Twists and Turns

By popular demand, I'm posting some photos from Dubai, which is home to the world's only 7-star hotel (pictured). I got as close to it as I could, after putting my feet in the Persian Gulf on a nice beach.

Everything is new in Dubai, and they can't seem to build hotels quickly enough there--hotels commonly have to turn customers away because they're full. And the service orientation I would compare to Minneapolis. Something like 70% of the population is from somewhere else--people from Dubai work in the government, if I understand correctly. They can be identified by their long headgear and robes. Everything else, all the private sector service jobs, are filled by immigrants from central and east asia.

I ended up on my second night at this sprawling indoor mall called Madenat Jumeira (great photo here), kind of patterned on a rustic market you'd imagine inside a castle with small hallways leading all over and four hotels connected to the complex. There were at least a dozen restaurants and the center of the place had an artificial waterway and islands. There was a band playing some soft-rock on an outdoor stage with the water at their backs and a stepped, semi-circular auditorium.

I sat down on a bean-bag chair at a table, ordered a salad (it had been so long since I'd had a good salad!) and a drink, and listened to the band. I could hear some young Americans behind me and figured they were US military. They were being asked to move because they couldn't drink where they were sitting and no tables were available. So I invited them to sit with me and had a nice conversation with them. They were Navy, assigned to an aircraft carrier.

Vince had said in Kabul that the quality of our current military is often questioned unfairly. He maintains that the guys in right now are the finest the US military has ever had. He said, "talk about Greatest Generation..." which I thought was a bit excessive. But these guys were evidence of his opinion--fine fellas. We talked about about politics and politics in the military. It was a good discussion and I was glad to note thier thoughtfulness and awareness.

In personal news, the Fed position slipped through my fingers. I'm considering throwing in the towel on New York. It looks like I will head back to Kabul with Mary for another round then perhaps move on to DC. I feel like there's something for me in New York, but it's not clear to me now. I wonder if this feeling is just pride--my desire to accomplish what I wanted to here. But maybe it's better, as they say, to leave New York before it makes me hard.