The Beginning of Ramadan

Well we finally made our way back from Aqaba, where we had spent about 6 nights both enjoying the weekend at the beach front hotel. Where went scuba diving again in the Red Sea and ate all the fresh fish we could get our hands on. This is when we got our first tastes of Ramadan, and how it would affect our business and personal lives and for that matter eating habits. As I discuss in the following my first impressions of Ramadan and what it means to the people here I do so with the hopes to shed light on something that is little known to most Texans or for that matter Americans, with a desire not to hurt any of my Muslim friends feelings. Rather I think it is important to educate oneself on something that is known little about.

With that said we have been told from the very beginning by the office that we needed to hurry the project along because the knowledge that business slows down during Ramadan! This is a for sure a fact, if it doesn’t come to a complete stop for that matter. We had been told from the very beginning that they didn’t know the exact day when it would start rather it has to do when they see the moon at a certain time. When asking a friend in Saudi Arabia why it started a day earlier there, compared to it not starting yet in Aqaba, Jordan which was only 20 minutes away. The response was because we saw the moon in Saudi. I am sure that there is more to it then just seeing the moon, but this was the response that was giving to their “western friend”. Anyhow the next day started and we had our first meeting at 10am. Then for lunch we decided that we would go to Quizno’s just down the street from the hotel, well it was closed then right next door was a McDonalds and we thought for sure if there is any place that will be open it would be McDonalds. Well guess what it was closed!

This is because all Muslims are supposed to fast from sun up to sun down which is typically from the hours of 7am to about 6:30pm which includes no drinking or eating of any kind. Thus it would be too much of a temptation and for that matter not make much business sense to be open during these hours. As far as business hours that are kept by most people the offices generally open up from 10am and close around 2pm during Ramadan. They keep to their usual prayer times of five times a day, but generally spend more time praying and spending time in religious reflection and family. And this goes on everyday for a whole month. As you can see this definitely puts restraints on us trying to wrap up the project and my eating habits. But not to worry there are those establishments such as our friends restaurant that are owned by Christians that keep normal business hours for meal times etc. For more info on Ramadan start at looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan and there is much more available on the web for those wanting to be more educated on the topic.

As a Christian it is very interesting seeing the faith that is shown throughout the Muslim community. Which is leading me to look deeper into my own faith and see what it truly means to me and my commitment to Christ.

As for this weekend we spent it here in Amman, enjoying a relaxing Thursday night out with our last night with Colleen in the country. Realizing that many places that are the usual nightly hot spots are either very quite or closed. And enjoying not having to make reservations at our favorite restaurants because most people have already eaten by the time we want to go out to eat. Then yesterday we meet up with a new aqauntance who is from California and has come to Jordan to expand his business into the growing IT market here in Jordan. We meet at the Four Seasons Hotel and really enjoyed the service and all that Four Seasons is known for and has to offer. After words we decided that we wanted to spend the rest of the day sitting by the pool at the Dead Sea. So what better place to do so then the Kemepnski Dead Sea!!! So I called the GM of the hotel who had hosted us for the weekend about a month ago. And of course it was his pleasure to host us at the hotel for the afternoon.

We were greeted by fresh chilled towels and a fresh pineapple juice as we were escorted to the balcony overlooking the sprawling property and Dead Sea. The hotel truly is one of a kind. Then the service manager took us down to the pool, but along the way I got him to stop off at the royal suite which I have talked about it before, that is like 10,000 square feet with its own private pool and beach. He said that it has become the most expensive suite in the world. I am not sure if it is, but it defiantly is in the ranks for top suites of any hotel I have ever seen. The service at the pool was first class, with drink service and the best home made ice cream. Of course no trip would be complete with out floating in the world treasure Dead Sea, but we skipped the mud this time. We started to leave right after sun set. And upon return to the car noticed that they had not only washed and detailed the car, but had also put in air freshener and a box of cleanexs on the dash. I continue to be amazed at the attention to detail and service this hotel has. Which makes me look even more to the birthday party that we have been invited to for the GM of the hotels wife in about a week.

Today I spent the rest of time around the pool and preparing for our meetings this week. On Monday we have the Minister of Industry and Trade which is going to be a big meeting for us. So much so that the office is flying in the regional sales manager based in Egypt to join in the meeting while Colleen is in Oman starting up that new project. All for now hope this finds everyone well. And I will keep you up to date on my Ramadan adventures!!!!!!!

