14 April 2007

I'm three months into this deal and the routine doesn't seem to change much from day to day. I recently began a freshman english composition class onboard that I go to three times a week. It's a nice break from the monotony of wake up, go to watch, eat, work, shower, sleep, wake up, go to watch.........

I've also been practicing playing my harmonica a few minutes every day which is, believe it or not, paying off. I can play some single note songs well and hope to learn some more complex 2 and 3 note songs and different styles- particularly blues.

This picture is from a five days ago whilst the rhib was being hoisted from the churning waters of the North Arabian Sea to the davit after early morning small boat operations during which I was the "boat engineer".

Arabian Nights

These are from the "Sunset Safari" tour I went on the 29th. It started out as a baja-style race through the dunes, pausing for a flat tire, and continued to camp where we tourists indulged in cold beers and a circus pony style camel ride.
Finally our hosts fed us a traditional arabian bbq and drove us back to the ship. Checking out the scenery during a short break to regroup the 20+ Land Cruisers in our convoy.
Looks like a scene from "Lawrence of Arabia"
Making sand angels reminded me of the winter during my childhood in northeast South Dakota, but left sand stuck to the back of my head.
I managed to make a new Arab friend. He said his name was Habu.

He insisted on refering to me as his "brother".

The camels had basket muzzles over their mouths to prevent them from spitting on people.