Feb 23 - Changing Countries

We have left Bangladesh and have a brief layover in Doha, Qatar.  We had an interesting flight from Dhaka to Doha. They asked for a Health Professional to come to 1st class, I was the only one who responded.  A fellow in his 80's was sick, vomiting, cool & clammy, he was diabetic, had high BP and had been ill in the am before the flight.  I checked his BP and pulse and luckily he had no cardiac symptoms, although he told me he had a stent.  The ambulance met the flight and he was pretty good on arrival, but in the 20 minutes before landing again he felt ill, so I checked in on him again.

We have a three hour layover here in Doha (Qatar), then we are off to meet our friends Joanne and Dick in Abu Dhabi.  The College in Bangladesh had a really nice send off, after a few speeches, we were given some gifts and then Ralph called a Virginia Reel for the staff, nobody is very good at listening, so it was kind of crazy initially, with everyone swinging and laughing, but we got it under control. We had to laugh when they ended it off doing the hokey pokey, and joining hands and crashing into the middle of the room..... memories that will stay with us for quite a while. We'll post some photo's later.

 
Prof. Yunus and the Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.  We went on a short tour at the Yunus Center (just beside our College) and posed with the Prize Medals, then Ralph and a Bangladeshi fellow who worked at the College (lost his arm in a rice processing machine accident) stood for a photo.

 
Nursing students playing a game, the staff at our farewell party, having a crazy time!

We brought over 2 soccer balls to give away, this one we gave to two nice boys who lived near us, nice kids!

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Incredible architecture, clean streets, beautiful grounds keeping, fantastic scenery.... almost unbelievable after our time in Bangladesh. We arrived on Feb 23, and today (24th) did a drive tour through the key areas with Dick and Joanne, they live in a beautiful apartment on the 20th floor, lots of high rises and so much opportunity for international work, it makes your head spin. Nothing like our Saudi days, this is luxury and comfort, with lots of interesting work opportunities.  They both work in the health sector, but so much is here - finance, business, the oil industry, education, healthcare, you name it, it's a growing industry here.  Life is expensive here, but it really is the total opposite to Bangladesh.  We can appreciate both for what they offer.... such interesting places! 

Palace Hotel entrance (with some construction)

 A golf course that Dick and Jo belong to, spectacular course with a falcon shaped clubhouse. We're posed in front of some beautiful ingraved glass doors!

The special golf carts are from here.
                   A building like a coin on it's side!

The architecture is so unusual and stunning.