The flight back, though not in business class was not too bad (the food not nearly as good though!). I've been back for a week exactly, but it feels like longer. Not that I had that much work per se, but because time moves slow here, especially when you're sick.
I was lucky enough to catch a cold from the guy sitting next to me on the way back to America, he was coming from Russia. So I caught an Russian cold on the plane, it incubated in America and turned into a sinus infection in Iraq. Very international! Though I'm feeling a bit better now, the cough has decided to stick around.
We finally got the keys to our apartment... but its unfurnished and they haven't approved the budget for the furniture... so I'll be at the hotel awhile longer. I still haven't unpacked from being home in hopes that I won't have to. But since it took two months to get the apartment, we'll see!
It's funny what's expensive here. Today I went shopping with a coworker to outfit our new office with supplies, everything from bathroom cleaner to coffee mugs to tea sets. One of the most expensive items was a little set of 12 miniature spoons to stir sugar into tea glasses, it was 22,000 Iraqi Dinar (about $20). To compare that with something else, the codeine I bought today to help me sleep and take with my cough syrup was 1,000 Iraqi Dinar (less than a dollar)... things that make you go hmmmm...
Adam and I are going on a trip to Turkey for Thanksgiving and I can't wait!!! Turkey is an amazing country and I've wanted to go here for a LONG time! We're only going to Istanbul and Cappadocia, so that leaves alot of Turkey unexplored for later!
The internet was out at the hotel all day until late today... made me wonder how in the world I made it through 2 years in Ghana without even having electricity most of the time, much less anything as fancy as a TV, computer, or internet! How life changes! Though I sure did get alot of reading done in Ghana, so far here I've only read 2 books, a bit off from the two a week I was reading there!
This is a very disjointed entry, full of random thoughts as I came up with them. I guess that's what happens when I have nothing really interesting to share, but wanted to update you all anyway! So Happy Halloween everyone, the only sweet thing I had today was a cough drop and cough syrup... eat some candy for me! (But don't blame those extra three (four, five?) reece's on me Mom!)
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Wedding on the Farm!
You'd think it would be easier to write more when I'm in the U.S. with more reliable internet and what not... but man this is a busy place!
So my brother officially got hitched on our property that we call the farm (though there is no crop cultivation and no animals, other than when our dogs are there and a couple thousand yellow jackets). The wedding was Saturday and it was beautiful! The sun was shining all day, the temperature was mild (though it did get cold by the end, that's what giant bonfires are for!), and nothing big went wrong! My brother has been working on the stage for the last 4 months (it was already built b/c he throws concerts from here, but he stained it and tiled it and cleaned it, etc). Here:
We were blessed to have so much of our family in one place to celebrate this day! 6 of my cousins and 2 sets of aunts and uncles stayed at my house, in addition to my 2 sisters and myself. We had a full house, as did my parents with both sets of grandparents and 2 more Aunts and my Mom's best friend. There were only about 80 RSVP's, but there were at least 160 people there! It was a beautiful and unique ceremony, my brother is very into the Cherokee Indian culture and they had many Native American aspects to the wedding, everyone was doused in sage smoke before going on the stage, the music was a Native drummer and his wife chanting, they had their hands wrapped (which is a Celtic ritual I believe). The whole ceremony was perfect for them, the officiant spoke of their friendship and the nature of their souls communing and making a better place for each other and spoke of their music and creativity and it was just perfect for them. (If you can't tell from the photos, my brother is a bit of a hippie and yes the bridesmaids are barefoot!) The flowers were the absolute most amazing I have ever seen in any other wedding in person or in any bridal magazine. Alot of this thing was a family affair and Ashley (my new sister!)'s aunt Teresa did the flowers, my aunt Teresa took the photos, and friends manned the tables and did the sound. The only outside people were the ones taht set up the tent and that brought in the catering. Anyway back to the flowers... I somehow got stuck on 2nd camera duty, so most of the photos I took are part of the "official" photos and I won't get to see until she processes them, so I only have the few I took with my camera, so here's a picture of my handsome little brother with his awesome flower:
I was supposed to cut his hair the day before, but we ran out of time, oh well!
The rehearsal dinner was at my Dad's favorite restaurant, the China King Buffet in Lenoir City! :) Yes that's right the dinner was at an all you can eat Chinese Buffet! But it is fantastic, its all you can eat sushi along with the food. That's right folks, we're classy. :)
There wasn't much traditional about the wedding, other than her dress, which was awesome. I'm going to post all of the pictures I have (not that many sadly) on my picassa page.
