The Final Reveal - Country # 2

After my visit to Kurdistan I had a second country to visit. Because of less than stellar relations between the two countries I planned to visit I was unable to fly directly from one to the other so I had a long layover in Istanbul before being able to travel to my final destination.  I made the clues a bit easier this time and both my brother and sister (who know my vacation choices too well) guessed correctly and reminded me once again that my mother was going to kill me. 

I thought I would get some good wine here but I guess not:

The first city I flew into was Shiraz where the earliest wine was discovered.  At one point Shiraz was well known for its wine but as the country is now an Islamic Republic, alcohol is forbidden.  Despite this ban, grapes and other plants still flourish in this area. 



An overwhelming urge to watch "Dead Poet's Society"

One of the famous sights of this city is the tombs of several Persian Poets including Hafiz and Saadi. This seemed to be a major attraction for school groups and there were tons of school children milling around, all in same sex classes.  Come to think of it, I also seemed to be a major attraction for school groups and many stopped to say hi and try to have conversations with me. 

 

It was 45 degrees out and I could have gotten away with packing less sunscreen

Yes, the first day I was in Shiraz it was 45 degrees out.  Unfortunately, it was 45 degrees Celsius.  For those of you that are counting that's about 114 degrees Fahrenheit which is really stinkin' hot.  It was mostly desert so it was a dry heat which is supposed to be reassuring but then again my oven is a dry heat and I don't want to hang out in there all day either.  There ended up being a lot of downtime on this trip because it was necessary to be out of the heat for much of the afternoon.  Most businesses closed from about noon till 6pm because of the heat. 

Even with the heat however, I didn't need a lot of sunscreen.  Why is that?  Well it because of the hijab or the modest style of Islamic dress which was legally required of all women including tourists.  From the time my plane landed in the country to the moment I stepped on the plane a week later and ripped half my clothes off I was required to wear long sleeves, loose fitting clothes and a head scarf.  I even had to wear it in my visa picture much to the amusement of the guy at the photo counter at Walgreens!  It's funny that someone guessed where I was going before I left but then talked themselves out of it because they thought I would never stand for wearing the hijab.  In reality, I wanted to know what it felt like to need to do that.  I thought it would bring with it a feeling of invisibility and a feeling of second class citizenship but that really wasn't the case.  It was interesting that the younger people in the country fought against government oppression of social media and other technology but seemed very comfortable with the wearing of hijab.  I on the other hand was made crazy by the whole process.  I was constantly struggling to keep the scarf from falling off.  Plus, the women there looked beautiful in their scarves while I looked more like a 90 year old Russian peasant (or my grandmother in that weird plastic scarf thing she wears in the rain)


Why yes it is 114 degrees out but don't worry, when I pass out from heat stroke at least I'll be modest

One positive thing is at least I didn't have to wear the chador which most women seemed to choose.  I only had to wear the chador once while I was in a Muslim mausoleum.  While the women all wore black chador's the ones they had for visitors to borrow looked more like a bed sheet.  Chadors are held closed and I had some wardrobe malfunctions trying to wear it because I didn't have enough hands to hold it closed, carry my backpack and take pictures.  My driver was pretty amused and told me his wife used to wear one while carrying the baby and the groceries back from the store.  I did find out that most of them actually hold it closed with their teeth which seemed like a bad choice for me considering I was wearing a borrowed one.


My one and only attempt at the chador

They take the hijab so seriously that many doors have two door knockers on them, a long thin one and a circular one, which make different noises.  One knocker is for men and one for women so that those inside know whether a man or woman is at the door and therefore whether the women of the house should cover themselves. 



Knocking with the female door knocker

Visited a place that Alexander wasn't too fond of - it wasn't hot enough for him

A lot of people guessed that this clue referred to Alexander the Great.  I had the opportunity to visit Persepolis, a city that dates back to 515 BC.  The city was conquered by Alexander and eventually burned down (it's still debated whether the burning was accidental or purposeful)





Wrestling

This country is known for its skills as wrestlers and throughout the country there are gyms run by the government to keep the traditions of wrestling alive. These gyms work both to develop international class wrestlers and to provide a forum for men and boys of all ages to get together and maintain a traditional art form.  I had the chance to attend a workout session complete with a singer and drummer who led the practice - it was definitely one of the most interesting things I had the opportunity to see.





So where was I anyway?

