Sitting at Schipol's gate E7 after a slightly interesting experience with security. It didn't help that I threw out all my receipts, decided to return a week early, and visited America's favorite country Syria... My interview lasted about 10 or 15 minutes with two trips to the supervisor. I guess they were able to get past my nervous and fidgety presence and decided to trust me. This time.
I have to admit, I've been a bit nervous flying... A few weeks ago I had this extremely realistic nightmare where I was in one of those big airport buses that shuttle people between gates when this airplane crashed sending an incinerating wave of flames over the bus. I felt myself vaporize and die, I opened my eyes and I was staring into a white light. I remember saying out loud "I'm dead". After a few seconds my vision focused and I was staring at the white, dingy hotel wall. The good thing is that in my dream it appeared there was some (however brief) after-life. The bad thing is that it left me a little wary of flying. Strangely, when I left Istanbul for Damascus a few weeks back I took one of those shuttle buses between gates... My knuckles were white as a gripped the bar to keep my balance. Today during the fight between Amman and Istanbul the turbulence was very bad making me envision the worst. Only one more leg from Amsterdam to Minneapolis, I'm almost home. That is if I get on this flight... I'm standing by for a severely over-sold flight.
Well, like I mentioned yesterday, I thought I would close the books on another travel adventure. As usual, I'll mention a few nice memories and create a few lists. The trip was really great! I saw a lot of ancient ruins, to the point where it started to look like a bunch of rocks. Thankfully I waited until the end of the trip to see Petra, it would have been disappointing to start with Petra then suffer from diminishing returns. I met a lot of very friendly people. Middle Eastern hospitality is hard to beat. That said, the male dominated society combined with women cloaked in black didn't play to my comfort zone. Ramadan was a pain, but it did limit my alcoholism... I have to admit, I wouldn't travel to an Islamic country again during Ramadan. Finally, thankfully no terrorists attacked me and after the stomach flu and my five day cycle of Ciprofloxine I feel confident that I can open my mail when I return home.
On to the lists... I came up with two, the first is the "Top Five Middle East Sites" and the second is "Jeff's Favorite Middle Eastern Foods" (which was tricky since this trip wasn't exactly a tour of culinary excellence).
Well, I think I'm out of journal pages. Thankfully this is my last entry. The trip was great! And, safe! My advice is don't let this terrorism stuff slow you down. Don't fall for the ignorant line and trust the human spirit, it had got us this far. Besides, the odds are in your favor. I heard the following quote before I left the states. It helped my confidence and deserves to be shared:
"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." - Helen Keller