What Is An Expat?

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
They’ve got net access, right in the air-port…

Well, in a nutshell, Ikromjon didn’t do anything terribly helpful. Then they ran out of seats on Sunday afternoon’s leisurely flight. None til Weds…though maybe next Sunday. Eek! Then an array of other crappy choices until a last-second Turkish Airlines flight through Istanbul comes my way. It’s noticeably more expensive. It’s business class only. At least then my 3AM flight to Istanbul, and my 7PM flight to Tashkent should theoretically be more comfy. Can’t do much about the 12 hour layover, nor arriving in Tashkent at a warm winter’s welcoming 2AM. Ok, it will neither be warm nor welcoming, though the rest is true. Guli will be welcoming, and it will be great to see her. I will be bleary eyed, beat up, and probably stink. I am sure she will quite sensibly run away. Therefore it is imperative I sneak up on her.

I had meant to post the notes through Dubai, however due to a LOT of frenzied and near panicked running around today that will not yet take place.

Mosul Palace

I haven’t even left yet, and I’m already a bit irritated. As regards stuff, I’m shipping it, taking it, or trashing it. I have good amounts of the first and last, and too much of the middle. One backpack contains electronic equipment such as my laptop, camera, external hard drive, Ipaq with all their attendant power supplies and cables, in addition to some paperwork type stuff such as my document folder, some small dictionaries, and a networking book. See, I had this idea about not being a totally hedonistic bum, and accomplishing something on such an extended time off. Not a major something, but more of a token something. Anyway, I bet that ends up a dead weight.

My other backpack is the clothes pack. It could be lighter, and also less stuffed. However, it’s my own fault, because I have made wildly differing plans in the climatological sense. Central Asian desert in winter vs. the tropical seas in and about Thailand, where they only understand winter in a theoretical sense, and from wild, unbelievable tales brought back by those with Nordic benefactors. Variety is the spice of life, but the bane of the traveler who totes his own gear. I have a jacket with liner. It’s not cold enough to require the liner here, but I’m gonna wear it because I have nowhere to pack it. It will be good in Uzbekistan, since I went with only short sleeve shirts to help the shirts do double duty. Maybe it will be warm enough in Uz that I can leave it entirely, since the thought of toting a jacket around Thailand is pretty abysmal. (more…)

…and obviously therefore still alive.

I’m probably going to break down the posts into shorter blocks, as otherwise you will not see any for months! My usual pattern was to take leave, and wait for a few months after I got back to post anything. That would appear to be impractical now.

So, here I am quite coincidentally in Commie Central of Dubai. Spot The Commie is almost no fun at this point. I had an amusing time at the Uzbek Consulate today working on a visa. You’ll see it later, and rest assured it has earned a Title With All Caps. Err..starting with all caps. Sorry for the confusion to the pedantic among you. And me.

Prolly here for a week, though hopefully less. Ikromonjon is on the case!

PS – Sounds like they have a lot of incoming here, except they don’t. My perceptions have been altered. I’ll be okay in a few days prolly. I haven’t embarassed myself anymore than you would already expect me to have though.

Should leave tonight on the hard car. Couple-three days getting to Dubai, 4 days in Dubai or so. After that should be a month in Uz, then probably a couple in Thailand. I don’t know how often I will have net access, but I will be writing. It’s not like there aren’t internet cafes around the world. I’ll have my laptop so I won’t have to think it up all there while paying by the minute or hour.

I won’t miss Iraq, but there are some good folks around.