The Fog...

I had to post this...it was such a cool effect...I woke up to see that I was living on a cloud.

I saved a puppy!

I found a little puppy running between cars at a parking lot.  There are A LOT of strays here.  It would have become a wild dog or worse...poor thing was eating trash off the streets.  Now he has a yard.  I found him the day the Vike's beat the Pack to make the playoffs, so I called him AP.  His new owner is calling him Becks...after David Beckham...wrong football, but good people!

 

 

Me with AP aka Becks.

Mariam and Mohamed...Becks' new family.

See, he has a yard with grass!!  Life is going to be gooood!

C&W Investors' Conference - Middle East

On November 12, we held C&W's first ever investors' conference in the ME.  We had almost 30 people representing several investment groups in attendance.  The topic was 'Winning in Growth Cities' which focused on the top-25 cities throughout the world for stable and growing investments.

 

The team front l-r: Markus, me, Oliver; back l-r: Andrew and Yahya

Some of the team and several investors.

The venue.

Being interviewed by the Gulf Monthly, a top English language business journal in the region.

Markus being interviewed by the local media.

VIP Dinner - Post Investors' Conference

Following the investors' conference, we had a VIP dinner with some of the area's key investors.

 

 

Majlis

I have described a majlis in the past, it is literally a 'place of sitting'.  In Bahrain, many people have a private majlis in their homes.  A large room for gathering friends, colleagues, family etc.  It is quite an honor to get invited and once you are, you are welcomed for life.  C&W put on an investors' conference and Mohamed invited all of us to his majlis the night before.  He invited many of his closest friends to join us.  A typical majlis consists of coffee/tea and sweets.  Moh'd went all out for us and had a wonderful bar-b-cue.  The food was very tasty and everyone had a great time.  Moh'd knows that I am a vegetarian, and remembers it, so he made sure that plenty of the dishes were made withme in mind.  Bahraini's are some of the most gracious and hospitable people I have ever met.

 

Yahya is our capital markets guy from UK.  He is standing next to a very special guest that night.  In the early 70s, Pele and the Brazil national team played a soccer match in Bahrain.  He issued Pele a red card that match...probably the only one her ever got.

Tala, Yahya,Mohamed, Markus

Tala, me, Moh'd, Markus

Me and Moh'd's son

Art Purchase



My neighbors, David and Mary-Anne are fantastic people from GB via Malta and Australia and other points.  Mary-Anne is an exceptional artist.  She works in oils, acrylics, charcoal etc.  She has had shows in England, the US, Japan, Australia and now in the ME for the first time.  I couldn't resist...her art is incredible.  She doesn't have one style, she paints how she feels that day.  Some is brooding and dark, some is minimalistic, some is colorful and vibrant, and some is incredibly detailed.  All of her work is memorable.  Following are the three pieces that I purchased.

 

"Dark Eyes" is a mesmerizing piece.  It is an intense work...I was fortunate to get the original.

"Majlis" is a stunning work. 

"Beautiful Eyes" is simply my favorite.  I was too late and missed on on purchasing the original.  However, I was lucky enough to get one of the limited edition prints.  I can hardly wait for her show to close so I can get them and have them hung!!

Jarada Island

 

One of our tenants also owns a boat manufacturing facility in Bahrain.  He graciously invited me to join him on his boat for a trip to Jarada Island.  Jarada Island is simply a sand bar in the middle of the gulf that disappears at high tide.  At low tide, it is approximately a mile long and people flock there on weekends for bar-b-cues and watery fun...just like Lake Minnetonka on a Saturday.  It is about 20 miles from nearest land and is created by the current.

 

Mohamed's boat with Moh'd, Erik, a friend from Boston, Markus, my boss from Germany, and me.  The boat will do 60 mph.

Moh'd with his sons.  It was a perfect weather day and the company was exceptional.  Bahrainis are among the friendliest people you will ever meet.

That's me standing literally in the middle of the gulf.

The tide is rising and this is all that remains of the island.