Well, if you haven't guessed it by now, my final destination was Iran.  In visiting this country I completed a travel trifecta I had been wanting to complete for awhile by visiting all countries in the "axis of evil" (although I still think Iraq was a bit of a cop out because I could only get into the Kurdistan region).  In reality though I wanted to get a better understanding of a country that is often vilified in the American press and by our leaders.  I found the people to be wonderful and to be working to find their own ways to resist the oppression of their leaders.  Whenever the name Ahmadinejad was brought up it was with a sense of derision.  I was able to see first hand the damage that the economic sanctions were doing to the everyday people in Iran especially to those like my guides boyfriend who was an ship's captain who could no longer buy insurance from the British company who insured him and had no idea when he would be able to work again.  At the same time, the people I met were pretty clear that the Iranian government was not feeling the pinch from the sanctions.  They also felt that the power to lead did not come from the people so the government was not going to bow to the pressure of the average Iranian citizen to try and get the sanctions lifted.  I think the world is at an impasse with Iran and it's going to be the people that I met who bear the brunt of this impasse. 

The Final Reveal - Country # 1

I'm back safely in the United States.  I got back on Friday and am pretty jet lagged so it took me a little longer than I planned to do my final reveal.  Thanks everyone for playing along.  There were a couple of correct guesses along the way although all were followed by either, "but would you really be there?", "if you went there you're even crazier than I thought" and "mom's going to kill you if you're there"  I thought I would explain some of the clues, some of which were designed to be difficult and others which were a bit easier.  My mother got the first clue pretty quickly which made me a bit nervous because this was all designed so that I didn't tell her where I was going so that she didn't worry.  In my first post I said that my return date of the July 20 was not negotiable.  With a little help from Google and my sister my mother figured out that Ramadan started then and I didn't want to travel during the holiday because a lot of places were closed. 

Genocide Tourism:  There were a lot of guesses once I wrote about being in a place which had suffered a genocide.  It was pretty depressing to see the guesses and think about just how many genocides and massacres there have been in recent history.  I was able to visit two places which memorialized genocide in this country.  The first, the Red Security building was in the city and it was a place where people were taken to be questioned and tortured and never seen again. 


 Tanks at the Red Security Building


Example of Torture at the Red Security Building



Memorial at the Red Security Building (made of 5400 lightbulbs and 182,000 pieces of mirror representing the number of villages destroyed and number of people killed)

The second place I visited was the village of Halabja - a village that on March 16, 1988 underwent attacks using chemical weapons by their own government. 



Memorial at Halabja



The names of those killed at Halabja - the lines divide families.  The green square is the name of a baby who was thought to have been killed but was recently found living in Iran



A survivor I met standing next to his picture from an interview he did days after the attack

Learning about the genocide was by far the most moving part of the trip.  While I do have some memories of watching news stories about it as it happened, it's not something that I was all that aware of before I traveled here. 

Internationally known hiking

I also wrote that I visited a place that was internationally known for its hiking but that I didn't have time to hike too far because I had to be back at work in September.  Well, these trails aren't just known for their beauty but for the fact that some of the last Americans who hiked them ended up spending a couple of years in an Iranian prison.  The Ahmed Awa Waterfall is very beautiful and a very popular tourist destination but beyond the waterfall is the Iranian border.  After hiking there myself, it was hard to understand how the Americans "accidentally" ended up in Iran - it seems like they made some pretty stupid decisions as it was very obvious that the trail (which was filled with little shops and tea houses) pretty much ends beyond the waterfall.  I thought it was pretty clear that we shouldn't travel beyond the waterfall.



The Country within a country - or where the heck was I anyway?

The "in a country but not really in a country" clue was the one I got the most reaction to.  I applied for a visa to a country but was denied.  That was probably a good thing as I was having second thoughts about going there.  There is however a region of the country which has its own regional government and gives 10 day tourist visas for the region so while technically I was in the country that denied me a visa if I were to try and leave the region and go elsewhere in the country I would have been arrested.  The majority of the population in this region is of a different background than the rest of the country which is why they suffered from various attempts by the government to destroy them. 

So where the heck was I anyway?  Well, when I left the US, I flew to Amman, Jordan and from Amman flew to Sulaymaniyah which technically is in Iraq ( a technicality I'm not sure my parents have forgiven me for yet!)  In reality though I was in Kurdistan - a region which encompasses parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. 



The Kurds have been persecuted for a number of years and in Iraq Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party attempted to destroy them in the 1980's.  Most residents of Iraqi Kurdistan identify themselves as Kurds, not Iraqis and hope eventually for an independent Kurdistan.  Most viewed Americans as liberating them from the oppression of Saddam Hussein which is why being an American opened so many doors for me there. 

Safety

Because Kurdistan is partially self-governing they do not rely much on the Iraqi military for protection but rather have their own security force made up of the Peshmerga - those who fought against Saddam and his government.  They are well trained and well armed and maintain a very safe environment.  In the 5 days I was there I went through at least 25-30 security checkpoints run by these forces.  Every time my guides told them I was an American I was waved right through.  My passport was only checked once at these checkpoints and I think it was more because they were curious to see an American passport than anything else!  The continual presence of these forces made me feel very safe. 

