Body Blast?

Ok guys, so here we go. A little update on the Middle East… First of all…it is really hard to get in the holiday spirit. It’s freaking 70-80 degrees during the day and mid 60’s at night. Guys are wearing their coats, which is hilarious, but still no help. Today was a day you are glad you are in the middle east. If it was like today for a longer period of the year, this might not be a bad place to live. It was around 72 degrees, dry (of course), clear, sunny, occasional slight breeze. It felt wonderful. No humidity. I actually went running last week (DO NOT tell my athletic trainer) and it felt awesome (and my knee only hurt a little the next day…although I did try to run on the dirt/sand instead of the payment to help with impact).
So, this last weekend was a busy one. I attended a Traditional Arabic get together at a friend’s house. She is an Arabic teacher and invited her class over for dinner and socializing. I walked in and it was like a Junior High Dance. Men on one side of the room, women on the other. (This is typical Arab culture.) There was very little movement between the groups. They had a huge feast which included cooked Pigeons, luckily by the time we got to the pigeons, I was stuffed. This of course was followed by sweets, which is another Arab necessity. However, it was cool as far as the guys that I met. I met people from China, Indonesia, Senegal, Kenya, Philippines, Egypt, and South Africa. What a collection at a party.
So after, I was invited to another party. The random West Virginia girl I met a month or so ago was having a birthday/Christmas party at her place and called to invite me. I am always up for a party, so I headed that way. Of course I drug Nurse C along with me in case the rest of the people at the party were weird. We tried to get there fashionably late, but we were the first ones there which was slightly awkward. However, we mingled and more started arriving. I met people from all over the US, South Africa, and 1 German! They were all teachers at the American School, Qatar Academy, or in Education City. It was nice to hear about problems that were education related and not Hospital related. However, some of their problems are similar (They get Inshalla-ed frequently as well) I also found out that teachers make crap around the world. Many of these people make about what they make in the states or a little more. The best part is that they do not pay taxes and they have no housing expenses. Crazy. Support your Teachers!
Saturday, I started out my day with what was called “Body Blast” a hell of a workout that uses light weights and high reps. Good workout…very tiring. That afternoon, I followed that up with a scheduled Massage at some Chinese Massage Parlor. All massages are gender specific (because of the country) so to answer some of your questions, NO. Afterwards, I headed to Connie and John’s because they invited Me, Another John, his wife (who was leaving the next day), and Carol to dinner. It was fantastic. That Scottish guy really knows how to cook. We had some Mushroom soup, Ham (yes. Really. It’s like moonshine, don’t ask) covered in a white wine sauce, veggies, homemade bread, followed by ice cream for dessert. Needless to say after that day, I was dead. It was good getting to hang out with everyone. Those 5 people are probably the most sane people on the project, so it is nice to hang out with them.
I truly felt like a consultant this week. Malcolm, who is EMS’s assistant director of Operations pulled me into his office (I am there frequently) to ask me about the status of the organization. He asked me about his management style, what they were doing right and what they were doing wrong. I got to be very open and honest, which I enjoy. I was flattered because I think Malcolm and I are on the same wavelength, and actually I kind of feel like his equal. That being said, I really like throwing wrenches into their Executive Meetings, but I think they are glad when they realize that certain ideas needed some work. Malcolm, Penny (Executive Director), Shaun (Asst. Dir. Of Training), and Dr. Marc (UPMC Medical Director) and myself actually have a really good business relationship. We close the door and knock each other out, but we come to a solution and go forward with it. It is actually pretty cool.
So, on to work. I have moved to the communications center as my primary location of work. I am starting to shake things up there a bit. I have very little experience in communications, but luckily all that time hanging out at MECCA made me a little more intelligent. Plus, they are so far behind I look like an expert. I am trying baby steps now. Trying to get staff to type and talk at the same time, wear headsets, not use the portable radios or mobile radios on your desk, because you have a CAD system in front of you that works fine. Basic crap. I had a problem with the supervisor not using their pod and hanging out at another computer all shift. This gave him no idea what was going on in the country. To fix this, we disabled their passwords on that computer so they have to sit at the pod to work. Ahh, the little things in life. I am sure I will have much more for you on this.
I did start writing my Research proposal, I am hoping to get a little bit done every night so I can get it submitted to the IRBs (Yes I have to submit to 2. Qatar and Pittsburgh.) I am really anxious to get published and I think this study will show some results. We will see. I am going to go type that now, so I get off of here. Cheers!