tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59829796585238912582024-03-13T16:12:39.656+03:00A Long Way to Go for a Sun TanAn Irishman's experience of working in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Ghana & TanzaniaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-47058708338751774862016-02-13T14:40:00.000+03:002016-02-13T14:40:58.652+03:00Homeward Bound........<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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February 2011 was Ireland’s last General Election, coming on
the back of the Financial Crisis, IMF and our Government’s meltdown, and in
this election, we saw the collapse of Ireland’s dominant political party, the
Soldiers of Destiny were blitzed in a sweep of National anger in that election,
Ireland was at a very low ebb.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For me personally, it marks a point in time also, where I
faced my own crisis like so many Irish people at the time, a business brought
to its knees with all the financial and personal strain that that brings, I
faced the reality of having to look abroad for work and an income, and so a few
months later, I boarded a plane at Shannon, Dubai bound, via Manchester and on
to Kandahar, Afghanistan to 53 degree heat in the weeks after Osama Bin Laden
had been taken out by the US. Was this going to work?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Well, I sit here in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania today five years
on from that last General Election In Ireland, heading into my final week of
the ex-patriate life, yes, I’m going home next week and it feels damn good.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That journey has taken me from dusty Kandahar to mountains
of Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan Province, on to Helmand for a short few months, to
Riyadh in Saudi Arabia in 2012, where I lived until October 2014, with all its
oddities and peculiarities, and had the opportunity to visit the wider Middle
East region, to places like modern Dubai, the oasis of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi,
Jeddah by the Red Sea, Doha, Abha, Dammam, Bahrain, Amman and Petra in Jordan,
and Istanbul. The last stage of this period spent in Accra, Ghana and finally
here by the Indian Ocean in Dar es Salaam.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I can already feel the excitement and emotion of taking that
last flight next Friday from Dar to Abu Dhabi and arriving in Dublin on my
birthday, and in time to vote again just like five years ago.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In that period, there has been tough times, sad times, lonely
times, times when I missed my loved ones and watched my sons grow at a
distance, missed birthdays, nights out, work colleagues, friends and
neighbours, even a missed Christmas Day spent in Riyadh. There has also been
some good days, days when you discover you had reserves of strength, days when
you rediscover lost confidence and get excited and passionate about your work
again, a particular day when I stood at Dubai airport misty eyed and emotional
to welcome my two young sons who had flown on their own for hours from Dublin
to spend a week the old man in the UAE.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have met and made new friends and colleagues, many of them
Irish like myself, who took to the airport in the same way to work abroad in
this remarkable period in Ireland’s history, we have even lost some of them too
sadly.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thankfully, I return with the financial issues now resolved,
I did not get into property, or lose money on shares, I simply had a small
business connected to the Construction Industry that got caught in a perfect storm,
like so many others. I also return to a different life, and know that it will
take time to adjust back to Ireland, to a new life again and a new job. I look
forward so much to Sunday lunches, walks on the beach, Friday nights with the
Late Late, open fires, cycling with the lads, the odd gig, a decent pint of
Guinness and even the mundanity of making breakfast for hungry young men while
discussing the latest U-Tube hit or video game villain ! It’s all Good and I
can’t wait to get back……..<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-68026494152939741452016-01-21T11:10:00.000+03:002016-01-21T11:10:29.083+03:00Safari to Mikumi.....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Tanzania is long known for its impressive National Parks, an
impressive 16 in all from the world famous Serengeti in the north to Selous in
the south, covering over 40,000 sq.km. (approx. half the entire area of Ireland).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQSsL4tpnlz-hDEqFq1MChMyfYkuL7UTGzFWBx8XsvhJ4dPOGegqDagFD1UXPx-aq-NqhhafmIoJZVAUWA7j8bc-Gmjk02TXTwOARAAUgW_WWzkJGzTaigW1SPqNIwRIqmM4IT1-Ewdnc/s1600/20151205_092823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQSsL4tpnlz-hDEqFq1MChMyfYkuL7UTGzFWBx8XsvhJ4dPOGegqDagFD1UXPx-aq-NqhhafmIoJZVAUWA7j8bc-Gmjk02TXTwOARAAUgW_WWzkJGzTaigW1SPqNIwRIqmM4IT1-Ewdnc/s200/20151205_092823.jpg" width="200" /></a>Mikumi National Park is the closest one to Dar es Salaam and
within driving distance, so ideal for a weekend road trip out of the hot and
humid capital city.<o:p></o:p></div>
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An early Saturday morning start north out of Dar es Salaam,
was the advice to escape the clutches of the weekend market traffic, especially
on the Morogoro Road, so the advice was to travel north to Bagamoyo, then west
to Msata, south to Chalinze and then turning west again directly to the city of
Morogoro, a city nestled at the feet of the Uluguru Mountains and the gateway
to Mikumi National Park. A journey of some five hours along very decent roads,
so even though I took the trip alone, it was very enjoyable , I even managed to
avoid the notorious Tanzanian traffic police, and at one stage found myself
going down the wrong way on a oneway street in Morogoro packed with Saturday traders and
shoppers ! (signs are kind of optional extras in Tanzania).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2ZRgWn2PvECScnUpjeYqUlmlro8ohlq3P8TyRn7924epR08zWYWTJYrr5esdC-wyLWuxDwtnilHtCzhJOHjofft7NyL5HaDDFeZWQoe52c-h1-NB3zj0HQLS2qkNqUJqKu-2F0oqRUM/s1600/20151205_124615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2ZRgWn2PvECScnUpjeYqUlmlro8ohlq3P8TyRn7924epR08zWYWTJYrr5esdC-wyLWuxDwtnilHtCzhJOHjofft7NyL5HaDDFeZWQoe52c-h1-NB3zj0HQLS2qkNqUJqKu-2F0oqRUM/s400/20151205_124615.jpg" width="400" /></a>I stayed at the Nashera Hotel which I would highly recommend
as it has amazing views of the Uluguru Mountains (named after a local tribe),
has decent food and a nice bar, where I sat with a few locals and discussed the
continued demise of Chelsea FC, while watching their latest capitulation! I also
bumped into a couple from Killarney, Co. Kerry on a business trip here (Irish turn
up everywhere, really, don’t they ?).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Early start Sunday morning, picked up by Hamad my guide and
companion for the day, at 5am, for my safari trip to the heart of Mikumi
(Safari is the Swahili word for “journey”) and off we went into the dark
morning further into the mountains for an hour and half until we arrived at the
gates of the Park just in time for breakfast. A National Roadway runs through
Mikumi, as it’s a major transport route from the busy Port city of Dar es
Salaam running westwards to inland cities and indeed further to countries such as Zambia,
Congo and Malawi. It makes for an unusual sight as large container trucks
cutting through wild grasslands with giraffes grazing by the roadside.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9j4lMTZVx5VH72yloOK2q3oCWKFrq0fQEDa3m-bqFUaAT8I7WpHLBQYCmegOSlnhPfrpgKz4CTJyBvWaG8dDdw7iCkVBbofSOzr-fsy0XUaNNgTf_-PqNqF0D3CUyjPJo1Z-iGhSttE/s1600/20151206_102215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9j4lMTZVx5VH72yloOK2q3oCWKFrq0fQEDa3m-bqFUaAT8I7WpHLBQYCmegOSlnhPfrpgKz4CTJyBvWaG8dDdw7iCkVBbofSOzr-fsy0XUaNNgTf_-PqNqF0D3CUyjPJo1Z-iGhSttE/s640/20151206_102215.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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After a welcome breakfast, we spent our day inside the Park,
animal spotting. What struck me was the beauty and openness of the grassland savannah
landscape and the surrounding mountains, Tanzania is a truly beautiful country,
and to see the herds of Wildebeest and Buffalo wild in the open was
breathtaking to be honest.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpF3fCQuU8khL1yd1E3gy8oErZvQmLANQuV-7Rj5RkCXBxQvGYCNUA47HwMmz8nim1JumwhGcuWxy6sNaoXksQjHWiBqXxmevF60A-iKjX9tKVJhfo0sQzNusTCAHWrAo-5CLUAYj-gE/s1600/20151206_104208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpF3fCQuU8khL1yd1E3gy8oErZvQmLANQuV-7Rj5RkCXBxQvGYCNUA47HwMmz8nim1JumwhGcuWxy6sNaoXksQjHWiBqXxmevF60A-iKjX9tKVJhfo0sQzNusTCAHWrAo-5CLUAYj-gE/s320/20151206_104208.jpg" width="180" /></a>I had been promised by Hamad that I would definitely see
Giraffe, Elephant, Impala, Zebra & Baboon, but that seeing the mighty Simba
(Swahili word for Lion), can be a little more challenging.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We saw Zebra, Impala and Giraffes u close and personal and
most impressive of all was the two families of Elephants bunched closely together
under the shade of tress, and also cooling themselves in a lake, nothing compares
to seeing them in the wild. We then also struck gold and came across a Lion
with a few cubs, who came very close to us and prowled about, Hamad noted that
she was angry but it was just amazing to see them in their own habitat up close
like that. This is the real Africa at its rawest and most awe-inspiring. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Lunch in the Park completed a fantastic day, and i started back on my journey to Dar es Salaam.</div>
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A very satisfying weekend trip, thanks to Hamad and the folks
at <a href="http://watusafaris.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://watusafaris.com/</span></a> for a great
trip, hopefully I’ll fit in a tip to Serengeti soon.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0Dar es Salaam, Tanzania-6.792354 39.208328400000028-7.2969224999999991 38.56288140000003 -6.2877855 39.853775400000025tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-3239715782440952642015-07-09T16:32:00.000+03:002015-07-09T16:48:32.053+03:00Elmina, West Africa’s Oldest Slave Post……<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Built by the Portuguese in 1482, Elmina is the oldest
European Building in Sub-Saharan Africa, though its infamy is much more noted
as the most famous Slave Port on the Gulf of Guinea, located just west along
the coast from Cape Coast as you drive towards Takoradi.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I paid a visit here (another UNESCO World Heritage Site) and
was given a guided tour which gave the long and (let’s be honest sad) history
of this castle.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DnYjog-FNunegE96EdQaM6YLMvqoFdD5A_H5ikdyc0JjhUMikxjV9UtoLkttkaTOLsvJ-kChfID38BXEMHQEtYaah-ygO4VZ_6bVFvZ19LUGqLYfO8QxQjIXfMU8pHlP5r3XUKODzR8/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DnYjog-FNunegE96EdQaM6YLMvqoFdD5A_H5ikdyc0JjhUMikxjV9UtoLkttkaTOLsvJ-kChfID38BXEMHQEtYaah-ygO4VZ_6bVFvZ19LUGqLYfO8QxQjIXfMU8pHlP5r3XUKODzR8/s400/8.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dungeons</td></tr>
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St. George’s Castle was used for almost 200 years as a key
Trading Post from Africa to the New World, and in its time was governed by the
Portuguese, Dutch and also the British prior to Ghana’s Independence in 1957,
when it became a Police Training Centre.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A walk into the Dungeons has a very foreboding feel, a real
sense of a place where the walls could tell stories, some 500 slaves at a time
were crammed in here, and you can feel the humidity and can only imagine the
smell and heat in these small spaces in those dark days. Many died here long
before they ever got close to the boats and were simply thrown into the sea. </div>
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Slave traders brought slaves to Elmina from as far away as modern day Ivory
Coast, Nigeria, Burkina Faso for “export”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the Inner courtyard, a cannonball was used to tie up misbehaving
slaves in the open sun and without water, others were taken to a cell in another
part of the castle where they were left to die of starvation, and of course the
lucky ones eventually got taken the short walk to the “Door of No Return”,
where they were taken to waiting ships to commence their journey to the cotton
fields in the New World of the Caribbean and the America's.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Door of No Return</td></tr>
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The Tour Guide provides an excellent and very honest
narrative of the Castle and its Slave trade history, and also goes on to show
the soldiers quarters and also the small school that was established at Elmina,
for the children that were born there of colonial parentage.<o:p></o:p></div>
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An eye opening visit and well worth doing, even if it makes
you feel upset, its provides a good understanding of the heritage of Africa and