We did drive by a prison which had been used by the Americans to hold Al Qaeda prisoners.  The prison is now controlled by the Peshmerga and was pretty creepy to see.  There were parts of the area which needed to be avoided because they were unsafe, most notably Kirkuk and Mosul.  We were able to drive around the outskirts of Kirkuk but it is a disputed city claimed by both Kurds and Arabs - likely because of its oil reserves so we could not actually enter the city.  Actually my guide said that even if I gave him a million dollars he would not enter the city!  It will be interesting to see what happens to this city over the next couple of years.



All in all Iraqi Kurdistan was definitely an interesting place to visit.  I learned a lot about an area that doesn't get much world attention.  In the capital city of Erbil they are already building 5 star hotels and shopping malls so I think if the security situation remains stable there will be huge growth in tourism over the next couple of years.  I'm glad I saw it before that happens because it will change tremendously in the next five years.

The Final Mystery Blog

I tried to blog a bunch of times yesterday but the internet gods were against me and I kept losing it so I'll try again today. Today was the last full day of my trip and it was mostly a travel day. We drove to the capital city with a stop in the holiest city in the country along the way. We also stopped for some "Kentucky Chicken" where my chicken strips took over 1/2 hour to make - apparently in this country fast food is slower than most restaurants. While it was pretty good, I think the Colonel might be turning over in his grave if he were to taste the knock-offs served here. While the food here has been pretty good, I'm starting to think I may turn into a chicken if I don't get something different to eat soon. I have eaten chicken at least once a day for the past two weeks. The food in the first country was much better than it is here so I'm getting nostalgic for the chicken of yore. Unfortunately, the real meat staple here is either lamb or the ubiquitous unidentified "meat" neither of which I can do - Especially since on the side of the road the other day I saw what looked like a serta mattress commercial gone very wrong, a very large basket of sheep heads for sale. Apparently they are a delicacy but one that I definitely passed on.


Yesterday I saw some more of the bridges that that city was famous for. Unfortunately, they turned off the river for the summer so they sort of looked a little ridiculous over dry riverbeds. Especially since it seems like some people didn't get the memo. There are paddleboats just sitting in the dry dusty riverbed along with signs up and down the banks that say "please don't swim in the river" Umm, I don't think that will be a problem. I didn't see a Flock of Seagulls though.

In a way I also came full circle on this trip yesterday because my afternoon was focused on genocide, something that was the main focus of the first country I visited. I spent the afternoon visiting a neighborhood and a church that belongs to a group of people who escaped a genocide in their own country and came here to start over. I visited a museum which had pictures and artifacts from that genocide as well as a replica of the memorial that was built to the victims of that genocide in their home country. It was an interesting place. Within the quarter the residents were able to follow their own rules, customs and religion but outside of that quarter they were subject to the codes of the country and could not intermarry with "natives" (under penalty of death). Apparently, because of these rules, this neighborhood is where all the good black markets are found but I didn't check that part out! It was interesting and a little bit sad to see that these people are survivors who started over and have built lives and families and generations here but at the same time, they are, in many ways cut off from the rest of society.

Finally, last night I had the chance to sit in a rooftop coffeehouse and enjoy views of the city and have some ice cream. Unfortunately, my ice cream may have caused an international incident but it was pretty funny. They had two flavors of ice cream, chocolate and their "special" flavor saffron. Of course I ordered chocolate and 1/2 hour later (are we noticing a pattern of less than speedy service?) they came over with bowls of saffron ice cream for my guide and I and said they were out of chocolate. My guide told me to try it while the waiter was there and if I didn't like it she would send it back. Well, I figured I would be polite and try it and say it was fine and eat a few bites even if I didn't like it and then just say I was full. Well, I put a spoon of this in my mouth and it was the absolute worst thing I have ever tasted. It was like sucking a lemon when it's so bad you can't control your facial expression it was just that horrendously awful. So the waiter took mine back no problem and my guide ate some of hers even though she didn't like it to be polite. Meanwhile, the table next to us had ordered chocolate ice cream as well and were also told they were out. Next thing I know, the waiter comes over to me with this huge bowl of chocolate ice cream. He had gone all the way down to the garden restaurant to get me ice cream from there. Well, the people at the next table went nuts. Yelling and screaming at the waiters, managers were coming over, people were staring. Meanwhile I'm just eating my chocolate ice cream thinking I'd better finish every drop of this huge bowl if it kills me! This fight lasted for like 10 minutes. Of course none of it was in English but some things don't need translation. It escalated when the waiter came back with a second bowl of chocolate ice cream for my guide who very obviously didn't like her saffron ice cream either. Eventually they went and got some chocolate ice cream for these people and gave it to them for free but they were still yelling on the way out the door. It was a bizarre evening to say the least but hey - I got some pretty good ice cream out of the deal!

