Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Thursday 16th November.
Well, we survived the first day of operations which is good.
The Venue opening was officially at 11am and local media and Press are here to film and report on the opening. We hold a Press conference, the first one, and because no volunteers showed up for the conference area, Michele and I are distributing microphones for the Question and Answer session. Simultanuous interpretation (through headsets) will be available in five languages : Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Russian at future Press conferences but yesterday only Arabic is available. The sound is all over the place; there is feedback from the wireless microphones; the microphones from the stage are not loud enough.
Of my three morning volunteers scheduled from 7am to 3pm, only two show up two hours late. Abdulqader and Mahmood. Two men, 29 years old and 22. However another girl, Mariam, from another section has asked to work with us in the Work Room but she is young (21) and not really well physically, is asmathic and cannot speak english so I don't know if she can really be of help here in the Help Desk. But yesterday she stays with us and I try to train these three none of which speak english very much at all. But Abdulqader is enthusiastics and I find out he has volunteered for the West Asian Games last December (we refer to them as WAG) which were held here as a test event. He also has a great sense of humor and seems happy to do whatever is needed and so I know it will be fun to work with him. Even as I tell them to leave at 2:30pm as I go to change hotels, he offers to come with me to help me move and says: "After we go for Happy Bubbly" as he motions to his mouth. "You don't drink do you Abdulqader?" I ask and he's quick to respond "No, no drinking, Sheesha" and I realise he's talking about smoking; the smoking parlors where aromatic tobacco is smoked through bubbling pipes. It's supposed to give you a bit of a quick or effect. I laugh and answer "Well maybe another day."
Fouzia, is back today as well and Rehab as team leaders just floating around helping where help is needed. Their english is better than all the others so it's a joy to have them around. All the volunteers say that the food is not really good and argue that the food should be Arabic food and not this mix of asian food etc. Fouzia explain what Arab food is and asks me if I want to go eat out with her on Friday. She assumes I have Friday off but of course I don't. Maybe after the Games are over and I know she'll keep me to it.
Nena comes in at 2:30pm as she is working as a PE teacher at Girls school. Nena is Philippino and has lived here with her husband for three years. She was the only female volunteer at job specific training who showed up in casual clothes and not an abayah and her english is good so I'm happy she is eager to work the afternoon-evening shif regularly. She'll be my eyes and ears after I leave the venue in the evenings and I think she can be very efficient.
Lorraine invites us all at 6:30pm to go and have an inaugural drink at the Mirage Bar on venue (which is closing at 7pm) and even if I've said many times: "when in Rome...do like the romans" meaning I would not drink, it's really not a luxury to have a glass of red wine to celebrate our first milestone: Grand opening and first day of operations. Of course, the venue is quite empty so early on but it's a great time to train the volunteeers and start addressing problems on a one on one basis before we get busy.
Then, it's back to Beverly Hills the New accommodation to unpack and freeze all night as the air conditioning is too much. I've tried everythink even to put it on heating but to no avail. I'll try switching it off altogether but in the meantime I feel like I've slept in a fridge and this morning am looking forward to the warm heavy air at 4:30am for my run. The other irony is the total lack of power points in a country over saturated with electrical items, there is no place to plug them in. So, I unplug the lamp to recharge my phone and unplug the TV to dry my hair this morning. The hotel doesn't have powerboards yet but 150 000 are on their way. Inshallah...
Well, we survived the first day of operations which is good.
The Venue opening was officially at 11am and local media and Press are here to film and report on the opening. We hold a Press conference, the first one, and because no volunteers showed up for the conference area, Michele and I are distributing microphones for the Question and Answer session. Simultanuous interpretation (through headsets) will be available in five languages : Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Russian at future Press conferences but yesterday only Arabic is available. The sound is all over the place; there is feedback from the wireless microphones; the microphones from the stage are not loud enough.
Of my three morning volunteers scheduled from 7am to 3pm, only two show up two hours late. Abdulqader and Mahmood. Two men, 29 years old and 22. However another girl, Mariam, from another section has asked to work with us in the Work Room but she is young (21) and not really well physically, is asmathic and cannot speak english so I don't know if she can really be of help here in the Help Desk. But yesterday she stays with us and I try to train these three none of which speak english very much at all. But Abdulqader is enthusiastics and I find out he has volunteered for the West Asian Games last December (we refer to them as WAG) which were held here as a test event. He also has a great sense of humor and seems happy to do whatever is needed and so I know it will be fun to work with him. Even as I tell them to leave at 2:30pm as I go to change hotels, he offers to come with me to help me move and says: "After we go for Happy Bubbly" as he motions to his mouth. "You don't drink do you Abdulqader?" I ask and he's quick to respond "No, no drinking, Sheesha" and I realise he's talking about smoking; the smoking parlors where aromatic tobacco is smoked through bubbling pipes. It's supposed to give you a bit of a quick or effect. I laugh and answer "Well maybe another day."
Fouzia, is back today as well and Rehab as team leaders just floating around helping where help is needed. Their english is better than all the others so it's a joy to have them around. All the volunteers say that the food is not really good and argue that the food should be Arabic food and not this mix of asian food etc. Fouzia explain what Arab food is and asks me if I want to go eat out with her on Friday. She assumes I have Friday off but of course I don't. Maybe after the Games are over and I know she'll keep me to it.
Nena comes in at 2:30pm as she is working as a PE teacher at Girls school. Nena is Philippino and has lived here with her husband for three years. She was the only female volunteer at job specific training who showed up in casual clothes and not an abayah and her english is good so I'm happy she is eager to work the afternoon-evening shif regularly. She'll be my eyes and ears after I leave the venue in the evenings and I think she can be very efficient.
Lorraine invites us all at 6:30pm to go and have an inaugural drink at the Mirage Bar on venue (which is closing at 7pm) and even if I've said many times: "when in Rome...do like the romans" meaning I would not drink, it's really not a luxury to have a glass of red wine to celebrate our first milestone: Grand opening and first day of operations. Of course, the venue is quite empty so early on but it's a great time to train the volunteeers and start addressing problems on a one on one basis before we get busy.
Then, it's back to Beverly Hills the New accommodation to unpack and freeze all night as the air conditioning is too much. I've tried everythink even to put it on heating but to no avail. I'll try switching it off altogether but in the meantime I feel like I've slept in a fridge and this morning am looking forward to the warm heavy air at 4:30am for my run. The other irony is the total lack of power points in a country over saturated with electrical items, there is no place to plug them in. So, I unplug the lamp to recharge my phone and unplug the TV to dry my hair this morning. The hotel doesn't have powerboards yet but 150 000 are on their way. Inshallah...
# posted by AdeC @ 8:46 PM 
