Busy couple of days

What a hectic week this has been... I don't mean that in a bad way, but rather it's been very busy and I've met a lot of people. In fact I thought I'd have more time to write about the trip, but I haven't had the free moments I expected. I guess I'll need to do a summary once I'm back in the states. For now, below are a few key highlights:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Zayed_Mosque

On Wednesday we visited Abu Dhabi to me the rest of the team and visit with a client. While there we took a tour of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque. What an incredible experience. They've been building it for about 10 years and not only is the size of the place impressive, but hand work is amazing. All the flowers on the 1600 pillars or so are not painted but rather rare stones cut and placed into the marble. The marble on the floor is actually imported marble that is naturally cool (and you could physically feel the difference on the it vs off it). It is obvious they don't do things halfway here. I really want to see Notre Dame in Paris now. I have a slides for anyone interested in more photos.


We ate at the Marina Seafood, Jumeirah Beach Hotel on Wednesday. It was about a 5min walk from the beach along a pier to the restaurant that was basically sitting in the gulf. We had a great view of the city and the Burj al-Arab Hotel. The seafood was great. Jen would probably be shocked that I had tuna sashimi (ok, I'm predictable) They have a roof top bar that I bet is a blast in the winter. It was a very pleasant evening despite the dust storm. In fact, I tried taking a picture of the Burj al-Arab and the dust particles reflected back the light. It's a wild picture.

I got a tour of the new Cerner office space. It'll be done by the time I start. It will really add to our presence in this region. I'm excited. Should also help with recruiting. The team in place is very eager to put their stamp on the region as well as Cerner. I think we have a big opportunity to make a difference. I'm ready to start now. Until then, I'll have to enjoy my 25 hrs in the air or in airports tomorrow.

And one last thing.. traffic is going to suck. Way too many buildings and not enough roads. The place is growing faster than the infrastructure. It is an exciting time, but there will definitely be some friction as they learn to be a city.