Long Week

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!)