Chris and I touched down at the Oliver Thambo International Airport in Johannesburg last night after spending one night with friends in Dubai. Must say, not impressed with Dubai at all, it's like Vegas but even more soul-less. And the shopping, I found it to be extremely expensive, so don't know what the big deal is.
Pretoria is lovely, the weather is perfect and we actually managed to miss the Christmas crowd streaming in from all corners of the world. I imagine the airport will be a nightmare this upcoming weekend. We plan on spending the week here in Pretoria seeing friends and family, we have a Christmas party each with the two sides of the family tonight and tomorrow night, and on Saturday we'll load up my dad's double cab and head off on an adventure through some of the beautiful parks and mountains of the Free State, KwaZulu Natal and Lesotho.
I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, and if you are taking some time off, hope you will enjoy the time spent with loved ones.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Morocco
A favorite shot of mine, here we are at the Fes dye pits where all leather goods are hand-dyed.
Update
It has been almost a month since I last wrote, and the requests for updates have started picking up. Trust me, it is not for a lack of news or desire that I have not put my thoughts to paper, but rather more the weight of the realities squeezing us from every angle. With the emergence of study groups, high-profile resignations and political tug-of-wars in Washington, I ache for my Iraqi friends who have now turned to say it bluntly, petrified of the situation in Baghdad.
As the daily sectarian killings continue to plague the neighborhoods, we bid yet another colleague goodbye, weekly it seems. I am sad at losing my friends, but glad that they are of the fortunate few with the means and an option to get their families out. At a dinner with a colleague, his wife, and their five and two year olds, I listen to their optimism about moving to Dubai. "We have lost everything, as long as we have each other, we will be okay" says the mechanical engineer wife of my colleague.
As surreal as it seems, in the interest of an actual "update" I will give a brief overview of what we have been up to for the past month. I mentioned we had a week's break in Tuscany where we stayed at a 13th Century Agriturismo Estate called Spannochia. The estate is part of the Spannochia Foundation and was recently awarded as a "Green List" by Conde Nest Traveler. For our family and close friends, we have already indicated a possible return to Spannochia for a reunion in the near future.
Today we start the four day trek out of Baghdad to get to South Africa to spend Christmas with my family, including my now very ailing grandparents. We fly via Amman (as usual), and then to Dubai where we will spend the night with my good friends from high school who have lived in Dubai for about five years. On Tuesday we are off to Pretoria for a couple weeks of road tripping through Southern Africa with my dad's new double cab (complete with off-road trailer), eventually ending up at his house on a game farm for Christmas with my sister and her new fiancee, and his parents.
Our xmas cards and gift boxes are in the mail, you should all receive them shortly. Thank you also to all who sent us cards, good wishes and lovely care packages. We appreciate them all tremendously. And if you did send something that we did not receive before we leave (including toys for the Toys for Tots campaign) do not worry, they will be kept for our return.
I will leave you with a few recent photographs...
As the daily sectarian killings continue to plague the neighborhoods, we bid yet another colleague goodbye, weekly it seems. I am sad at losing my friends, but glad that they are of the fortunate few with the means and an option to get their families out. At a dinner with a colleague, his wife, and their five and two year olds, I listen to their optimism about moving to Dubai. "We have lost everything, as long as we have each other, we will be okay" says the mechanical engineer wife of my colleague.
As surreal as it seems, in the interest of an actual "update" I will give a brief overview of what we have been up to for the past month. I mentioned we had a week's break in Tuscany where we stayed at a 13th Century Agriturismo Estate called Spannochia. The estate is part of the Spannochia Foundation and was recently awarded as a "Green List" by Conde Nest Traveler. For our family and close friends, we have already indicated a possible return to Spannochia for a reunion in the near future.
Today we start the four day trek out of Baghdad to get to South Africa to spend Christmas with my family, including my now very ailing grandparents. We fly via Amman (as usual), and then to Dubai where we will spend the night with my good friends from high school who have lived in Dubai for about five years. On Tuesday we are off to Pretoria for a couple weeks of road tripping through Southern Africa with my dad's new double cab (complete with off-road trailer), eventually ending up at his house on a game farm for Christmas with my sister and her new fiancee, and his parents.
Our xmas cards and gift boxes are in the mail, you should all receive them shortly. Thank you also to all who sent us cards, good wishes and lovely care packages. We appreciate them all tremendously. And if you did send something that we did not receive before we leave (including toys for the Toys for Tots campaign) do not worry, they will be kept for our return.
I will leave you with a few recent photographs...
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