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These are recent stories - the rest are in my latest book,"Walking Through Adversity."

Stories about Middle East Trips (2)

Rob bryant
2006-01-09 11:39:38

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at Rick's Café. I had a real live breakfast, Cajun style, from an American in business here. It was awesome and a taste from home. In the evening I caught up with some old friends out of the Fort Worth office that were living there now and it was great talking about old times. The service at stores was awesome. You could ask a grocer to stock something you regularly buy, and they would do it. Gas stations had attendants at every pump. Doctors came to your home. It was like stepping back into the 50's in the states. On Sunday I was taken to a War Munitions Storage site, one of the most secure places in the Middle East, where DynCorp runs security. I had to go through many lines of security. It was fascinating and was truly like a James Bond film.

Go tell about the Qatar Hotel - The Pyramid-Sheraton Hotel has the largest chandelier in the Middle East composed of twelve separate chandeliers suspended around a 25 foot tall chandelier hanging in the center of the hotel. Glass elevators go right up the middle of the hotel so the view of the lobby and Persian Gulf was breath-taking. Each night a different International meal was served and the first night I ate a hot (curry, garlic, and oregano - wow) Indian meal in the grand ballroom with entertainment provided by a Turkish Belly Dancer after the meal. I returned to my room just in time to watch a spectacular sunset from the 7th floor. My room overlooked the Persian Gulf full of ships heading all over the world. I slept a wonderful nine hours then finally had a day off. In the morning I rolled approx. five miles around the gulf on a concrete and marble walkway (money is no object here) lined with palm trees and flowers. It was almost 120F when I returned to the hotel and I could barely even touch my wheels they were so hot. After working out a few minutes in the gym, I bought a few more gifts. While in the Lobby Café, I talked with locals about family, work, politics, crazy ...