Travel and things
Friday night/Saturday Left London 6 hours late; sandstorms in Dubai had damaged the plane, which had to be repaired. Once on board I enjoyed Emirates's good food and wine and fell asleep over Budapest. Arrived in Dubai at midday local time and caught the connection to Doha. No luggage in Doha; after an hour of calls and consternation I was told it had been left in London. Airport full of Japanese and Australians here to watch the final of the Asian Football Cup (Japan 1 - Australia 0). My car was waiting for me and things began to improve once I arrived at my apartment: a beautiful 6th floor space fitted with all the gadgets. Fell asleep very quickly and woke up after a few hours to go out for some fried chicken. Bed. Sunday Woken at 5am by the call to prayer; good timing as working hours are from 6.30am - 2.30pm. Minibus drove us to the compound. Not much to do here yet except show our faces, so spent the whole day chatting and playing Scrabble with two fellow English exil