We started out from our guesthouse around 11am and planned to hop on the first of many busses heading to Ankara that July 3rd afternoon. We checked the time for all the departing buses and found one leaving in 45 minutes, so we bought the two tickets and waited in the already hot hot sun. The 1pm departure was pushed back to 1:45pm and most of those extra minutes where spent in a non AC bus, they waited to turn the AC once we started off down the road. We were making good time, stopped for snacks once, and with 168 km to go we broke down. We all got off the bus, still really hot out, even though it was late afternoon, and sat along the road for over 2 hours. There were no signs of a mechanic coming or a replacement bus. Eventually someone managed to flag another bus down and we were able to hop on it since it was going close to Ankara.

The bus was empty except for about 8 people, we found some seats and off we went. Within minutes we were stuck in a traffic jam that took about 30 minutes or so to get through. Nightfall came and after Alex spoke to the others on the bus in Turkish we decided it was easier to get off the bus before the bus went to the station, closer to our final destination. We got dropped off along the highway in the middle of the evening, walked through this tall grassy area in order to get to the exit ramp of the highway, walked down that and then waited for the bus.

We hopped on the local bus that took 45 minutes to get from one end of town to the other. Grabbed  a taxi at the end of the bus line and FINALLY after 10 hours of bus mishaps we arrived at our friends’s placed. From the door of our guesthouse in Istanbul to the door of our friend’s place who is working at the American Embassy in Ankara, it took over 12 hours. Upon arrival we were greeted with tacos, a strawberry and blueberry 4th of July flag cake, and Samuel Adams beer.

We arrived safe, a bit tired and cranky but all was well. If this is just one example of what we will have to endure while traveling through Central Asia, it will be more interesting than we thought!

We decided to take our chances and head off to Akre despite the dark storm clouds rolling in. For the first hour, we made great time and were one step ahead of the rain. From off in the distance you could see the rain coming down, it looked daunting from afar  but  with the snow capped mountains in the background  and we were still dry we were able to enjoy the view. We were a little less than halfway there when we heard thunder, and decided to make our way back to a little restaurant we spotted a few miles back. We were welcomed with open arms in broken English and told to sit down. They brought over a kerosene heater and two glasses of tea. We decided to sit out this little rain shower and eat some of the snacks we packed for our picnic we planned on having along the road. Needless to say, that picnic never happened.

Once the rain stopped we decided to continue on to Akre. The last time we took this road it was paved. We found out the hard way that they are making another road along side the one we were on. This meant that the next 50km or so would be driven on wet, slippery, muddy roads that had many curves and hills along the way. At one point the road was a bit steep and i opted to walk to the top of the road rather then ride on the back. It made me feel safer but my boots were caked in mud and I was out of breath by the time I got to the top.

We stopped for gas at one point and had to beep for a few minutes until someone came out of nowhere to pour gas out of a plastic container for us into our scooter an charge us 2x more than what we pay in Erbil. Kinda funny considering we were in the middle of nowhere and haven’t seen anyone for miles, but we were on a long deserted road and didnt want to wait for a cheaper gas stand.  I choose the word stand instead of station, since it was simply bottles of gas sitting on a stand alongside the road. I hopped back on and off we went for another 10km or so down the road until finally we met pavement again.

So much for our 1 hour or so until Akre, with the muddy road and only being able to drive around 5-10km an hour, our ETA was not what we expected. The rain held off for a bit but the wind began to blow and every time I looked at Alex’s hands on the handle bars they were turning deeper shades of blue. The only thing that made the drive worth it was the crazy green and brown shades of new grass growing and dirt that has been recently tilled on the rolling hills that made the land look like it was painted in camouflage.

We finally arrived in Akre, about an hour later than expected. The last couple miles I felt rain on my legs and back and could hear it dripping onto my helmet but it was more of a warning than actual rain. The thunder and lightening that lit up the sky and the rain that poured down in buckets arrived only minutes after we arrived and was safely in the hotel. As soon as we arrived, the workers recognized us from before. They brought over two kerosene heaters, one for each of us, and some tea. So there we sat, listening to the rain pour down while we sat warming up our hands and feet and waiting for the rain to stop.

After an hour or so, with the reservation booked and our appendages feeling much warmer we got put all of our jackets, hoodies, and vests back on and started to gather our things. We were about  to set out  for home, unsure if it would be a cold and wet or a cold and dry ride back. The owners however, wouldn’t hear of us driving in what could be another rainstorm so they picked up our scooter, put her in the back of the truck and tied her down and off we went. We took a less scenic but quicker way home and decided that since the sun came back up and the roads were dry we would hop out right at the Tigris River and ride the rest of the way back home on our scooter. We thanked the driver and his friend for the lift and told them we would see them in a fe weeks for Norwuz. The ride with them saved us about an hour so we were able to make it back before the sun went down that day.