indeed further afield.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6hudqViHiCsBS8QNhW8y0k6oxuKRkhGnPjAMewVF16mvpl1qQTnbAVrkxeJREEAgb9cjtwW_t634mKCygoTi7q6uUlxEnRmfkoyp6hpHngKAhkuEo3OH6e44xb-Xt5ZSmBwH5dj7XLrc/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6hudqViHiCsBS8QNhW8y0k6oxuKRkhGnPjAMewVF16mvpl1qQTnbAVrkxeJREEAgb9cjtwW_t634mKCygoTi7q6uUlxEnRmfkoyp6hpHngKAhkuEo3OH6e44xb-Xt5ZSmBwH5dj7XLrc/s320/4.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isolation Cell</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0Elmina, Ghana5.083333 -1.35000000000002275.0200695 -1.4306810000000227 5.1465964999999994 -1.2693190000000227tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-12261658250350645822015-07-05T12:50:00.001+03:002015-07-05T12:50:49.159+03:00A Walk in the Rainforest at Kakum National Park, Ghana….<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyVpw4ftpELY2q-mNf18yxRd5M-HQamrOZglEXOY9ygY_npaK0BbpT4_D47GG-Lo96Y0gyj6XFwnMheuGA2BHVbv75dJ4clQAUTaXI2jB2wg6pGZR4Y6-DaRJ0dUOYZWGSp4ZM5BuSTx4/s1600/kakum+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyVpw4ftpELY2q-mNf18yxRd5M-HQamrOZglEXOY9ygY_npaK0BbpT4_D47GG-Lo96Y0gyj6XFwnMheuGA2BHVbv75dJ4clQAUTaXI2jB2wg6pGZR4Y6-DaRJ0dUOYZWGSp4ZM5BuSTx4/s400/kakum+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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An early morning start from Accra, heading west along the
coast towards the city of Cape Coast, a long drive, though in reality, only
made long as the roads in Ghana also double up as Market’s in small towns and
major junctions, which slows down the traffic significantly. After four hours
driving, we turn north from the city of Cape Coast and head to Kakum National
Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (<a href="http://www.kakumnationalpark.info/"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.kakumnationalpark.info</span></a>).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqH5hFbAWF0k-7YhRI8MLQxZkRwFa5LTFggfLs7b4WXQO1tM5AgGFHJqtayWbSaBp0PBgvSzgo6VW2J2pVsup_e_itgAPR7N37cmtmkKugXRcNLRVd_bEntgi8xKR_cxPe86HXYomBEJc/s1600/kakum+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqH5hFbAWF0k-7YhRI8MLQxZkRwFa5LTFggfLs7b4WXQO1tM5AgGFHJqtayWbSaBp0PBgvSzgo6VW2J2pVsup_e_itgAPR7N37cmtmkKugXRcNLRVd_bEntgi8xKR_cxPe86HXYomBEJc/s320/kakum+2.jpg" width="180" /></a>Kakum is a tropical rainforest, with a very famous suspended
canopy walkway, that allows you to walk among the treetops at a level of 40m
above the ground.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEl-wlxNdF4cqWPrrsIy93UtYCBjYP-x0BVC3xNG-23_hmBELd7PPb-megxDC5emmKPPKHOcLjzw4916gg_DrUNb2U-5gE2xrC5QB_REiRSj7XLO4EAJmQstrbCFa8waJ4qP7TNNvUAcQ/s1600/kakum+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEl-wlxNdF4cqWPrrsIy93UtYCBjYP-x0BVC3xNG-23_hmBELd7PPb-megxDC5emmKPPKHOcLjzw4916gg_DrUNb2U-5gE2xrC5QB_REiRSj7XLO4EAJmQstrbCFa8waJ4qP7TNNvUAcQ/s320/kakum+1.jpg" width="320" /></a>The greatest sensation you get here is the sounds of the
forest, its alive below you as you walk along the rope bridges, monkeys ,
birds, a cacophony of sound all around, and of course the humidity hits you also.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Some pictures here to show you canopy walk, a super trip and
a great experience.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0Kakum National Park, Dunkwa Road, Ghana5.4166667 -1.31666670000004165.1637732000000005 -1.6393902000000415 5.6695602 -0.99394320000004166tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-28126462887482762532015-05-05T21:52:00.000+03:002015-07-05T12:18:18.851+03:00Jamestown, Accra....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBEH4IYDFsYyxI_CkxOJFdnlS99F5ODP4tsIHND0HYIYch9hbp77QWvMeVdL6EpCbj3-b4GKGlaW0H_tzpHx6GhWCaL0nTYA8mMSXtTI_6fQ5ez8j_WYItyt6TOvWIHHbJ6B7R5w6B68/s1600/Jamestown+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBEH4IYDFsYyxI_CkxOJFdnlS99F5ODP4tsIHND0HYIYch9hbp77QWvMeVdL6EpCbj3-b4GKGlaW0H_tzpHx6GhWCaL0nTYA8mMSXtTI_6fQ5ez8j_WYItyt6TOvWIHHbJ6B7R5w6B68/s1600/Jamestown+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The origins of old Accra I was told is the area known as
Jamestown which sits right by the Ocean in a little Fishing Village, not far
from the bustling shopping area of Osu, so I took myself down there on a sunny
Saturday morning in late February last, in fact it was much more than sunny,
it was seriously hot and humid.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Stephen is a driver I have used a number of times here in
Accra, a native of the city and a really helpful and friendly man. We arrived
at the Old Lighthouse at Jamestown and there was met by a local “tour guide”
Godfrey, who is also in fact a teacher in the local school for children orphaned by
fishermen lost at sea.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWvUlyzDq7vA6NNPM3tm1sLsry108TvNIwbsmt9LEnZ_CAyx0VJyXLSwhRnUEp1SZF2rn498QUASw36NGcBDX6vaKLiMS9Tl_CUcowNdMX7xBJxIWeHQqTh9KJjYejV1M3-wolXvvMUJc/s1600/Jamestown+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWvUlyzDq7vA6NNPM3tm1sLsry108TvNIwbsmt9LEnZ_CAyx0VJyXLSwhRnUEp1SZF2rn498QUASw36NGcBDX6vaKLiMS9Tl_CUcowNdMX7xBJxIWeHQqTh9KJjYejV1M3-wolXvvMUJc/s1600/Jamestown+8.jpg" width="200" /></a>We took a walk down to the shore where there were traditional
fishing boats cut from trunks of trees,<o:p></o:p></div>
and carved with motifs, the
waterfront doubling up as an open workshop for building boats.<br />
<br />
Jamestown is a shanty town of approximately
5000 people fitting in a small triangle of land surrounded by the sea of two sides
and the old Fort on the other side, its actually hard to believe that so many
people live in such a small space.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwx2hLkfmUZ4J3jtdAlZbgL-rx-kvkH62gAajglGvYlj43kdyQWvsWGJMhOvI9pe5fhZmqdiT-PvUG6bXb0iEDdFSc083jwkBppR1Bbn9f_561gHeGdUIv2Y5UN8A0URHNPRa__sibu3k/s1600/Jamestown+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwx2hLkfmUZ4J3jtdAlZbgL-rx-kvkH62gAajglGvYlj43kdyQWvsWGJMhOvI9pe5fhZmqdiT-PvUG6bXb0iEDdFSc083jwkBppR1Bbn9f_561gHeGdUIv2Y5UN8A0URHNPRa__sibu3k/s1600/Jamestown+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As we walked through the narrow lanes, it was clear how
simple these people lived, the community is essentially supported by the sea,
the men, Godfrey explained to me go out to sea as far as Ivory Coast to the west and
Togo and Benin to the east to fish in these simple craft, so can be absent fathers for long periods, and sadly some do get lost to the Atlantic on these trips,
thus the schools for children who have lost one or both parents.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Jamestown is alive and active on this Saturday morning,
Fishermen are fixing nets, boys are swimming in the sea and screaming with
delight, fish are laid out to dry and being smoked over barrels and everywhere
there is chatter, music and football being played. It’s a real community here,
and though there is poverty, it’s also a way of life , as they’ve existed
here while Accra has grown to become one of the fastest growing cities in West
Africa around them. It’s a fascinating place.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQK16k77-4ebyLF8uzHlW5VoAwj2B1gK7nSWuSt59k_4Ic-ObE98ZpGjzojLofyNJBoBVb8u7poU4A9J6aKYv31Fo6eNouxaqUfNS2Ejahztd78zvYJpkUFXAzN0up6adk9YB_whrhI9g/s1600/Jamestown+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQK16k77-4ebyLF8uzHlW5VoAwj2B1gK7nSWuSt59k_4Ic-ObE98ZpGjzojLofyNJBoBVb8u7poU4A9J6aKYv31Fo6eNouxaqUfNS2Ejahztd78zvYJpkUFXAzN0up6adk9YB_whrhI9g/s1600/Jamestown+6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We finished the tour with a visit to the school that Godfrey teaches
in and also a quick visit to the Fort where slaves were once held and sold to the new world and where Ghana’s founding president Kwame Nkrumah
was once held, and we finish with a climb up the lighthouse accompanied by another
local named “Nice One”, yes that’s really his name….. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9dhZT_TIwLcGysSA3-8fj1LZG_LY2o_7Gj48_ej3ucVWvm8pAVTFStbahcdw_5zi2GNgaNQ30AoqDe90yYvZgCDO5UgYVj2Uvoo4Hn_cE3RZI5h-WDLGSswnzrLyvTNwOIAvmIOsfW8/s1600/Jamestown+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9dhZT_TIwLcGysSA3-8fj1LZG_LY2o_7Gj48_ej3ucVWvm8pAVTFStbahcdw_5zi2GNgaNQ30AoqDe90yYvZgCDO5UgYVj2Uvoo4Hn_cE3RZI5h-WDLGSswnzrLyvTNwOIAvmIOsfW8/s1600/Jamestown+7.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jamestown Lighthouse, Accra, Ghana</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-39457845361570075082015-04-07T21:16:00.001+03:002015-04-07T21:16:31.704+03:00And then Africa…….<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZwX88faEyMlQvrIzJgmHeVmdAw-qpLWnMlXD_Sj-oMshhzCDTIruJ4YRQZyrPEn1zhy-a5f2Py3HgC_CQgLyCY4vfzC9uOuEG6JSRGXuYWsjG_psLQDRgtxrScA4ZNPYcDGl2V2olDs/s1600/Kilimanjaro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZwX88faEyMlQvrIzJgmHeVmdAw-qpLWnMlXD_Sj-oMshhzCDTIruJ4YRQZyrPEn1zhy-a5f2Py3HgC_CQgLyCY4vfzC9uOuEG6JSRGXuYWsjG_psLQDRgtxrScA4ZNPYcDGl2V2olDs/s1600/Kilimanjaro.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I write this from my new Apartment on the 7<sup>th</sup>
floor of an Residential Block in the Msasani Area of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, I’ve
been on a bit of a journey over the past six months that has brought me from
the Middle East to East Africa via West Africa.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6UWFxBK2UG_4EiMrpQFw9Sg3-uFghKB8BgdwXgxgd312eRxh-mDFoix4GloZltdqemk4Nuwi56kFnm05D_7Xpgqp7DZCG7X9ztYRPiZsO5vBX_whvfQ-xV2bJxeXlu9qbfGNpsao_XH0/s1600/bajaj.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6UWFxBK2UG_4EiMrpQFw9Sg3-uFghKB8BgdwXgxgd312eRxh-mDFoix4GloZltdqemk4Nuwi56kFnm05D_7Xpgqp7DZCG7X9ztYRPiZsO5vBX_whvfQ-xV2bJxeXlu9qbfGNpsao_XH0/s1600/bajaj.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a><br />
In that time, I’ve rather neglected “Sun Tan”, primarily, as I have gone through an extremely busy time and moved twice in that period to
two new countries, Ghana and Tanzania, and I guess I also felt it was a time
when I was either extremely busy or just not in the right frame of mind to sit
and write.<br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
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So I’ll leave you with this great photo of Kilimanjaro from
my seat on the flight from Nairobi last week and this other image of a “Bajaj”,
a preferred form of transport in Dar es Salaam and I’ll look forward to posting
a few more pieces very soon……<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0Dar es Salaam, Tanzania-6.8 39.283332999999971-7.3045685 38.637885999999973 -6.2954314999999994 39.928779999999968tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-20606467303066191272014-08-21T12:43:00.000+03:002014-08-21T17:18:58.897+03:00Gaelic Football in the Kingdom ??<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A taxi ride at rush hour through Riyadh’s chaotic traffic
for almost forty minutes brings us to the gateway of one of Riyadh’s better
compounds to the north of the city. Any taxi ride around this city is eventful
to say the least, road etiquette simply doesn’t exist and neither does public
transport, and add in the fact that women are not permitted to drive (though there’s
no specific written law on this !) and that the city has a population of some
six million people, gives you an idea of what traffic can be like here.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s Sunday evening, which is the first working day of the
week, and it’s also the beginning of pre-season training for Riyadh’s <b>Naomh Alee Riyadh GAA Club</b>, a fully affiliated
GAA club, founded twenty years ago and a member of the broader Middle East GAA
Family which includes other clubs in UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman & Kuwait.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQ3DSeDI4a7Mte5N1OqmJgJh81Vz1iGOuTnsh68yaLamvIqPlRnOBt6NPuFDGJtQFftHCLhcHYgyoFTG18cXB8WZYqeV3HwbbwoZ0e-ImI03kMkSKvdPHBiqO-Y2KkTdRB4x-Mwd8-W8/s1600/Naomh+Alee+Men.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQ3DSeDI4a7Mte5N1OqmJgJh81Vz1iGOuTnsh68yaLamvIqPlRnOBt6NPuFDGJtQFftHCLhcHYgyoFTG18cXB8WZYqeV3HwbbwoZ0e-ImI03kMkSKvdPHBiqO-Y2KkTdRB4x-Mwd8-W8/s1600/Naomh+Alee+Men.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s still around 38 degrees when we start our workout on
the floodlit grass pitch which has just been much sought after these past few seasons,
the group grows to over forty people by the time training kicks off in earnest
at 8pm, which is of course is in complete darkness at this time of the evening
all year around. This session is led by Sean O’Sullivan from Cork, Patrick
Moynagh from Cavan and Tony Robinson from Derry and the participants and club
members come from Dublin, Fermanagh, Clare, Galway, Antrim, Down, Wexford, Offaly, Cavan, Derry, Westmeath, Louth, Meath, Tipperary and a few lads from Cork. It doesn’t
end there of course as a further sizeable contingent in this group and the club
as a whole come from much further afield, such as United Kingdom, Germany,
Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, United States and Jordan. At one point in
the session, one could even hear a strong Australian accent count out <i>“a H-aon, A do, a tri….”</i> while the squad
does press ups.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In recent years, <b>Naomh
Alee Riyadh GAA</b> <b>Club</b> has seen a strong
revival in Riyadh, coinciding with the economic slump back in Ireland which has
brought additional numbers of professionals to the Kingdom securing work in
sectors such as Banking, Construction, Education, Agriculture and Nursing, the
club has seen increased participation and is now running a number of both Men’s
and Ladies Teams in the Middle East League, and competing very consistently and
competitively in the past few years. They provide Gaelic Football only at the
moment, however in its early years in the late 1990’s, it was initially a
hurling club, and there are ambitions to once again field a hurling team in the
