Travel Tales

- While stuck at DFW airport after hours: secretly watching a random man weigh himself on the baggage scales at the check-in counter while muttering to himself - Figuring out how to sleep on airport seats - Another random guy stuck at the airport yelling at the airline people on the phone (while I was trying to sleep) - Repacking my bags twice. The first time was to remove 9.5 pounds while I was at DFW so that one bag wouldn't be overweight. So much for "packing light" - The Nalgene bottle casualty at Chicago OHare: Security person was unmoved by "but I promise I put that water in there AFTER security at DFW!!!" - Upon entering the country: Being ushered into an empty room with one chair sitting in the middle facing a glass partition with a man in it who motioned to me to sit down and then promptly pointed a laser at my forehead with no explanation as to why (later found out it was to test my temperature to check for swine flu) - Doing kickboxing in the dining room on day 2 in country and "thinking" I had this jet lag thing under control...and then jet lag set in...

Parting Gifts

Thank you to those who organized these gifts and for everyone who participated in them! They mean a lot to me now and I know they will mean even more once I'm gone!

Friendship

Thankful for friends today as I came across this acrostic poem while sifting through my boxes of books trying to decide which ones stay and which ones go! F - Fun loving; Faithful R - Risk being real, even misunderstood I - Interested in the welfare of others E - Expect the best of others; Empathetic N - Natural relationship; Non-exclusive D - Diplomatic; Delightful; Durable S - Sympathetic; Supportive; Stable H - Helpful; Hopeful; Happy I - Interdependent by helping others P - Patient; Protective of confidences; Personable

So Happy!

That I now have a working computer! Thank you, Andrew!

Quiero Bailar!

Kurdish Culture 101. Kurdish women love to dance. Hmm, I think I was born to be in this culture!

Why I love this city:

It is so diverse there are street signs in languages other than English.

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie. Do You Copy?

Anyone care to know how many times in the past 2 months since I got my new computer that I’ve had to call the HP helpdesk?? FOUR! I’m starting to think I’ve purchased a lemon of a computer. That frustration aside, at least it has provided for some “amusing” times on the phone with various people all over the world. On the first conversation with the helpdesk, I talked with a lady in the Philippines, but the problem was more than she could handle so we had to conference call a guy in India. That was pretty cool. Except I was on the phone for a total of FOUR HOURS. The third time I called I got a guy in Hyderbad, India. I tried to make conversation with him about India, but he was not interested at all. And he laughed at the problem I was calling for. So we really got off on the wrong foot. And THEN he spurned my use of my own version of the military alphabet when giving him my product key and serial number. Helpdesk guy: “What is your product key and serial number?” Me: “F as in father, E as in egg, 8, 9, 9, A as in apple, V as in victor.” Helpdesk guy: “Ok that is F as in foxtrot, E as in echo, 8, 9, 9, A as in alpha, V as in victor. Is that correct?” Me [laughingly thinking ‘well I got one right’]: “Yes. And my serial number is C as in cat, N as in nancy, D as in dog…” Helpdesk guy [cutting me off]: “You can just read the number. I can understand your accent just fine.” Me [a little hurt and embarrassed that he wasn’t impressed with the use of my makeshift military alphabet]: “OK. Fine. It’s CND9351E94.” Lesson learned: Don’t try to be helpful unless asked, ESPECIALLY when cultural differences and language differences are involved. I probably insulted the poor guy with my pathetic attempts to make sure he understood what I was saying. Good lesson to learn as I will probably soon be on his end of the equation... Just in case you need to study up before calling your computer helpdesk, or maybe you're just curious, here is a link to the military phonetic alphabet: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/a/alphabet.htm

Family Vacay

My family and I went on a mini vacation to Possum Kingdom Lake a couple of weeks ago. It was a wonderful time together out in the middle of a beatufil lake boating, swimming, and tubing. It's the last time we'll all be together for at least year since I am getting ready to move overseas this fall and my brother is about to be deployed to Irq again in February.

Ludicrous Speed Revisited...

Progress toward moving is moving....well....slowly.... But that's ok. Even though the process has been MUCH different than I expected ("delayed" - for lack of a better word - by an emotional time with my mom a couple of weeks ago, a computer crash now resolved, and a family vacation during which I had no phone or internet), I'm confident that it will all come to pass at just the right time. KEY WORDS: just the right time. What is the "right" time? Not sure. But based on how things have been going it seems that the Sept 18 deadline for departing the country may not be the right time. After I'm done with training in early September I will shoot for leaving sometime in October.