Our road trip, that we thought would get us into Akre at noon had actually put us at the hotel sipping tea around 2pm. We planned on being there and back before 3pm, or 4pm at the latest. It was’t the case. We arrived home a little before 6pm. The road trip was cold and a bit rainy but it was an adventure. We had a great time and are making plans to go out next weekend and find a place to camp along Lake Dukan. I will keep you posted!

I arrived in Kurdistan late on August 20th. I got to my great little two bedroom apt in the compound around midnight. This was after an 18 hour layover in Beruit where I decided to sleep from 3am til noon and then just hang around the airport til my 7pm departure that was delayed until 9pm, the last two hours I was asleep on the plane on the runway.

After arriving I immediately began to unpack, decorate my bedroom and at 4am my roommate arrived. We both finished unpacking, rearranged the living room, kitchen, and balcony and by 9am we were ready to hit the grocery store. Life is good here, the neighbors are great, the other teachers are cool, we managed to befriend some of the military guys so our thursdays (the last day of school for the week, so “fridays”)are spent at a place called The Edge. There is usually 3 other girls and 3 guys that dance from 11pm til 3am and we dont stop shaking and jumping and singing until the lights come up. I havent danced like that in a long time and at the end of the night my feet are tired but I always have such a great time.  Lately we have also been able to expereince some amazing cooking from a chef who owns a restaurant in Costa Rica but is working on the military compound. So after we dance the night away we run into one of the guys house, grab a bunch of desserts (last two were tiramuso – the best i have ever had, and chocolate cheese cake with chocolate crust and chocolate shavings on top). Always  great to enjoy an amazing dessert after a long evening of dancing!

It is still really hot here so I do take a lot of naps. We go out often but usually wait til dusk when the sun isnt scorching and you can actually enjoy yourself. We have taken a few excursions around the city, an exclusive tour of the citadel, and a all day roadtrip to two different waterfalls. I will give more details and pictures in the next coming days.

Life here is good. Basically the same as in the States except I have to wait for the school shuttle to take me into town on their schedule, I have to cover up more than I would like (no tank tops) even on hot days, and I recently was unable to go into a bar/restaurant because I was a women. I have found a few grocery stores that have everything I need. Ok, maybe not everything, cant find mexican taco seasoning packets, and of course no fake chicken nuggets or vegeterian burgers but I have my peanut butter, chocolate sauce and ice cream so I am set.

School started on September 14th after two weeks of training and a long 4 day weekend. I have never started that late in the school year and by the 2nd week of September I was really missing the inside of the classroom. I am now in a classroom with 34 kids, not enough books, and a room that isnt quite big enough for all those desks. I heard the class size will drop to 30 but I will not hold my breath.  I love my kids, they are so adorable. I still have difficulty with some of their names, especially the classes where I teach yoga only once a week.

Promise to catch up with Africa and the beginning of my Kurdistan Daze, as soon as I can.

     I have been following the World Cup at home and was able to catch a match or two since my arrival in Tanzania so I was really excited *and a bit shocked* to see the sign outside of the one of two locations that had a satellite dish in the whole village. To be honest I didn’t expect to catch a match at all while on our safari, but this is Africa and it is football! We walked our 3km back into town and when we arrived at the small little cement building I was in heaven.

     We stepped inside the one room building that was almost pitch black except for the glare of the television that sat on a table in the front. One side of the room had two benches and in the back there were 3 rows of benches with the men from the village sitting closely together. In front of those benches were about 30 or 40 more villagers sitting on the dirt covered cement floor. They were all sitting tightly together in order to better see the 20 inches of FIFA World Cup football in front of them. We were the only two foreigners, or muzungas, as they call anyone who is white, let alone the only two girls in the tiny little building. They all looked up when we walked in and then went straight back to the match. Migali offered us seats on the benches in the back but we wanted a closer view of the TV so we sat on the floor next to the one little boy in the building and a few other men. Migali thought it was interesting we would choose the dirt floor over the benches but we wanted to see the match as best as we could and that meant dirty bottoms.