It was a quick trip home and I'm going crazy trying to get everything done today before I fly back out tomorrow! It has been fantastic though!
So my brother officially got hitched on our property that we call the farm (though there is no crop cultivation and no animals, other than when our dogs are there and a couple thousand yellow jackets). The wedding was Saturday and it was beautiful! The sun was shining all day, the temperature was mild (though it did get cold by the end, that's what giant bonfires are for!), and nothing big went wrong! My brother has been working on the stage for the last 4 months (it was already built b/c he throws concerts from here, but he stained it and tiled it and cleaned it, etc). Here:
We were blessed to have so much of our family in one place to celebrate this day! 6 of my cousins and 2 sets of aunts and uncles stayed at my house, in addition to my 2 sisters and myself. We had a full house, as did my parents with both sets of grandparents and 2 more Aunts and my Mom's best friend. There were only about 80 RSVP's, but there were at least 160 people there! It was a beautiful and unique ceremony, my brother is very into the Cherokee Indian culture and they had many Native American aspects to the wedding, everyone was doused in sage smoke before going on the stage, the music was a Native drummer and his wife chanting, they had their hands wrapped (which is a Celtic ritual I believe). The whole ceremony was perfect for them, the officiant spoke of their friendship and the nature of their souls communing and making a better place for each other and spoke of their music and creativity and it was just perfect for them. (If you can't tell from the photos, my brother is a bit of a hippie and yes the bridesmaids are barefoot!) The flowers were the absolute most amazing I have ever seen in any other wedding in person or in any bridal magazine. Alot of this thing was a family affair and Ashley (my new sister!)'s aunt Teresa did the flowers, my aunt Teresa took the photos, and friends manned the tables and did the sound. The only outside people were the ones taht set up the tent and that brought in the catering. Anyway back to the flowers... I somehow got stuck on 2nd camera duty, so most of the photos I took are part of the "official" photos and I won't get to see until she processes them, so I only have the few I took with my camera, so here's a picture of my handsome little brother with his awesome flower:
I was supposed to cut his hair the day before, but we ran out of time, oh well!
The rehearsal dinner was at my Dad's favorite restaurant, the China King Buffet in Lenoir City! :) Yes that's right the dinner was at an all you can eat Chinese Buffet! But it is fantastic, its all you can eat sushi along with the food. That's right folks, we're classy. :)
There wasn't much traditional about the wedding, other than her dress, which was awesome. I'm going to post all of the pictures I have (not that many sadly) on my picassa page.
It was a quick trip home and I'm going crazy trying to get everything done today before I fly back out tomorrow! It has been fantastic though!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Vienna
The travel has begun and I'm excited to get it over with and be home, but I'm also savoring it for all its worth... because this is the last time I'll have business class for probably a VERY long time! The food, as expected, did not disappoint. My main course was a fillet of beef and while it was cooked more than I would have preferred, it was a quite tasty piece of meat for airplane food... plus the grilled veggies that came with it where awesome! :) I didn't enjoy the red wine pairing with it as much though... should have gone for the champagne, as was my first instinct!
I'm sitting in a hotel room in Vienna right now, it's 9 pm here and I'm going to go roam around in a minute, but I'm an Internet addict and had to log on and check my mail and the stock market and call folks to let them know I'm ok and all that jazz. I know, big waste of time when I'm in one of the coolest cities in the world right?? As soon as I finish this, I'm out the door, don't worry!
I'm always struck when I come to Europe about compactness, efficiency, and overall order of things and Austria is no different. Everything is so clean that when you see a small bit of graffiti it hits you like a slap in the face! I also love that you can be going along in a taxi (yes I'll be walking in a few minutes, ok, I just haven't yet!) and passing high rise buildings and gas stations and WHAM you pass a centuries old Church. The tension of modernization and old world seem to fit seamlessly somehow because its Europe!
Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go *waltz* around the city. (was the emphasis really necessary??) :)
I'm sitting in a hotel room in Vienna right now, it's 9 pm here and I'm going to go roam around in a minute, but I'm an Internet addict and had to log on and check my mail and the stock market and call folks to let them know I'm ok and all that jazz. I know, big waste of time when I'm in one of the coolest cities in the world right?? As soon as I finish this, I'm out the door, don't worry!
