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