Chad

Weekend in Aqaba

What a weekend, after our meetings on Thursday we made our way down to Aqaba which is about 320 km south of Amman. Aqaba is the up and coming region of Jordan because of its distinctive destination on the Red Sea which is the main sea port to connect all of the countries that surround Jordan specifically the rebuilding of Iraq and the super cash rich markets of part of Saudi Arabia. We arrived at Aqaba at about 8pm which was just perfect driving down the main strip with the windows down and enjoying the warm sea breeze. With the palm trees and amazing hotels that have been built it reminds me of Miami or South Padre with a Middle Easter flair. The hotel is beautiful which was just built 1.5 years ago right on the Red Sea.

It just happened that our local friend who is the country manager for one of the international car companies was in town for the weekend. He has recently bought an apartment here in Aqaba and was down watching over the painting and work that is being done there. Since he has several offices in Aqaba he knew just where to take us. Aqaba is a very interesting mix of both business and industrial along with the vacation destination for all of the people in the Middle East. Also Aqaba is entirely a free zone so there is no taxes at all, which is a nice change for us because the rest of Jordan has a 16% sales tax on everything you buy.

We had dinner at a restaurant right on the tourist strip that was soon to be shut off to cars to where only tourists would be able to walk down it. Basil ordered the traditional Arabic appetizers which is a complete meal in itself, and then we went up to the table where you choose which fish you want. Since they had all been caught that day it really didn’t make us a difference which type we ate. So he just ordered 4 different types. When they were finally all grilled and brought out and presented to us was amazing. Nicely grilled surrounded by potatoes and limes. The server even slices and served us all the 4 different fish types so we could avoid the bones.

Afterwards we made our way to the Moovenpick which had a great court yard to sit outside and enjoy the weather and watch all of the people walking around. Then shortly afterwords we made our way into their night club, which had a great band. Which was a Syrian group made up of a father, son and daughter who were really excellent.

The next morning I woke up looking out to the crystal clear ocean out from my huge terrace from my room. And we ended up heading out on the town to enjoy the great seafood for lunch. After dropping Amanda off I made my way to the Royal Dive Club which had been recommended to me which was about 20 miles outside of Aqaba down the coast. Where I passed about five mega development projects for hotels and housing that were under construction.

The dive club was a great mix of the Caribbean beach and Arabic style. With little black cabañas with lounge areas and hookahs. When I was talking to the Manager and we went to check about me going scuba diving they said that the last trip had already gone out but in about an hour he would love to take me out on a private dive trip. I enjoyed the view of looking out to Egypt on the other side of the sea, and the nice beach that it had been since Dubai that I had been able to enjoy. After getting on all of my gear we actually walked into the water and dived right off of the coast. It wasn’t a very deep dive but saw all kinds of different fish. I think my favorite one I saw was the huge lion fish that were everywhere I don’t think that I had seen any lion fish before.

After the dive, I got into the car and made my way down to the Saudi Arabia and Jordan border which was only a couple of minutes drive from the dive location. I was expecting to see some cool signs etc to take the photo next to but there wasn’t one at least in English.

Once back at the hotel enjoying the great interconenitial service and beach. Basil had arranged for us to take the schooner out for a sunset sail down to Saudi Arabia and Egypt during sunset. It was a lot of fun, then of course we did our tour of the hotel which really was amazing. With a great spa, numerous restaurants, and the Royal Suites on the top of the hotel. It had an amazing terrace that is the size of most houses and the bathroom even had a sauna and steam room.

We had dinner at the usual Arabic restaurant in the hotel with more food then 20 people could of eaten much less 5. And then went to one of the bars in the hotel that had karaoke going on. Which was interesting seeing all of the people do karaoke in Arabic.

This morning I got up and enjoyed the spa and beach before we made our way back on the three hour drive to Amman. We hope to spend the next week down here in Aqaba if we can schedule all of the meetings that we need to. All for now!!

Chad

Great Weekend in Petra

What a great ending to the week and weekend. On Thursday we signed our largest contract yet to date. Which definitely gave a boost to the project. Then I had gotten it arranged where we were invited by the Moovenpick Hotel in Petra. Which is about 3 hours south of Amman. To come and stay the night with them, and then get up and explore Petra the next day. It was an amazing drive south, where there was almost nothing but mountains of sand for several hours between the two cities, the sun set in the dessert was absolutely amazing!!! Petra is considered one of the top 50 destinations for travelers in the world by national geographic see the site http://www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/petra.html

They were expecting us as soon as we arrived and had our rooms ready an invited us to enjoy any of the restaurants on them, while they also made reservations at the spa for us later that night. We ended up having dinner at their buffet and it was a mix of traditional Arabic and international food. Pretty good overall compared to other 5 star hotels. We then made our way up to the top floor where they had a deck where they were having a bar b que and live music. We sat outside and had a few drinks and enjoyed the surroundings and the fireworks that were being shot off around the city for the different wedding celebrations that were going on.

