driver that was supposed to pick me up. No luck. I circled through the hallways at the airport, passing a Starbucks and a Dairy Queen. I decided to use the payphone to call a co-worker and lo and behold, I see my classmate Patrick, who I thought was supposed to be in Dubai. After a brief conversation, I found my driver, and headed to my apartment complex, where my classmate and co-worker Ananda and another Julissa, a Sloan'06, were waiting for me to go for dinner. We went for to a patio restaurant where several ex-pats were smoking hookahs and watching Germany vs. Poland (Euro2008) on a projection screen.

After dinner, we went back to the apartment. My apartment is pretty nice. 1 bedroom + 2 bathrooms + kitchen + living room on the 7th floor. Here are some pics:






So, After a relatively smooth trip aside from my damaged luggage, I wound down and went to bed.

I'll write about my first day of work in another blog.