Dubai - In route to R&R again!

It's that time again - R&R! Billy and Dani decided after many deliberations to spend 9 days in the Maldives. As always, the first part of the trip involves a 12+ hour layover in Dubai. Instead of seeing the sights in the airport, 5 of us went to the Diera Mall and on to a desert safari.





The new metro from the airport is extremely efficient in getting around the city, at least to the major sites. And, most importantly this time of the year, the metro is air conditioned! The metro is primarily elevated alongside major roadways.




As you can imagine, Dani couldn't resist a photo at this store. . .




The desert safari occurs in SUVs equipped with roll bars. MANY companies have this excursion and they all typically travel in packs of 10-20 vehicles.

Ferron, Dani, Billy, Charlie, Ifty (the driver), Mike and Tom were the trouble makers for the day! We had to stop in the middle of the desert to let the engines cool down before continuing on.

A view of the dunes. . .

Without alcohol in Afghanistan, it's difficult to avoid the immediate temptation of a few drinks. Tom was priceless and made our dune driving very entertaining - but he couldn't make the whole trip.

After dune driving, you arrive at a "camp" where dinner and drinks are served. Traditional seating on pillows was fun.

There was also an opportunity to touch and ride a camel! At least they have the muzzle covers to avoid all the spitting camels are known for.

Dani and Billy about to begin their camel ride.

They had 3 camels strung together so one guide could manage them all. Mike and Ferron rode one camel, Billy and Dani on the second, and then some little kids on the third.

They even had a hawk you could hold.

Billy wasn't so sure about it :-)

This "lamp" was inside the camp. Dani decided it must have a magic genie and tried rubbing it!

Billy and Dani in the camp.

Since Tom needed to continue his nap, Dani decided to take provocative photos while he was sleeping.

At the camp there was an opportunity to get henna. It is like a frosting that you have to let dry for 45 minutes. Then it basically falls off and leaves the following stain.

We eventually made it to airport. Since we flew on Emirates to Male, Maldives, we went to Terminal 3. It is only for Emirates and is very opulent. So. . . .on to the next adventure.

Random Photos from Afghanistan

As Dani went through folder after folder of photos from the past 10 months, there were several photos that she wanted to share. They are in no particular order, but simply continue to illustrate the experience we are having in Afghanistan.





This photo is from the northern area of Afghanistan. In the background, there is one of the new Uniform Police District HQ facilities. This picture is courtesy of Rigo.



Springtime in Kabul at Qalaa was blessed with gorgeous flowers. . . .




If you ignore the over sized, up armored SUVs that line every flower bed, it's actually rather pretty.

The CSM (Command Sergeant Major) for AED-N won't let anyone pick the flowers, so there are always beautiful buds to enjoy.

More roses. . . .

Now that the weather is warmer, we enjoy sitting out on the balcony and soaking up the sun. Roy fell asleep and it was too tempting to take a photo of him!

A while back, 1Lt Chris Cagle, another co-worker and friend of Dani's redeployed. Had to get in a parting shot.

This is the resident kitten for Qalaa - Loggy - perched on the gate.

One of the compounds between Eggers and Qalaa is occupied by the Mongolians. Inside the compound there is a tent that is set up with authentic Mongolian items. Here is Dani and the Mongolian soldier who showed her and Gareth around.

Dani and Gareth in the fancy carved chairs.

The roof of the Mongolian tent is elaborately painted in Dani's favorite color -ORANGE!

Here are some of the furniture pieces inside of the tent.

Robin (left) and Dani (right) attended a conference in Kabul. Adrise and Ashraf (left to right) were the force protection for the day. After spending all day inside it was a pleasant surprise to find it snowing.

This gentleman attended the conference USACE hosted with the AISA (Afghanistan Investment Support Agency). AISA is responsible for contractor licensing and professional development. The best analogy, as far as Dani understands, would be that AISA is the AGC (Associated General Contractors) in the United States.


Public Affairs caught Dani mid-sentence during a presentation.

The view of the neighboring government building during the Joint Business conference.

Every Friday there's a migration from Qalaa to Eggers for lunch and shopping at the bazaar. Billy and Dani joined Eric and Hank for the fun.

Eric, Billy and Dani heading back to Qalaa after a hard afternoon of shopping.

When Dani's last supervisor redeployed he was insistent on not having a going away party. So, being the creative ladies of ANP, this cake was made for a "Hello Carmine" party. Carmine is Dani's current supervisor. We couldn't let Greg off that easily!

Pashminas!

Ladies! Do you need a pashmina?!
If you'd like any of the following pashminas (scarves) let me know and I can bring them home.

Blue

It'll be great to see the little guy again!


Blue catching his breath after playing ball.



Aren't I just adorable?!



And I'm famous!

Government Construction Contracting Dictionary

This seems very true many days!


**CONTRACTOR -- A gambler who never gets to shuffle, cut or deal.


**BID OPENING -- A poker game in which the losing hand wins.


**BID -- A wild guess carried out to two decimal places.


**LOW BIDDER -- A contractor who is wondering what he left out of his
bid.


**ENGINEER'S ESTIMATE -- The cost of construction in heaven. (Billy does a great job at these!)


**PROJECT MANAGER -- The conductor of an orchestra in which every
musician is in a different union. (Would herding cats fit into this category as well?! :-)


**CRITICAL PATH METHOD - A management technique for losing your shirt
under perfect control.


**OSHA -- A protective coating made by half-baking a mixture of fine
print, red tape, split hairs and baloney -- usually applied at random with a
shotgun.


**STRIKE -- An effort to increase egg production by strangling the
chicken.


**DELAYED PAYMENT -- A tourniquet applied at the pockets.


**COMPLETION DATE -- The point at which liquidated damages begin. (In Afghanistan, this is a synonm for a wild ass guess.)


**LIQUIDATED DAMAGES -- A penalty for failing to achieve the
impossible. (Absolutely, or it's something we don't enforce heavily because cash flow then becaomes an issue for the smaller Afghan firms and we end up with even less progress.)


**AUDITOR -- People who go in after the war is lost and bayonet the
wounded. (Or walk contractors through the termination for convenience process step by step so they can get money the contractor is already entitled to - so basically doing their job so we can get it off our books!)


**LAWYER -- People who go in after the auditors and strip the bodies. (Here it's about see all the grey that exists between the black and white.)

Cleaning the Lights

Women of Qalaa House

We did photos of the "Women of Qalaa House."

Sai (below) is a PM with the ANP group. She's the one who organized the photos. Sai and Dani sit next to each other.

Below is a photo of the NWD group currently deployed in Qalaa.