future.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZxeqrQe3szmF7PfpSI-pJJM0opiqLrGwZf__g7wFE-SM-znf1sm-2VksTmCCxw-i9wkYbkr6Y6g9zypgP4AQAIMs54WObpINyNUzBzhS-Gh7tE6yHG4GgX1VbbarVfcuNtAVEZgNTp8/s1600/ladies+team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZxeqrQe3szmF7PfpSI-pJJM0opiqLrGwZf__g7wFE-SM-znf1sm-2VksTmCCxw-i9wkYbkr6Y6g9zypgP4AQAIMs54WObpINyNUzBzhS-Gh7tE6yHG4GgX1VbbarVfcuNtAVEZgNTp8/s1600/ladies+team.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This club is like no other in the sense that it doesn’t have
a dedicated pitch and must arrange to use facilities such as this one within a compound,
it also uniquely must travel abroad to play competitive matches given the lack
of any other GAA in the Kingdom at the moment and the difficulties in getting
visa’s to allow a travelling team to come to Riyadh to play the home team, so <b>Noamh Alee Riyadh GAA</b> <b>Club</b> will travel over six weekends over the winter season to
Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha and Al Ain to play fixtures in the Middle East
League and other Competitions in the region. It’s a huge commitment from
players and management alike and a great credit to all of them. The Club has
also been very well supported by way of sponsorship from Irish Businesses working
in Saudi Arabia in recent times, such as Jones Engineering Group, Bruce Shaw,
First Staff Recruitment and CCM Recruitment.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Beyond sport however, the Club represents so much more, it’s
a very natural stop off point for Irish emigrants passing through Riyadh , whether
on a long stint here over many years or a one year assignment. It provides a
vital conduit for those just arrived to find out how to make one’s way around this
vast city and integrated into their new surroundings and culture, it’s a vital
sporting and social outlet for the many Irish, British, Australian and New Zealand
nurses who play on the ladies squad, and a great way of building and sustaining
the Irish Community in Riyadh, fostering new friendships and also having some
great fun. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVWXjmbwQDvIB4Z5jwVpKqP9ndGjGD_N2RBZqRvGPhWBLgyVbJKk49Qfh-_onVlqj-qbbSKV_6YibK9Rs9JD1my4qs_pwcc_VCgJR3zkkowNI9blR_EJ9mEPrRHn3Nwrgyoi5D35N9Rfc/s1600/Crest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVWXjmbwQDvIB4Z5jwVpKqP9ndGjGD_N2RBZqRvGPhWBLgyVbJKk49Qfh-_onVlqj-qbbSKV_6YibK9Rs9JD1my4qs_pwcc_VCgJR3zkkowNI9blR_EJ9mEPrRHn3Nwrgyoi5D35N9Rfc/s1600/Crest.jpg" /></a><b>Naomh Alee Riyadh GAA Club</b>
also run a Juvenile programme for young boys and girls to take up the sport. They
also promote Irish culture and with the on-going support of the Irish Embassy,
has been to the forefront of all things Irish in Riyadh.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The session finishes up just before 10pm with a warm down
led by Tony, and the exhausted and rather sweaty group of people head off into the
Riyadh night chatting as they go, off to recover, get home, have a shower and a
good sleep before the next day’s work and the next training session the
following Wednesday…….<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>If you are Interested in participating in Gaelic Football, want to stay
fit and also get to know more people in Riyadh, or maybe you are considering a
move to Riyadh soon, get in touch, as the club is always looking for new
members and is here to help…. <o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>Contact details as follows…<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">E-mail: </span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:naleegaa@gmail.com"><span style="color: blue;">naleegaa@gmail.com</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Facebook: </span></b><u><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/naomhalee.riyadhgaa"><span style="color: blue;">www.facebook.com/naomhalee.riyadhgaa</span></a></span></u> <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Twitter:</b> <a href="https://twitter.com/RiyadhGAA"><span style="color: blue;">https://twitter.com/RiyadhGAA</span></a> <o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-71547238446068663532014-06-30T11:13:00.003+03:002014-06-30T11:13:58.528+03:00Sitting in Bahrain Airport the other day.......<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl4-Y1CFMTTSrhV7AvHCCZKyWhZhS3gGoDkJr95nbIY-x73IaJ7-1H5EuIE2MqmHZjIwqEd0TvwsLZLogoviPLts9H1I4C2CH0i5dSx5IHCevj04Eg8S8MbINE7GiSEHfM6tDs-W1YhFI/s1600/saudi-arabia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl4-Y1CFMTTSrhV7AvHCCZKyWhZhS3gGoDkJr95nbIY-x73IaJ7-1H5EuIE2MqmHZjIwqEd0TvwsLZLogoviPLts9H1I4C2CH0i5dSx5IHCevj04Eg8S8MbINE7GiSEHfM6tDs-W1YhFI/s1600/saudi-arabia.jpg" height="234" width="320" /></a>Sitting in Bahrain Airport the other day, waiting for a
flight back to Riyadh and sipping on a cold beer, that old familiar feeling returned
that I know so well, here I go again back to Riyadh, starting back to another
year in the Kingdom, and reflecting on how transient and different and
sometimes lonely life has become in the
last few years…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
July 2011, I left Ireland to take up a posting on a remote Military
base in Afghanistan, Its now three years later, I’m working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
and life is so different to what it was ten years ago<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I can only describe the last few years as a mixture of adventure,
relief, grief, a sense of a transient lifestyle, sometimes loneliness, always
interesting but to be absolutely frank, a world completely turned upside down
from where I was ten years ago.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back in 2004, I was married, I had just set up my own
business, I was Dad to a two year old son and was anticipating the arrival of a
second , was about to go on holiday to Lake Garda in Italy which turned out to
be a fantastic trip abroad that summer. I can still remember having Daithi perched
on my shoulders heading off for pizza in
the warm evenings.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is not where I now compare life to the present day and bemoan
the cards I’ve been dealt, that is of no use to me or indeed to you the reader
and I actually believe I’ve been fairly fortunate, though the ride has certainly been rough at
times and like many things, some aspects are positive, others not so.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiofRVQX5N42nwXH7CJOLptZlXxgLjJZn_ixdvtzDpHgLOSKIWs-I7ucRRCmYb-Uljqw0X3VLW7zAw9aUFJAxKFSshPik4xOX4OPw_Thn4vNqyCSY89uLumiV2uQ_BVHq9GmmMTwn5Tark/s1600/saudi-arabia-desert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiofRVQX5N42nwXH7CJOLptZlXxgLjJZn_ixdvtzDpHgLOSKIWs-I7ucRRCmYb-Uljqw0X3VLW7zAw9aUFJAxKFSshPik4xOX4OPw_Thn4vNqyCSY89uLumiV2uQ_BVHq9GmmMTwn5Tark/s1600/saudi-arabia-desert.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Financial meltdown from 2008 was a massive blow to
Ireland, and its repercussions are still being felt, though there are now signs
of recovery in parts, primarily the greater Dublin area and also Cork. This is
certainly to be welcomed, though I personally would have concerns about other
Irish towns such as Limerick for example where recovery is somewhat slower and
I belong to an industry that was effectively wiped out and will take some time
to recover properly back home. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My experience of the years from 2008 to 2011 was of running
a business which was less than five years old and seeing turnover literally
collapse by 80% in two months, Its only now when I look back, i appreciate how dramatic
that was for business owners up and down the country and the effects it had on families
and local communities, right up to this day and beyond in the form of failed
businesses, unemployment and for many of us, emigration.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I finally gave up on the business in 2011 after doing
as much as I could possibly do to keep it alive and to also re-invent myself
for other roles, it came with a huge sense of failure, that you have let your
staff down, your family down, you deny it and try to battle on, but it’s
actually a huge sense of failure which can lead to a dark place if it’s not
addressed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Emigration has been a way back, a sort of redemption, a
return in confidence, not something I had anticipated in the first year when
based in Afghanistan and with confidence, comes perspective again and a new
focus on the future. I have recovered a lot of lost ground financially
thankfully, and have relocated here to Riyadh since 2012 with an Irish Company
and I have much to be grateful for and which I am.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The change is challenging, there is very little
one can do about it other than adapt. Here in Riyadh, its very transient,
people (particularly ex-pats) come and go fairly regularly, Its incredibility hot,(
43 this week), it lacks a sense of place for a lot of us and its culture and
societal norms can take a lot of getting used to by comparison to other near-by
countries. I have formed new friendships and relationships, I’ve sadly lost
others, but life is going on and there is much to look forward to also. My boys
are growing bigger and smarter, the banks now write polite letters to me (wasn’t
expecting that, and to be honest, I don’t take it too seriously either), I get
more time off than I used to in my own business, I’ve visited a lot of
countries I never expected to and have come to understand the Middle East so
much more than I did before, and on the other side, yes, It’s been a struggle
at times, I really do miss home and look forward to the day when I can return
and re-establish a life in Ireland. Now there’s something to look forward to.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>"It doesn't matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes, What matters most is getting off. You cannot make progress without making decisions" - <b>Jim Rohn</b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></i></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-62850220207097956782014-06-18T10:21:00.000+03:002014-06-18T11:01:54.565+03:00A few things I miss from Home….<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyHmUABYS2rxoEZz1_fHjNl6Yn-DVd_vzOe1b7XEW8rh_tvU2l5veGapN2z_fNkW-S5gFrPneDHn56FNnyByxX6zjsv2XlZckvfw09unaO-jNbpqCnH6X1OqC8l1PQz4m2LjnXsHb0ZI/s1600/boys+in+teh+desert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyHmUABYS2rxoEZz1_fHjNl6Yn-DVd_vzOe1b7XEW8rh_tvU2l5veGapN2z_fNkW-S5gFrPneDHn56FNnyByxX6zjsv2XlZckvfw09unaO-jNbpqCnH6X1OqC8l1PQz4m2LjnXsHb0ZI/s1600/boys+in+teh+desert.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a><b><i>I am just about to commence my fourth year away from Ireland
and am already into my third here in Saudi Arabia, where does the time go ? Its
been a time of great change for me both personally and professionally and I’m
often asked what I miss most</i>...</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>My Sons<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The recent trip to UAE with <b>Daithi</b> & <b>Oisin</b> was
amazing and we all enjoyed it hugely and it won’t be long before the next trip
back to Ireland for a trip to West Cork, but of course, it doesn’t replace the
school homework, eating together, going to the movies and regular “tickling
fights”, though we do our best to catch up on those when I’m home !<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3LshdspQLxjHwcgfTEXgfKXN8zSMCNJVhLw87QhTcKLhi5RZ_mooqf2zx9nV8GBA9B1PxJkYpbvrXUe-PvBMkUKqd8jQ0NOw4NJ6wQPuwq1Ezn3Oh9vAara6rE3axcuZpbbrEGrolqc/s1600/guinness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3LshdspQLxjHwcgfTEXgfKXN8zSMCNJVhLw87QhTcKLhi5RZ_mooqf2zx9nV8GBA9B1PxJkYpbvrXUe-PvBMkUKqd8jQ0NOw4NJ6wQPuwq1Ezn3Oh9vAara6rE3axcuZpbbrEGrolqc/s1600/guinness.jpg" /></a><b>Talk Radio<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m always struck at how little radio exists here in Riyadh,
everything from music to chat show, yes, there are some but very limited and
certainly don’t replace some of the shows I used to listen to back home, <a href="http://www.todayfm.com/The-Last-Word-with-Matt-Cooper" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue;">"The Last Word"</span></b></a> with Matt Cooper was a
favourite of mine in the evenings , with great discussions on current affairs,
sports and the odd wacky interview with a “Healy-Rae” about pot holes or drink
driving or Kilgarvan hosting the World Cup as an alternative to Qatar…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Pint<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Saudi Arabia is a “dry” country so I really miss the Friday
evening<b> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/Guinness" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Pint of Guinness</span></a></b>, or a few
watching Munster in the Rugby or Clare in the hurling….</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFHpeGS5KiF1Eg-8XUOlCFBeWw7kkPPc23LpqYVUXzoWGhSqPgJpoA_4MDGbR_I0itHGrDcdx6Gk610Zz9p12IxdqHe4Seq7uRuQAsTW-V8Zp_RXrkWSJuXcj5lqg3QxIdl9yVQ3gdDw/s1600/barrys+tea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFHpeGS5KiF1Eg-8XUOlCFBeWw7kkPPc23LpqYVUXzoWGhSqPgJpoA_4MDGbR_I0itHGrDcdx6Gk610Zz9p12IxdqHe4Seq7uRuQAsTW-V8Zp_RXrkWSJuXcj5lqg3QxIdl9yVQ3gdDw/s1600/barrys+tea.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a><b>Tay<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I was a child, there was no coffee and even when there
was, it was in a jar and tasting “horrific”, however there was always “Tay”,
and copious amounts of it for every possible punctuation in the day, for every
chat, or break. You can get Tea here of course its just not the same as <b><a href="http://www.vikingdirect.ie/a/pb/Barry-s-Tea-600-bx/pr=QD5&id=0465/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Barry's Tea</span></a> </b>or the like which we were all reared on back home.
