World Tour 08-09: December 29-30, 2008

The Sand In My Shoes Edition:

Monday, December 29, 2008, was quite the long and eventful day. We started by going to the Madinat Jumeirah complex to do a little shopping and take some photos of the Burj al Arab Hotel (the most famous building in Dubai and probably one of the most famous in the world)


After a couple of hours there, we went back to our hotel to get ready for our Desert Safari that left at 3PM. When the 4x4 arrived to pick us up (along with a nice couple from west-central Illinois and a couple from Pakistan) we were off to the races, literally! Our driver drove like a maniac as we crossed the streets of Dubai. I think we were on 2 wheels on a few of the corners. We all just hung-on and prayed that we’d make it alive. Little did we know that this would be good practice for the crazy driving we would face once we got to the dunes.


Once at the dunes we took a quick break and returned to the 4x4 (reluctantly) and began our four-wheeling adventure. Up the sand dunes, down the sand dunes, along the side of the sand dunes. Every time one of the other vehicles in our caravan spun out or slid down the side of the dunes, our driver (who spoke very little English) would shake his head and say, “tsk tsk tsk”. At one point he even said something to the effect that we were lucky, “those other drivers are from India and Bangladesh, what do they know about sand!?!” I have to say he was right. The boy who was 2-wheeling while talking on his cell phone didn’t do us wrong. (video of part of the ride is embedded in the blog, and linked to Facebook friends – and note that while this part of the ride didn’t look too bad, this was the part that I felt comfortable taking my hand off of the “oh crap” bars).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUCJr7ZZFuM

Once we were finished with the dunes, we went to a desert camp where they fed us some wonderful BBQ, Chris smoked the hookah (or however it is spelled) and gave us a belly dancer show. Walking around in the sand dunes put a great deal of sand in my Pumas (UGH!). And, finally, no trip to the desert would be complete without a nice camel ride.


We made it back to the hotel around 9PM and we crashed as we had to be up early this morning (Tuesday, December 30, 2008) in order to catch our flight to South Africa. The flight was long and uneventful (about 8 hours) and I had a window seat in economy – yep, no Business Class Upgrade for this leg. Hopefully we can make it back. At the time of this writing, I am in the Johannesburg, South Africa airport awaiting our transfer to Cape Town, where we will spend the New Year’s Holiday.

World Tour 08-09: December 27-28, 2008

On our first full day in Dubai, Saturday, December 27, we were both a little jet-lagged but decided to get out and explore a bit. We made our way to the Mall of the Emirates and wondered around. After walking around and finding it to be just about like every mall we have ever been to (complete with a quick lunch at Chili’s) we made our way to Ski Dubai.

Bucket List:
Learn to Snowboard – Check
Visit Ski Dubai – Check

For those of you who do not know, Ski Dubai is a massive (and I mean MASSIVE) indoor ski slope at the Mall of the Emirates. There is a small snow park in the facility where people can play in the snow and ride little bob-sled routes. But that is not what Chris wanted to do. He decided that we should take an hour-long snowboarding lesson. I must have been feeling adventurous – or maybe I was just suffering temporary insanity – but I agreed. After getting on our boots, snow-suit and our snowboard, we made our way over to ski-school to meet our Bulgarian snowboard instructor Emile.


Chris and I were the only takers in the 3PM snowboard class so we had a lot of hands-on instruction, unlike those individuals in the ski-class (which had like 10 people) and it turned out to actually be a good thing - we needed all the help we could get. We learned the basics of snowboarding, like we need to wear gloves (oops, how did we miss that one?), which foot is our strong foot (I’m a “goofy”, Chris is “regular”), and how to ride the little conveyer belt to the top of the bunny hill (which was not fluffy or even a hill – more like the edge of a gigantic gorge!).


This photo actually makes Chris look like he knows what he was doing, but he was really screaming like a little girl and fell down very shortly after

Surprisingly, I realized I’m a bit better of a snowboarder than I expected – but then again, next to Chris I looked like I was ready for the Olympics. We went down the bunny-hill three times with a flat board (meaning not skate-board style, but with our feet straight ahead) and I only fell the final time at the very bottom. By the time our hour was over, I was exhausted but very happy I had the experience. And even have my little certificate of accomplishment. We then went to the grocery store in the mall so that Chris could find some Middle-Eastern Ben-Gay to recover from his many (and I mean MANY) falls on the bunny-hill. Back at the hotel, we made our way to the Club Lounge to have complimentary drinks and appetizers in lieu of dinner and I went back to our room to hit the sack, while Chris went for a short swim. Not a bad way to start the trip.

