Latent Sexual Imagery in Asian Games Billboards

Is it just me in my Freudian way of thinking or is there an image of "something sexual" in this picture?

Here, I have highlighted it so you can see it better.

Do you want to see the picture again to make sure that is REALLY what you saw???

So what is it a picture of really? In this closeup, you can see that it is, as officials of the Asian Games told me, a participant in the sport of Taekwondo bowing to an opponent in a building sized billboard for the 15th Asian Games in Qatar.

I need a girlfriend...

I need a girlfriend who can do...

that...

...and that...

...and THAT!

More Asian Games billboards in the "conservative" Muslim country of Qatar.

Items I bought at the SIAO 2006 in Burkina Faso

My Jello, NO, MY JELLO!

At the SFS-Q Faculty and Staff dune trip, Ed and Margaret fight over who gets jello, FIRST!

Two men hugging in Qatar?

No...just a billboard for the 15th Asian Games showing two men participating in the sport of wrestling.

If a car can do it, why can't a bus?

Half on the road, half in the sand...NICE!

Why sit in traffic (like I did), when you can drive through parking lots and through the sand??

Qataris tend to take care of their cars, except when they need to 4 wheel drive off parking lots into the rubble and the sand next to the road with all the traffic.

Everytime you fill your car up with gas in America, Qatar turns on another lightbulb

This is a picture of the Aspire Stadium. They are testing the lights and light show for the 15th Asian Games. This photograph was taken in the lighted parking lot of the Villaggio Mall next to the Carrefour Supermarket entrance.

Herbert H. Heebert: Hey, lady!

After a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat at David and Mohana's, I went to the Legends bar in the Rydges Hotel.

A lovely lady bought me a gin and tonic that came with a swizzle stick. Thank you lovely lady!

Herbert H. Heebert: Hey, lady!

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head...In the Desert

Raindrops on the brick sidewalk in front of my place. Rain in the desert..RARE.

GO FLY A KITE!

I like flying kites, especially on trips with my family to Ocean City, Maryland. With plenty of open sandy space and wind, Qatar is great for flying kites. The quality and selection of kites you buy in the stores here is not that good though.

If you like their driving, you'll love their parking...THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!!

Two, count them, two cars PARKED in the driving lane of the parking garage. Can anyone get out of the parking garage...NO! IDIOTS!

Gin and Tonic

My new drink of choice is a Gin and Tonic. Tonic Water contains quinine. Quinine is used to help prevent malaria in places like Africa (where I just was).

Another reason I drink Gin and Tonics is that I love swizzle sticks.

Another Use for Glow Sticks

I found another use for Glow Stick bracelets.

Before I left DC this summer, my sister gave me some Glow Sticks that you can bend and connect to make into necklaces and bracelets.

I brought a few with me to Club Qube. All the women in our party wanted to wear the Glow Stick bracelets. They thought they were the coolest thing, which proves another Animal Planet theory: Females of the species Homo Sapien sapien love bright sparkly/glowy things. They thought I was the coolest guy for bringing the bracelets to the club.

So, the other use for Glow Stick bracelets....is that you can keep track of all the hotties in the club you gave bracelets to. Like Meredith said, "It's like a GPS for hotties."
Below is Meredith...HOTTIE!!!

I must be a funny guy

At Qube, Gaby and Dana laugh at something I said.

Qube

All the singles went out this past weekend to a club in Doha called Qube (Since Qatar begins with a Q, many businesses begin with the letter Q. For example, Qtel is the telecommunications company.). It is associated with the Ramada Hotel, but t has it own entrance. Cover charge for men is 60 Riyals, women are free. When you pay the cover, you get two drink tickets, so the cover isn't that bad. Definitely go with a mixed group of men and women, that way you get access to the ladies couples VIP section upstairs. The Qube Club has potential. They have a band that isn't bad and three midriff-baring Asian singer/dancers, but they need a good DJ, if they are going to get patrons who want to come to the club to dance.

Excuse, me...Explorer Company???

Shave and a Haircut...Two Bits

15 Qatari Riyals, actually ($4.00 USD)

People wanted to see what I look like without a beard and moustache. Well, now they know. Some of my friends and ex-girlfriends don't even know what I look like without a moustache and beard.

I went to a barber who shaved me with clippers and a straight razor. Don't worry. I am growing the beard and moustache back immediately.

I haven't been beardless since 1996. My Grandmother McCann would want me to stay clean shaven, because, as she says, I look so handsome without all the facial hair.

Truth in Advertising

Spagetti with cheese and BACON

After living in Qatar where there is no pork products, this was fantastic spagetti.

