Doobee Doobee Dubai

I've learned today that while many things can be very nice when you're tired and in need of some mental relaxation (i.e. a pool, bathtub, afternoon tea, and happy hour)...what is really priceless is having a bidet in the hotel bathroom when you're recovering from a stomach bug. Wow!

As you might be able to guess by the title, I'm in Dubai now, and so thankful to be out of the hell hole that has become the Baghdad IZ. I kid not when I say that I think daily life would be far more relaxing for me outside in the Red Zone sometimes. That's all I'll say here, but well, my American taxpayer-paid hotel room here is making me feel quite better (Thanks!). Sad to say, but the nicest places I have ever stayed at in my life have been on the taxpayer dime. I do think it's because I (and maybe most others like me) would consider such accommodations rather ostentatious. Thankfully this spending is public, and the old foggies who set the standard will whine away for more decent housing on their (and thereby my) behalf.

It has been a long day with about an hour's worth of checkpoints and security "experiences" prior to reaching Baghdad International Airport (aka BIAP). First time in my life I was felt up thrice before 10 a.m.! Fun times. Flying Iraqi Airways in and of itself is an experience. The flights can take off hours late, or hours early. In my case it was an hour early, and some people had been at the airport since 6 a.m. just in case. They provided a very basic Iraqi lunch on the plane that included some sort of breaded chicken cutlet and very sugary peach soda smoothie (with real peach pieces!)...It was questionable, but I was very hungry. There alse seems to be a bug of some type working its way through Baghdad proper, as most people had some unidentified hacking cough. Yeah, the flight was awesome.

I was fortuitously seated next to a Sri Lankan from Colombo who tried to steal my window seat, and next to him in the aisle was a personal security detail worker out of Victory Base Camp who was on his way to visit his wife and two girls in Newcastle for a month-long leave. The Sri Lankan, who was going home after three years in Iraq, continued to inch toward my window and seat throughout the flight, edging his elbow into my personal space, and making me think of the Lonely Planet passages that discuss holding sari pins in one's hand to injure men commonly protruding on your space. I decided to keep it peaceful, but wedged myself in the corner after no amount of light elbow brushing seemed to affect him.

The roughly two-hour flight was otherwise uneventful, aside from the last few minutes where I got up during the descent to use the bathroom and received a panicked look from the male flight attendant who was belted into his little jump seat. He urgently told me to sit back down, and I (along with my two friends seated next to me) all got back in our seats. Since Iraqi Airways does things rather informally, it was unclear the plane was in its final descent to begin with. My seat was back, window cover down, and music played away on my iPod. Meanwhile, a person behind me was taking a phone call on their cell.

Anyway, I was glad to get off the plane in Dubai. Vacation mindset had finally somewhat set in. I got into the hotel quite quickly, and walked up to my room. It is an "Executive Suite"...and man, I have never stayed in such a room on my own before. It was pretty cool, though as I try to describe it I guess it's not so much ornate but spacey, with lots of room (quite literally), and walk-in areas. I decided to head over to the complimentary "afternoon tea" and eat there. They had little tea sandwiches, a quiche, and great fruit. Afterward I chilled out in my room for a bit then decided to take a quick dip in the pool before taking a bath to soothe my back and hopping in the shower to wash off. I was probably under water today almost as long as I was on dry land. Afterward it was time for complimentary "happy hour," which is especially excruciating if you're not drinking alcohol (also "complimentary"), and especially especially excruciating when they have a beautifully stocked full bar with nice top-label items. Oh well. I had some apple juice for my stomach, and decided the provided snacks (including humus, babaganoush, tabouleh, okra thing, a risotto item, chicken skewers, and more) were a sufficient dinner. Guess I am trying to go biggest bang for my buck here. Those per diem dollars will be going to me no matter how much I spend, so I might as well go frugal. Did I mention there's a complimentary breakfast tomorrow morning? Oh boy. The only downside of all these complimentary meals, so to speak, is that I can't go eat the other foods I've been missing. I figure I'll get some Thai food tomorrow at lunchtime. I've got a late checkout, before heading to the airport just before 3 p.m. for my 5 p.m. Emirates flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Emirates means excellent flight accommodations and a (usually) great selection of every movie/television show/backseat game you could want. I guess that's one plus of not flying a red eye. Every time I fly Emirates red eye I am so distracted by the amenities that I don't sleep a wink and end up playing around with their technology all night/morning. I'm excited for Colombo, though feeling pretty ragged still. I think I will try and rest as much as possible between now and tomorrow. Anyway, sorry for the rather stilted post...the others will be hopefully more full of event and less full of food. Well, maybe not.

IJW