thisguy

excuse the bad pun above. :p

multiple projects, deadlines and client management - that part you dont really want to know about. so i'll get right into the other stuff.

fell ill on my third day in the desert also my braincells have been used up to remember the (arabic and non-arabic) names of 20 or so managerial personnel within 3 days so excuse me if the chronology of these events is off kilter. its a little hard to arrange the flood of thoughts and moments that've been passing through thisguy'slife the past week, so i'm just going to record them in a random list.

woke up one morning after a flu induced deep sleep to find the windows blurred by the after effects of a sandstorm. it's funny and interesting how this is a land where the terrain can shift itself around, washing away blood, ideologies and time. yet some of the tallest, most remarkable structures are now being built - to permanently stand and mark out the shifting sands.

despite being one of the more stubborn amongst my peers in terms being drawn to malaysian life and wanting to live there long term, earlier this year i started toying with the idea of migrating someplace else. over homecooked dinners at two malaysian households displaced to the desert recently, i got a first hand look at what migrant life is like again. the free-er lifestyle and better money offset by displacement and subtle isolation - stuff to keep thinking about for now.

we got stuck in the soukhs yesterday. the narrow street stalls that were closing shop got us lost in the belly of the city. stumbling to find our way back to the main streets we walked through alleys where black shiite flags were hung high, pictures of holymen and possibly freedom fighters adorned some of the archways. basically pretty unerving stuff, even though both of us were born in predominantly moslem countries.

we found our way out safely, although paranoia kicked in at one point i thought we'd next be seen on a breaking news channel.

still, this is a country where

- my apartment cable network has more phone-sex channels than actual programming.
- where there actually is a church right beside a mosque
- you can get a couple of pints of guiness on tap in british styled bars
- you get calls at night in your room phone asking if you "want lady"

yet a few blocks down, away from the luxury cars and migrant workers, there're entire neighbourhoods that look like downtown basra.

despite me counting the days till i get home again, i'm quite fascinated with this city.