     There was one fan on the ceiling and the only thing it seemed to be doing was blowing the air around. The air was a mix of sweat, sweet and sour smells from the day of sitting around and waiting for the match. I saw most of the men earlier that day sitting in the village, which is common here in Africa, while the women are off in the fields and in the homes working, the men sit along the streets and talk about life and for now the World Cup. So as the fan blew the smells of sweat and dirt and hot air around the building I sat in complete awe. The men were all cheering for Germany and there was a man in front who would stand up and do a dance every time Germany scored, which happened to be 4 times that day. When the game ended and the final score was Germany 4 and Argentina 0 the group of men cheered and clapped, and we cheered and clapped right along with them. It was such an amazing experience to be with the men of the village in that dark one room building watching history in the making. And after the highlights of the match ended the men went out into the night and Nora and I went back to our camp site along the Rufiji River.

     It was definately different from the 4th of July I had last year. I think this was one of the best Independence days I have ever had!

Since we had a whole day free we wanted to walk the 3km to the village. Mloka, is a small village with 800 people, a small school, a barber shop, a few shops, a church, a bus stand, a market, a few restaurants, a hotel (well a place visitors can sleep), a pool table along the street, and one satellite dish.  Magile, our boat and walking safari guide came to the village with us. We ended up staying all day, talking to the locals, eating fresh oranges (how they peel the oranges is pretty impressive), I played soccer with some of the children, then we ended up watching some of the local boys playing an inter- village match, and before we headed back to the camp we played pool with some of the older guys in the village.

It was such a great experience that we would have never gotten if we just stuck with the 4 day safari trip. Most tours bring you into the parks/game reserves, show you animals, feed you and then shuffle you onto your next location. We were lucky enough to experience first hand a day in the life of a villager.

When we arrived in Addis it was around 7pm and I had a delay from my 9pm departure til 1022pm. I checked email and called my guesthouse to make sure the taxi would be waiting for me at 130am when I was finally to arrive after a long flight. Walking to the gate, on the later side of the boarding time I noticed that no one had boarded the plane. It seemed that no one knew when we were departing, how long it would be til they found out, where we would go before arriving in Dar and of course, that lead to not knowing when my arrival time would be.

We inquired with those at the gate and everyone we spoke to had a different answer. Arrival would be 130am, no it would be 345am, we would be leaving soon, we may have a layover in Rwanda. No one with an Ethipian Airlines uniform knew anything and of course, all we could say was…. This Is Africa!!!

After a long wait and still no answers to arrival time we boarded the plane around 12am. We sat on the runway for atleast 30 minutes or so and of course I was alseep before we even took off. No sooner did we hit the cruising altitude did the lights go back on, the beverage and dinner carts were rolling down the aisle and dinner was served, at 1am in the morning.

I ate my vegatarian meal of not rice and veggies but uncooked beans and veggies and went back to sleep. Since I didnt have a watch that worked I still dont know how long my flight was, no one else around me seems to be able to figure it out, (with the time zone changes), and neither did the flight attendants… Seriously!  When we arrived in Rwanda, yes, apparently we were going the long way to DAR and made an unscheduled stop.  When all the passengers for Rwanda got out I went up and inquired about arrival time and our next departure.

I was told by three different crew members it would be an hour before we took off and a 40 minute flight. I told the people around me, those who have been trying to figure out what time it is in Rwanda, Tanzania, or America… we all had a laugh that we had to sit around and wait and made comments about maybe we should head to Sudan and pick up some more people before going to DAR.

No sooner did we get comfortable stretching out on the empty seats of the plane an annoucement came over the speaker. We will be leaving within 30 minutes and our flight time is 1 hour and 40 minutes. The plane was filled with laughter, and the saying, “This is Africa,” was said been many.

We all knew we were going to DAR, eventually….. and we did… I arrived at my guesthouse at 544am and Nora was wide awake.. I was told by my taxi driver, ” i wait for you at 2set, at 3 set, at 4set, at 5set and finally you come out of the airport, i wait for long time, what happened?”  When I mentioned Ethiopian Airlines, you said, “always that airline, never on time, always!”

I just smiled, and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the earling morning on my first day in Tanzania, and i thought to myself, “This is Africa!”

I did have a crying, well screaming baby and a 4 year old sitting two seats away from me on both sides but i was so exhausted both physically and mentally from my last week of packing and goodbyes that i was able to sleep a deep sleep through most of their noise.

Kinda funny thing happened, hence the title of this post. When I got to Dulles this was this little girl, who reminded me of some of my heavy hitters at school, running around, mom chasing her, not listening, saying no, etc etc. I kept my teacher eye on her and kept thinking, her dad spoils her way too much! Turns out I sit next to her dad and the little girl, Mya and mom and baby sister sit in first class. Poor dad had a few rough spots throughout the flight and i just wanted to sit her little butt down and give her a talking to and a time out….