The suitcase on the return journey to Riyadh is always packed up with at least 80/100 teabags
to see me through to the next juncture. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Friends<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Though I have made many new friends here in the Kingdom, and
we do socialise as much as we can, It just doesn’t replace meeting friends you
have had for many years. I left Ireland later in life like others as a result
of the economic problems, it wasn’t ever my plan, so I've left behind
many good friends and I struggle to catch up in person on trips home and relying on Skype
and Facebook is just not the same as meeting in person and finding out how
things are with them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I'm sure this list could go on and on, its just a few of the things that I miss, some small and some far more significant......</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-46678721983854047432014-05-02T12:03:00.000+03:002014-05-02T12:04:26.272+03:00Boys in Arabia....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s been almost three years now since I left home to come
and work in the Middle East region, and I’ve mentioned many times here how I
miss my sons, who are now 11 & 9. We had a great trip last summer to London
and it was there that we hatched a plan to do a trip to Dubai in 2014.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyDLd4cLhdKjCQN3K278A20BB_QAoHI6VDze0Kj2tds7ozKebfK-0s4wjss1izAZK5CnmPDIOn_nxs2U3ZcsYPJU1qnpRevjL81WIZWdDonoJCKMskeg7rm0UPnmnvaLtsW1c648zqtDE/s1600/IMG_20140412_013852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyDLd4cLhdKjCQN3K278A20BB_QAoHI6VDze0Kj2tds7ozKebfK-0s4wjss1izAZK5CnmPDIOn_nxs2U3ZcsYPJU1qnpRevjL81WIZWdDonoJCKMskeg7rm0UPnmnvaLtsW1c648zqtDE/s1600/IMG_20140412_013852.jpg" height="200" width="112" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So on April 11<sup>th</sup> last, I took a flight from
Riyadh to Dubai and arrived there just before my two sons boarded an Emirates
flight from Dublin for the first time on their own, to meet me in Dubai.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a strange feeling knowing your children are in the air
on their own for over seven hours, an odd feeling where they’re not in either
parents care, rather un-nerving…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Late that evening, in fact after midnight, I waited
anxiously at Terminal 3 at Dubai Airport and along they both came to arrivals,
cool as you like, as only boys of that age can be, “Hi Dad”, an incredible
feeling, here they were, in “my world” after 3 years, a great feeling of pride,
my two sons, older, bigger, confident, discovering the world, a very emotional
moment that will stay long in the memory.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUODyYhaqwdhkxE95ZK3tJiMF8o2N3z4IFj63bPLJi_rM5_YX31XGt6WfdPZhjIFpTv6kk3RhKOKDTqs9lACQdbXeVIfrqWbbXvJ0TLm8_aXKjP2QVUTnZa5wMb19_Up_LugnizlvCkC0/s1600/IMG_20140416_112935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZA6Y9wvip4t-Mv2BS-Ew5VHvn8H84VC34nIwTxnAL8peh79xiRVng-vLvkCqi4LpS3WVSVPIUhfyXRVc7l-rGYHSGoqv5o8fLGgZj_rl0u6MeFQ12e5GUIIbnRQqgIAeFwleE0IQEmm0/s1600/IMG_20140416_124541.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZA6Y9wvip4t-Mv2BS-Ew5VHvn8H84VC34nIwTxnAL8peh79xiRVng-vLvkCqi4LpS3WVSVPIUhfyXRVc7l-rGYHSGoqv5o8fLGgZj_rl0u6MeFQ12e5GUIIbnRQqgIAeFwleE0IQEmm0/s1600/IMG_20140416_124541.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUODyYhaqwdhkxE95ZK3tJiMF8o2N3z4IFj63bPLJi_rM5_YX31XGt6WfdPZhjIFpTv6kk3RhKOKDTqs9lACQdbXeVIfrqWbbXvJ0TLm8_aXKjP2QVUTnZa5wMb19_Up_LugnizlvCkC0/s1600/IMG_20140416_112935.jpg" height="320" width="180" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQY7_oXGaXY3OVRAImpDADURH7j22SfB-qRVGsVvgc3dbaplrxg0FXTkujDAeuuGFzwSTlBcm_VryJD87EouHFbuc_sZR7d6db-VZUqEDt1iflfaMsjYUoJKJyEOM67mZ6OqDT_h-9H4/s1600/IMG_20140414_124816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQY7_oXGaXY3OVRAImpDADURH7j22SfB-qRVGsVvgc3dbaplrxg0FXTkujDAeuuGFzwSTlBcm_VryJD87EouHFbuc_sZR7d6db-VZUqEDt1iflfaMsjYUoJKJyEOM67mZ6OqDT_h-9H4/s1600/IMG_20140414_124816.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4GDxkSLrYOs_ThKrsqLg0nrXLdECNvKEul7aS-thWN9I7R_3pSpoFTg1NY53ys2jSWlXvoTLMyiMixCiopm6ffWKzQxBrDD8LSsDPdA-Fv95GQO3AgHJMHOYVuxbXc0YIKfdBPxHcV0/s1600/IMG_20140412_180050-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4GDxkSLrYOs_ThKrsqLg0nrXLdECNvKEul7aS-thWN9I7R_3pSpoFTg1NY53ys2jSWlXvoTLMyiMixCiopm6ffWKzQxBrDD8LSsDPdA-Fv95GQO3AgHJMHOYVuxbXc0YIKfdBPxHcV0/s1600/IMG_20140412_180050-1.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What followed was an amazing week, a road trip around the
United Arab Emirates in which they discovered and ran free in the sand dunes of
Al Ain, rode the fastest roller-coaster in the world in Abu Dhabi, walked
through the beautiful Sheikh Zayed Mosque, went to the 124<sup>th</sup> floor
of the world’s tallest building in Dubai, visited the Souks and bought a
traditional Kandoura, Gutra and Agal (Traditional Emerati Clothing), and took a
boat trip across the Dubai Creek.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAFec7UsZE6Rl_0kxv0S30t3FoD2mpY7Ie7cbl8TmCZbyQ8IzW_NindnIy0cehMtz5vjP4AYLxgyLGH-tqucGatJupcnhxGJA0A_kZ_Q9P08k075UoYbt6RMuFBl31HKkbnuqc7WikZM/s1600/IMG_20140416_130716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAFec7UsZE6Rl_0kxv0S30t3FoD2mpY7Ie7cbl8TmCZbyQ8IzW_NindnIy0cehMtz5vjP4AYLxgyLGH-tqucGatJupcnhxGJA0A_kZ_Q9P08k075UoYbt6RMuFBl31HKkbnuqc7WikZM/s1600/IMG_20140416_130716.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAFec7UsZE6Rl_0kxv0S30t3FoD2mpY7Ie7cbl8TmCZbyQ8IzW_NindnIy0cehMtz5vjP4AYLxgyLGH-tqucGatJupcnhxGJA0A_kZ_Q9P08k075UoYbt6RMuFBl31HKkbnuqc7WikZM/s1600/IMG_20140416_130716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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It meant so much to me to share this time with my lads, as
it wasn’t that long ago when I doubted whether I could ever take them on
holiday at all, given the difficult times back home. Daithi & Oisin went back
to Dubai Airport after their week, at least 2 inches taller in their sense of
confidence and sense of discovery and adventure, yes, a poignant moment, but also a
great moment. Simply an
Amazing week…..</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBEOtN1ZVxXiMnfAyYXwOZNp6VN3Ox-bsvEqIeIKhq8FXP7QJrlsL1tniRc5pulm7gCIZrLrJ20hhoa482VSoNEJfIdnkc05rkCPeQkSiWX3M4YbSuCYpMbrG052UmEmhSSIo8sZ1Tv8/s1600/IMG_20140415_224628.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBEOtN1ZVxXiMnfAyYXwOZNp6VN3Ox-bsvEqIeIKhq8FXP7QJrlsL1tniRc5pulm7gCIZrLrJ20hhoa482VSoNEJfIdnkc05rkCPeQkSiWX3M4YbSuCYpMbrG052UmEmhSSIo8sZ1Tv8/s1600/IMG_20140415_224628.jpg" height="360" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-28861750529180036492014-03-01T15:42:00.002+03:002014-03-01T15:42:42.218+03:00Empire State of Mind........<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was back home last month to wet and windy Ireland and enjoyed a break with my sons in lovely Galway, the boys thought me how to a head-stand in the swimming pool , always a first !!<br />
<br />
They also showed me this video clip, Oisin got himself a laptop from Santa and is busy e-mailing, skyping and writing his stories.<br />
<br />
They showed me this clip which they made at home a few weeks back, I know I'm biased but I think its awesome !!.....enjoy........<br />
<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Swo7AWAG6q8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-46002765096279858832013-12-23T10:19:00.001+03:002013-12-23T10:19:53.523+03:00A Middle East Christmas....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwad-9Z_cs4VfdkP6nttWwSt9q_n2UsffhORPR2NdGk9ZF2g0lEb2ayUeWmNbtwOEueSWMTQpFljhcebtcgnJ1A2LSh2wQYAf57tJawewudnISMwJy80JagrL7C-x569udM4w9VQbApnM/s1600/snow+in+Tabuk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwad-9Z_cs4VfdkP6nttWwSt9q_n2UsffhORPR2NdGk9ZF2g0lEb2ayUeWmNbtwOEueSWMTQpFljhcebtcgnJ1A2LSh2wQYAf57tJawewudnISMwJy80JagrL7C-x569udM4w9VQbApnM/s640/snow+in+Tabuk.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saudi Gazette - Snow in Tabuk, KSA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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This will be my second time spending Christmas away from
home, I spent one in Germany some years back and it snowed and was good fun, it
was a change from the normal Christmas chaos that goes on back home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is my third Christmas as an Emigrant now, though my
first not being home in Ireland to see the boys open Santa’s gifts on Christmas
morning, however, I will be home just after Christmas and before New Year’s
Eve.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Christmas here in Saudi, well, just isn’t really Christmas !, the word isn’t used
at all in this devoutly Islamic country, I’ve heard many references in recent
week s to “end of year holidays” or “December vacation”. Unlike UAE, for
example, even the commercial aspects of the season aren’t really apparent here,
so you can actually just get on with life and forget about it until you’re on
that flight home, which is pretty much my strategy this year !<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Muslim Holidays of Eid-Al-Fitr & Eid-Al-Adha are the
big family holidays here and those of you who are familiar with the Hijri
Calender will also know that the dates of these holidays move backwards every
year as the calendar is lunar and not solar as the gregorian one is. This is
the time of year, when you will see the street decorated and plenty of business
being done at the shopping malls and families preparing for large gatherings at
home, sound familiar ?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBjD3GsrLad7AGlgd7fD7Nf3HkpMiOTnAjiVqgyz_jYNf7LvDFsVonZ5EuLDId0KtyqeKAyd9dyYOzc3bymMpK7WNYB14sSqr-OJWj1JA2o_IHPiMg_Q9rkFEZsDrjHH_s-FuWLkeFIo/s1600/2013-12-22+05.56.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBjD3GsrLad7AGlgd7fD7Nf3HkpMiOTnAjiVqgyz_jYNf7LvDFsVonZ5EuLDId0KtyqeKAyd9dyYOzc3bymMpK7WNYB14sSqr-OJWj1JA2o_IHPiMg_Q9rkFEZsDrjHH_s-FuWLkeFIo/s400/2013-12-22+05.56.51.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi, UAE</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Region is however not without some festive cheer, in the
last few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of our Christmas Party in Dubai, eating
outdoors by the Marina in very un-Christmassy weather, also a wonderful
Breakfast at the Irish Embassy here in Riyadh, a smaller festive gathering of
some Irish ex-pats and a really nice trip to Abu Dhabi last weekend to catch up
with some old friends and also visit the famous Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am of course however, really looking forward to seeing my
boys in Ireland in a few days, even if it’s after Christmas Day, to catch up on
what Santa brought, eat together, talk together and catch up, also a chance to
catch up with others close friends on the short visit home. It’s amazing how Ireland
has changed so much in the past few years and how so many are taking similar
trips home this time of year, and sadly others who either can’t go home for
Christmas or can’t get out of Ireland either to find work and improve their
lot.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As for snow, well as you can see from this photo taken in
the northern region near Tabuk, it does snow in Saudi Arabia !!!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nollaig Shona Dhuit !<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-27133179866004524032013-07-04T09:00:00.000+03:002013-07-04T09:02:53.650+03:00Life for an Afghan is random, ruthless and unforgiving.....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h3>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">An Article I wrote for thejournal.ie – 3<sup>rd</sup>
July 2013</span></b></h3>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/column-life-for-an-afghan-is-random-ruthless-and-unforgiving-970868-Jul2013/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Life for an Afghan is random, ruthless and unforgiving....</span></a></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-outline-level: 2; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">After living in Afghanistan, I got to
see first-hand what the people of that country go through, writes Noel Scanlon,
who says he wishes he could be more optimistic about the country’s future.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2UuTtcaoeD4LF-73nXQSkzPwXdhNzZLvt6z29oT8tVI2SANFHDkUwXfya-FsKIFZo2sL4vHY_Zp3Sde-61FR-obfi3JsGlkW-nhU3JPBWRBQsp5TFcXQPwRo4P259In3s1l5RDJjqce4/s230/afghan+boys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2UuTtcaoeD4LF-73nXQSkzPwXdhNzZLvt6z29oT8tVI2SANFHDkUwXfya-FsKIFZo2sL4vHY_Zp3Sde-61FR-obfi3JsGlkW-nhU3JPBWRBQsp5TFcXQPwRo4P259In3s1l5RDJjqce4/s320/afghan+boys.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">IMAGINE FOR A moment what it feels
like to be within a few hundred metres of bomb blast. I had this experience
back in 28 July 2011, just one month after arriving at the Forward
Operating Base at Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan, Afghanistan.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 11.25pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">A group of insurgents attacked the
government’s compound not far from the Main Gate to the Base at midday with
lots of locals about. More than 20 people lost their lives that day, many of
them innocent women and children, and a local BBC correspondent.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 11.25pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">This was a moment that will forever
stay with me from my time in Afghanistan, a normal hot July day, temperatures
running over 50, still struggling to adjust to the new strange and alien
environment I was now working in.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 11.25pt; mso-outline-level: 3; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">Bomb blasts<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">Suddenly a blast, which you instantly
knew was not the “normal” controlled explosions that regularly happened on
base, went off. This did not have a warning and had that shock factor about it,
that puts fear in you. Here I was in the middle of this never-ending and nasty
conflict – here we had Afghan killing Afghan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 11.25pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">I reflect on my time in the country