There is always room for ice cream!

Ice Cream in Burkina Faso was fantastic.

Why drink water, when you can drink the local beer.

If you drink the local water in Burkina Faso you will probably get sick. If you drink the local beer there is no such problem....Flag Beer (not their real slogan).

McDonald in Burkina Faso

No, not McDonald's...McDonald...with Donald Duck as their mascot...

Two US tradmark infringements in one restaurant in Burkina Faso.

Depot de Liqueurs

Domes de Fabedougou

Sandstone weathered by water and wind.

Hippos in Burkina Faso

This is as close as you want to get.

The Natural Waterfall of Banfora

Sacred Crocodiles of Sabou

Sara Yamaka on the back of one of the sacred crocodiles of Sabou. The reason the crocodiles are sacred and venerated is that legend states that a crocodile saved a villager from drowning in the history of the people of this area of Burkina Faso.

They are so sacred that anyone caught killing a crocodile will be put to death.

Dancing in Tenado

Peace Corps volunteer Sara dancing with some children of Tenado in Burkina Faso.

Riding a Moto in my Casual Adventure Shirt

A moto with a 50cc engine with me riding and my gear on the back. A little bit of a step down in power from my motorcycle back in the US, but the moto gets you were you need to go and you can feel the wind and scenery rushing past you.

Goat Meat at the Market

Fresh goat meat.

Buses used for transport in Burkina Faso

Buses are used in Burkina Faso to transport people, motos, and goods. Check out the goat tied up on the roof of this bus. That is how the goat is going to get to market.

Mosquito Net Patches

In order to patch holes in a mosquito net, use the "Handyman's Secret Weapon" - Duct Tape!

John cruising on a moto in Burkina Faso

The Adventure in Burkina Faso begins

Self-portrait while riding a moto (moped or scooter) in Burkina Faso. Shouldn't both hands be on the handlebars, Ed??? Uh, Yes...D'oh.

So did we get our visas for Burkina Faso????

We arrived at the airport in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on Monday October 23rd at 2:30am and there was a "Visa Section" permanent desk in the airport. So, US citizens can get a visa at the airport in Ouagadougou...BUT, you have to fill out the forms, give two passport sized photographs, and 10,000 CFA (Burkina Faso money). We would have to leave our forms, photos, and our passports at the visa section of the airport when we arrived on Monday and come back and pick up our visas in the afternoon on Tuesday and pay...

First wrinkle:
John and I had photos, Sara did not. So we would have to go and have Sara get her picture taken and then she could apply for a visa.

Second wrinkle:
John's friend, Elizabeth, who works for the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso arrived at the visa section desk and talked to the officer. She mentioned that we were leaving Monday morning at 8am on a bus headed to Koudougou to get to her village of Tenado. She didn't want us to hang around Ouagadougou waiting for our visas. So, she talked to the officer at the visa section and he said that as long as we had our receipts with the official stamp (the officer at the visa section desk gave us officially stamped receipts), we were OK to leave the airport and come back for our visas and passports.

To make a long story short (too late), we travelled around Burkina Faso and returned to Ouagadougou on Friday October 27th. Sara had passport photos taken in Koudougou. So we went straight from the bus station to the airport and dropped off the photos and paid the visa fee. We were told to come back Sunday afternoon on October 29th and the visas would be processed. We still had our officially stamped receipts, so we could still travel around the country.

Sunday morning John and Sara woke up early and ran errands. They were to the airport and the visas were ready to be picked up. They picked up their visas, but becuase they didn't have my receipt they couldn't pick up mine. So they came back to the hotel and told me they had gotten their visas and now we were going to get mine.

When we got to the airport, I walked up to the "Visa Section" desk and handed the woman behind the counter my receipt. She saw John and Sara behind me. The only question she asked me was: "Where were you before?" I said: "Sleeping."

So she handed me my passport with my visa stamped inside (see above).

We finally all received our visas by 10am Sunday October 29th. We were scheduled to leave Burkina Faso at 3:20am Monday October 30th.

Our visas were valid for seven days, from October 23rd. When John tried to leave Burkina Faso, the visa guard told him the visa was expired. John explained that the visa expired at midnight Tuesday October 31st... seven days (if you don't count the 23rd) 23, 24, 25 26, 27, 28, 29...uh 30 (eight days, if you count the 23rd). The guard let John leave the country.

So the answer is YES, US citizens can get visas for Burkina Faso at the Ouagadougou airport, but mostly so that they can leave the country not enter it.

Bitburger Beer, free of alkhool

Beer Without Alkhool???...OH, alcohol!...D'oh!