On Sunday, December 28, we spoke with the receptionist at the hotel who directed us to the new Dubai Mall to look around. The mall is quite extensive and contains a very large aquarium at the entrance. After watching the fish for a few moments, we wandered around for a bit before deciding to visit the Camel Races near the horse track. Unfortunately for us, Sunday was the first day of the Islamic New Year and there were no Camel Races today, so we went to the Gold Souk to look for gifts for friends and family back home.

After spending too much money at the Souk, we came back to the hotel before venturing out for a nice dinner of Shrimp and kabobs at a restaurant called Automatic near our hotel. While walking back to the hotel, we both commented that it was a beautiful evening for a walk (low 70's, slightly breezy), stopped at a gas station for some snacks, and even got propositioned by an Asian hooker (talk about someone who needed to work on her client identification skills). Day 2 also seemed to be a winner!

World Tour 08-09: The Trip Begins

My world tour started with conversations in late 2007 with my friend Chris. We had originally discussed doing a full around-the-world trip, Amazing Race-style, hitting every continent. While this sounds great in theory, it proved to be quite expensive in reality, so we began searching for alternatives. We then decided to fly to Southeast Asia and purchase an Airpass that would allow us a limited number of flights throughout the region to hit as many locales as possible, but this, too, proved to be cost-prohibitive.

Then one day over the summer, my friends Shawn and Verne suggested we just join them for a trip to South Africa over the New Year’s holiday. I honestly did not suspect that Chris would go for the option as he seemed to have his heart set on Asia, but much to my surprise he loved the idea. Unfortunately, Shawn and Verne were unable to take the trip due to schedule and job issues.

The idea for a stop-over happened in the late-summer when Emirates Airlines launched their Airbus 380 service between Dubai and New York. Knowing that they also flew to Johannesburg, I decided to price the trip that would allow us to fly on this new and exciting airliner. Surprisingly, with the layover in Dubai (a location we had planned in the very first version of the trip), the flight was quite a bit less expensive than a direct flight from Washington to Cape Town. With all of these positives, we booked the flight in early-October and waited for the trip to begin.


The official journey began for me at approximately 2:30PM on Christmas Day. I hailed a taxi to take me to Metro Center in order to catch the Bolt Bus to New York. The Bolt Bus is a wonderful way to travel between DC and NYC. The trip took approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes and cost around $20, which is only slightly longer than the Amtrak regional rail and about $50 cheaper. Then I hailed a cab which took me to JFK airport to meet up with Chris.


Upon arriving at JFK Terminal 4, it finally hit me that I was starting my journey into the unknown. As I waited for about 45 minutes on Chris to arrive, I watched as countless people checked-in at the Emirates counter – people from all over the world. I started to get nervous wondering about what I was about to see, what I was about to encounter and thinking of all the potential problems I could face. Chris eventually arrived and we proceeded to the check-in desk.

We were motioned to the empty Business Class check-in line and we gave the nice Emirates employee our passports. Chris began to joke with the gentleman asking, “did our Business Class upgrade come through?” The guy seemed confused for a moment and I explained that he was just joking. A few moments later, Chris’s bag was tagged with a Business Class tag and the Emirates guys said something to the effect of, “Congratulations, you’ve been upgraded.” We looked at our tickets and like a bunch of giggly school girls made our way to the gate thinking we just hit the jackpot.

Because we were complimentary upgraded, we were not allowed access to the Emirates Lounge so we hung around at the gate and I snapped a few photos of the plane from the boarding area (see below) and waited to board. When boarding began, the 450 or so passengers with us began to board and we quickly made our way to our seats on the upper-deck.


Being a coach jockey on American and Delta, with the seldom first-class upgrade, I have never flown in such comfort. First, I was greeted with my own personal complimentary mini-bar filled with water and sodas. I also had complimentary socks, an eye-mask, and a nice toilet kit. Additionally, I had a blanket and Sony noise-canceling headset to use during my trip. Upon take-off, I began to play with my seat that allowed me to recline and, when the time was right, fully lay down flat. I was in heaven!