In a few minutes I'll head out to the airport for the long flight home. This will likely be my last mystery blog unless I miss my connection and have a longer layover than I anticipate. When I get home I will reveal where I've been and share some pictures. I haven't seen all of the comments on facebook and the blog since I've been in a social media blackout but my sister has been sending me some. I believe that there might have been a correct guess or two along the way so I'll also share who will be receiving very exciting prizes for their correct answers!

The Final Mystery Blog

I tried to blog a bunch of times yesterday but the internet gods were against me and I kept losing it so I'll try again today. Today was the last full day of my trip and it was mostly a travel day. We drove to the capital city with a stop in the holiest city in the country along the way. We also stopped for some "Kentucky Chicken" where my chicken strips took over 1/2 hour to make - apparently in this country fast food is slower than most restaurants. While it was pretty good, I think the Colonel might be turning over in his grave if he were to taste the knock-offs served here. While the food here has been pretty good, I'm starting to think I may turn into a chicken if I don't get something different to eat soon. I have eaten chicken at least once a day for the past two weeks. The food in the first country was much better than it is here so I'm getting nostalgic for the chicken of yore. Unfortunately, the real meat staple here is either lamb or the ubiquitous unidentified "meat" neither of which I can do - Especially since on the side of the road the other day I saw what looked like a serta mattress commercial gone very wrong, a very large basket of sheep heads for sale. Apparently they are a delicacy but one that I definitely passed on.

Yesterday I saw some more of the bridges that that city was famous for. Unfortunately, they turned off the river for the summer so they sort of looked a little ridiculous over dry riverbeds. Especially since it seems like some people didn't get the memo. There are paddleboats just sitting in the dry dusty riverbed along with signs up and down the banks that say "please don't swim in the river" Umm, I don't think that will be a problem. I didn't see a Flock of Seagulls though.

In a way I also came full circle on this trip yesterday because my afternoon was focused on genocide, something that was the main focus of the first country I visited. I spent the afternoon visiting a neighborhood and a church that belongs to a group of people who escaped a genocide in their own country and came here to start over. I visited a museum which had pictures and artifacts from that genocide as well as a replica of the memorial that was built to the victims of that genocide in their home country. It was an interesting place. Within the quarter the residents were able to follow their own rules, customs and religion but outside of that quarter they were subject to the codes of the country and could not intermarry with "natives" (under penalty of death). Apparently, because of these rules, this neighborhood is where all the good black markets are found but I didn't check that part out! It was interesting and a little bit sad to see that these people are survivors who started over and have built lives and families and generations here but at the same time, they are, in many ways cut off from the rest of society.

Finally, last night I had the chance to sit in a rooftop coffeehouse and enjoy views of the city and have some ice cream. Unfortunately, my ice cream may have caused an international incident but it was pretty funny. They had two flavors of ice cream, chocolate and their "special" flavor saffron. Of course I ordered chocolate and 1/2 hour later (are we noticing a pattern of less than speedy service?) they came over with bowls of saffron ice cream for my guide and I and said they were out of chocolate. My guide told me to try it while the waiter was there and if I didn't like it she would send it back. Well, I figured I would be polite and try it and say it was fine and eat a few bites even if I didn't like it and then just say I was full. Well, I put a spoon of this in my mouth and it was the absolute worst thing I have ever tasted. It was like sucking a lemon when it's so bad you can't control your facial expression it was just that horrendously awful. So the waiter took mine back no problem and my guide ate some of hers even though she didn't like it to be polite. Meanwhile, the table next to us had ordered chocolate ice cream as well and were also told they were out. Next thing I know, the waiter comes over to me with this huge bowl of chocolate ice cream. He had gone all the way down to the garden restaurant to get me ice cream from there. Well, the people at the next table went nuts. Yelling and screaming at the waiters, managers were coming over, people were staring. Meanwhile I'm just eating my chocolate ice cream thinking I'd better finish every drop of this huge bowl if it kills me! This fight lasted for like 10 minutes. Of course none of it was in English but some things don't need translation. It escalated when the waiter came back with a second bowl of chocolate ice cream for my guide who very obviously didn't like her saffron ice cream either. Eventually they went and got some chocolate ice cream for these people and gave it to them for free but they were still yelling on the way out the door. It was a bizarre evening to say the least but hey - I got some pretty good ice cream out of the deal!

In a few minutes I'll head out to the airport for the long flight home. This will likely be my last mystery blog unless I miss my connection and have a longer layover than I anticipate. When I get home I will reveal where I've been and share some pictures. I haven't seen all of the comments on facebook and the blog since I've been in a social media blackout but my sister has been sending me some. I believe that there might have been a correct guess or two along the way so I'll also share who will be receiving very exciting prizes for their correct answers!

