kampala - dubai - beirut

"bienvenue a liban!" - greetings from beirut, lebanon!

in a bit of a blur, i left kampala on friday afternoon, arrived in dubai in the middle of the night, and spent two whirlwind days in the city with sindhu, my good friend from b-school, and dianne and mario gagne, my former colleagues from CDNIS in hong kong. since i went to dubai last year, i have no photos to show from my weekend. the evidences of an amazing time: an expanding waistline (most likely - the food was delicious!), bags under my eyes from lack of sleep, and a sore throat from talking non-stop for two days :)

dianne and i talked a lot about hindsight, and how often it is that while we do not understand why we are in a current situation or life circumstances, that reasons often reveal themselves later on. really, there are never any wrong decisions or missed opportunities - the saying is really true, where one door closes, another one opens. (i hope that is the right saying - for a native english speaker, i am terrible with my idioms.)

during my first year at university at queen's, i had a moment where i seriously questioned whether biochemistry and con-ed were right for me, and contemplated switching into commerce. what deterred me was having to repeat first year in the commerce program, as none of my courses would transfer. while an added year seems like a silly reason not to transfer, since i was doing five years at queen's anyways in the con-ed program, in hindsight, my life would have been radically different if i had never become a teacher. the experiences at uxbridge and in hong kong have dramatically shaped who i am as a person... and the people whose paths i have crossed have changed my life forever. hindsight is 20/20, as they say.

now, i am sitting in our MENA regional office across from my dear colleague, nisrine! beirut is an interesting city (the little i have seen of it). the driving is intense, and as a pedestrian (i walked to the office this morning) you must to cross the street in a similar matter to hanoi (walk slowly, don't look up, don't exhibit doubt). it is cool here - i am finally wearing the jacket that i muled all around subsaharan africa. more observations to follow in the coming days!