from where I’m now based here in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, particularly when I
heard about the formal handing-over of security control to the Afghan
government and the recognition of the Taliban’s new office in Qatar, along with
the announcement of imminent talks with both the US and the Afghan government.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 11.25pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">The real impact of these past 12
years is on the country’s people, on their lifestyle, their expectations, their
incomes and their families. These are a grizzled and tough people who have
known nothing else only war, conflict and poverty for over 30 years. What will
these latest developments mean for them?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">Ismael – a hard worker with
enthusiasm<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">Ismael is from Tarin Kowt and worked
with us on the Base every day, he would arrive each morning around 8am after
taking an hour to get through the regular and rigorous security checks and
would immediately change out of his traditional dish-dash into jeans and a
branded t-shirt that we had given him and then set about his daily chores with
great enthusiasm.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">His job was to clean the public
areas, toilets, recreation room, showers and the office, and then would assist
in the kitchen with preparing vegetables and assisting our Indian cook for
lunch. His hard work and enthusiasm always impressed me and he would only stop
to eat dinner and pray. His English was not so good but he always came with a
broad smile every morning and would ask Abdul to communicate with me about how
much he like working for us and the difference it was making for his family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">In the evenings he would collect the
leftover cardboard and packaging waste that we had and would set off back home
to his family with it which would be used for bedding and fuel. I also
recall returning once from leave and meeting him and being greeted with a warm
smile, handshake and a hug, and he was bursting with excitement to tell me that
he was getting married and was again thanking me that it was his work with us
that allowed this to happen, as marriage here involves payment of a “dowry” to
the family of the bride.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">He arrived a little late one morning
and was without his normal warm smile, I enquired through others later in the
day who explained to me that an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) had been left
in a trash can in the town and that Ismael’s uncle has been working close by
when it exploded and killed him. This unfortunately is life for an Afghan,
random, ruthless and unforgiving.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">Abdul – fluent in six languages and a
good businessman<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">Abdul is from Kabul, a father of ten,
and also worked with me in Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan. He was one of my primary
suppliers and someone I had to build a working relationship with early on as
getting building materials, fuel, transport to and from Kandahar and indeed
food were absolutely crucial for us on camp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">Abdul is a qualified engineer having
studied in Russia and spoke fluent Russian, Pashtu, English, Dari , Farsi and
Urdu. He loved to visit regularly and always wanted to talk about his love of
music and dancing (and indeed would often demonstrate his dancing abilities
around the office). He worked hard under very stressful conditions and was
always positive, he was a good businessman and understood our need to have
materials on time and he loved nothing more than a good old haggle over some
lunch in our camp kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">He spoke proudly of his children, and
even more proudly that he had five of his daughters going to university, this
meant everything to him and was the reason why he came from Kabul in the north
to work here in the hostile south, people like Abdul are the exception rather
than the rule and he yearned for a time when Afghanistan’s youth could have
sustainable education and where they could re-build the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">Sadly, he was also pessimistic and
had a view that regardless of what NATO and Karzai got up to, the real power in
the country was with the local warlords who were now being legitimised and
given uniforms and titles such as Chief of Police or Governor, and that
ultimately these were power hungry local chiefs who lacked the vision and
leadership to really make a difference in the country. A very impressive man
that I still think about sometimes.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">Over 30 years of conflict<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">Afghanistan is now over 30 years in a
state of conflict of some kind or other – be it the Soviets, their own internal
factions, the Taliban, or indeed the US/NATO/ISAF in more recent years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 11.25pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">So what will these new developments
do for the Abduls and Ismaels of Afghanistan? In my opinion, very little and if
anything, it’s even possible that their lives will become even more
challenging. The Multi-National Base at Tarin Kowt is being demobilised as I
write this and will be handed over to Afghan control along with most other
Forward Operating Bases in the country. Gone with them will be the business
opportunities for Abdul and Ismael’s employment and, some would say, also the
security that was provided by NATO.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;">This is a harsh land where making a
living is difficult at the very best of times and we now have a scenario where
the Afghan government have to take control of security – a task that many say
is either many years off or even beyond their capabilities entirely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 11.25pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IE;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">I know that this outlook is somewhat
pessimistic, and I genuinely feel that the people of the country deserve much
more than this and have been let down by so many people in the past, however
it’s a honest personal view from my experience of being there, and I can only
wish the very best for my colleagues Abdul and Ismael.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-45117078035783088502013-07-02T16:19:00.000+03:002013-07-02T18:04:52.689+03:00Across the King Fahad Causeway...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Last week, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Saud of Saudi Arabia decreed that the weekend in the Kingdom would align itself with its Gulf neighbours (Friday / Saturday) from the normal Thursday / Friday weekend in Saudi Arabia, which means we had the advantage of a three day weekend last week so we took the opportunity to take a road trip to Bahrain…..<o:p></o:p><br />
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Bahrain is a small country made up of islands that sit just off the east coast of Saudi Arabia close to the cities of Dammam and Al Khobar in the Eastern Province. Its just a little larger than the Isle of Mann and has a population of 1.2 million, some 500,00 of whom are non- Bahraini’s, so it feels a lot like its Gulf neighbours, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqKNQhZgz3Q8QvLpfSzVfjsZ1_rUOfNLnZ0TQGPyByDmdO15rOoczKOuhHGShAdWVomDYHQZq3CTjbuz1e3LTDgdNjCD89b_PvVrOf_2zReAZJNSDYlM4FWQJMIWfHvCJFF8MXMJTO9Xo/s1600/IMG_2659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqKNQhZgz3Q8QvLpfSzVfjsZ1_rUOfNLnZ0TQGPyByDmdO15rOoczKOuhHGShAdWVomDYHQZq3CTjbuz1e3LTDgdNjCD89b_PvVrOf_2zReAZJNSDYlM4FWQJMIWfHvCJFF8MXMJTO9Xo/s320/IMG_2659.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King Fahad Causeway</td></tr>
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It is connected by bridge / causeway to Saudi Arabia via the King Fahad Causeway which was built back in 1986, so one can drive from the Riyadh to Manama, the capital of Bahrain in five or six hours.<o:p></o:p><br />
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We set off (four of us) in a hire car from Riyadh at 4:30am on Thursday morning last, heading eastwards on the large open highway through the desert, and took an early coffee at one of the rather chaotic, stark and rather untidy service stops, the logic for the early start being that we knew that traffic volumes hitting the causeway at the weekends can be high and given we had a longer weekend, was likely to be much busier.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manama Skyline</td></tr>
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We hit the Causeway in four hours and parked up the car at the border which is in fact on a man-made island halfway across (the causeway is some 24 km), where we met our pre-arranged Bahraini taxi and were over the formalities in about 30 mins and by 11am were in our hotel in Manama relaxing, we later heard that the afternoon queues at the Causeway were running at five hour delays…<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bahrain is a typically modern Arabian city with a very multi-national feel to it, there are some very fine hotels, restaurants and bars and we even found a rugby club to watch the Lions second test against Australia on Saturday afternoon before we returned back to the Kingdom….a good weekend.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset in the Eastern Province</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-28067855715588840032013-06-18T10:17:00.002+03:002013-06-18T10:29:35.812+03:00Haya Tours....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_tWHl6-iCwv6DzyNeqW_7v30hGYwEKkhWsGdVlM3GZc_nWUaQjSTIr8LCU2IBb5ocl8lwLI6VjvITeDyA0KAubgqTc6Tw3M-7DaPUY1TKuTtg9887xUAtWJ0YjCKl0hyphenhyphentpVi7Bt45KY/s1600/Maden+Saleh.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_tWHl6-iCwv6DzyNeqW_7v30hGYwEKkhWsGdVlM3GZc_nWUaQjSTIr8LCU2IBb5ocl8lwLI6VjvITeDyA0KAubgqTc6Tw3M-7DaPUY1TKuTtg9887xUAtWJ0YjCKl0hyphenhyphentpVi7Bt45KY/s320/Maden+Saleh.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5982979658523891258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5982979658523891258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I attended a really
excellent presentation last evening at the Irish Embassy by <b>Ms. Salwa
Al Qunaibit </b>, who is the owner and driving force behind <b>Haya Tours</b>,
a business she founded a few years back .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Tourism in Saudi
Arabia is in its infancy and as Salwa explained in her presentation, needs a
lot of development and support.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">She spoke how on her
visits to Ireland where her children came to summer school to learn English,
she came across various bus tours and day trip operators such as <b>Paddywagon</b> Tours were major influencers
on how she envisioned how Haya Tours would be run.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Haya operate city
trips, day trips and weekend trip right across the Kingdom, from trips around
Riyadh to visit Masmak Castle, Shoura Council and Al-Diriyah to more
adventurous trips to Al Ahsa and the UNESCO site at Mada’in Saleh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Salwa spoke about the
use of local Saudi tour guides to provide the most authentic travel guide
experience with expert knowledge of the history and culture of the various
provinces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">She also explained
that the Arabic word “Haya” essentially means, “Lets Go”, her presentation was
very impressive and I was taken by her passion and vision for the business ,
her aims of building effective Teamwork between the various Governement
Officials and other stakeholders for the future and her desire to see the
industry develop in the Kingdom.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5982979658523891258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5982979658523891258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I wish her well and
would ask you to view the site and the excursions offered here….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.hayatour.com/html/index.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.hayatour.com/html/index.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The images here are
all Haya Tours Images from various trips © Haya Tours<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-31297163924653044632013-06-17T17:14:00.001+03:002013-06-17T17:14:23.808+03:00Saudi, Diabetes & Junk Food....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_ONX45_Jj5EpAPtSfmtlI24PUI6exL8ChBdA2iyhnA97fv6WsPi1lfJX8w79J_oEZgKDsccyijQQEuhXnJM-mJnEYO5S7sv022OCvQzcXwTo_fQebY-rLBdVIJa61B9n5nn1gvGIjJo/s1600/IMG_2620%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_ONX45_Jj5EpAPtSfmtlI24PUI6exL8ChBdA2iyhnA97fv6WsPi1lfJX8w79J_oEZgKDsccyijQQEuhXnJM-mJnEYO5S7sv022OCvQzcXwTo_fQebY-rLBdVIJa61B9n5nn1gvGIjJo/s320/IMG_2620%5B1%5D.JPG" width="320" /></a>I’ve been struck in my time in the Kingdom at the
problem of obesity here, just on visual evidence, there is a larger than normal
proportion of adults that are clearly overweight, I have discovered that the
result of all this is that Saudi Arabia has the world’s highest prevalence of
Diabetes, with figures between 25% - 30% of adults having the condition. Studies are calling it an epidemic...<o:p></o:p></div>
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Diet and lack of exercise are given as major factors in
Diabetes and this is clearly evident living here. The over-bearing conditions
and urbanization of the country in the last 30 years have made the cities very “car
orientated” with very few public parks or pedestrian areas to walk and exercise
has made people much more sedentary.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have only seen about three areas in the city where you
could actually go for a walk, and that’s in a city with over five million
inhabitants, cycling here would be like playing Russian roulette as there are
no lanes or parks to cycle and even less driving skills and etiquette on the road.
