A spectacular day in Paradise.

A spectacular day in Paradise.  Did I just say paradise in the Middle East?  Yes, I suppose I did because it certainly felt that way.  I slept in late which felt fantastic, as I don’t get a chance to do that often.  I woke up and went for a swim in the Ritz Pool.  Now this pool is different than most pools.  Its not really wide, but rather its very narrow with many canals weaving around the landscape.  Its actually quite long.  Along the canals are a series of jets and fountains with a giant cascading waterfall at the end.  One swim back and forth leaves you knackered.  So its very very long.  It was a nice morning workout.  After the swim, I went up to the club lounge with my folks and we were treated to a magnificent breakfast.  We had another great conversation…how nice it is that Im friends with my folks.  The good thing about the divorce is that it brought us closer together.  I really love my parents and the last 10 days have been a lot of fun with them.  Im sad they are leaving so its going to take a few days to adjust to life without family around again.  Knowing my mother…she’s probably starting to cry just reading this right now.  After breakfast went for another swim, as my Dad went for a swim in the Persian Gulf.  I laid out on the grass and had a margarita, diet coke, and French fries and soaked in the Arabian Sun.  The weather was absolutely perfect…not a cloud in the sky and must have been around 80 degrees.  It sure felt like paradise.  After the snooze, went back up to the club level for some great hors’ doeuvres’ Then it was off to my meeting at the Grand Hyatt to meet a guy by the name of AB.   Now I didn’t know AB and I knew very little about him.  I googled him and I saw something about him producing Bollywood films.  That was enough to justify the trip.  Remember a few days ago I felt God compel me to go to Dubai very strongly.  I think meeting AB was the reason why.  I didn’t know what he looked like and he didn’t know what I looked like.  Still its not hard to find someone when you are wide eyed and searching for someone.  So AB and I connected and the first question we were both kind of asking each other…was now who are you and why are we meeting?  But we hit it off immediately.  He told me his story.  He is an Indian that was born in South Africa, but then in his formative years his family was exiled and he grew up in Toronto.  Now he lives between Abu Dhabi, India, and South Africa.  AB is a mover and shaker in every sense of the word.  I just immediately like the guy.  I fed off his energy.  Do you remember Gandhi…well most of you that know of Gandhi, know of him from Ben Kingsley’s portrayal in 1982’s Richard Attenborough’s classic Oscar winning film “Gandhi”  Part of Gandhi’s life was spent in South Africa defending the rights of certain Indians.  One of those Indians was AB’s great grandfather.  How cool is that?  Gandhi and AB’s great grandfather were friends.    Wait the coolness factor gets even deeper.  I told AB that one of the reasons why I got into the film industry is because I was so moved by a movie called Cry Freedom, 1987 film about South African Apartheid, starring Denzel Washington as Steve Biko and Kevin Kline as journalist Donald Woods.  That film motivated me and moved me so much, that God spoke to me to go into the industry.  I want to have that type of power to influence and inspire people to change.  The easiest way to change the world is through education.  We aren’t going to send people back to school, so the easiest and most effective way to educate is through the media.  That’s why Im doing what Im doing right now.  When Cry Freedom came out it was largely banned in South Africa for political reasons.  But AB’s father who owns a string of movie theaters took a stand for what he believed in.  He displayed Cry Freedom despite numerous death threats and political repurcussions.  So they displayed the film, one small bomb went off but that’s it.…you can say that the family had something to do with the end of Apartheid.  AB’s family also became very close with Mandela.  Im sure AB and I are going to be working on big big projects in the future.  This indeed was a divine connection.  Im very fortunate that I had the opportunity and pleasure to meet him.  He’s not that old….but very accomplished. 

After the meeting I swung back to get my parents and we were off to Cirque De Soleil.  I love Cirque De Soleil…but had never seen a live performance.  My father treated us to VIP tickets.  They were very expensive…and it sure seemed worth it afterward.  We were in row AA.  So we thought A-Z…then rows AA, BB, CC etc.  So we thought we’d be 27 or 28 rows back.  It didn’t turn out that way.  We were the very first row…dead center.  The absolute best seats in the house.  Almost needless to say…we were all blown away by the performance.  It was absolutely beautiful and quite breathtaking.  The acrobatics that these agile and athletic performers accomplish is simply awe inspiring.  It was a climactic end to a wonderful 10 days with my parents.  It feels nice to have family again.  I have to fly back to Bahrain tomorrow morning at 6 am…to teach my acting class.  They fly back to the U.S. tomorrow at 12.  Our short little mini vacation to Dubai certainly was worth all the effort.  Now my concern is trying to get the massive video mixer I bought in Dubai back on the plane and through customs.  But that adventure is for another blog day.  Fro now…Im basking in the afterglow…of a spectacular day in Paradise.  Only one thing could have made this day better…and that would be to have my kids with me to experience all that God is blessing me with.  But that will happen with time…Im quite certain.