So far Oman has been great. This country has been through a renaissance since the current Sultan came to power in the early 70's. He has instituted progressive reforms that have increased the prosperity, infrastructure, and industry of his country many times over from what it was when he first took control of the government. I've enjoyed my time here so far, taking time in the capital city of Muscat to do a little scuba diving, or "visiting an underwater museum" as I like to...read more

• 1 Comment

It was unfortunate that I was unable to post information on Israel more closely to the trip itself, but now that I am in Oman on yet another trip and finding myself in need of a little break I'm taking this opportunity to do a little catching up. Without giving a day-by-day narrative on every move we made, I would like to hit the highlights. First and foremost, Israel is a completely different country from all of its neighbors. Western style, influence, and to a large degree,...read more

• 2 Comments

Well, due to a power outage in my apartment recently I was unable to post my latest update which covered my trip into Israel, the Embassy Duty Officer position I held for a week, and a couple of other things. It was quite a long update and I will have to go back and re-create it. In the meantime, I wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive and that I haven't forgotten to keep the updates coming. In fact, I'm going to try to start doing at least one update per week so long as...read more

• Post Comment

Greetings to everyone. I hope you have all been doing well the past couple of weeks. My apologies for taking so long to post since my last but as many other bloggers are saying, I find it much better to wait until I have something significant to say, in a quality-over-quantity sort of speaking. As the title of this entry suggests, the last few weeks have been very quiet compared to the previous months. I've spent a week in seclusion with my good friends the Jordanians, gone on an extended...read more

• 7 Comments

This past week was full of activity, and yours truly was busy for the first time this year with actual work to do. It was a welcome change, as I have been fighting the sluggish feeling that comes with not having a real purpose other than to serve one's self for such a long period of time. The Jordanian government hosted the 8th Annual Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference in Amman this week with hundreds of exhibitors representing a wide range of products and about a hundred...read more

• 6 Comments

I arrived back in Amman a few days ago from my second regional travel experience to Turkey, and what an experience it was. This time was quite different from the trip to Egypt, as I was traveling alone and in a country where none of the languages I speak seemed to be of any use at all. It made me a little nervous but in the end I had no real issues with getting myself where I needed to be. The only real disadvantage was not being able to have discussions with the locals, since most people in...read more

• Post Comment

As I drove back to Amman a few days ago from hanging out in the desert with the Jordanian Army it occurred to me that life, in Amman at least, was starting to settle into somewhat of a rhythm. I am spending my weekends getting my entertainment and rest in, three days hanging out in the desert with the Jordanians, and the remaining work days at the embassy filing travel vouchers for completed trips and getting things organized for the next trip. Most of the "newness" of things has...read more

• Post Comment

After nearly two weeks in Egypt we have accomplished the main objectives of our stay and are finally ready to head back to good ole Amman, Jordan. As I write this, I'm sitting in a hotel in Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast pondering the events of the last two weeks, and how to condense such a story into something easily digestible. I could tell you all the things we saw and how numb my mind went after the third or fourth "really old thing with hieroglyphics on it", and I could...read more

• 5 Comments

Our arrival in Egypt was anything but easy. Our plan was to put our vehicle on a ferry from Aqaba and land in the Sinai in the town of Neweba. We did not expect to encounter as many problems as we did. On the Aqaba side, the immigration officer giving us our exit stamps "somehow" missed stamping one of our passports, something we didn't know about until a minute before we were supposed to drive the vehicle onto the ship. Fortunately the dock manager was sympathetic and allowed us to go...read more

• Post Comment

Well well well... lots to talk about on this one so excuse the length. First of all lets talk about the Dead To Red Ultra Marathon Relay. What an experience THAT turned out to be. To begin, everyone on the team was so stoked about finally getting to the race that I don't think anyone got a good night's sleep the night prior. We all showed up with smiles on our faces at the starting point. It was great to finally lay eyes on the Dead Sea... looked more like a big lake across which you could see...read more

• Post Comment