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Saudi culture is also not necessarily supportive of women exercising
and sport among females is seen as taboo, remember all the media noise about
the first Saudi female athletes at the last Olympics, this means that it’s not
at all straight forward for females to exercise in any kind of open manner
though I understand that this is changing…<o:p></o:p></div>
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The other major factor here is diet and as I shop regularly
here in Riyadh, I’m completely taken aback at the sheer volume of chocolate,
cakes, and sugar laden food on the shopping shelves, its actually startling,
the picture above was taken in a typical Riyadh Supermarket….shelves and
shelves of the stuff……<o:p></o:p></div>
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Saudi Arabia, having been very influenced by American culture
is also overrun with Fast Food outlets, they are literally everywhere in every
city, McDonalds, Dunkin-Donuts are on every street and every mall and you have
to look a bit harder to find the healthier options…… <o:p></o:p></div>
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I'm not saying that I know better as I've seen similar issues back home in Ireland but here given the culture and climate is certainly at a different scale and is something that definitely needs to be tackled.......</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-38623883788517136862013-06-16T09:02:00.004+03:002013-06-16T19:25:15.863+03:00The Irish in Riyadh….<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It occurred to me recently how effective Irish people are at
sticking together, socializing regularly and generally being there for each
other wherever they are in the world, Riyadh is no different ….<o:p></o:p></div>
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After being here for a year now, I have found that I have
built a decent network of people, not all Irish of course, however in this conservative
society, even the Irish have developed great ways to meet, eat, play sport and
have fun together.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu9ia7mjUIN52Dm5ST_ZntDb0E8_vsjB1vLmox8TEc4zGhiD8fGlNUnT7FGCga_d_HUR16MYVpmmPw6Hk3BSwzChLCiNzVyTIZpdDhjjkECtqkniNW0Mp1zFgZZZvctUNnTHfLLOOAJjs/s1600/ireland+saudi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu9ia7mjUIN52Dm5ST_ZntDb0E8_vsjB1vLmox8TEc4zGhiD8fGlNUnT7FGCga_d_HUR16MYVpmmPw6Hk3BSwzChLCiNzVyTIZpdDhjjkECtqkniNW0Mp1zFgZZZvctUNnTHfLLOOAJjs/s1600/ireland+saudi.jpg" /></a>The Embassy of Ireland in the Diplomatic Quarter, currently
resided by HE Dr. Niall Holohan and his wife Felicity are very open and
generous hosts and I’ve had the pleasure of visiting both the embassy and
indeed their home on a few occasions and they are extremely welcoming and
helpful to all comers but of course always have a kind word for recently
arrived Irish, they regularly host various events including a fantastic event
on St. Patrick’s Day last when some 400+ Irish from right across the Kingdom
attended.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Riyadh also has a GAA Club, Naomh Alee GAA Club has been
running successfully here for many years and has both Men’s and Ladies Team’s who
compete with neighbouring clubs here in the Gulf, and the club not only
attracts Irish ex-pats but also has Australians, New Zealander’s, South African’s
and Germans playing gaelic football and regularly host kids events too. Patrick
Moynagh from Cavan is the current chairman and we had the pleasure of attending
the end of season get-together last week, which was another great opportunity
for the Irish (and many others) to get together for a bit of “craic” as we say
back home.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipJmbZ11xAl6JxGZV2xYe38jH6S-stkitaPSJQgKstvO7f6o8aXNCCChfQkkGSxF3epj9PlNtPaQ_aqYd-YfaJqPGA9X_Sf3gAdEwX-y09t2F_FBnYqOMePAv2diXMW1zMvl2s9OTkEzk/s1600/Naomh+Alee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipJmbZ11xAl6JxGZV2xYe38jH6S-stkitaPSJQgKstvO7f6o8aXNCCChfQkkGSxF3epj9PlNtPaQ_aqYd-YfaJqPGA9X_Sf3gAdEwX-y09t2F_FBnYqOMePAv2diXMW1zMvl2s9OTkEzk/s640/Naomh+Alee.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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On a smaller scale, there are many other smaller gatherings
held in homes across Riyadh from time to time, much more informal gatherings
with some good food and company, and telling stories of how long they’ve been
in the Kingdom, how their work is, how the kids are doing, when were you home
last ? etc., or to discuss the latest encounter with the “Religious Police”
perhaps….<o:p></o:p></div>
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It struck me also that Riyadh and Saudi Arabia is a very
transient place. At each gathering, I meet people who have been here many years,
have just arrived recently, are back for the second time or are heading home
for good in a few weeks, a kind of “Airport Terminal Waiting Lounge” of sorts
here in the Middle East.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-85881633239432216062013-05-27T10:42:00.000+03:002013-05-27T11:21:14.867+03:00Remembering Jim....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When I first arrived here in Riyadh exactly a year ago in fact, I
had but few contacts here, one of whom was introduced to me by a colleague back
home. I met Jim Cooper at the Kingdom Tower in my first week in Saudi Arabia
and we chatted about life here, culture, food, everything that one would need
to know about life in Riyadh.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjbWSPSCw7-TeypOqIDSYGmmFse3zLXgYWguvY-k5SZzAMjMb3EyFc-ZFDL5eBdeYJJpedL2T0JkXCx-Y9BlQCyL3_6WGQ66_GMI8FGfSod1MPoZAnE9i_HtfBYRkC6ZfPY0TRcntRRc/s1600/Jim+Cooper.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjbWSPSCw7-TeypOqIDSYGmmFse3zLXgYWguvY-k5SZzAMjMb3EyFc-ZFDL5eBdeYJJpedL2T0JkXCx-Y9BlQCyL3_6WGQ66_GMI8FGfSod1MPoZAnE9i_HtfBYRkC6ZfPY0TRcntRRc/s320/Jim+Cooper.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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He later invited me to visit the Power Station he was building
West of Riyadh in Dhurama, I wrote a post about it here on the Blog <a href="http://longwaytogoforasuntan.blogspot.com/2012/07/powering-ahead-in-arabian-desert.html"></a> <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://longwaytogoforasuntan.blogspot.com/2012/07/powering-ahead-in-arabian-desert.html">“Powering Ahead in the Desert”</a>.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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We also had some social gathering’s with Jim’s colleagues and also
some of mine here in Riyadh and we had some super Bar-B-Q’s and a very
memorable Dune Bashing afternoon in the desert north of Riyadh which I also
blogged about at the time., <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://longwaytogoforasuntan.blogspot.com/2012/10/dune-bashing.html">“Dune Bashing…”</a></span> <o:p></o:p></div>
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Sadly, Jim departed this life some weeks back, and I’d like to remember
him as a great friend to me and others here in Riyadh and thank him for his
time and kindness, he is sadly missed….<o:p></o:p></div>
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Also to express our great sympathy to his wife and family back
home in the UK.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Is feidir suaimhneas siorai da anam <b><span style="background: white;">– May he rest in peace...</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-75298149083614102472013-04-19T12:03:00.000+03:002013-04-19T12:03:37.026+03:00Camp Holland, 5th August 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today was seriously hot, hitting 50 degrees celcius, extremely difficult to work in, This week is also the start of Ramadan, where those of the Muslim faith observe fasting from sunrise to sunset, I have got to know some local Afghan's here who supply us here, one in partricular in a fascinating gentleman, he explains to me "Mr. Noel, the problem in this country is Education, 95% of the population of no education, this is why we have so many problems"- he himself was educated in Moscow back in the day when the Russians were here, he goes on to tell me that he has 10 children, 7 daughters and 3 sons, and he proclaims very proudly that 5 of his daughters are in University In Kabul, he himself is a Civil Engineer, and he runs a very good business here in Camp Holland, if you want something, he can get it !, and as you can imagine, we need a lot of stuff, everything from plumbing fittings, to renting a car, we can hardly survive without him up here, he also takes care of our supply lines from Kandahar which is a tricky matter !<br />
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I met him today in this heat and he was really physically struggling, as the combination of fasting and heat was taking his toll, he had cut back his beard and was covering his head even more to protect himself, I enquired about a delivery we are expecting and he beckoned, "This is no problem, I bring tomorrow for you material, inshalla"- inshalla being "with the help of Allah" - so we wait until tomorrow !<br />
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I have attached an image above which shows you a view of Camp Holland, which was established here by the Dutch until they handed it over last year to the joint command of the US & Australia, Its a very raggle-taggle set-up and appears very temporary by nature though I imagine it will be here for many years, we have a deck here in our compound which allows me to take some great images of the breathtaking landscape around Tarin Kowt, I will post images from time to time-</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com2Tarin Kowt Airport (TII), Afghanistan32.616289 65.865387999999939-2.8066519999999997 6.099762999999939 68.03923 125.63101299999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-69592248742667129982013-03-31T13:00:00.002+03:002013-03-31T13:10:25.238+03:00An Easter Gift from Oisín........<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifracFH_53bHKZyjq-Xsf0P2w2yzB4heRfb00fV_QUT-ayzx8I-R_hIN96SdzkBYbnnD75kjQhj73bw6GJZ2eb8-2mBQYkXY2ulnoHYJ-kXKdK_GMUaBZYIDkgLt8Cq1Ao-P4DYUnLH0Q/s1600/OISIN+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifracFH_53bHKZyjq-Xsf0P2w2yzB4heRfb00fV_QUT-ayzx8I-R_hIN96SdzkBYbnnD75kjQhj73bw6GJZ2eb8-2mBQYkXY2ulnoHYJ-kXKdK_GMUaBZYIDkgLt8Cq1Ao-P4DYUnLH0Q/s200/OISIN+5.jpg" usa="true" width="182" /></a>Its Easter Sunday back home in Ireland, and I'm working away here in Riyadh...</div>
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This morning, I received a lovely gift from one of sons back home, he sent me an Easter Card, which I have shown here, Oisín is 8 eight years old and rather creative, he is always to be found, wtriting stories or creating new ideas, colouring in etc.</div>
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His Room at home is full of his stories of super-heroes and villians and their daring feats, he also like his music, and on this Easter sunday morning, he decided that he would re-write the Lyrics of Katy Perry's "Fireworks" but would make it "Easter Egg"- Enjoy the tune......... I have inserted it here</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Easter Egg<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">By Oisín Scanlon</span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Do you ever feel like an Easter egg <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Drifting through the wind, wanting to eat again?