I am guest-writing this week on the road in the middle East. Over the next seven days I will be traveling to Riyadh and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Dubai (U.A.E.), and Istanbul (Turkey). I am travelling with my colleague Hammam Amaireh, who is the regional sales manager for the Middle East and lives in Riyadh. Hammam is Jordanian and quite comfortable in travelling around the gulf countries. We are the same age and have come to be quite good friends.

What type of job takes me to such places? I am the marketing manager for the Water Treatment business in Pentair, Inc. Specifically, the WT groups specializes in manufacturing equipment for the treatment of potable water supplies. Filtration and softening are our two largest applications. Applications range from small under-sink drinking water systems to pre-treatment in major seawater desalination plants around the world. The latter is why I am in Jeddah. We have exprienced tremendous growthin the gulf coast countries as they look to invest the oil profits into public infrastructure, like seawater desalination. It's an excting and important business as freshwater supplies are depleted and the population in developing markets expands.

Jeddah is a large coastal town very near to the holy city of Mecca. Every year some 3 million people pass through Jeddah for the Hajj. It is a desert town and in many ways reminded me of Pheonix. Lots of new construction, but you could still see evidence of a town that existed befor the boom. One of the first things I noticed was the public art. It seems that everywhere you turn there are massive sculptures in all sorts of beautiful styles (I will try to find some pictures as I wasn't able to use my camera when we were driving).

Saudi Arabia is an incredible mix of old traditions and new consumer ideals. Most of KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) is desert, but thanks to the wonders of desalination the cities are . In fact, may times, driving in the car I could swear we were in Phoenix or Las Vegas. Big roads, big vehicles, billboards, and a mix of new and old construction. The cities are filled with cars, and many more American models than I had ever seen in Europe. SUV's are quite popular here, since gas is quite cheap, Tahoes, Suburbans, Escalades, even Chevy pickups.

Many of the brands we are used to seeing in the US are here, Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Quizno's, Fuddrucker's, GNC Stores, and believe it or not, in Jeddah they have a Chuck-E Cheese. Hammam told me that the Saudi's love American products and that it is the only gulf country where they have a 60Hz electricity supply so that they can use the US electronics. It is almost surreal to see so many brands that are familiar to Americans and it easy to feel comfortable here, but you are quickly reminded of where you when you see men in their long white robes and red headdresses and women covered head-to-toe in black and you hear the calls to prayer from the mosques. Like America, Saudi is a mix of immigrants and natives. There are people here from all over the Middle East and all over the world. India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Europe, US, Canada, everywhere.

The other site that was quite impressive was the American embassy here. It is literally a fortress guarded by US soldiers with very large guns mounted on Hummers and the rolls of barbed fences on 14' concrete walls. Quite impressive and a shocking reminder of where you are.