 

Shopping in half the world

I saw half the world today. I also tried to buy half the world as I tried to shop for gifts. My tour guide doesn't seem to understand that I shop much better when I panic shop on the last day of a trip. I did buy a bunch of stuff today but I didn't have the same adrenaline rush because I still have a couple of days left. Shopping is interesting here because I keep being led to these workshops where they show you how they make traditional handicrafts and then try to sell you them at exorbitant prices. Most of them aren't even that well made and I'm thinking as I look at them, yeah if that's like 15 bucks my mom might like it, it's kind of cute. It's hard not to either looked shocked or laugh when they then tell you it's $300. I was having a hard time getting it through my guides head that I wanted cheap souveniers, not crazy expensive (and often really ugly) artwork. I finally did find one place where I was able to buy some stuff.




There's one particular craft that this country is internationally known for. Before I came I thought I might buy a small one so I could say I had this from the place that invented it. That was before I found out just how much they were. The smallest ones are at least $1800 and my guide keeps telling me that it's a great price they are offering me and that their value goes up over time because they get more valuable as they get older. Umm yeah but that doesn't do me a whole heck of a lot of good when me and my $1800 gift to myself are living in a van down by the river because I can't pay my mortgage next month. I knew I was in trouble in the store when they started telling me it was the highest quality and signed by the artist. I'm still trying to find the place that tells me this is so-so quality and made by a machine somewhere in Bangladesh - that's probably the only way I could afford it! Maybe it's just the perception of Americans that we all have money so I can't get anyone to show me anything cheaper. Maybe (ok probably) my guide gets kickbacks if I buy in these stores. Maybe guides in this country make a whole heck of a lot more money than American teachers because she has been shopping in these stores for her house and is agonizing about choosing between the $15,000 one, the $10,000 or getting two of the smaller $ 6,000 ones. OK I'm definitely in the wrong profession!



So I do make it a point to buy myself one nice thing from each place I go and hang it up in my living room. There is another craft that this country is also well known for that I decided to check out. I met the artist, who has exhibitions all over the world and has been written up in art magazines. I found one I fell in love with and although it was a splurge, it was a reasonable one and I'm very happy with my purchase. I'll post pictures when I get home. The best part is, I can take the $1800 they wanted me to spend in the other store buy this artwork, pay my mortgage for the next two months and save the rest for a deposit on my next trip.



I mentioned my guide a few times. Yes, I'm traveling with a guide and driver which is not necessarily my favorite way to travel. I prefer group tours or volunteer groups but in this part of the world that is not possible. It is also not possible for Americans to travel unescorted so a guide and driver was my only option. They have all been very nice but I really just want to run out and grab a pizza or something but if I do that, either the reception desk at the hotel or the local police will call my guide and yell at her so I guess that's out of the question tonight - I wonder if Domino's delivers - probably not in 30 minutes or less!



Speaking of the police, I met the tourism police today when they wanted to interview me for a survey they were doing about how they could better welcome guests to the country. The officer was very nice but the whole experience was pretty surreal. I've also been hearing a lot about the morality police in this city and how strict they are. It feels a bit Orwellian but a ticket from them would probably be the ultimate souvenier to bring home. And at about $30 it would be a heck of a lot cheaper than most things here!

Wrestling, Religion and Ruminating

Learned to cut a rug today before visiting a gym to watch wrestlers work out. It was a traditional group work out where there was a singer and a drummer and they did exercises and dances to the music and demonstrated different skills that represented traditional weapons. There were men of all ages from young boys to older men and they all got the chance to show off their expertise. It was a pretty neat experience and I learned that gyms everywhere all smell exactly the same. That smell isn't pretty, especially when it is intensified by the fact that they make all the smelly tourists take off their shoes to watch!

I'm in a city that is on UNESCO's list of longest inhabited cities (although I've been told that a lot in the last week or so). Much of today was spent learning about a very old monotheistic religion that began in this part of the world although many of its strictist followers left this country for their own protection. I am in a city that is home to some of their greatest monuments. I had the opportunity to warm myself at their fire and listen to the sounds of silence. Fortunately there hasn't been anything there for the birds to eat since the 1970's so I didn't have to hide from birds. This evening I also visited a building very important to another religion and filled with beautiful mirrors, inlaid wood doors and people praying. Despite a few wardrobe malfunctions on my part it was an amazing experience (and I'm sure I amused the locals).