<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Do you ever feel , feel so chocolate thin<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Like a house of ginger one bite from cravv-ing<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Do you ever feel already gone off<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Scream but no seems to eat you<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Do you know that there’s still an Oreo in you<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Cause there’s a nut in you <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">You just gotta ignite the bar and let it shine<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Just own the egg like the 31<sup>st</sup> of march<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Cause baby your an Easter egg <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Come on, show ‘em what your worth<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Make ‘em go “yum yum yum “<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">As you shoot across my tum-um-um<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Cause baby your an Easter egg<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Come on let your flavours burst<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Make ‘em go yum-yum-yum<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Your gonna leave like yum-yum-yum<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">You don’t have to feel like a wasted bar<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Your cool original dor-it-os <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">If you only knew what the egg holds<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">After a bad bar comes a good one<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Maybe you reason why all the eggs are closed<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">So you could open one that leads you to the perfect nut<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Like a table your egg will stay the same<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">And when it’s time you’ll know<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">You just ignite the bar and let it shine <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Just own the night like the 31<sup>st</sup> of march<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">‘Cause baby your an Easter egg<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Come on show ‘em what your worth<br />make ‘em go yum-um-um<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">As you shoot across my tum-um-um<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Baby your an Easter egg <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Come on let your flavours burst <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Make ‘em go yum-um-um<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Your gonna leave ‘em all in yum-um-um<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Yum, yum, yum <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Even nicer than the ore-o<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">It’s always been inside of the egg egg egg<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">And now it’s time to let it digest est est<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">‘Cause baby your a Easter egg <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Come on show ‘em what your worth <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Make ‘em go yum-um-um <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Your gonna leave ‘em all in yum-um-um<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Baby your an Easter egg <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Come on let your flavours burst <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Make ‘em go yum-um-um <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">As you shoot across ,my tum-um-um<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Yum, yum ,yum even nicer than the ore-o<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Yum, yum, yum even nicer than the ore-o <o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></span></span></div>
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So, a nice gift to receive on this Sunday morning, a long way from home........<br />
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Thanks Oisín , Made My Day Buddy !!!!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-21755859720011608582013-03-25T09:40:00.000+03:002013-03-25T09:40:10.145+03:00Dubai has really grown on me.......<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsntTBOiHSnEbRgxUPBTVWzu3gxLQ9BCXQlRrDV2fw3Bow9oj2XOVwQBXN-2zGwrRw-i1RpjoR7Z2cJAZIWWY22mE6uOuRv2kpq4qiO6KyIOvauTK1ZECCYbz48A_K7oWiUaXq00RCnw/s1600/desert-dubai-skyscrapers-burj-al-arab-525x393.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsntTBOiHSnEbRgxUPBTVWzu3gxLQ9BCXQlRrDV2fw3Bow9oj2XOVwQBXN-2zGwrRw-i1RpjoR7Z2cJAZIWWY22mE6uOuRv2kpq4qiO6KyIOvauTK1ZECCYbz48A_K7oWiUaXq00RCnw/s400/desert-dubai-skyscrapers-burj-al-arab-525x393.jpg" ssa="true" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In my time in this region, I have passed through the city of Dubai some 15 times at least, either in transit to somewhere else or for a short break there, so I have had some time to get to know this city which we have all marveled at over the last 10 years….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On my first visit, the newness of the city can be a little off-putting, as we Europeans tend to be very used to preserving our heritage and we are always seeking out, the older, cultural parts of a city, but of course, Dubai is not like that, which is not to say the place does not have heritage or tradition, it’s just that you have to go and look for as its not immediately obvious..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A City that’s rises from the desert, and is spread out for many miles along the Arabian gulf coastline, Dubai is in fact one of seven Emirates that make the UAE which is now in its 41<sup>st</sup> year as a State here, and came together as a grouping of smaller Kingdoms in this region, encouraged by the British, the seven are (for the quiz buffs) Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al-Quwain. The best known and largest Emirates are Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the other ones are much smaller, Fujairah only 1,700 sq.km.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The scale of development of Dubai and the vision of its Leader <span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum or “Big Mo” as he is known affectionately locally, is very impressive, as the city now stands as a very modern, cosmopolitan city and very forward looking.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYar853g2iOhoj5GMyt7WS6hakINEhJ45Px-1msS-qbACqKeHiqm35BBsA9_tB3BdXX324WlCIAvhlWAhBTrbHTmvHmjh3pXltTLWNNxq-sbgJ7cYWv0VLhgwPUDrJHxb4ROZkB3SN1o/s1600/Dubai-metro.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYar853g2iOhoj5GMyt7WS6hakINEhJ45Px-1msS-qbACqKeHiqm35BBsA9_tB3BdXX324WlCIAvhlWAhBTrbHTmvHmjh3pXltTLWNNxq-sbgJ7cYWv0VLhgwPUDrJHxb4ROZkB3SN1o/s320/Dubai-metro.gif" ssa="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dubai Metro</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What strikes me about the city (and UAE generally) is how efficiently and impressively everything works, there are three airport terminals which handles literally millions of passengers a year as Dubai is now a Global air travel hub. On leaving Dubai on Friday evening last, I got from the front door of the Terminal 2, through check-in, passports , security and was at the gate in a little more than 10 mins, granted Terminal 2 is much smaller than the other larger Terminals, this is still impressive.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Taxi’s are clean, drivers uniformed and fares fixed, which is in contract to other cities in the region, where you have to haggle at times and the drivers can sometimes require a good scrub, not to mention, I recently had a spin in a taxi in Riyadh which only had 3<sup>rd</sup> and 4<sup>th</sup> gear !! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I also took a ride on the new Metro System in Dubai, which is immaculately clean, the stations are futuristic is design and style and yes , it was on time and excellent value.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR075UDq6cryHUSKEkS7ihMJNekuhR1geYEGm8N1AMcav2cyHbV6rrvBVmDcmsVuRNYg3vYnU48iPNVd3hXsnKbaST265yX4NePu1oRnxezVVHbWeohIVRMIwkGfh-Z0kOQkIFItRZ-TA/s1600/burj.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR075UDq6cryHUSKEkS7ihMJNekuhR1geYEGm8N1AMcav2cyHbV6rrvBVmDcmsVuRNYg3vYnU48iPNVd3hXsnKbaST265yX4NePu1oRnxezVVHbWeohIVRMIwkGfh-Z0kOQkIFItRZ-TA/s400/burj.JPG" ssa="true" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Burj Khalifa</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dubai of course has the world’s largest Shopping Centre (Dubai Mall), Tallest Building (Burj Khalifa) and even an indoor Ski Slope !<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Burj Khalifa is well worth a visit, get a ticket to the viewing platform on top for sunset and watch the dancing fountains below, it’s very impressive. Some photos here from the viewing platform, note, there are a further 70 floors overhead.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Culturally Dubai and the UAE are unique, only approx. 20% of the population are in fact Emirati’s so you have this phenomenon where 80% of the population are ex-pats, which makes for a fascinating <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mix of everything in city life. Arabic, Asian, Far Eastern, European, Persian , African and American.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I can’t complete this post without mentioned “The Irish Village”, a really super Bar / Restaurant attached to the Tennis Stadium in Dubai, where I enjoyed a late brunch of rasher, sausages fried egg and opint of Guinness last Thursday morning, it’s a very popular social venue in the city and regularly hosts stars such as Tommy Tiernan & Bob Geldof who played here in the last week, staff are super, food is good, its a nice atmosphere and there are even a few ducks quacking about the place….<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dubai has grown on me over my many visits over the last almost 2 years, and is to be congratulated for being such an impressive place to visit, I look forward to my next visit….</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBtn1Z-deFlrWYBCBa3x3vCX-2-_tSHEA6Xaed3AcRiSCX4dt2GlAeBFQ5z2oyyXvQV1hyu74Jr_RjjY8MEgrwsPLBoMTMJXM2VIRHE42RSwIuGigo-_k-jdkc-cF1zTau3OwAirny30/s1600/Dubai_Party_TheIrishVillage_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBtn1Z-deFlrWYBCBa3x3vCX-2-_tSHEA6Xaed3AcRiSCX4dt2GlAeBFQ5z2oyyXvQV1hyu74Jr_RjjY8MEgrwsPLBoMTMJXM2VIRHE42RSwIuGigo-_k-jdkc-cF1zTau3OwAirny30/s640/Dubai_Party_TheIrishVillage_2.jpg" ssa="true" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Irish Village</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-24994526290319703752013-03-04T22:23:00.002+03:002013-03-04T22:23:29.656+03:00The "Normality" of Working Abroad and Coming Home !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUTspmT2YpsecUApEyH2n_4j6XhhrzVeTUGKICf6prElTq1I3LP7qjRULb2C7HwFcfO75xiC58bTy10Mqf4Dg2KO-5f0hQPp5FyyjxKCkWijnKBTbjMSDnQN8SHm6k2fjCSQ0nQ7FJ7J8/s1600/IMG_2034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUTspmT2YpsecUApEyH2n_4j6XhhrzVeTUGKICf6prElTq1I3LP7qjRULb2C7HwFcfO75xiC58bTy10Mqf4Dg2KO-5f0hQPp5FyyjxKCkWijnKBTbjMSDnQN8SHm6k2fjCSQ0nQ7FJ7J8/s320/IMG_2034.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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It’s funny how coming home to Ireland can start to feel so “normal”
after a while, I was home for a break recently and it occurred to me that though
I was so looking forward to getting back, It’s not at all like it felt when I
made my first trip home from abroad in October 2011.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On this occasion, I left Riyadh after work on a Wednesday
night and headed straight to Riyadh airport where I caught a flight to Jeddah
to connect to an overnight flight to Paris and a final connection on Thursday
morning to Dublin, then jumped in a rental car, had some late breakfast and
headed off down to East Clare to be home around 4pm.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The contrasts on these journeys are remarkable. On the
flight to Jeddah (which is the main airport that’s serves the holy site at Mecca),
I encountered many people going on the “Umrah” pilgrimage, which is similar to
the Hajj pilgrimage later in the year but not as busy. Men and indeed their
sons checking into their flight wearing only flip-flops and simple traditional robes/towels
for their journey to Mecca, this is a sign of their equality and humbleness
before God, as I am advised by my Saudi colleagues , to the more cosmopolitan
Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris and on to the very familiar Dublin Airport ,
all in the space of 13 hours.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It also occurred to me on the car journey down from Dublin
how the “weight” of the economy is resting on everyone back home and though Irish
people are resilient and hard working and are as always doing the very best
they can, it still seeps through on radio and in everyday conversations. The
recession is still very much biting in Ireland and despite of the steps taken
in the past two years and our stellar report cards from IMF / EU, it’s hard to
escape that things are still very challenging in Ireland….<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6V7RsHa8Nsu57fG3nVg0h_VkhgXJ5MSnajDWkoql5r2622BeWXLxCXCUSBqt-ymsckwZGwze776MeQJ6F4NBpevqn0NpAI_GLKlWRWROkp2aDtUV856NRLaIVz15_aSPvrCudZ7AmU3A/s1600/IMG_2041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6V7RsHa8Nsu57fG3nVg0h_VkhgXJ5MSnajDWkoql5r2622BeWXLxCXCUSBqt-ymsckwZGwze776MeQJ6F4NBpevqn0NpAI_GLKlWRWROkp2aDtUV856NRLaIVz15_aSPvrCudZ7AmU3A/s320/IMG_2041.JPG" width="320" /></a>I also had a fabulous weekend in Youghal, Co. Cork with my
boys which was fantastic, we rented an apartment by the sea, cooked food,
walked by the sea, played video games and watched DVD’s and also I got a guided
tour of the Titanic Experience in Cobh from my sons who have been there before.
I really treasured the time with them to talk about school, their friends,
their stories, their feelings and everything else going on with them and to
just relax and enjoy each other’s time, including playing Hip Hop music (Black
Eyes Peas !) at full blast in the car on the road out of Cork City…<o:p></o:p></div>
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I also enjoyed the simple things like baking a cake with
Daithí for a school project (those of you that know me know how much fear this
would instill in me !), indeed, it was Daithí teaching me rather than the other
way around, and also doing homework with Oisín and helping him learn his Irish
poem, simple but absolutely brilliant….<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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I also had the pleasure of celebrating my 40<sup>th</sup>
birthday on this trip home at a really nice evening in Durty Nelly’s in Bunratty.
