Beyond Samarkand

Lunch Time Originally uploaded by Kevin.Haroun I went out with a friend looking for camel races the other day. Didn't find the races, but found lots of camels. This old fellow was enjoying his lunch. More pictures, including racing camels (but not camels racing) on my Flickr page.

Time was I'd read an article like this and it would be an interesting and sad example of life under the Bush administration. For me, that time is past. It's disturbing to think that odds are strong that if I'm not already on the watchlist, I will be after I'm married. Given the likely markers to be on this list, we are sure to be flagged. More disturbing, even writing this blog entry makes it more likely we'll end up on the list. The reality of the police state doesn't come home until you find you are the one being targeted. How many and for long will this need to go on before Americans remember what it means to be American? Or will what it mean simply cease to be? Think carefully before you vote this time around.

Out Riding Originally uploaded by Kevin.Haroun A photo taken by a friend a couple days after I returned to Saudi. I really like this shot. I'm really happy with this as a portrait.

Visiting the Eiffel Tower Originally uploaded by Kevin.Haroun One of the better shots from my last trip to Europe. I had the new camera, but wasn't as comfortable with it as I was with the Samsung. It's a great camera, but I need to relearn how to shoot. I'm too used to the LCD instead of a viewfinder!

When I came into to work the other day, there was a bat perched on the ceiling in the hall outside the teachers office. There wasn't much we could do, and since he seemed content and wasn't bothering anyone we left him alone. One of the teachers, a good natured fellow who's worked in Bangladesh and other places explained he hates bats. Odd thing to hate, I thought, but then we all have things we don't like. For me, it's driving on Saudi roads. Though he hated that too, so that may actually be pretty common. We had a pretty big triumph at work last week. Our first lab is complete for the hardware side. Myself and another teacher ran the network cables under the floor. The teacher helping, who knew less about such things than I, was very upbeat and encouraging. He was an invaluable help in getting it done. The teacher himself is a really great asset to our program. Long term, if the company were to groom him correctly, he could just what's needed to keep things wo...