Thursday, December 29, 2005
First Trip of 2006
OK, got some major planning for my next work venture done this week. First weekend of Feb I'll be entertaining some overseas guests for the school, including taking them to Atlanta on Sunday and Monday. Rather than return to Southville, I'm just going to stay in ATL and fly out on Wednesday the 8th. First stop: Dubai. Been getting a good response from the Emirates, so I'm showing up a day early to fit in some extra school visits, then the organized tour of the Gulf Region begins. It consists of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and Bahrain. The tour will also go to Qatar, but I have had no luck there so I will peal off and stay in Bahrain for an extra day or two of school visits. Numbers are up there and I think I can push them further with more groundwork. After that I have a few free days. I think I'll try to hang out in Dubai for a night or two with my buddy Naser, then fly over to the beach town of Goa in southern India. The first part of the last Bourne movie was filmed there. Then it is on to Mumbai for the India tour. It will also hit New Delhi and Bangalore. A month long excursion overall. Whoo-hoo!
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Long Overdue Wrap-up
Yes, it has been over a month now since I returned to the USA. I overlooked writing about Ethiopia because there really was nothing to write about outside of work. What little down time we had was spent within the walled hotel compound. The one item of interest occurred on the flight into Addis Ababa. See, we almost didn't even complete this part of the trip because Ethiopia and Eritrea decided to once again declare war on one another. But, seeing as how most of the hostilities are traditionally at the border several hundred miles away from Addis, the group decided to carry on.
On this flight there were two very suspicious characters. They first caught my attention because they stank so bad. This is saying a lot. Most of my travel is in places were there is not so much value put on one's personal odor. Theirs still managed to offend. Of course, one was seated on my row, though not right next to me. His friend was right behind him. The second thing to catch my attention was how jittery this guy was. He was beyond, "I've never before been on a plane in my life." This was more like "Planes fly by magic and I forgot my magic zebra's foot." He was looking all around, fidgeting, then taking off his jacket, then his shirt (leaving his undershirt on), putting his jacket back on, taking it back off, deciding to also put the shirt back on, etc, etc, etc. I first started to think he was deranged when he started to fiddle with his belt. I first started to think he might be dangerous when he started to fiddle with the sole of his shoe. That is when I gave him the death look. Not a quick glance, like you give to the loud people behind you in the movie theatre, but the look the bouncer gives a guy picking up an empty beer bottle, perhaps intending to use it as a weapon. When he got up to go to the bathroom, I almost followed and kicked the door in. However, nothing happened. No "let's roll" moment was necessary. On the other hand, both men were detained immediately after landing, so I was not the only one to be unnerved by them.
And the trip ended happily ever after. Next stop: the Gulf region once again, and India, once again. That will begin in February. Later in the spring I will go to India again, and hopefully (if I rub my magic Zebra foot enough) Switzerland. Oh yeah.
On this flight there were two very suspicious characters. They first caught my attention because they stank so bad. This is saying a lot. Most of my travel is in places were there is not so much value put on one's personal odor. Theirs still managed to offend. Of course, one was seated on my row, though not right next to me. His friend was right behind him. The second thing to catch my attention was how jittery this guy was. He was beyond, "I've never before been on a plane in my life." This was more like "Planes fly by magic and I forgot my magic zebra's foot." He was looking all around, fidgeting, then taking off his jacket, then his shirt (leaving his undershirt on), putting his jacket back on, taking it back off, deciding to also put the shirt back on, etc, etc, etc. I first started to think he was deranged when he started to fiddle with his belt. I first started to think he might be dangerous when he started to fiddle with the sole of his shoe. That is when I gave him the death look. Not a quick glance, like you give to the loud people behind you in the movie theatre, but the look the bouncer gives a guy picking up an empty beer bottle, perhaps intending to use it as a weapon. When he got up to go to the bathroom, I almost followed and kicked the door in. However, nothing happened. No "let's roll" moment was necessary. On the other hand, both men were detained immediately after landing, so I was not the only one to be unnerved by them.
And the trip ended happily ever after. Next stop: the Gulf region once again, and India, once again. That will begin in February. Later in the spring I will go to India again, and hopefully (if I rub my magic Zebra foot enough) Switzerland. Oh yeah.
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