About 11 we went down to the spa, it had the traditional Turkish bath, with the aroma therapy steam room, and then probably the best massage that I had ever had. It was amazing because everyone we talked to was like oh you are the ones from Fox News trying to go out of their way to impress us. The next morning we made our way down to breakfast and we later greeted by the manager who wanted to give us a tour of the hotel. The Royal Suite wasn’t that impressive but had an extremely long list of VIPs that had stayed there who came to Petra.

Then we made our way to the entrance of Petra which is just right down the street from our hotel, which is why the hotel is so popular location location location. Anyways it was $30 US to get into the park. I couldn’t believe it, which starts our treck down into the valley. Every leg of the way they have horses, carriages, camels, donkeys that are only aloud to go so far so you are always having to negotiate with someone new about prices so you don’t have to walk as far instead of just getting one person for the day. The first leg we walked was just under one mile, through this gorge cut through the mountains on both sides shooting straight up in the air extremely high. The first thing that we came to was the Treasury which is probably the most famous thing there in Petra, which had numerous camels sitting right outside to rent. It was amazing they said I believe it was cut out from the rock and was a village from the 2 BC.

We then bartered with the owners of the camels to let us rent the camels to take us the next miles to the next stop. Which was where several more carvings in the rocks were and where they had established several restaurants in middle of the site. We had a great Arabic lunch and then began our next bartering adventure with the donkey owners to take us up the mountain to the top where there was another amazing site called the monastery http://www.bibleplaces.com/petra.htm which was originally built as a tomb for extremely wealthy people back in the day, but was later used as a monetary for Christians.

This was defiantly quit an experience, in total there are over 1,000 steps to the top of the mountain. But instead of walking we decided to hire some donkeys. Which got very interesting because they had cut out the stairs of the side of the mountain which always had a long way down to plummet if someone fails off. I can’t begin to describe how funny it was ridding a donkey up 1,000 stairs or for that matter that a donkey could do such a thing. But the owner of the donkeys walked alongside the whole time say don’t worry they know where they are going and just to lean forward. Of course where the donkey felt most comfortable walking up the stair was at the very edge of the cliff so there were a few occasions when it got extremely steep that I decided to get off the donkey and walk up a few stairs. Every once in a while there would be a bedowen women sailing old coins or jewelry wanting us to stop and take a look and then finally once we got up about 95% of the way up the owner of the donkey said that we had to walk the rest of the way up because the donkeys couldn’t make it up the rest of the steep stairs ahead. By the time I actually got up to the top I was about to have a heart attack and realized that it was time that I start making my way back to the health club at the hotel in the future, because there was no way I would have been able to walk up all of the stairs to the top of the mountain on my own. At the top of the mountain was the monastery which you wouldn’t believe in a million years existed on top of one of the tallest mountains in Jordan. It was absolutely amazing, defiantly what I would consider the Taj Mahal of the Middle East in terms of ancient architecture and an engineering miracle of there time.

Which is what struck me of the beauty of both the monetary and the Taj Mahal was the fact that they were both originally built as tombs for extremely rich people. The Taj Mahal obviously representing the great love for a wife who had given the husband many children, and the other (the monastery) a lasting symbol of power and wealth. Which both made me think of the good that could have been done if in both cases the owners would have spent their money instead on the poor or betterment of the community. Although I know today we all can think of many examples that the same thing could be done……the first that comes to mind is the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai.

The ride down was just as interesting with the owner saying just lean back and you will be ok. Well after I could feel the donkey struggling to keep its grip on the stairs on the way down I figured it was probably better and safer for me to walk the rest of the way down.

It was a great weekend and defiantly a trip to Petra is something that I would recommend to anyone who is in the area in the future. That’s all for this blog all my best to everyone and hope everyone is doing well.

Chad

His Majesty and Kofi Annan not a bad day!

How quickly things change during this job. As of Wednesday we thought that we would be attending three meetings as usual on our last day of the week Thursday. When late that night we got a call from the royal court (His Majesties office) asking us to attend a forum the next day at the new convention center at the Dead Sea (http://www.dscc.jo/about_us.shtm).

