CHAPTER 7, CASABLANCA and Ricks Café Dear friends, this chapter deals with the many airports I pass through here in the Middle East, the few Middle East barbers I have sat in their chairs, how one lady can disturb a room full of men, and last the question can now be ask, “How ugly can they get?” You wonder how airports can be so different and I have to shake my head because there can be a real competitive advantage if you know how to negotiate a Middle East airport. If anyone hates to get their hair cut it is me; from a small boy not liking the cut hair falling down my collar to the college years of a conservative hippie, to this gray haired age where I covet Willie Nelson’s ponytails. Yesterday we had a quite attractive, female cabin crew member from Lufthansa Airline walk briskly across the café and last, Pam has ask me to help a young lady who is less than pretty in my endeavors to help the Millennium generation. My first encounter with a Middle East airport was in flying from Bahrain to Cairo, Egypt back in 2001. That year I was teaching Philosophy 1301 on the US Navy Destroyer John S. McCain. Great experience but when I was finished the Navy chopper flew me to Dubai but to save $75.00 for one government agency I was accommodated on another Navy chopper to fly me to Bahrain. They spent a lot of money to save $75.00, but this was government work. From there I flew to the airport in Cairo, Egypt and it seemed strange to see the Air France Concord on the tarmac and camels outside the airport fence. In 2005-06 I made a number of trips to Baghdad, Iraq from Dubai, Kuwait City and Anbar Province in Iraq. The most memorable was the first approach to Baghdad in ’05 when the pilot cut the engines, lowered flaps and wheels at 13,000 so we could spiral down to the airport in the quiet with a minimum of engine heat. The reason being, that the bad guys were trying to shoot down planes with heat seeking missiles. Some people on the plane were freaking out; I was having a ball watching the ground spiral up to meet us. On another flight the US Air Force allowed me to fly a C130 for 45 minutes while on a flight from Kuwait City to Anbar Province in Iraq; a very cool experience. For the most part I lost count of the number of times we flew by chopper all over Iraq at low altitude. But the old city of Babylon was flown over only once during my tour. In the region we all have our favorite and our least favorite airports. Dubai’s is big and quite adventuresome, Doha’s new airport is quite artistic, Muscat’s in Oman is filled with short people wearing head dresses but the one that scares me the most is Dammam, Saudi Arabia. There you have no clue how long the wait to clear customs can be. Fifteen minutes, but usually closer to three hours so those of us who frequent KSA fly into Bahrain and take the causeway to Saudi Arabia. The Manama, Bahrain airport can get you through customs in five minutes usually. Also, I know how to get through security inspections with a minimum of stress. Having the belly button ring can add a bit of humor to the experience. Barbers in the Middle East can be a real adventure. Back in Fallujah, Iraq our base barbers were from Turkey. This sounds reasonable until you say yes to their face, head, and upper body massage. It comes close to torture but you feel like every muscle was worked over. That was my first experience to have the ear hairs singed with a burning cotton swab. Once I found a female Filipino barber in Baghdad I found a reason to fly to Baghdad once a month for a haircut. As you can guess I have made a game of life which few people dare to try. Here in Saudi Arabia my barber is from Bangladesh and he does a great job. This week we laughed about getting my beard trimmed to Pam’s satisfaction. Now I no longer look like an old jihadist but I don’t know what I now resemble. It is all fun. Yesterday our sedate lunch crowd was disturbed when a quite lovely young lady who works on a Lufthansa cabin crew walked across the dining room of the café. You would have thought that these guys had gone a while since seeing a beautiful young lady. Wait a minute that is exactly what has happened to the entire room of oilmen. It had been quite a while for almost all of them. I am so grateful for Pam’s return from the USA. Being close to her helps me make the day, for sure. Pam has made the suggestion and I better heed the suggestion that I find a less than beautiful young lady of the millennial generation to help. That is not an easy task but I will try. Will not be able to tell someone why they were chosen but I believe there are a massive number to choose from when you see all the big and wide abayas on the streets of Dubai. Pam has given me a difficult task indeed. Being less than politically correct I have to live my life and I enjoy were I am and what I am doing. Most have you have told us that we need to be back home or we need to be somewhere safer than the Middle East. Sorry but this is a great adventure and we feel we are were God wants us to be for the time being. What could happen?
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 16:05:59 +0000
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