Wednesday, March 15, 2006

I am not Gary Lee. When I arrived at Doha airport, the woman who was sent by Aljazeera whisked me through security and took me to the driver who was waiting for me. She asked him: "For alJazeera?". He said: "Yes." He then drove me. He was a nice Pakistani man who grew up in Qatar and spoke Arabic, and I told him that I grew up in Lebanon. On the way, I asked him about my destination. He said: some furnished apartment. I was surprised because I usually am put at a hotel. I asked him whether he was sure, he said yes. I then asked him about this furnished apartment, and he said that it was ok. It then occurred to me to ask: are you sure that you have the right person? He said: "Yes. Are you not Gary Lee from Aljazeera International?" I had to tell him: "Look at me, my friend. Do I look like Gary Lee to you? And we have been communicating in Arabic, and were you not surprised that Gary Lee speaks Arabic?" He said: "I don't know. Some Christians in Lebanon have those names." I had to tell him: that yes, some have first names as George, or Eddy, or Fred, etc, but the last name is Arabic, and not Lee. They later told me that with Aljazeera now have a family of channels (sports, children, c-span-like channel, international, etc) that this kind of mishap happens all the time.