Hester's Head

Who knew it would be so cold here? I was here in the summer of 2002 and was shocked at how hot it could get. With the humidity around 60% the humidex would be near 60. Air conditioners were set at 28 and that would feel cold. Now I'm back in the winter of 2006 and it is cold. The average daily temperature is supposed to be 20, but this is a cold year. It might've hit 20 a few times. I read the papers and it has been below zero in some places in the Middle East. The cold snap was newsworthy. I still wore shorts, except when I visited a mosque, but I carried a light fleece top with me. And probably wore it at some point every day.
Even more newsworthy was the Hajj. So was Saddam, but I'm sure you saw the same news coverage, cell phone video, uproar, demonstrations, that I did. But the Hajj was something else again. It is the yearly expedition of pilgrims to Mecca. Almost 3 million made the trip this year. If you are not familiar with it, look it up on the Internet and try to find some info and some pictures. There were sections of the paper dedicated to the Hajj, and I watched 24 hour live coverage in my hotel room. Masses of people, masses of tents - almost total silence. It is a weeklong affair with an itinerary that I would love to experience. I know so little that I cannot do it justice. It is one of the five tenets of Islam - everyone is supposed to do the Hajj once in their lifetime. If you are physically and financially able to participate you are supposed to. You can't borrow money to do the Hajj. People wear two pieces of seamless white cloth so that all rank and class are removed. You are not to wear jewellery, because not all people can afford jewellery. The Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca is stunning. There are semi-permanent tent cities built to house the pilgrims - pictures of that are amazing as well. Tents fill valleys. The logistics behind it must be incredible. I look at the pictures and wonder how I would be able to do it. Where would I get my two pieces of cloth? Where do I sleep, where do I eat, drink, go to the bathroom? Where am I supposed to be today? How do I get there? Where do I go next? Can I hire a guide? Somebody help me. It's seems to be quite the life-changing experience. After visiting and touring a mosque and spending 10 days in the UAE I have learned some of Islam. I will attempt to share what I've learned. In bits and pieces. Of course.

Our second patrol was conducted entirely in the Central Arabian Gulf. Home to plenty of oil platforms and LOTS of sea snakes. I saw dozens of very small ones and a few larger ones. As we conducted boardings and approaches every day my guys spent a lot of time closed up on the bridge wings with video and digital cameras - for operational purposes, not my purposes. They knew I liked sea snakes and wanted pictures of them. Here's what they got:

[align=center][/align]

[align=center][/align]

[align=center][/align]

[align=center][/align]

Is that awesome or what? I love 'em, who doesn't want a sea snake of their own? They look so fat and slippery; don't you just want to grab them? Except that I'm imagining that it would turn around and sink its teeth into my hand. I wouldn't like that.

The rest of my Dubai blog is done. It’s just that it’s very long at about 13 pages and 55 pictures. Maybe I should post it in serial format.