This is a hard place to get a handle on. Usually by this point in a trip I have an idea about the preconceptions that I inevitibly come in with from the American media. I can usually start to understand a little bit about what's true and what's not. That's not the case with this place. I don't know, maybe with this place the preconceptions are so deeply ingrained that I can't see past them. The people here are continually fascinated with the fact that I'm an American. Tonight I was sitting in the hotel lobby and a group of about 40 men from the northern part of the country filed in after a day tour. One spoke English and asked me where I was from. When I told him I was American I could hear the word American filtered down the line of the 40 of them like a game of telephone and they all wanted to look at me and ask questions. The one English speaker tried to ask me a bunch of their questions. The most difficult question for me to answer was "is life more difficult here or in America?" I mean, how do I answer that when I speak none of his language and he speaks only a few of mine without causing an international incident? This place has a long and fascinating history but what's harder to learn about is the present. Unlike the last country I was in where they were in a state of change and presented their nation "warts and all" things are a little harder to understand here. In some ways the people are very liberal while in other ways they are so conservative that it's hard for me to accept. It's only been today that my guide has begun to talk to me more about reality here for everyday young people (she's in her 20s). This is what some of our conversations were like today

Her: We should be friends on Facebook

Me: Umm I thought it was banned

Her: It is but I use a proxy, we find a way

Her: Look at this map on my Ipad

Me: Ummm I thought they were banned

Her: I bought it on the black market, we find a way

Her: I saw that on the BBC

Me: Ummm I thought that was banned

Her: I have a satellite dish, it's illegal but we find a way.

Maybe that's the takeaway from this country - the resilience of the people. They follow laws that to me seem very antiquated and silly and seemingly follow them without question. Maybe it's because those laws don't matter to them. But maybe, the younger generation is gathering strength and maintaining hope by subverting government control of technology. Maybe that's the way this country will find its way.

Road Trip

This is likely going to be a short blog entry because the internet here is pretty sporadic and I keep having to do some pretty strange contortions in order to find the one spot in the room that gets Wifi. I already got booted once and lost everything which is pretty annoying. I'm staying in a hotel that is very old and has very thick stone walls which makes everything echo except for the wireless signal. The rooms were traditionally cooled by a wind tunnel system on the roof but they have recently installed air conditioners as well. I'm suffering from some Facebook and Blog withdrawal but thanks to my brother and sister hopefully the message is getting through. At least the Yankees website is available so at least I can follow the score of the game.

We visited a place today that all the tourists love although Alexander wasn't too fond of it. I guess it wasn't a hot enough attraction for him. After that, we visited a place where a lot of Kings hang out but it was pretty dead today. Finally, it was on to our big road trip. It was a four of five hour trip but we stopped a few times to see a big refrigerator, a really old tree and a mountain that looks like a bird. We also thought we saw a lake but we were mistaken.

The hotel we are in for the next two nights has beautiful gardens and an outdoor restaurant where we had dinner tonight. I finally met some other tourists for the first time since I have been traveling - a family from China. They spoke some English so we were able to chat a bit over dinner. There were some stray cats that kept jumping up on the table during dinner which was a little freaky! There are also some very large parakeets that live in the garden and we all know how I feel about birds! The food here is pretty good although it's starting to get a little repetitive but hey, I'm not that adventurous anyway.

First Day in a New Country

Today is my first day in a new country. I arrived late last night and got into the country pretty easily - I was the only one on the foreign passengers immigration line so that made it quick. I was only slowed down because the lady at the desk shouted out something that I can only imagine was "hey guys look, I have an American over here" and a bunch of other people came to look at my passport. Once again I'm in a country where I don't really blend in. People kept coming up to me in the streets to say "hello". That's always fun except I learned in China that often when young people came up to me and said "hello, how are you?" and I said "good, you?" they had no idea what I was saying. I had to answer the way they learned it in school and say "I am fine thank you, how are you?" It seems to be the same thing here! It also makes me feel a bit like a freak of nature - everyone go check out the american.




I flew into a city further in the south of the country and I'll be working my way north over the next week. Today I had the chance to explore this city. I thought I might be able to find a nice glass of wine here but apparently that's not the case. I do however have an overwhelming urge to watch "Dead Poet's Society" It was 45 degrees out today and I think I could have gotten away with packing less sunscreen than I did. Tomorrow will be a long day with a long drive and a lot of stops at some of the most famous places in this country.



One downer that I was kind of expecting is that Facebook and my blog site are blocked in this country. Fortunately my email address works so my brother is going to help post them and my sister is going to help share the updates on Facebook so feel free to continue guessing where I am and I'll get some updates of your guesses from my sister. You can also drop me an email at kerrio98@aol.com

My day in limbo

So I flew out of my first country late last night/early this morning.  It seems evident that I am doomed to not have a smooth ride to the airport at any point this trip.  My shuttle was an hour late picking me up to go to Kennedy and then last night my ride to the airport didn't show up.  I ended up taking a taxi with some weird driver who wanted to practice his English when all I wanted to do was get to the airport quickly.  The airport had some crazy security procedures including three trips through the metal detectors and a more than casual acquaintance with the pat down lady.  I mean really she could have at least bought me dinner before she got that friendly!  The third time through security they searched my backpack by hand.  I had just stopped and brought some snacks to use up the rest of my currency forgetting that I already had some snacks in my bag so I had an embarrassing amount of candy in my bag!  And really, I had already been scanned three times, what could I possibly be hiding at that point?

