Lebanon is one of the most difficult countries for a Middle East FAO to travel to. As you might guess, the security situation inside that country is prohibitive to having a normal, casual tour like in other countries. As such, anyone going into Lebanon who is an official must travel on their official passport, stay on the embassy compound, and only leave through pre-arranged trips that include armored vehicles and armed guards. As you can imagine, this makes seeing the country very difficult....read more

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After returning from Israel without speaking to anyone in the embassy back in June, I decided that if another opportunity opened up I would utilize my close proximity (and multiple-entry visa) to go back to Tel Aviv to catch up on what I viewed as some of the most critical information in my region. So, I'm back in Tel Aviv finishing up the return visit, and it hasn't been disappointing. I've met with some key folks on both the civilian and military sides of the house and it is...read more

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Okay, so the title for this one has a lot going on, but so have I! First of all, I was not back in Amman for long after my Oman trip before I was driving south to Aqaba to attend a very special event. The "Distant Heat" music concert has been going on annually for a number of years now and has grown fairly popular. This concert is reminiscent of the rave days but has a much more modern feel to it. Originally slated to take place in the middle of Wadi Rum, a very popular valley in...read more

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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