fire!

So, yesterday along with the usual chaos of preparing to open a hotel, we had a little extra (unwanted)  excitement. A few of us were in the office yesterday afternoon, when one of the receptionists yelled something..I wasn't sure what she said exactly, because it was in arabic, but it sounded sort of urgent, so I ran out of the office with the others to see what was going on. When we got to the reception area, there was thick black smoke coming out of one of the light switches- at first just a little, but it after a few seconds it got worse...then flames started leaping out of the switch! I'm no electrician, but I could tell that something was not right! Suddenly, someone came running down the hallway and into the office with a fire extinguisher and sprayed it on the flames and put the fire out- which was the good news....the bad news was that now the entire office and everything in it- (furniture, computers, our hair, our clothes, our mouths) were covered with the fine powder from the extinguisher. It looked like it had snowed inside- it was a huge mess! We were able to find another spot to work, but it took a cleaning crew most of the afternoon to get rid of the stuff.

After that, I went to look at apartments again. I wasn't happy with the broker from last week (the car accident etc) so I called a new agency to see if they were better.  As we drove to the area where I was meeting the new guy, my co-worker, Sean, joked that wouldn't it be funny/awkward if I ran into Mohamed (the other broker) while I was with the new agent!! Welllllll..I'm sure you can guess where this is going!!! Sean's driver stopped the car outside the designated meeting spot, and suddenly Sean said, "quick hide, it's Mohamed!" I thought he was kidding at first, but there he was, walking right towards us! (In a city of 18 million people, what are the odds!!?? This isn't Victoria!)  I was sitting in the back, so I dove behind the seat and didn't put my head up till Sean said it was safe.... he seemed to be gone, so jumped out of the car and went to meet the new guy...Sean's driver (also called Mohamed) came with me so I wouldn't have to wait alone....suddenly, Mohamed (the driver) said, quietly... "um...Miss Catherine... Mohamed coming!" CRAP!! So Mohamed #1 and I turned quickly away and pretended we were looking at jewelry or something in a shop window till Mohamed #2 had passed....Mohamed #1, thought this whole situation was just hilarious!  Thankfully Moh'd #2 he didn't see us, and he left before I met the new guy. I know I shouldn't feel bad, I don't have a contract with him and as I joked to Sean "I'm allowed to see other people!", but knowing Mohamed #2, he would have made a HUGE deal out of it.....so, I was glad to avoid the awkwardness for at least another day. Sadly, I didn't really like the apartments or the new agent.  

(You might have noticed that a lot of people here are called Mohamed. It is a very popular name for muslim boys because he was one of their prophets. Without exaggeration, I would say that 50% of muslim men here are Mohameds)

Okay I should go, it's only 7pm but I'm tired! 

Miss you all! 

C