I can say that I’ve been waterskiing in the Persian Gulf. I was in Abu Dhabi on Saturday and Sunday (I would say the weekend but everyone works here on those days) and the hotel I stayed at offered waterskiing for about $20. The boat looked decent and it had a 135HP outboard motor so I didn’t think it would be a problem. It was pretty windy and there were whitecaps on the water. The driver thought I was crazy for going skiing when it was that choppy but I figured it would be my only chance to waterski this year so I had to take advantage. Unfortunately, 30 seconds into the ride, the motor died. This happened 3 times and finally we gave up. Hopefully I’ll get back to Abu Dhabi when they have their boat fixed. Besides waterskiing, I didn’t have any free time. We did drive by the biggest mosque I’ve ever seen, the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque. I haven’t been to the Taj Mahal, but I was with someone who has and they were more impressed with the mosque, even though the Taj was built over 350 years ago.

From the local newspaper…”Pakistani Sorcerer in Police Custody (June 19, 2007) Kuwait: Hawally police arrested a Pakistani expatriate in connection with sorcery in which the man would cast spells for a fee of KD 3000 (US $10,800). Police raided the man’s flat and the ‘sorcerer’ threatened to harm the police by using his magical powers but police still arrested the man (how brave) and he was referred to the authorities. During interrogations, he confessed that he executed over 70 magical spells and mostly Kuwaiti and expatriate women were his customers.” Along those same lines, I heard that an astrologer predicted the cyclone that hit Oman a couple of weeks ago. It’s very rare for cyclones to hit in this area so the police arrested the astrologer but later let him go. The reason…the cyclone didn’t do too much damage. Strange place, the Middle East.

I am looking into places in the area to go on vacation. I am planning a trip to Jordan to see Petra, the setting for the last scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Dubai, and Egypt. If you know of any other good places to visit, shoot me an email.

I am friends with this Italian guy who last week started telling me about a machine he invented to wash dogs. It’s similar to a car wash but on a smaller scale. He sold the drawings and specs to a business man who has since franchised the idea and I guess they are all over Italy and Spain, though I have never seen them. He had a bunch of pictures and it looked like a pretty simple machine. I’ve looked on the internet but couldn’t find anything. This guy was pretty passionate about his invention though. If anybody is looking for an investment opportunity, I can put you in touch with Guillermo.