It was super to catch up with so many friends and neighbours who made such an
effort to be there, thank you all so much…<o:p></o:p></div>
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I left Ireland again after that to start back on my way to
Riyadh and I can’t help feeling how much my life has changed in the last few
years and how I have come to know this as being ordinary, though its anything
but ordinary. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeRCt_NpPO5lLzKMzNpsYe9hfNR0k06KI4sj4O5EyxZGRPBPSQR8GHAjyXCloQbtl-fmQ1PB36eDYE-33tpkT0Aw-26Uz65Ab8zmmyWtsLDSa4Wuy3HGbV1K6JDza3FCXIC5W1NQu7AMs/s1600/IMG_2038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeRCt_NpPO5lLzKMzNpsYe9hfNR0k06KI4sj4O5EyxZGRPBPSQR8GHAjyXCloQbtl-fmQ1PB36eDYE-33tpkT0Aw-26Uz65Ab8zmmyWtsLDSa4Wuy3HGbV1K6JDza3FCXIC5W1NQu7AMs/s320/IMG_2038.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Such is life at the moment for so many Irish people of all ages
and many in very similar situations, and rather than get gloomy and down about
it, I am grateful to have the opportunity to work every day and provide for
those at home, and of course to pay a mortgage and look to making progress out
of the mire so many of us found ourselves in after 2008, yes, it’s hard to be
away from my children but I know this is the right thing in the long term and I
feel it every time I make the journey home, It’s great to be home but right
now, but from a practical point of view working over here is definitely the better
option for the moment…..<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-53065624693037761132012-12-14T18:49:00.000+03:002012-12-14T18:49:10.971+03:00Friday Evenings at Al Batha, Riyadh.....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXPVcQ3bYsCLgE4pnb3e5r0oFEcSN0ulp2o6BTi3g2_C11nm9iGrTwiW8T5PLUMgNc7l3pc-gRnA_a_nHcCVfNrKSHcFD6bs8gj-p0mhjcMqCYX0Ygt8CJSqoQqF40IvzJTVSatO1GG-E/s1600/IMG_1924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXPVcQ3bYsCLgE4pnb3e5r0oFEcSN0ulp2o6BTi3g2_C11nm9iGrTwiW8T5PLUMgNc7l3pc-gRnA_a_nHcCVfNrKSHcFD6bs8gj-p0mhjcMqCYX0Ygt8CJSqoQqF40IvzJTVSatO1GG-E/s320/IMG_1924.JPG" width="320" /></a>Friday’s in Riyadh is the day that the working population of Riyadh go
about their weekly shopping, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Al Batha</b>
is the area where all the emigrant population of Riyadh come to buy and sell,
its full of souks and stalls of all sorts and an incredible atmosphere on a Friday
evening, where the place is jammed full of people from all parts, particularly,
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sudan and Philippines among many
others. </div>
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Markets called Kerala Market and Manila Plaza gives you a hint of the mix of cultures and people in this area of the city, It’s a real cosmopolitan
place with a great vibe about it..</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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You can find traders selling clothes from wheelbarrows,
fruit and veg lying on the ground, mobile phones, electronics, you name it……<o:p></o:p><br />
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It’s a great atmosphere and in stark contrast to the modern
and flashy Shopping Malls throughout Riyadh favoured by the Saudi’s, this is a
very much an area in the city primarily for the emigrant community.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You can get someone to fix your shoes, fiddle with your
mobile phone to do all sorts of magic things, get your hair cut, buy socks,
fruit and vegetables, basically, whatever you need, you can get it in Batha.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here are some photos I took this afternoon, which probably don’t
do justice to the wonderful chaos and mayhem……..<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-83706423267036647322012-11-26T08:44:00.000+03:002012-11-26T08:44:26.755+03:00Expat Blog Awards and other Milestones.......<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTd8hwA2JfR61HWdXyw-F0ERvyrpeHsqMHDbDqx191ooRr_LQR7PIl1CfI9CuDwIXd1VNwNTlWoZe9UuNfMUKordGSDQ0NFu9FQ7WnD0VUethxuIB1-aS0XovjwfluRT6rl6GsbeR65M/s1600/blog-award-2012-topblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTd8hwA2JfR61HWdXyw-F0ERvyrpeHsqMHDbDqx191ooRr_LQR7PIl1CfI9CuDwIXd1VNwNTlWoZe9UuNfMUKordGSDQ0NFu9FQ7WnD0VUethxuIB1-aS0XovjwfluRT6rl6GsbeR65M/s1600/blog-award-2012-topblog.jpg" tea="true" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have been here in the Kingdom now for six months and have continued with<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> “Long Way to Go for a Sun Tan”</b> and have been really pleased at the positive reaction it continues to receive, a few milestones along the way also, being Shortlisted for “Blog Awards Ireland” was fantastic for a blog that is only 18 months old, and later today, the Blog will hit <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">10,000</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>views since it first started back in Uruzgan, Afghanistan in July 2011-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Blog has now also been listed in the ExPat Blog Directory and will be assessed along with some other great Blogs in Saudi Arabia for awards over the next few weeks, a big part of the process is based on positive reviews from regular readers, so I would really appreciate if you would post a comment by following this link…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.expatsblog.com/blogs/842/a-long-way-to-go-for-a-sun-tan"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">http://www.expatsblog.com/blogs/842/a-long-way-to-go-for-a-sun-tan</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thanks to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Patricia Irwin & Ger Loughrey</b> in Limerick , <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Keisha LaRaine Ingram</b> in Vilnius, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cathal O’Connell</b> in Kandahar, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Caitriona Murphy</b> in Cork & <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jack Kiely</b> in Gateshead , for the positive Reviews so far, they represent readers from 4 different countries so far….THANK YOU !!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982979658523891258.post-30599985480180531782012-11-18T19:51:00.000+03:002012-11-18T19:51:04.233+03:00Recovery by Inches......<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was watching a movie that was recommended
to me recently by a friend, “Company Men” starring Ben Affleck & Tommy Lee
Jones, which deals with the fallout of a company caught in the credit crisis
and dwindling orders in a heavy manufacturing company in the Boston Area of the
US, It deals with the lives of the various members of the management team in
the aftermath of losing their jobs and dealing with having to cut back on their
lifestyles and restart their careers again….<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNcFKpluiXfRYHrcau8ws65A0YjWEhBuqMxMEfJV7CV7vtY5oeBNxtrDiVwBsAECGNIsvPRHxVcqqLCyYamrDTH3Vppv6rfzTrhZAR7K1Vdhv7MrveckN3XyLG3vle3Srxclt6MRBLVck/s1600/company-men-530.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNcFKpluiXfRYHrcau8ws65A0YjWEhBuqMxMEfJV7CV7vtY5oeBNxtrDiVwBsAECGNIsvPRHxVcqqLCyYamrDTH3Vppv6rfzTrhZAR7K1Vdhv7MrveckN3XyLG3vle3Srxclt6MRBLVck/s320/company-men-530.jpg" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It got me to reflect on the parallels in the
last four years of my own life and many others like me in Ireland and indeed in
many other places caught in this very “global” crisis since 2008.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In my own case, my own business hit a
“Wall” in August 2008, and never recovered, we suffered an 80% collapse in
revenue in a little more than two months, when I think back now, it’s a
frightening thought, we had a number of staff in the business at the time and
just like the Movie (in a much smaller scale), we set about making adjustments
to the business that ultimately led to us letting all of the staff go until I was
back to just myself by late 2010, other adjustments were made such as moving
the office back home in early 2010, cutting back on overheads and diversifying
as much as possible in an effort to find alternative income streams to stem the
tide of sometimes almost overwhelming demands of overdue bills and taxes….<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the personal and family side, the strain
becomes even more severe, I recall in 2009, making the decision to give up our
Mobile Home in Liscannor on the west coast, as the annual rental fees were now
becoming a burdening luxury, it was a place where our sons have fond memories
of swimming and wave-jumping in Lahinch and climbing the rocks at Liscannor and
visiting the Cliffs of Moher , eating fish and chips and the obligatory
ice-cream on the strand, I felt for them as they found it tough to have to give
up their weekends there, similarly in time, we found it tougher to keep the
heating oil tank filled in winter and our mortgage fell behind as things really
started to bite, I can remember clearly the Christmas of 2009, when there were
two sustained weeks of snow, bitter cold and losing my foster mother on
Christmas Day , not being able to travel the roads to open the grave and relying
on some fantastic relatives and friends of hers who stepped-up and made sure
things were “looked after”, and also continuing on with the Christmas routines
and making sure the boys enjoyed Santa coming, I admire them both as they both
understood what was going on and that times were difficult.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On into 2010 and 2011, the trend continued,
I remember Christmas 2010 was equally cold and that we ran out of heating oil
in the first few days of January 2011 and not having the money to refill it, we
did have a great wood burning stove however which we used to great effect until
the end of the month when we had some funds available again, just like the
movie, we went through the cycle of reviewing the mortgage, cutting back on any
extras we had, which ended up being a lot of things including some of the boys’
activities like swimming and music lessons etc. It was a depressing time and I
did find it really tough, as I’m sure so many around the country did at the
time, you question yourself, your ability, your confidence drains on a daily
basis, you don’t sleep well, you don’t relate to your family or friends in the
same way, you dread answering the phone as its more likely to be someone
looking to be paid than it is someone looking for your services….<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then come’s a turning point, the point at
which you decide enough is enough, or you just crumble and give up. Mine was
the day before my son’s communion, which is an important time in a child’s life
back home, more so socially in these times, when our bank decided to block
access to all of our personal accounts on the back of an issue with our
business accounts, thus denying us any cash flow for a small gathering we had
arranged at home after the ceremony, to add insult to injury, they also
hoovered off a further refund we were due from Revenue on overpaid tax. I can’t
remember a time feeling more angry, utterly frustrated and completely betrayed
by a bank that I had been with since I was seven years old, a bank that I had
never refused to answer a call to, have a meeting with, a bank that only a week
before I had made an agreement with to re-finance our remaining business loans
and secure them against some land I own. They had kicked us hard when we were
down and I decided there and then, that was it, it was time to fight back and
fight back hard…….<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MHm08Sfu4DCxN4Y99kBn3EYPkYWIy9ErzDdvKgBFOlB9E8DuLNF7b-gcfypv_b1CjGcVrrz_YXuWxzBsCxbW4uDE6cLH4y3bGYz72LZX901IUFJ_tXzw806Ta5xzWVcCjvP2s8mGGmM/s1600/NN-youth-in-recovery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MHm08Sfu4DCxN4Y99kBn3EYPkYWIy9ErzDdvKgBFOlB9E8DuLNF7b-gcfypv_b1CjGcVrrz_YXuWxzBsCxbW4uDE6cLH4y3bGYz72LZX901IUFJ_tXzw806Ta5xzWVcCjvP2s8mGGmM/s320/NN-youth-in-recovery.jpg" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I took the phone and holding back as much
emotion as I could, which wasn’t easy, I told them exactly what I thought of
their actions and asked them how they felt about reneging on an agreement and
effectively forcing me to use my sons’ Communion money to pay for his big day,
and went further to tell them that all agreements were now off the table and
they could chase me through the courts to get their money, god it felt good to
release that and finally express the frustration and angst I had felt for so
long and take back my power from these monstrous faceless institutions that
have done so much damage to my country and to ordinary honest hard working
people…..<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was the start of the process that within
two months took me abroad to work, rebuilt my confidence and got me to start
enjoying my work again and even led to a point where the bank had to start
again down the road of negotiating with us in a proper manner, having had to
deal with complaint letters and to answer for clear breaches of their own Code
of Conduct.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It hasn’t been an easy time and indeed it
will take many years to recover from the past number of years and as I have recorded
here many times, It can be very hard to be away from home but for me, it’s a
far more palatable option than what we dealt with in the last few years…..<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPmADhyPDf2hEOSOOYxxFY3hcdrz7U2qJvX6HLAYTu50qELmGy7YpOvzubLu9A2sTiY6wVmKacnzl_ruBCwdSH5-c2qPphsskhMLQ-Hzg7qOfy_uWM6cTMhqe6ZXTe3_DF2FsnAXRAeh8/s1600/inch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPmADhyPDf2hEOSOOYxxFY3hcdrz7U2qJvX6HLAYTu50qELmGy7YpOvzubLu9A2sTiY6wVmKacnzl_ruBCwdSH5-c2qPphsskhMLQ-Hzg7qOfy_uWM6cTMhqe6ZXTe3_DF2FsnAXRAeh8/s320/inch.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Going back to the movie “Company Men”, the
main character Bobby went through a similar journey and in the end found a way
to re-start and get moving again, the movie doesn’t leave you with the “happy
ever after” ending , just the glimpse of a chance to succeed and make progress
and that’s all that’s needed, I feel people are more than happy to work hard as
long as they feel they are moving forward even if it is only by inches………<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346009481250698433noreply@blogger.com6