After a brief delay, we took-off around midnight and the very attentive flight attendants quickly gave me a dinner menu. Per the menu, dinner started with “a selection of cold canapés which included mini goat cheese wrapped in grilled zucchini, California crabmeat roll and smoked duck toast.” As an appetizer, I had marinated prawns served on a crabmeat and avocado tower and for my main course I had a pan-seared filet of beef served on potato mezzaluna and Mediterranean style spinach, accompanied with a rich morel sauce and oven-roasted cherry tomatoes. I ended dinner with a Macadamia nut soufflé with chocolate sauce. Yeah, try finding all that on a flight within the US! After dinner, I took my Ambien and went to sleep watching re-runs of 30Rock on my personal 21 inch HD TV.

I awoke with approximately 2 hours left in the flight as breakfast orders were being taken. Breakfast was just as elegant and began with a beautiful fruit plate and I chose a cheese omelette served with roesti potatoes, sautéed chicken and apple sausages and grilled zucchini. After breakfast, I made my way to the restroom where terrycloth washcloths and complimentary toothbrush/toothpaste allowed me to freshen up for our arrival in Dubai.

We landed at around 9PM local time (12 noon EST) and went through passport control very easily. Upon fetching our bags we grabbed a cab and made our way to the Renaissance Hotel in the Diera neighborhood of Dubai. We had a slight problem upon check-in as they did not have a non-smoking room with 2 beds, so they put us in a room with a King bed for one night and brought me in a roller-bed for the night. While we were checking-in, Chris decided that he wanted to upgrade us to Club Level privileges, which also proved to be a very smart move as it allowed us access to the Club Lounge which serves breakfast, drinks in the evening and gives us complimentary internet there allowing us to easily (and cheaply) email and post to silly blogs.

2008 Year in Review – Part II

April came and went rather quickly. First I made a trek back to Kansas City to see the Mid America Freedom Band perform their spring concert, “In the Mood for that Big Band Sound” which was really good. While I miss the group that I founded, I’m very happy to see them carrying on and being successful without me.

While in Kansas City, I also got to catch up with some old friends, such as Eric and Jay (see below). These are two of the people I miss most about Kansas City – dishing on everything with Eric at breakfast on Saturday mornings at Toto’s, and dishing all the Sprint gossip with Jay. Also, I met up with the old Kansas City Sprint team just in time to attend the “retirement” party for some of folks that were leaving in a voluntary workforce reduction. Poor Sprint… I hear more layoffs are on the horizon.


Upon my return, I had to get ready for the DCDD concert. This concert was a big more involved than our normal concerts due to the fact that Scott, the band’s leader for the previous 10 years, had decided to step aside. The concert was also the event where I was officially named the new Marching Band director for DCDD. With Scott’s departure, the board decided to split the duties of the Artistic Director into a director for Concert Band and one for Marching Band. Little did I know then what trouble lay before me (and yes, Matt Swearman, I’m talking about you!).

Since I was going to be announced during the concert, I went out and bought a new tuxedo for the event. Because I had no clue what to get or where to go, I dragged my good friend Shawn with me. After some half-hearted looking elsewhere, we decided to go with a basic tux from Nordstrom. Throw in buttons, cufflinks, a new shirt, cummerbund and bow tie (that you have to tie yourself), I dropped way too much money – but I look damn good in it! However, it is a bit embarrassing when I had to get daddy-Blake to help me tie it.


In early May, I traveled to Portland, Oregon for the LGBA Board of Director’s Mid-Year meeting. It was a very intense experience and some personality clashes erupted, but it was good to see some of my favorite people and spend some quality time with them. While in Portland, we made a visit up the Columbia River to the falls about 30 miles east of town. I’ve been out there many times, but I loved seeing others enjoy the beauty of the Cascades.


Immediately upon returning from Portland (literally, within hours) we had our first rehearsal of the DCDD Marching Band. I think everyone (including myself) was surprised at the turnout. From what I’m told, it was the largest turnout in many years. Rehearsals continued Monday nights through the end of July and I think my friendships within the band really grew as a result of the activity.


Also in May, I traveled to North Carolina to visit Jinx and Cory and to participate in the North Carolina Pride Band concert. This was the first time I was under the baton of Chris Hankins, the new director there, and could not have been more impressed in her professionalism, kindness to the musicians and organizational skills. Additionally, Kristen Stinnett did a great job as assistant conductor. I’m very happy at the way that band is coming together. And I was even more pleased to spend some quality time with Jinx, Cory, Lisa and Eddie.


