July 20th, 2011

Great news of the week…Brad and I have a following. Our posse is made up of a large group of Phillipino workers in a sandwich restaurant in the DIFC. We discovered a new place called Potbelly-which is a Chicago based sandwich shop. We loved it so much we found ourselves going multiple times a week on our lunch break. Because we were so frequently attending the workers began to recognize us. This recognition is now to the point where they know us by name and know whether or not we miss a day at Potbelly. Yesterday when we went in and a group of them began beaming from ear to ear and said, “Brad and Braden! We have been expecting you!” The manager of the restaurant, who is not usually there, turned around and said, “So these are the twins that everyone is always talking about!” So ladies and gents…I have a following. Next step…our hopeful attempt to get free food for us “twins.”

It’s been a while since I last man-blogged. I now have about 3 weeks under my belt at the Dubai Financial Market, and to be honest it’s been a lot of fun. I have been able to be kept really busy there doing a lot of things that have kept me really involved. I created an invitation/announcement for a corporate event in September. I have attended numerous meetings with the joint marketing team from DFM and NASDAQ. Also, I have just started a project making an “Auction Packet” which will compile information that DFM will use to auction off vacant offices on the trading floor to brokers. Everyday they have something for me to do that is actually important…it’s nice knowing that I am not an office slave as the intern stigma usually goes.

Last weekend I went to Wild Wadi-a waterpark right next to the Burj Al Arab (the famous ‘sailboat’ hotel). We were able to get in for a discount through Brad’s cousin Matt, who works there. We had a good time. The rides at Wild Wadi were actually a lot more fun than Atlantis’ were. However, the next day my eye started getting a little puffy. It continued to get worse so I decided to visit a pharmacist. Apparently I received some type of eye infection from either the waterpark, or the humid dirt-filled air. I bought some medicated eye drops and 3 days later the puffiness has finally recoiled.

I spoke last week in church. I was given the topic of the “Importance of Temples.” I always enjoy giving talks or teaching lessons in church, and this time was no different. I figured they would catch me at some point anyway to give a talk-being the new guy in the ward. I was surprised it took them this long to be honest. Funny how Mormons are always the same no matter where you go-they always prey on fresh meat to participate! Funny.

That’s all for now folks. Three weeks from tomorrow I will be back on a plane-for better or for worse, haven't decided yet.

A few more facts:

-Time and time again I am corrected on how to "properly" spell certain words or refer to objects. "Favourite" instead of favorite"/"realised" instead of "realized"/"Crisps" instead of "chips"/"lifts" instead of "elevators." Thanks be to my English friends who think we Americans have perverted the English language.

-Here in Dubai they have a blinking green light before a light turns yellow-to warn you of the yellow light. It's actually a good idea.

-Gas is at about $1.40 a gallon here. It costs 100 durhams to fill up the Jaguar we are driving-which is $27.00-not too shabby!

-Whenever we mention being from the States EVERYONE knows New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. Those are, by far, the top 4 cities mentioned. All want to go to America as well. Whenever we say we are from Utah we just say it's close to Vegas and they know the general area.

-No one knows Utah...but most know Salt Lake.

July 11th 2011

Hello Americans. I hope you all had a great 4^th of July last week! I will say I don’t get homesick too often…but I did miss being home for that day. It has always been my favorite holiday next to Halloween. It was the first 4^th of July I have not been able to celebrate (as the mission was still in the States). But you know what? I made do! I wore a red, white, and blue tie and made sure everyone in the office knew it was an important day for us Americans. Many of them, however, already knew. One lady named Mansi (who is like mine and Brad’s office mom) even bought us cookies for it! She is great.

I began interning at the Dubai Financial Market last week. I received a great welcome from the employees there. They are all really great. The difference between the DFM and Nasdaq Dubai is Nasdaq is made up of mostly ex-pat employees, whereas the DFM since it is the domestic trading company in Dubai, is made up of Emirati employees. I am the only American/non Muslim-and I kind of like it. The Call to Prayer song plays through the office at around 12:30 pm, and I am the only one, besides two or so others, that does not wear a Jilbab or Hijab (the Muslim robes). I have had all sorts of Arabic food in the office when they bring food in-most of which is pretty good. I had some sort of fish last week-which was bomb! Loved it. Lebanese food, however, is still my favorite.

