More Rocco and Johanna's Burger

I am now back in Oxford after apporx 3 weeks abroad working in the Africa and the Middle East. The first two destinations were Casablanca in Morocco followed by Johannesburg in South Africa.

Nokia put Tim and I up in the Hotel Le Zenith which was basic but fit for the purpose and when not working with the nice people in the Casablanca office, we would enjoy a Casablanca beer while watching the last few matches of the World Cup.

It took quite some time to adjust to Morocco, perhaps the entire time I was there. It is a strange mix of exotic Arabic, French suarve infused with foul smelling body oder. The taxi drivers are extortionists and the roads are devoid of rules making the regular sight of a donkey and cart on the free way an appealing transport option.

My girlfriend Tory made an 11th hour detour on her flight to Dublin via Paris on Friday 6th to come to Casablanca and stay with me for the week. I was a bit stressed out about having her cruising around Morocco solo while I was at the office but after our first weekend of sightseeing we felt comfortable that she would be fine. She even made it as far as Marrakesh for a day trip which is a 45 degree celcius oven at this time of year.

Tory had her birthday on Friday the 14th and it would have been nice to have had the weekend together but sadly I could not avoid having to fly to Joburg via a marathon flight to Madrid on the 13th. Thus she also left for Dublin on the 13th and has been making steady progress settling in there since.

My time in Joburg was less pleasurable because I was alone in a guesthouse (named the 'House of Pharoahs' and yes I feel somewhat entombed there...) and my travel was restricted in Joburg which is still one the world's most dangerous cities. It came as a real eye opener to me. Thankfully friends of friends responded to the call and took me out during the week, first to a fundraiser for sky divers and then to an Irish Pub. I also made it out to a Lion Park on my last weekend in Joburg which was quite good fun.

Nokia offices in Joburg are in the Campus, a vast secure corporate compound in the suburbs (the CBD has been overrun by violent criminal gangs). It looks more like a secondary school or university campus than a business estate and the developer must have been a sports nut because each building is named after a famous Tennis, Cricket, Golf, Football or Rugby venue. Hence I can say that I was working in Roland Garros, adjacent to the Gabba.

The next leg after Joburg was Dubai but I will save that for my next update.

Cheers,
Doug.