The place where I left from and the place that I am going to are only about an hour apart by air but that's just too easy for this part of the world.  Instead, I flew 2 1/2 hours west this morning, have a 15 hour layover and am flying 3 1/2 hours east tonight (probably directly over the city I left this morning).  So today has been a day in limbo.  I decided to be a bad traveler today and forgo the tour of the city that I could have taken during the layover and instead booked myself into the airport hotel and slept for the day.  I have a student who I know will be disappointed with me for not taking the tour but I know the next week has a lot of long travel days (due to my refusal to take internal flights) and I didn't have time to sleep last night so I thought I would be better off just relaxing.  I'm also in a country I know I want to come back and visit in the future because there's a lot I want to see so I'll be back here someday.

There were a lot of good guesses on my first destination.  My sister asked me if I was going to tell if anyone gets it right and I'm still not sure if I will make a final reveal before I get home but I will say that there were no correct answers for the first country.  It's sad that there have been so many genocides in world history that there were so many good guesses that weren't right.  It's also sad that the one that I spent the week learning about has been forgotten by so many. 

I will be off in a few hours to my next undisclosed location and the adventure (and the clues) will continue!

An American in Paradise?

It's always been true that I've never felt more like an American then when I'm in another country.  All of a sudden I seem to represent "American" and everything I say or do is construed as speaking for a nation.  Even today we were in a crowded market and I kept getting caught in traffic jams of people.  My guide said to me that I just needed to push my way through and my response was "if you push it's normal, if I push I'm the rude American shoving people out of the way."  This is the first country I've been to in a long time, maybe forever, where being American is actually an asset.  It literally has opened doors for me.  Show up at a museum just as they are closing for lunch - oh she's an American, come in, we'll eat later.  Go through security - oh she's an American, we don't have to check her bag.  I'm not used to being loved just for being American.  I've been liked, tolerated, and called imperialist aggressor but loved, that's just not something I can wrap my head around.

So I visited the capital city today.  It has 2 names depending on who you ask but whatever you call it I didn't really like it.  It's known for it's old city which like every great architectural wonder I have ever visited anywhere in the world was covered in scaffolding and mesh fences.  I've pretty much come to the conclusion that this truly is an ancient architectural style!  It's just a crazy busy city and it's growing very quickly.  They're building 5 star hotels, malls, fast food restaurants and amusement parks.  I think it's just getting too big too fast and it's losing the feeling that once made it special.  Of course, you didn't hear me complaining when I was eating chicken fingers in the food court at the mall!

In a few hours I leave for the airport to start the second part of my journey.  It'll be a long day of travel and sitting in airports which I'm not looking forward to but stay tuned for the next edition of Where in the World is Kerri O'Shea - maybe I need to make the clues a bit easier in the next round!

Last day in this city

Tomorrow morning I head out to the capital city for a day of sightseeing before flying out to my next destination on Thursday morning.  It's amazing how quickly this trip has gone.  This city has been wonderful so I'm sad to be leaving it tomorrow but I think I have seen most of what there is to see.  There have been quite a few good, well thought out guesses as to where I am (well except for my father who is convinced I lied to everyone and am really in Philly!) so keep the guesses coming. 
Yesterday and today I did a few more interesting things.  I visited a place that is internationally known for it's hiking.  I didn't hike too far though - I don't have that kind of time, I need to be back at work in September!  I also went for a white knuckle 4 wheel drive ride up the side of a mountain where two of the drivers managed to pull next to each other on a one lane path so that one driver could pass lunch to the other.  Luckily it was the other guy who was on the open air side of the road hanging off the mountain so I wasn't too worried!
Today I had the opportunity to go out into the very rural countryside and see some of the traditional villages with their mud houses (some of which now have satellite dishes on top).  I saw some beautiful scenery and also got to hear the very moving experiences of my guide who I have been travelling with for the last few days.  He has a story that sounds almost like something out of The Sound of Music or some crazy war movie.  When he was a child, his father was a resistance fighter.  Because of his father's involvement in this movement there was a contract placed on the lives of the whole family.  The family escaped the city with the assistance of several people who hid them in the trunks of their cars and reunited them at the military encampment of his father in the mountains.  They lived there for a time moving from village to village and even had a school set up in the area.  At one point, the school was bombed by the government and at least one student was killed.  At that point, the father was relieved of his military duties and asked to go to Western Europe to gain support for the resistance there.  The whole family walked for days out of the mountains and into the neighboring country where they were promptly arrested by the border guards.  They were imprisoned (his word) in a refugee camp in the neighboring country for over a year before finally being able to travel to London.  It seems like so many people here have stories like this and yet they all have this desire to rebuild and move on.  It's the same spirit and determination that I saw in post-apartheid South Africa, this idea that yes we have suffered for decades but we can either sit and complain about it or we can move forward and make sure it doesn't happen again. 

