Finally!

I have finally arrived and settled into my new digs at the Beach Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. I have internet access from the aquarist office but not from my room so I will probably be doing most of my posts later at night (or later in the morning for those of you back home). Dubai was a whirlwind of a whole lot of nothing. I was there for 4 nights and really didn't do much other than workout, sit by the pool, read, browse several different malls and sweat. Not sure what the whole hubub is about Dubai, unless you have a ton of money - then maybe it's fun. When I go to a foreign country, I want to experience their culture and see stuff I don't see in the US. I saw alot of Starbucks, McDonalds, Baja Fresh, Pizza Hut, gas guzzling SUVs, upscale malls and traffic. I might enjoy the older areas with the souks - basically Arabian artisan markets with jewelry, spices, rugs and such and I'm sure the beaches are nice but I didn't get a chance to hit those up last week. Hopefully I can venture to those spots when I return in August. Also - there was a massive dust storm from winds off the straits so it seemed perpetually foggy/smoggy which made me not really want to be outside!

The set up here in Jeddah is nice. I'm fed 3 meals a day, someone cleans my room every day and does my laundry, so I can't complain. There's a nice pool right outside my door and a pretty complete exercise facility just a few doors down. I have a fridge stocked with sodas and water and a TV with a hearty selection of channels with American programming. It was a bit odd to watch Nightline this morning and the Today Show last night!

Essentially, I've been brought over to oversee and lead the set up and opening of Jonathan's new retail store in the city of Jeddah. It's going to be very similar to the shop in Sac but much smaller. Almost all of the equipment from Sac was sent over here on a cargo ship and is in pretty good shape, considering. I'll probably also be helping with the installation of a large private aquarium in another Palace just down the road from where we are.

The aquarium facility that our office is in in amazing! There are 2 crocodiles, about a dozen marmoset monkeys, a hedgehog, some lizards and iguanas, an amazing array of fresh and saltwater fish live corals and, or course, sharks! I'm already planning to get my own tanks back up and running when I get home! There is a moray eel here that is at least 4 feet long and about as big around as a soccer ball...he's MASSIVE!

Alright, I'm tired and have alot on my plate tomorrow when Jonathan is back at work so I best be going. I'll try to post a little each night.

One last thing...it costs about $30 to fill an 18 gallon gas tank...