Ludicrous Speed

So it’s no secret that for quite some time I’ve wanted to work overseas in healthcare, but the timing and place has been nebulous. I’ve searched for this opportunity for at least 5 years now. And always time couldn’t seem to move fast enough. But in the span of only 2 months things changed very quickly, doors opened, and a new opportunity I can’t resist became available to me. Now I'm searching for the emergency brake, which would be incredibly dangerous at the ludicrous speed I'm traveling at these days (see video below). So bittersweet! My last day at work was June 19 and I'm now in the midst of packing up my stuff to move. The plan is to finish packing, do training in August, say one last round of goodbyes, and leave the country for my new home on September 18. LUDICROUS SPEED: GO!

Why??

did my brand-spanking new computer have to crash AGAIN! hmm, must be an HP she's working with.

Trip Stats & Lessons Learned

**18 days **8 flights **3 countries **7 cities **4 travel buddies with me **14 taxis (at least) **Lots of walking **Countless cups of tea Lessons Learned **When in Egypt, walk like an Egyptian. There are only two types of pedestrians in Cairo: the quick and the dead. **Kurds are not Turks, Arabs, or Persians and they'll let you know it! One must remember this when traveling in the land of the Kurds. **How to pack lighter: doing laundry in the sink and giving stuff away. **When deciding where to move, pick the last place you ever thought it would be and that's where you'll end up.

Meet Elita*

the "chosen" camera THANK YOU Corrine for hooking me up!!! *Elita means "chosen" in Latin

Trip To-Do List

exactly 2 weeks from today I board the plane...I'm starting to get excited! My to-do list remains as follows: 1) Finish reading a book on the culture (220 pages to go) 2) Finish shopping for appropriate clothing 3) Purchase gifts: brownie mix, taco seasoning, coffee, good chocolate, Gold Fish crackers, hard candy, games, baseball caps, Swiss army knives, beauty products, first aid kits, maps, small Atlases, refrigerator magnets 4) Make 6 copies of passport 5) Do my taxes 6) Double-check visa status 7) Buy a small digital camera 8) Decide which pictures of me and my family to bring 9) And of course, will need to pack and keep it under 50 pounds

I Am an Ingrid!

You are an Ingrid -- "You are unique"

Ingrids have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive. How to Get Along with Me * Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me. * Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself. * Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision. * Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little. * Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting! What I Like About Being an Ingrid * my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level * my ability to establish warm connections with people * admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life * my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor * being unique and being seen as unique by others * having aesthetic sensibilities * being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me What's Hard About Being an Ingrid * experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair * feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved * feeling guilty when I disappoint people * feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me * expecting too much from myself and life * fearing being abandoned * obsessing over resentments * longing for what I don't have Ingrids as Children Often * have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games * are very sensitive * feel that they don't fit in * believe they are missing something that other people have * attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc. * become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood * feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce) Ingrids as Parents * help their children become who they really are * support their children's creativity and originality * are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings * are sometimes overly critical or overly protective * are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

Not Me Monday: Daylight Savings

Dragging myself out of bed this morning did NOT look like the bear in the video below. No way, not me! I'm like the penguin - I absolutely love coming to work the Monday after daylight savings! If you want to join in NMM fun, check out MckMama's blog for more info.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. Ok, so I've been thinking about joining this "Not Me Monday" deal for while. I really enjoy my friend's NMM posts and want to join in the fun...So without further ado...here's my first NMM post.... I did NOT have to throw all the ingredients for my usual lunch wrap into my bag on the way out the door because I was running late for work this morning. Nope, I never run late to work on Monday mornings. No, that certainly wasn't me driving through that yellow...err...ok it was a barely red light on my way home from work today. No way - not me! I'm a much more responsible driver than that. And I'm never in such a hurry that I blow through yellow lights. I didn't just have 2 cookies, some free samples from the National Nutrition Month expo, and a DanActive for lunch today because I was too busy to make my wrap for lunch. Never in a million years would a dietitian like me be caught dead eating cookies for lunch. Slacking off when the trainer wasn't looking during my circuit training class today didn't even cross my mind. No, all those healthy calories at lunch gave me TONS of energy to finish strong and are you kidding me - I absolutely LOVE sit-ups and push-ups! And I'm definitely NOT having ice cream and brownies for dessert tonight with my roomies. Nope, we're totally against that junk in our house. Yuck.