Genocide Tourism

I have traveled all over the world and I continue to struggle with visiting sites where massacres and/or genocides have been turned into museums.  On the one hand I am fascinated to be in a place where so much history happened.  On the other hand, it seems disrespectful to be a tourist in a place where so many people suffered.  I think it's so important to bring back pictures of these places to share with my students but I don't want to trivialize the importance of the place by walking around snapping pictures.  I struggled with this in Dachau when I visited the site of the concentration camp, in Soweto when I saw the bullet holes from the police massacre of black schoolchildren and in My Lai where survivors take visitors on a tour of a re-creation of burned buildings and dead animals.

I struggled here as well.  In the last two days I have visited two monuments to genocide, both of them very moving in very different ways.  The first, in the city, was an actual place where killings happened.  The had statues set up to memorialize some of those killed and statues set up to depict the treatment of these individuals.  The buildings were riddled with bullet holes and in one spot the floor is said to still have blood stains on it.   The second was a memorial in a village in the countryside. This was one of the most intense places I have ever been.  The photos and stories were graphic and the tours were given by survivors.  The English speaking guide I had lost his father.  There was another guide there who had lost his whole family.  He was interviewed by television journalists right after the event and they played the video.  It's hard to understand how he can work in a place where he watches a video of the biggest trauma in his life over and over again in the hopes of educating others.  My English speaking guide asked me if I wanted to take a picture of this man and I posing next to a picture of this man taken by journalists during that interview.  I expressed concern that I didn't want to do anything disrespectful but he insisted that I do it and that they would ask him to pose with me.  Imagine my surprise when after the guide took a picture with my camera, the man posing with me took out his phone and asked the guide if he could have a picture with me as well because he felt it was so important that Americans came and learned about what happened here.  When the guides found out I was a teacher they gave me a book and some CDs of pictures and images to bring back to my classes.  All in all, it was a pretty intense day.

For those that are interested I am also keeping a journal of my travel and I will post some of that when I return and share where I have been.  In that post I will share a lot more information about what I learned in these places and my reflections on this genocide.

The tour begins!

I arrived at my first destination about 12 hours ago and got to see some of the sights today despite being tired and jet lagged.  What country I'm in really depends on who you ask.  Technically I am in the country that rejected my visa (3 times) but if I were to try and go where I originally planned I would be arrested for illegal immigration.  Many say that I'm in a country that doesn't really exist.  This morning I went to a museum that traces the history of the area back to the stone age.  It was interesting although they did have an overwhelming amount of broken pottery that looked like it had been put together with crazy glue and some of the English signs were a little bizarre.  There was one that I believe was supposed to say "Clay Lamp" but instead said "Clay Lump"  I don't know, it did sort of look like a lump so maybe the sign makers did know what they were talking about!  One of the very interesting parts was that at some point in history the people of this area buried bodies in pottery urns.  They had two of them on display with the skeletons visible in them.  After a hamburger for lunch I am back in the hotel for a little siesta before heading out tonight to visit a nearby mountain to get some panoramic views of the city at night.

On the road again...

Well, I left last night to head off to my undisclosed location.  I left from Kennedy and for those of you that watch the news I was not on the flight that was delayed because a woman refused to stop singing.  If I was, I'd probably have been arrested for throwing her off the plane myself  - I don't have a lot of patience for obnoxious passengers.  I had a long flight last night (not the longest flight I've ever taken but it's close) and now I'm hanging out on an 8 hour layover.  It's kind of a bummer layover - before I changed my trip the layover was going to be longer and I was going to have time to go out and see the one thing in this country I have always wanted to see and then stay in a hotel overnight and head back to the airport early in the morning.  Now that it's shorter I'm stuck hanging out in the airport.  Now I'm just hanging out watching the planes take off and land. 

So, I don't have any real clues till I actually reach my final destination but I can tell you I'm on a continent I have visited before - that should help narrow it down a little!

Getting ready to leave

Trip is finally planned.  Last deposit was finally confirmed yesterday -nothing like waiting till the last minute!  I had some visa difficulties- the visa for the country I was planning on visiting was rejected 3 times before I finally gave up.  Sometimes being American does not have its privileges.  I changed my plans a bit after some frantic research and am leaving the U.S. a few days later than I originally planned.  I fly out tomorrow and will be gone till the 20th.  It's a little shorter than I usually travel but the end date was not negotiable.

I have decided to torment my family by not telling them where I'm going and giving them clues so they can play "where in the world is Kerri O'Shea?"  I'll be posting clues on my blog so feel free to play along - maybe there'll be some fun and exciting prizes.  Sometimes the clues will be easy.  Sometimes they'll be harder.  Sometimes they will be in plain sight other times (like today) the clues will be hidden in the post.