I'm always struck when I come to Europe about compactness, efficiency, and overall order of things and Austria is no different. Everything is so clean that when you see a small bit of graffiti it hits you like a slap in the face! I also love that you can be going along in a taxi (yes I'll be walking in a few minutes, ok, I just haven't yet!) and passing high rise buildings and gas stations and WHAM you pass a centuries old Church. The tension of modernization and old world seem to fit seamlessly somehow because its Europe!
Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go *waltz* around the city. (was the emphasis really necessary??) :)
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Photos
Here are some photos, I'm going to post alot more onto Picassa (click on one of the slideshows to the left to take you there) in the next few days. My internet is really slow so it takes forever to upload them.
Crossing the Tigris on a military floating bridge
Traditional Kurdish meal, pickles, soup, salad, rice, goat, chicken and rice and almonds, repeated all the way down the floor.
Excursion day.
The entry to the awesome cafe I spoke about a few entries ago.
From the bottom of the deepest canyon in the Middle East.
The waterfall at Gali Ali Baig... its dry season and there's been a drought for over a year, so its volume is really low. This is at the bottom of the deepest canyon in the Middle East,which is in the picture above this one.
These are the steps up to the Citadel, which is the center of Erbil. Its an old walled city that is one of the longest inhabited cities in the world. Right now there's almost nothing in it, only that they keep one or two families living there so they can claim that title... but the whole thing is falling apart and needs to be both excavated and restored.
Crossing the Tigris on a military floating bridge
Traditional Kurdish meal, pickles, soup, salad, rice, goat, chicken and rice and almonds, repeated all the way down the floor.
Excursion day.
The entry to the awesome cafe I spoke about a few entries ago.
From the bottom of the deepest canyon in the Middle East.
The waterfall at Gali Ali Baig... its dry season and there's been a drought for over a year, so its volume is really low. This is at the bottom of the deepest canyon in the Middle East,which is in the picture above this one.
These are the steps up to the Citadel, which is the center of Erbil. Its an old walled city that is one of the longest inhabited cities in the world. Right now there's almost nothing in it, only that they keep one or two families living there so they can claim that title... but the whole thing is falling apart and needs to be both excavated and restored.
Homeward Bound
A month has passed already! My brother is getting married on Saturday, so I'm leaving Iraq tomorrow to spend a week at home with the family! Again, reminding me how lucky I am that I took the job with this company and didn't come here with my old company that has so many rules and security and a very strict amount of days you have to be there before you get to leave.
Work wise, its been productive and I'm just trying to keep things moving, which will be especially difficult while I'm gone. It seems the only way to get anything done here is to get in someone's face and bug them. I'll only be able to do that via email for a week.
The plan was to have my permanent housing ready by the time I leave for the wedding, but that hasn't happened. So I'm leaving my things in the hotel for the week I'm gone... hope its ok!
I bought a few souvenirs for folks, but I didn't go overboard since I'll coming home for Christmas as well. One particular item I'm SOOO excited about, but its my brother's wedding gift and Ashley, his fiance might read this... so I'll keep it secret.
Work wise, its been productive and I'm just trying to keep things moving, which will be especially difficult while I'm gone. It seems the only way to get anything done here is to get in someone's face and bug them. I'll only be able to do that via email for a week.
The plan was to have my permanent housing ready by the time I leave for the wedding, but that hasn't happened. So I'm leaving my things in the hotel for the week I'm gone... hope its ok!
I bought a few souvenirs for folks, but I didn't go overboard since I'll coming home for Christmas as well. One particular item I'm SOOO excited about, but its my brother's wedding gift and Ashley, his fiance might read this... so I'll keep it secret.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Routine
Wow, I can't believe a week passed by without an entry, how did that happen?? Sorry! I guess it hasn't been the most interesting week. I've just been going to the office everyday, still trying to figure out what exactly my job is! The internet at the office hasn't worked for the last two days, and since its the last day of the week, I doubt it will work today. If that's the case I'm going to go to one of my other offices where the internet works!
So this week I officially joined the women's gym here... it is the most phenomenal thing ever! They have state of the art cardio equipment, some weight machines (this is where they're most lacking), an aerobics room, a game room, a huge pool (with diving board!), a turkish bath, steam room, sauna, jacuzzi, a hookah bar, a restaurant, a cafe, and a salon (hair, nails, facials, massages). I never have to leave! It's been so nice the last few days to leave work and go work out and end it with a nice long swim and soak in the jacuzzi! This place is brand new and the owners are still trying to get everything started. Nothing like this has ever existed here, so they don't really know how to run it or alot of the details of a gym or salon. In fact, they're trying to recruit a few personal trainers (anyone interested) to live there (have all living expenses taken care of, plus flights, plus salary), they have to be women obviously. Also they're looking for an aesthetician or two with the same benefits. Anyone interested? Or know someone who would be???
