Insha'Allah

Sunset over Arabia

And here is what I learn about the Middle East from Jose Fernandez, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs for THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (this is how his business card reads. No, really) : the 15-29 year age bracket accounts for ca. 30% of the population.  Youth unemployment is around 40% and unemployment for those with a university degree is twice as high as those without. This means higher education preparing young people for jobs that do not exist. It is not surprising to learn that, when polled, 80% want to work in the public sector. Already it is around 60%.

Thibault from Astorg and I wade through a number of meetings, lectures, coffee sessions and general riff raffery at the Super Return conference. It must be done. 

Grand Mosque

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

The Grand Mosque can take 40,000 worshippers, making it one of the world's largest. It features 82 domes, over a 1,000 columns, 24 carat gold gilded chandeliers and the world's largest hand knotted carpet. The main prayer hall is dominated by one of the world’s largest chandeliers –10 metres in diameter, 15 metres in height and weighing twelve tonnes. The mosque's first ceremony was the funeral of its namesake, Sheikh Zayed, who is buried at the site. It dominates the skyline, day and night.

There is not one human figure or animal to be seen on the walls nor engraved in the architecture, making it strangely uninteresting to me. The wailing call to prayer both haunting and beautiful.

Abu Dhabi

Emirates Palace, now a 7 star hotel

I am in Abu Dhabi for an investors conference. First time here and an easy observation : hot as hell. And the infrastructure is totally new - the highways and bridges are pristine (no concrete rot so evident on the London flyovers), the hotels and buildings gleam in the sunshine. The men glide through the hallways in white ankle-length thawbs undifferentiated as individuals yet contrasting totally with those around them in modern or western wear. Like ghosts.

Eitan and Madeleine run a 2K road race to qualify for the borough championships only I forget to give them their race day bar code so the effort for not. Stabbing sensation in .. heart . .. Eitan wins his age group, fourth overall; Madeleine in the top 30. Both would have qualified for Team Richmond.

In And Out

Man smokes a fag, Orly Airport

I am home for one night than tomorrow it's the United Arab Emirates and 100 degree temperatures. This raises a question : what to wear? Apparently the Arabs are business formal but not to worry since the buildings and shopping malls kept at near freezing.

I am looking forward to visiting Abu Dhabi and Dubai and checking out the Burj Khalifa but this hardly compensates for missing tomorrow's 2k road race where Eitan and Madeleine aim to qualify for the borough cross country championships.

This evening the kids are at their club swimming championships where Madeleine competes the 200m breast, 100 freestyle and 200 IM. For Eitan, the 200 fly, 200 IM and 100 free. Sonnet and I take the dog for a long walk and now watch junk television, her choice.

L'Equipe

Jean-Hubert

My week with Astorg continues and today we complete a lengthy strategic overview, in French, followed by a 20 km bike ride along beautiful groomed trails overlooking the sea and distant shoreline. There is good camaraderie yet concern about the lack of deal making in France.

Tomorrow I return to London followed by Sunday to the UAE.

The partners each make a brief remark on what they would wish to accomplish during the offsite. Me: "Je suis ici pour apprendre le français."

French Riviera

Ile de Porquerolles

The French Riviera is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France.  It was one of the first modern resort areas which began as a health resort for the British upper class at the end of the 18th century. The water is a pleasant 27 degrees this time of year.

L'Amour

Paris, 8e

Astorg has an LP meeting which puts about $30bn of investment power in one room together. The discussion covers the portfolio, investment pace, team changes - usual stuff. Now we are at Le Mas Du Langoustier on the Ile de Porquerolles in the Cote d'Azur for a bit of team bonding. I am honoured to be included.

The Mall

 Groovy gal

Madeleine and I hit Westfield London which opened in '08 and offers 150,000m² of retail space or the equivalent of about 30 football pitches - the thing is God damn big.  I ask myself : how many styles of trainer can one look at ?

In my day, the closest mall was Hilltop in Richmond, California, which opened in 1976 and built on land previously occupied by the Chevron Oil Corporation tank farm.  There was parking for miles. Christmas lights went up in October and, in 7th grade, I shopped for a gold medallion to go with my feathered hair.  Now, when I consider Hilltop, I think of Dawn Of The Dead where a group of refugees hole up in a shopping complex to escape zombies.

England, as Napoleon famously said, is a nation of shopkeepers. Until Westfield, London's only mall was Queensway which turned-over clothing boutiques catering to mustachioed men and frizzy haired women. No Prada, no Gucci, no Banana Republic but there is a M&S.

Thirteen Candles

For his birthday, Eitan requests a family dinner and 'movie night' (he chooses "40 Year Old Virgin" so, yes, a few perfectly normal awkward moments); we celebrate a day early as I am in Paris, today, his birthday, where I write.

Our Friend, The Frog

Madeleine calls me out, 11PM, for a frog spotting. It turns out we have two frogs, plus a newt, in the backyard pond. This excites me for the springtime: frog spawn.

Alberto (FD, Diageo) and Lucricia over for dinner with their fab three children who are entertained by Eitan and Madeleine, which means hyde-and-seek notable as Eitan and Madeleine hide in the closet beneath the stairs and the door does not open from the inside. They panic so I let them sit for a bit (Eitan reports that Madeleine swears, something I have not heard in maybe five years).

Me: "At netball, out of 40 girls, do you know how many have short hair?"
Madeleine: "One?"
Me: "Pretty cool."
Madeleine: "If you say so Dad."
Me: "Will you ever let it grow out again?"
Madeleine: "Eitan puts, like, gel in his hair to mess it up or comb it over. All I have to do is run my hand through it once."
Me:
Madeleine: "It's easy."
Me: "You bet."