I was given a tour of the DFM and was able to walk on the trading floor there. Of course it is much smaller than the New York exchange floor, but it was really cool to see. I even walked up to the top where they ring the bell, I was tempted to ring it myself (Maybe when my time here is almost up!). I work under a guy named Chadi (Marketing), and two women, one named Shirose Osmon (Vice Pres. Corporate Communications and Business Development) and Fahima Abdulrazak Al Bastaki (Senior Vice President and Head of Business Development). All of them have been great to work with so far, and I have already learned a lot. My projects right now include proofing and revamping the DFM website (which actually needs A LOT of work), and creating the invitations and announcements (layout/print/design) for a corporate event being held in September. I was able to attend a Joint Marketing meeting with my “Masters” from Nasdaq and also my new “Masters” from DFM. It was cool to be able to see them all in action to increase the Marketing, Communication, and strengthen the Business Development for the two exchanges.

Yesterday I experienced my first sandstorm. It was pretty legit. It looked like heavy brown fog. It engulfed the whole city and caused quite a mess for the cars and buildings. Still no sight of rain or any precipitation of any kind whatsoever. I am still praying for some rain to come around.

All in all I am having a great time here and learning a ton. I am down to only a month left, and hope that I can continue to make the most of my time here. I think I am going to miss this place when my time here is up.

Glasses?

The more and more I stare at a computer screen the more and more I get headaches. I am pretty sure this could be indicative of a slight need for glasses. Getting old? Maybe. Getting my dad's genes? Even more likely. It might be pretty depressing if I am the first of the Bacher kids to need eye aid.

July 3rd 2011

I had quite the weekend in another far away land. The land of Oman was not initially the most welcoming place in the world, but over a couple of days I was able to appreciate the place. We left Wednesday night on Swiss Airlines and arrived at a decent hour. We made our way to the Visa check-in and had a financial mess. The Oman Int’l airport is much smaller than the Dubai airport. We took a taxi to our hotel, the Ramee Guestline, which was marketed as a four star hotel…and we found later is probably not so. Call me spoiled.

We checked in and crashed, by this time it was getting late. However, at 3:00 in the morning screaming and yelling woke us up. Apparently there was a fight in the hallway near our room. Glass breaking and the pounding of hotel room doors followed the yelling and fighting. I jumped out of bed to see what was going on. I attempted to look out the peephole but was unable to see anything. I just went back to bed and tried to sleep it off. A few minutes later the yelling began again. Again, I forced myself back to sleep. Eventually it was morning.

This was the first day of no plans. It was great to actually sleep in. Brad and I ordered room service (since we had no other food to have) and then went to the beach. The water of the Indian Ocean is really warm. It reminded me a lot of the Gulf of Mexico. We relaxed there and caught some rays. A group of Indians (not sure if they were actually Indian or Sri Lankan or other) came up to us and asked if they could get a picture with us. We obliged and let them get about four pictures. Still not sure what it was for, but they were grateful and went on their way. Following the beach we took a tour of the city with our taxi amigo Ali. Ali is the taxi driver that gave us a ride to our hotel from the airport. He loves Americans and gave us his card and told us he would be more than happy to take us around to see all the sites of Muscat. So we called him up. He took us to the Grand Mosque, the Sultan’s palace, old city Muscat, the Muscat Souk, and finished off the night letting us grab some McDonald’s. I took it back to the hotel and crashed while watching Harry Potter on our less than glamorous hotel room TV.

Friday morning arrangements were made to attend church. We attended the Oman branch -which had a booming total of 20 members in attendance-and 6 of us were out of town visitors. Church is held for only two hours. It was a nice humble church though. We were welcomed and treated as if we were members of their branch. Some even commented on how we were “normal” Utah Mormons. After church the branch got together at one of the member’s homes for lunch. We stayed and hung out all day until it was time to head to the airport that night.

We arrived safely back in Dubai at around two in the morning. It was funny because I felt relieved that I was “back home.” Oman definitely is more rugged and middle-eastern than the UAE is. It was nice to be back to some civilization.