Hankuna Matata!

So, the guest services agents at the Ritz randomly call or stop you in the lobby to check on the quality of your stay. The last one that stopped me started talking to me and asked where I was from. She figured it was from the south. (Apparently, I have a really pronounced accent) So, in the course of our conversation, I asked her how many languages she spoke. (This is one of my newest questions to ask people, you would be amazed, some people are fluent in 4,5, even 6 languages) She told me Swahili, English, and Hindi. I told her that I didn't know any Swahili, however she informed me that everyone probably knows at least one phrase...thanks to the Lion King! Hankuna Matata...No Worries!

Anyway, so my days and weeks are becoming more structured. My day usually goes like this:
6:15 Rise and Shine
6:45 Breakfast
7:15 Driver is waiting downstairs
11:00-12:00ish Lunch (usually at my desk, and so far it has been an apple, orange, or banana and a granola bar with a bottle of water)
3:30 Driver is waiting at EMS for me
4:00-4:30 Head to the Gym
6:00ish finish at the Gym and head to my room
6:30-7:00 Take shower and head upstairs for dinner
7:00-9:00/9:30ish Dinner and Drinks
9:30-11:00 Phone calls, emails, blog writing, etc.
11:00 Bedtime

My weeks are probably going to be this way for a while:
Sunday 9:00 Senior Staff meeting at EMS (usually until 11:00)
Monday 1:00-3:00 Pittsburgh meeting (all staff)
Thursday 9:00 Paramedic 2 (US equivalent of a paramedic) meeting/in service case review
Thursday 11:00 Pittsburgh Management Meeting
Thursday 4:00 Medical Director Conference Call

The balance of the time I am trying to spend with the supervisors out in the road learning and modeling behavior for them.

Nothing really exciting happened over the last week, work wise. I did go to the North edge of the country. I plan on getting to the south near Saudi border next week and to the western edge. There is still some outposts that I need to see. The range of issues I am seeing is everything from laziness to supervisory documentation issues to not wanting to talk to or communicate with staff. These guys don't think they need to be out on the road checking up on crew members, etc. They only go out when it is a call that requires a supervisor, so we have to change that. I tried to get the guy the other day to show up on a scene that was close, but it was a Priority 2 call. He said, "We don't have to go on those, only Priority One calls" They don't understand showing up, checking, helping, assisting, etc. I have a lot of work to do...

The really exciting thing happened last night. John, one of our Quality guys reserved his clubhouse at his villa. Some people owed him favors, one being in a 2 person band from the hotel. This really beautiful Filipino girl and some guy with her came and played and sang for us. They also brought a karaoke machine that scored you as you sang. Basically the entire Pittsburgh staff, their families, and some of our other workers and neighbors showed up. We all danced, drank, and partied the night away. They even dared me to get up there and sing "Country Roads" and not look at the screen....Are You Kidding Me? I should have put money on it! I did get a favorable applause, I stood with my back to the screen for effect.

Oh, I almost forgot. Dr. G works at the hospital in the northern part of the country. So, the only time I see Dr. G is Mondays during the staff meeting. He told me that he wanted to take me to dinner. They had 2 family friends in town, along with their new 6 month old. So we went to a Lebanese restaurant, where we sat on the floor at the small table. The food was awesome! Hummus, vegetables, different kinds of bread, and then the main course of 2kg of Lamb. It was fantastic. The meat was so tender. It was located right behind the landmark mall, so I should be able to find it again. (Visitors coming to see me...I am finding all kinds of good places to eat!)

So, I got my money from the hospital yesterday to help furnish my villa. HMC gives us some and Pittsburgh gives us some. I got a 20,000 Riyal check. Are you kidding me? That is like USD $5,500+. I have to turn receipts in for everything that I get, but who cares. I am going to use every bit of it. Pittsburgh gives us about $8500 to help furnish it. So it is going to be awesome. I should have the rest of my money with my paycheck next week.

In other news: I am currently reading "Ghost Soldiers", it was given to me by Nurse C when she was done with it. It is about a great (some say greatest) rescue of WWII, following the Bataan Death March. Very interesting so far, I will let you know how it goes.


I will talk to you later! Cheers!