Eitan At 13

Pre cup match

Tomorrow it is official: we will have a teenager in our home.  I recall, some years ago, the kids wide-eyed whenever near teenagers (often spying on them from the window). I would say, most seriously, "whatever happens, don't become a teenager".

And here we are.  Sonnet and I and all of us could not be more proud - more proud - of this quiet, serious boy who is on the cusp of becoming a young man.  His commitment to school, sport and friends is a pleasure to observe.  He is polite and caring, wears his heart on his sleeve, and supports Manchester United despite losing three of four Premiere League games this season so far.

When Eitan born, following a long labour, I watched his first look at the New World (before even a breath).  His eyes searched from one side to the other seeing who knows what ? He was taking it all in before making a decision. This has not changed in 13 years.

Clapham

Battersea Rise

My photo taken less than 100 meters from Clapham Junction rail station, the busiest in Europe, in one of the densest neighborhoods of London.

Netball Action

Defense

Emanuel School takes on Ipstock Place in an exciting back-and-forth thriller that is won by the visitors. Netball new to me and a mix between basketball and ultimate Frisbee - no dribbling.  The girls race across court screaming 'ball!', trying to get inside the opponent's goal box for a shot on basket.

Netball began in England in the 1890s and today there are 60 countries competing in the International Netball Federation. In the UK, girls play from secondary school. It is way competitive.

Our gal plays on the 'A' team.

SKOB

Schacter, Kristoff, Orenstein & Berkowitz or "SKOB" (Kristoff and Orenstein reversed)

I help Madeleine practice her spelling words.
Me: "If you get the next one wrong I am calling your Grandfather."
Madeleine: "You're calling Moe?"
Me: "Spell 'lawyer.' "
Madeleine:
Me: "Moe is a lawyer."
Madeleine: "L.. O. ."
Me: "I'm calling your Grandfather."
Madeleine: "This is why I hate doing homework with you."

Tree Surgeon

Kingston Train Station

Jaime, the arborist who took care of the backyard scots pine, returns to trim the front tree, a holm oak. Jaime's dreamy, too - in shape, deep eyes and rugged unshaven face. Of course he rides a motorcycle. Even our neighbor, Helen, agrees, and she is proper Brit : Reserved.

So Jaime reduces the overhang by 30% yet leaves the job unfinished as he finds a nest with three baby birds that he does not wish to disturb.  I tell Madeleine and she falls in love instantly.

Me: "They really trimmed back the tree."
Madeleine: "Yep."
Me: "So how would you rank a plant?"
Madeline: "Like what do you mean?"
Me: "All creatures great and small.  Would you pick a flowering plant or a mosquito?"
Madeleine: "A flowering plant."
Me: "Thought so."

The Dog Shot

Rusty at the office

Sonnet notes that "getting Rusty made Madeleine happy" but truth is the dog is part of the family and gives us joy and consternation in equal doses.

Today I walk Rusty on the Thames Path - gorgeous Indian Summer - talking business on my mobile, reminding myself not to scream at the dog who gallops into the river after a raft of ducks. Worse, he can't climb up the riverbank as the tide out and the brick edge steep. He follows me for half a mile until he finds some stairs and I am relieved of having to retrieve him from the muddy riverbed.

Self Portrait XXX

Madeleine and I do some shopping in Kingston, since its Monday, visiting Topman and Uniqlo and River Island and Monsoon and and and. .. She's interested in trainers as, is, yours, truly but JD Sport and three other trainer shops leave us flat footed.  Trainers are a big deal for anybody but especially an 11 year old (or 46).  We catch the train home as the sunsets and Madeleine puts her head on my shoulder.

Aggie & Madeleine

At the Opera House

Sunday evening which means family dinner followed by the NFL (me), football (Eitan), bed (Madeleine) and swim-team data entry (Sonnet).  Rusty looks balefully at the remains of a leg of lamb and we have to laugh at his transparency: all the dog wants in this world is a mostly eaten bone.

Lions v Eagles

Halftime breaks

Eitan's Sheen Lions play the Bedfont Eagles FC notable for the pitch's proximity to Terminal 4 and, damn, those planes come in, too. Wham. Wham. Wham. I find it amazing that houses are built so close to the busiest airport in Europe.

The boys lose, 2-0, to a team that is bigger and more physical - the Bedfont goalee looks about 17  and snatches anything that comes within ten feet of the goal box. Eitan gets used to playing mid-field and has a few disruptive plays and a couple of shots on goal that fizzle out. The team still coming together.

Football is followed by more football and I put my feet up to watch the Manchester Darby: ManU v Man City. Eitan records the action since his weekend homework now overdue.

A Small Spec

Moon over Richmond Park

Walking to the train station this morning.
Me: "They really built that house fast. People can do anything when they set their minds to it."
Madeleine: "No they can't."
Me: "Oh?"
Madeleine: "People can't land a plane on the sun. Or eat a mountain."
Me: "Good points. But we can talk on a mobile phone and walk on the moon. That's pretty amazing."
Madeleine: "Yeah, I guess" [Madeleine texts while walking]

Me: "Hey, Madeleine, come and check out the full moon. It's beautiful."
Madeleine goes to the front door: "Where is it?"
Me: "Are you really asking me to help you find the moon?"
Madeleine: "I'm just saying I can't see it."
Me: "If you can't find the moon then there really is no hope for this family."
Madeleine: "Gee, thanks, Dad."