Jeddah - Red Sea

You guys need to see pictures of me snorkeling in the red sea! I got baked, but it was a blast.



Next I like,




And finally, because I was snorkeling and not diving, some of the money shots:



I enjoyed the Red Sea. Those are my very limited snorkeling pics, but it was quite an adventure.

Pfew!

Sometimes I'm not that organized, add to that my uncle dying and I flat out screwed up. Over the last three months I had racked up 3 different late fees on the 2 of the four credit cards that I have.

Don't do what I did and let your payments slip away from you. I remember checking on the accounts, but somehow screwing up.

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, remember that your credit card accounts are very negotiable. The credit card companies spend $300 to $500 just to get your business, so don't give up too easily. I wracked up $117 in late fees over the last two months. That's two to a citibank account and one to an american express account. In the American express case, I went through a rep. who couldn't help me, because I had already incurred a late fee six or seven months ago. The supervisor was happy to help me though.

In the second case, with citicard, I almost went straight to an account exec., and they were happy to waive two late fees to keep me. In the end, they'd much rather keep you than get new business, and if you're like me, you'd much rather stay than find a new card, so try to work something out and remember that you have plenty of power in the transaction.

I saved $117 in less that 20 minutes. Look, it wasn't a great spot to put myself in. And I did thank both these companies for their willingness to work with customers, but paying off late fees is not something you should consider standard fare. If you are a good customer, defend your status and work from there.

Saudi Photos

Not much to say. Going to Jeddah this weekend and hope to have fun stories when I come back. Here are some photos a friend of mine took. Photos are moderately taboo here. They don't want you taking photos of cool buildings for terrorism fears, and it's sort of immodest to take pictures of Saudis you don't know. But my friend is braver than I, and a better photographer.

The two types of traditional Saudi male garb, the white headress and the checkered red:



All dressed up with no place to go. Saudi women have to cover everything, but their eyes. Other Arab women can get away with the black abaya (cloak covering their bodies) and a wrap around their hair. And western women can usually get away with just the abaya.



Austerity:



Always and everywhere, kids are adorable.

Phone Number Dictation

One of the interesting things about traveling are the little cultural differences.

In America, we dictate a number with a certain cadence: XXX-XXX-XXXX

In Saudi it's, XXX-XX-XX-XXX

Internship

Haven't blogged about it yet, but I've got a great internship here with an investment bank called ICT Global. The company has raised capital and has prospective clients, but they are still going through the process of getting the proper licenses from the Saudi government. I'm learning a lot about valuation in emerging markets, and hopefully bolstering my skill set with some practical finance knowledge. Here's the text I've been using.

Dir'iyyah

A few days ago, Mark and Debbie (my friends and neighbors) took me to "Old Riyadh" also known as Al-Dirah. The town was founded in 1446, but reached its peak in the 18th century, until the Ottoman Empire sacked the city in 1818.

I got some great pictures:




The city wall:




Here is a giant Saudi flag. They are creating a tourist spot here. Between the flag and me, there is a valley where tradition has that Mohammad ibn Abdul Wahhab is burried. Wahhab's created a very conservative sect of Sunni Islam that still has a great influence over Saudi Arabia today. Wahhabism is linked to both the Mutawwa (religious police) and terrorism. The relationship between Saudi Arabia and conservative Islam is complex. Abdul Aziz used the Wahhabi religious fighters (Ikhwan) to consolidate his power in Saudi Arabia (1920s). Later, when they revolted accusing him of religious laxity, he got permission from the religious council to slaughter them (1930). Abdul Aziz renamed the region Saudi Arabia and appointed himself King (1932). Saudi Arabia was still a backwater fighting wars on the backs of camels, then in 1938 oil was discovered and the country was changed forever.




Here is a great picture of Debbie and me. We are inside the city with the wall behind us.

Memories of Gene

A Wonderful Slide Show of Memories of Gene:

Here is Gene's obituary.