Will we ever get there

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It should have been a 15 min journey ...however it ended up being a journey that would fit into the category of "it mus jus be a movie" borrowing from Earl Lovelace's "is just a movie"...it started at the Wyndham Regency in Qatar. I stepped into a shuttle that was scheduled to leave at 9:35am. At 10:15am the designated driver slowly throttles out on to a dusty traffic Jammed main road.

We inched our way towards an upcoming roundabout, when we finally made our way around it a police officer shouted annoyed saying in Arabic that the entrance was only for Heads of States. After this it was all down hill....up and down little side roads...trying the roundabout again just in case they changed their minds...taking parallel back roads guessing which way to turn each time

Our driver dressed in his full white robe tried and tried over and over to gain access to the Qatar National Conference Centre.

Having left the hotel with little time to spare with journalists from France's TV5, The BBC, Annahar Beirut, News Xchange, among others all eager to share in the official opening of the conference where the Secretary General of the United Nations was due to speak...the atmosphere grew increasingly tense ...everyone having an opinion on whether we would ever get there...after driving along the entire length of a gate just behind the center we were cornered by Qatari police and saved from ourselves...we were all relieved to hear in Arabic "follow me". We still missed quite a bit but the way things were looking we had to give thanks!

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