June began with the Marching Band getting ready for Capitol Pride 2008. With guests and Band Aides, we marched nearly 40 at the event on Saturday. Even though it rained on our parade, I think everyone had a wonderful time. Then on Sunday we performed at the Arts Stage to great applause. Afterward, we hung out for a while and listened to DC Swing! Play and Lisa Marie and I even shook our tail feathers for a bit.




The rest of June was really devoted to Drum Corps as we got ready for the summer season. More on that in Part III of the 2008 Year in Review!

2008 Year In Review - Part I

I’ve heard what many people have been saying of late, “Why aren’t you updating your blog, Zach?” Well, the truth of the matter is that I’ve been a little busy in 2008. So I thought I’d provide a “year-in-review” for everyone to get up to speed on my goings-on.

Part I: January through March
I started 2008 with wonderful friends in scenic (and rather chilly that time of year) Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. One of my oldest, closest friends, Scott, had come to DC for the holiday and we were invited to the beach by my friends Verne and Shawn.

We spent the holiday in a charming little B&B called The Sea Witch, and landed in their house themed after the 1960’s TV Sitcom Bewitched (specifically, we stayed in the Darin II room). As midnight approached, we ventured out in the rain to a party hosted by friends of Verne and Shawn. The party was quite tame, and midnight came with me giving Scott a big ole kisss. As everyone became more and more inebriated one of the guys wanted everyone to strip down to their underpants. While I was not about to do this, Scott dropped his pants to reveal some hot-pink briefs with white trim. I knew it was time to head out at this point.

On New Year’s Day, we checked out of the B&B and proceeded back to Virginia, with a stop in Dover so that Scott could visit another state capitol building and we went to Best Buy and purchased brand new digital cameras - you have to love “tax-free” Delaware!


Later in January, I made a trip to North Carolina to see Jinx and Cory, with the intention of attending a Carolina Gold Drum & Bugle Corp rehearsal. I wanted to see what this DCA Corp was all about. I ended up meeting a lot of people, learned a great deal about marching and became very excited to become part of this organization’s rebuilding effort. Little did I know how much this event would steer the rest of my year. I won’t mention every single rehearsal for the season, but I ended up going to Rocky Mount for rehearsals 2 weekends a month through Labor Day.

February approached and I got some mind-blowing news at work. My co-worker had decided to take another job outside of the company and Valentine’s Day would be his last day. To say that I panicked a bit would be an understatement. I had dreams about work where my boss kept asking me why I did not know something, and all I could do was stand there silently. In hindsight, this was a wonderful thing for me professionally. The co-worker had been very territorial on the functions of the office and with him gone, I was able to learn a great deal in a very short amount of time. To help facilitate the transition, my boss asked me to attend a Society for International Affairs conference in Miami at the beginning of March.

As the conference neared, I decided to make a weekend out of my time in South Florida. I contacted my friend Chris, who lives in Ft. Lauderdale, and told him that I was coming to town and to get a party together. On Saturday evening, March 1, I celebrated my 32nd Birthday with Chris, his new boyfriend Ken, Adam & John (other friends from Lauderdale - see below) and Chris’s co-worker Dierdra at a wonderful Brazilian steakhouse in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. I stuffed myself and after dinner we headed back to Chris’s for a good night’s sleep. The next morning, we went to one of the millions of “Original Pancake Houses” and then Chris took me to my hotel in Miami to get ready for the conference – which was very good, by the way. I learned a lot about International Traffic in Arms (ITAR) regulations, Technical Assistance Agreements (TAA) and Export Licenses.


March also included Easter Sunday. Shawn, Verne, Larry and I decided to have a nice Sunday Brunch and celebrate the holiday. We went to a charming little restaurant in NW DC called Chef Geoff’s and had a wonderful conversation along with wonderful food. To keep the spirit of the holiday alive, Larry even brought chocolate bunnies for us!


Finally, I closed out the first quarter of the year by attending the LGBA event, Experience the Music, in Indianapolis. It was a great time to spend with lots of friends from around the country and was documented at length on this blog, so I won’t go into details. But it was a wonderful event and one that I hope can continue for years to come.


Stay tuned for Part II, April through June.