Thousands of miles and continents later we were getting ready to get off the plane and her dads hands are full and she starts whining about mommy and tries to take off. So I bend down look her in the face and give her the good choices speech and let me hold your hand, etc etc. So i take her hand, we get off the plane, into the bus, across the runaway, up the escalator (at one point dad held her hand too and she was making us swing her LOL), got to the top, walked down the hall and atlast Mommy was there. Said goodbyes and started to walk away.

And yes, I left my other bag on the plane that was in first class since there wasnt any room for it near me. So i had to walk back down, ask a guy if I could go back and look! Not how i wanted to start my trip but I was trying to help out a struggling dad. I got back on the bus, a ride all by myself, got off anf the cleaning crew was beginning to go in the plane. A guy yelled at them (have no idea what he said) but they all parted like the red sea and I walked up the steps onto the plane. A male flight attendant ask what I was doing back and I told him I was helping out a struggling dad and I forgot to get my second bag. He started to laugh and then we went and got my bag.

I was relieved it was still there but i figured good karma would allow it to be there and safe. When I got off the plane all the crew was there waiting for me and smiling and clapping and cheering that I had it….

I went back to the bus and here i am…..

Will be in Tanzania around 130am… still not really sunk in, i packed up my bags, left all that i know behind, to see about some animals and then to move to Erbil….

Hope to catch a bit of the matches tomorrow while deciding where to go first with Nora on our African Adventure.

Go Portugal!

Well, as you may or may not know by now I am embarking on another adventure! On Sunday, June 27th, at 8pm, I will be leaving my lovely home of 3 years, The Abingdon Manor, to go see about some animals….  The animals we will be looking for our The Big 5 of Africa….lions, elephants, white rhinos, buffalos, and leopards.  Tanzania is the location we have chosen to unveil itself to us while we take a much needed holiday!

My friend, Nora, whom I took another extended holiday with before I came to Northern Virginia, three years ago, will meet me there. We figured what better way to celebrate the beginning of a new school year, in a new country, then to take a holiday to a place neither one of us have been to before.

We will begin our journey through Tanzania on Tuesday June 29th…. That is after my long flight from Washington DC, via Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), and finally arriving at 130am on June 28th. After a few hours of sleep or a long highly anticipated “catch up” session, we will leave the Jamboo Inn in search of some fun things to get ourselves into.

We plan to do the Northern Circuit and Zanzibar last, although these locations are extraordinary (Mt. Kilimanjoro, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti National Park, etc )and they offer so many wonderful things to see and do…. we are heading south and off the beaten trail. We are heading to less touristy places like Ruaha National Park, Mufindi Escarpment, and small local villages that take a day to get there. We are actually looking forward to 12 hour plus long bus rides with wild animals, not enough leg warm, and fascinating conversations (mostly via charades) to be had. It make take hours to convey a simple thought but, “hey, what else can we do on a bus as the miles turn into hours.”

We also wanted to add gorillas to our must see and/or do list while we are there. So we will be either going overland via a few days in Rwanda, to Uganda, to go see about some silverback gorillas. We want to see the Genocide Museum and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Research Center. Why not see the gorillas in Rwanda? Good question, Nora and I both have friends who have done the tour in Uganda and we are going to do the same one. If we go overland there we will fly back or vice versa. We plan to end our trip on the beaches of Zanzibar, strolling through Darajani Market, visiting the old slave market and sitting on the beach looking out at the cyrstal blue water of the Indian Ocean enjoying the last few days and reflecting on all that we have seen, all that we have done and the beautiful people we have met along the way.

The end of my summer vacation is August 21st. It will be on that day I will be leaving Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and flying to yet another adventure…. I will begin training and professional development sessions at my new school in Erbil, Kurdistan, in Northern Iraq. I will be back in the ESL classroom teaching an inclusion classroom of 5 year old kindergarteners. Although I will miss my babies at KIPPDC LEAP Academy and look forward to hearing about their new school year, I am so excited to be working overseas again. I am really looking forward to teaching at the The International School of Choueifat.

Sorry for the long epic first blog entry……

I hope that when you have a moment at work, school, or when you are home and playing around on your computer, you will click on, my blog: www.aliljourney.com  and see what I am doing on the other side of the world.

Miss you all already and I haven’t even left yet. I hope to hear from you all, from time to time.

Until my next blog…..