The security was unbelievable guards and jeeps with huge machine guns everywhere. The was a little trouble at first at the main gate getting in because it looked as if we had not been but on the list on attendees. Then the head of security told us to go ahead and that we would be greeted at the door by one of his majesties secret service agents. Where he guided us done to the room where the press release would be later that day. And then we headed back up to the main ballroom where his majesty would later speak. The room was huge with several table set up across the room covered with students from the different universities. The forum was titled “we are All Jordan” which is one of His Majesties new initiatives to get Jordan to unite more and bring a greater sense of national unity. We were seated at a table with the director of His Majesties media and a few other royal court employees. Then all of the sudden we heard borage of airplanes landing or so it sounded. And the media guy quickly got up and left the table. When he returned he apologized but said that it was His Majesties helicopter landing and he had to go greet him.

Shortly an entourage of people came in the main doors at the front. Headed up by His Excellency Dr. Bassam Awadalah who is head of His Majesties Royal Court who we had meet with just a few weeks earlier who all say at a table not far from where we were sitting. Then after the announcer said something in Arabic and several guards very ornately dressed came in and opened the tower doors and His Majesty walked in the door, when everyone stood and clapped. Then a random guy in the crowd started to chant something, then the rest of the crowd chanted back. And they translated it for us, as basically saying long live the king.

His Majesties gave a speech about the need for unity and the growing need for them to step up and be leaders in the business community and bring a positive image to Jordan in light of the regional instability. They did the same big production when His Majesties was finished and walked out. It was pretty cool hearing the helicopter start up and hear him fly away. Definitely a really cool experience but this day wasn’t over. We headed down to the press conference where we were able to get third row seats. And shortly after walks in the door Jordan’s Minister of Foreign affairs and Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan. If the day wasn’t cool enough sitting so close to His Majesties we are now in the presents of Kofi Annan. They spoke about the need for Israel to stop the blockade and to remove the troops from Lebanon. Also for the support of a peace deal titled 1701 which was needed to be passed by the United Nations general Assembly. As well as Mr. Annans conversations with His Majesties.

Defiantly quit a day not knowing that in less then 12 hours I would be in the same room as two very noteworthy people. Then it was time to start the weekend. Yesterday we made our way up to Umm Case which is an old Roman City on top of the mountain in Irbid at the most northern part of Jordan. From the top of the mountain you could see the Golden Heights, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. One of the coolest thing was you could see the Sea of Gallie with boats out on the water. Again the experience of thinking how close we were getting to experience the rich culture of where Jesus walked amazing. We had lunch at our friends restaurant on top of the mountain http://www.romero-jordan.com/about_umm_qeis%20.htm is the website. It was amazing sitting enjoying lunch and then being able to look out at the amazing site of all of the countries joining together at one point. The manager came over and introduced himself and took extremely good care of us. He compt our drinks and gave us a rather large discount. Saying that he always likes to take really good care of Mr. Ziad’s friends who is the owner that we know). The manager then introduced us to the Chief of Tourism Police who asked us if we would like him to give us a VIP tour of the city and the historical nature of the area. It was quit interesting seeing all that was there and hearing about the different people who he had meet there. Of course with traditional Jordanian culture he invited us into his office to have tea, which you can’t refuse or it would be extremely insulting. In the courtyard to his office we several pomegranate trees and even a lime tree. It was very interesting because I hadn’t seen either of the two fruits in forever, which reminded me of my time in Canton where we had a pomegranate tree in our backyard.

After words we got into the car and drove down to the border next to Syria and saw the Jordan Valley which is actually very water rich and green compared to the rest of the country which is so brown and dry. This is the area where all of the rich important people that we have meet in Amman have vacation homes at. It was a lot of fun making the drive through the valley and seeing the border along the way where we drove all the way from the northern most part of Jordan down the west border to Amman. Driving through all of the little villages who it was priceless to see the look on some of the people’s faces who saw us. I am sure they had never seen any Americans in their life before so it was fun to smile and wave.

Of course once we got back into Jordan I made my way to the spa to get my weekly massage, but it was the last week of my membership so we will have to decide if we want to extend our contract or go to a different one next week. Then we had a great dinner at the Intercontinental hotel in Amman which is one of the best hotels here, definitely better then most intercontinental I have ever seen. We ate at the Indian restaurant Indu http://www.amman.intercontinental.com/ammha/dining.html which was amazing I have only been able to find 2 other Indian restaurants both of which weren’t very good. But this one was amazing, they had brought in two chiefs from India which really did a great job. They finished off the meal with three types of home made complimentary ice cream which was definitely a nice touch.

I guess that’s all for now I hope that everyone is doing well! And I will try to post again soon.