So I guess I should get ready for the work day! I've been here for a month already, its FLOWN by. I leave on Monday to go home for my brother's wedding, which I'm very much looking for wad to!
Also I have soooo many photos I need to upload, I'm terrible!! They're coming I promise.
So this week I officially joined the women's gym here... it is the most phenomenal thing ever! They have state of the art cardio equipment, some weight machines (this is where they're most lacking), an aerobics room, a game room, a huge pool (with diving board!), a turkish bath, steam room, sauna, jacuzzi, a hookah bar, a restaurant, a cafe, and a salon (hair, nails, facials, massages). I never have to leave! It's been so nice the last few days to leave work and go work out and end it with a nice long swim and soak in the jacuzzi! This place is brand new and the owners are still trying to get everything started. Nothing like this has ever existed here, so they don't really know how to run it or alot of the details of a gym or salon. In fact, they're trying to recruit a few personal trainers (anyone interested) to live there (have all living expenses taken care of, plus flights, plus salary), they have to be women obviously. Also they're looking for an aesthetician or two with the same benefits. Anyone interested? Or know someone who would be???
So I guess I should get ready for the work day! I've been here for a month already, its FLOWN by. I leave on Monday to go home for my brother's wedding, which I'm very much looking for wad to!
Also I have soooo many photos I need to upload, I'm terrible!! They're coming I promise.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
New Experiences!
Here's what I've done over the last two days:
-crossed the Tigris river
-Saw both Syria and Turkey and could have thrown a rock at either one if I so chose
-ate sheep brains
-ate Pasha (traditional Kurdish dish of rice and sheep liver stuffed into a sheep stomach and boiled)
-stayed in a traditional Kurdish village and was treated like a Queen
-was offered several husbands
-drank more tea and had more candy than I ever have previously in my life combined
Why did I do all of these things?
The past few days and ongoing now is Eid al Fitr, which is the end of Ramadan (the Muslim month of fasting) and it is kind of like a mix of our Halloween and Thanksgiving. There is a responsibility to go visit EVERYONE you know and every time you visit you have to eat some of their candy, cookies, nuts, seeds, bakhlava, etc and drink their tea, sometimes two or three cups of tea. And if you're there around a meal time... then prepare yourself for even more food! (Lamb, rice, chicken, soup, veggies, salad, bread, etc) I feel like after their celebration of ending their fast has caused me to need to fast!
I will post some pictures from these few days on my picassa. On the way back from the village we took the "long way" which was 6 or so hours, as opposed to 3, but had great views of the mountains and allowed us to go to Amadia, which is a town built completely on a freestanding rock, surrouned by even higher mountains. Gorgeous views! Again photos will be posted!
Now I'm back in Erbil for the rest of the holiday, which is another few days. I have plenty of actual work to do which will keep me busy.
-crossed the Tigris river
-Saw both Syria and Turkey and could have thrown a rock at either one if I so chose
-ate sheep brains
-ate Pasha (traditional Kurdish dish of rice and sheep liver stuffed into a sheep stomach and boiled)
-stayed in a traditional Kurdish village and was treated like a Queen
-was offered several husbands
-drank more tea and had more candy than I ever have previously in my life combined
Why did I do all of these things?
The past few days and ongoing now is Eid al Fitr, which is the end of Ramadan (the Muslim month of fasting) and it is kind of like a mix of our Halloween and Thanksgiving. There is a responsibility to go visit EVERYONE you know and every time you visit you have to eat some of their candy, cookies, nuts, seeds, bakhlava, etc and drink their tea, sometimes two or three cups of tea. And if you're there around a meal time... then prepare yourself for even more food! (Lamb, rice, chicken, soup, veggies, salad, bread, etc) I feel like after their celebration of ending their fast has caused me to need to fast!
I will post some pictures from these few days on my picassa. On the way back from the village we took the "long way" which was 6 or so hours, as opposed to 3, but had great views of the mountains and allowed us to go to Amadia, which is a town built completely on a freestanding rock, surrouned by even higher mountains. Gorgeous views! Again photos will be posted!
Now I'm back in Erbil for the rest of the holiday, which is another few days. I have plenty of actual work to do which will keep me busy.
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