Morning with a Royal

Morning with a Royal

I went for breakfast at this small little hole in the wall next to the office.  We've ordered breakfast for the staff there before..its cheap and its good.  This place would have flunked any cleanliness grading by the Restaurant association.  i walked in and there was a cockroach running over the counter...ah...when in rome...i ordered my egg sandwich with cheese anyway...it was delicious...and only 0.75.  It reminded me of the story my grandfather used to tell.  When he was growing up in Oklahoma round the time of the depression...he went for breakfast one time when he was out sharecropping cotton and on his way back he got hungry.  For five cents he could have all you could eat pancakes with syrup.  For an extra five cents you could have syrup without ants in it.  Taiwan was bad too when it came to sanitary things...Oh that reminds me.  Another small reason why America is the greatest country in the world yet its citizens don't really appreciate it.    In many of the toilets in the Middle East...there is the arabic toilet...just a hole in the ground like the Far East and they have regular western toilets.  In each of the styles..they have hoses...the kind you find in most kitchen sinks.  They use the hoses to spray themselves down ala toilet paper.  Its pretty disgusting...because usually you go into a bathroom there is water everywhere.  That is why there is always a full time attendant in each public bathroom whose sole responsibility is to mop down the restrooms and keep them as clean as possible.  I can't think of a lower job than that...but the guys that have it...are glad to be working...everything is relative.  Im very spoiled.  

OK enough with the crap (pun intended) and onto the good parts of the day.  No matter where you stand on our new president, everyone that I have met in the Middle East and have heard on the radio in Europe is absolutely Pro-Obama.  For the first time in a long long time America is getting really positive press.  Its like the world respects us a little now.  They hated Bush and his policy.  Whether you supported him or not...and I did, he just didn't have any foreign credibility.    America has been give a stereotype of the spoiled cousin that doesn't appreciate its wealth.  Its also taken on the characterization of the Big Bully.  With Obama winning, it should pave the way for more respect for our nation globally.  There will still be haters out there...as there are in every society in every country in the world.  Still America went up a few notches on the popularity poll with Obama.  McCain...rightly or wrongly represented more of the same Bush doctrine in the eyes of the Arabs and that is why they were desperate for a change.  By the way...my best friend here in Iraq is a non-practicing Muslim Barak Ali.  Wouldn't it be cool if in America..we could classify our society as Christians and non-practicing Christians.  Just a thought.  

I went into the office today and saw a girl dressed in a pair of sweats.  She was very casual, no make up.  She was picking up some prints with a guy very sharply dressed man in a Thobe and Gutra (Typical Saudi outfit.)  The thobe and gutra is like a business suit for Arabs.  I greeted her non-chalantly then went about my way.  When I heard Tanya our office manager and daughter of Khalifa extol my virtues of my experience in Hollywood I stopped in my tracks.  This girl was a royal.  i remembered a job coming in yesterday for the royal family, but didn't put two and two together.  I quickly retreated...and conversed with her.  She was the daughter of the King.  We talked for quite awhile.  She was a smart and engaging girl.  I felt a little stupid for rushing to judgment but that's the thing with Royals...they are completely comfortable with whatever they wear or do.  She mentioned that she wanted to do work for a non-profit.  I explained that was my specialty.  I quickly grabbed my laptop and went to my website.  I pulled down a non-profit video i did for a girl in a drug rehab hospital for teens:  Filled with Hope.  It think the story brought her to tears.  I was quite proud.  She wanted to do something like that for her non-profit.  I gave her some ideas and hopefully she will be a client soon.  Once that door is open to the royals...that is a very very very good thing.  So please pray that I continue to find favor for me and my company.  By the way..if you ever want to see videos of my work they can be viewed at http://homepage.mac.com/rickbeeman

After the meeting, I was called to Nader's office at the World Trade Center in Downtown Bahrain.  Nader is the guy that hired me.  He is the eldest son of Khalifa and pretty much runs the show.  He's the Big brother in every sense of the word.  I think Nader is great and he is the primary reason why I decided to move to Bahrain.  i believe in Nader.   He is one of the most impressive people I have ever met.  Im not sucking up to him...i don't do that, he doesn't even read this blog.  But honestly...I have met amazing people from all over the world.  He is a handsome guy with a thick English accent.  Khalifa is a Bahraini and his mother is an Englishwoman.    Nader has to be one of the most intelligent, successful, talented, and generous guys I have ever met.  What makes this all the more amazing...he did this all without a college education...though you would never ever ever know it.  He's the executive Vice President (#2 in charge) of one of the largest banks in Bahrain.  Nader has been incredibly busy so this was our first face to face meeting since I came back to Bahrain (though we had spoken on the phone a few times.)  Nader is 44, and his lovely and engaging English wife just had their third child 10 days ago.  If that wouldn't keep you up all night...the collapse of the world banks is finally hitting the Middle East.  The crisis is not just in America.  It is having ripple effects globally.  First it was Asia...then Europe...now the Middle East.  Everything is frozen as banks are hunkering down waiting for the reverberations to cease.  It will be interesting what the election will do to the global economy.  Nader and the banks in Bahrain will make it through...but they are taking their share of hits like everyone is.  

Nader and i had a great meeting.  He's on board with everything Im trying to do and approved a rather large expenditure of new and updated equipment.  He and his family believe in me...to the point where they are putting their financial trust in my opinions.  Its a trust Im honored to have and its one I do not take lightly at all.  Nader wanted me to come to his office to give me a GPS/media phone.  The phone is worth over $600 or so.  i was totally blown away by his generosity.  I am really starting to love the Shaheen family.  They seem to have every quality that is right about Arabs.  They are generous to a fault.  Im honored to be a part of their team.  They treat me like family and I feel like im one of them.  Its really really cool.  Another thing about Nader, is that he is a hilarious stand up comedian.  You wouldn't expect that from someone as powerful and successful as he.  Nader and I share the same common vision.  We both want to change the world.  We are going to use the media at KSDI in order to just that.  Whenever we are producing our first feature films...Im going to pull a few strings with the boss (me) and direct while Nader will pull a few strings with the money people (himself) to star in it.  Im just watching a promo for The Daily Show with John Stewart.  One of Nader's dreams is to be the Middle East correspondent for John Stewart.  With my help and God's favor...I think its going to happen.  Im not going to go after that dream of Nader's for another couple of months.  I have to start trying to bring money into the company first.