Thursday, December 31, 2009

Why The World is Going to End, or how Day 2 of Istanbul went

So, as I was sitting, with my feet up after 5 miles of walking today (I know, I'm a whiner), some other hostellers were mentioning the blue moon and I saw that there is a partial lunar eclipse happening tonight. So yeah. That's why the world is going to end.

But today was a good day for it to end on.

I had another short night... I'm still on a different time zone, though I don't think it is
Seattle's either. With another sunrise over Asia, I'm ok with being up at dawn.

Breakfast is a delic
ious affair; the hostel serves up a continental breakfast of bread and cheese and yogurt (yay!) and juice. I love it!

So last night, Jasmine and I made plans to head to the New District, north of the Golden Horn. We started walking, and then meandering around the Spice Market on the south side of the bridge. After getting adjusted to the way that shopkeepers talk (and now being in a pair), I didn't feel as harassed today.

Wow, this post is sounding boring. I'm a wee bit tired. Let's think if they are any interesting stories...

Jasmine and I were walking down Istiklal, and I finally found some guys playing backgammon, or tavla. I heard that was a big thing around here, and so, after watching for a bit, they invited us to sit down. I was "on a team" with one, while Jasmine was with the other. After rolling some good numbers, I still lost by a single piece. So we switched teams and... Jasmine, who had never played before, crushed me! Rolling double 4's every other turn probably didn't hurt her, either.

While we had really good luck with ferries (2), and trams (1), and a funnicula
r (1, after it took half an hour to find it), we did miss out on seeing the Maiden Tower up close and personal. That ferry stopping running right when we got there.

Now, purely for documentation purposes, I'm going to basically list all the places we went. From the hostel we walked to the Spice Market, then across and up a giant hill to the Galata Tower. On the way, we stopped into this little photo museum with a guard who asked where Jasmine was from. He guessed Japan, then we had this little conversation explaining where Singapore was. On our way out, he called after us, "Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore!" Good job, man.

We made it up the hill and to the Galata Tower. The view was windy, but pretty stunning. The balcony was just three feet wide, at most, to the management kindly put a sign to travel clockwise around it, which some people ignored (causing the rest of us a bit of grief). The views were pretty spectacular; all the terra cotta roofs reminded me of elsewhere in Europe (like Prague). We have really boring roofs in the States.

After, it was "breakfast" time at the nearby Kiva Han (which is also the name of
a restaurant and coffee shop near Carnegie Mellon, but I would be shocked if they have any relation.) I had menemen, an egg scramble dish (wiki and picture). Jasmine had lentil soup. We spent quite a while talking about Singapore versus the USA, especially about Christmas. In Singapore, it is a party with a countdown, similar to New Year's. So, she was expecting the same in Europe, but after spending it in Norway, she now knows it is very much a family holiday for Europe and North America. A lot less fun for her.

We made our way onward to Istiklal Street, a "pedestrian-friendly", wide shopping street with the classiest shops I've seen in Istanbul. It has a lot of Western influence, except for the "pedestrian" part; the just means the trams and only a few taxis barrel through there regularly. We met our Turkish board-gamers along this stretch as well. One of my favorite restaurants was called something like "Potato" and had this cute sign with all the condi
ments.

The street ends at Taksim Square, which was getting ready for the festivities at midnight (since it was New Year's Eve). I had heard, however, that it was going to be crazy and we should avoid it; the police and cameras around validated this point. We spent 20 minutes trying to find the funicular to go down to the water, finally finding it... in the metro station.

We got to a port district called Kabatas, and took a little ferry boat over to Asia! My first time! And I made it just in time to say that I did it in 2009. We went to Uskudar, and began to see the difference. It was a lot dingier, and many more locals (and conservative locals) then tourists. We spent half an hour walking to the Maiden Tower to find that we just missed the last ferry over to see it. So, we continued along the shore toward some ferries (different than the ones we came on) and ended up in the port district of Kadikoy. (Just a note, all of the cities have wonderful accent marks that I have no desire to try to type at the moment. End note.)

I was exhausted and my feet were hurting (and I sure Jasmine can attest to my "whining"), so a final ferry later (and a tram) and I was back at the hostel. However, I decided that I wouldn't nap, convinced that that would make me sleep longer (note in retrospect: it didn't). After discussions on what to do for New Year's Eve festivities, Jasmine and I went to dinner. I had looked up the time for the partial eclipse (and it was also a blue moon, the second full moon in a month, which only happens "every 19 years" according to unreliable sources). NASA said 19:23 would be the height, so we peaked outside at 7:23 and... nothing. I was disappointed, but just figured that it was a very, very small partial eclipse that we couldn't see.

Others in the hostel were basically throwing a house party on the roof,
so I joined them and met all a bunch of Americas, Australians, Romanians, Canadians, and Turks. (Ok, so I might have met some of them before.) And, the time that I got for the eclipse was in GMT! So, at about 9:00pm, the moon had a bit of a smudge out that grew then shrank as the evening continued. Not like the party though... it only grew!
We took a short walk to see if we could see any of the hubbub around Gelata Bridge (we couldn't), then rang in the New Year on the roof.

So I've realized as I write this that many of you are still in 2009. Well, 2010 is looking great! (Though I still didn't manage to rack up more than 4 hours of sleep.) And "sheriff-eh", or cheers in Turkish, and Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

I Can See Asia from my Hostel, or how Day 1 of Istanbul went

Two updates in one day... aren't you lucky!

(And there may be some personal gain on my part too.)

Well, you've already heard my morning sob story about not getting enough sleep, so I
won't repeat it. Instead I can enlighten you on the gregarious interactions I've had with people, because today was very much about the meeting and the ignoring.

Yes, ignoring. I'm an awful person, but as a lovely single lady, I can't stop and chat with every man that yells out "Hello, lady" or "Yes, please." (I even got one "Good morning" this evening.) I knew that most of the sights didn't open until 9, but I was getting bored sitting around (and without a converter, couldn't really just play around on the internet). So I put on my fleece and stepped out into the quiet morning. I walked up to the Blue Mosque, but got distracted by a rooster, so ended up in a parking lot overlooking the Bosphorus Strait (though it might have been closer to the Sea of Marmara. Check out this map if you really care.) Speaking of animals, Istanbul has more strays than any other place I've been. And the cats are cuter than the mutts (which often look like a cross between a German Shepard and some other sleeker hound), so they have a few more starring roles in my pictures.

I loved the morning, until I started wandering around the tourist section before there were tourists there. A very insistent man came up to me, and trailed me for a few blocks before I shook him off (though he was in the square in front of the Hagia Sophia, so I was scared he was going to try again). Some how I ended up with his business card, which makes that two of them now. (The first was from my "friend" last night on the tram, who struck up a conversation, then warped it into me stopping by his shop so we could become "good friends." In case you were wondering, I am not going to buy a rug, so I'm not going to visit him.)

So after that early morning harassment, I went into the Blue Mosque. All mosques have a courtyard with a cleansing area, with running water and little stools, so this area had one. Walking around the building, all the tourists went in the side entrance to take off our shoes (though head coverings weren't required at this one). Inside was the giant dome. It was awesome (as in "brings awe", not the meaning followed by "dude"). Good ol' Rick told me all sorts of thing that I wouldn't have noticed. For example, the carpet (besides being vacuumed) had lines on it to help the worshippers be
oriented. The six minarets on the outside were the most in the world (until the one at Mecca had to build another, not to be outdone.) The legend about the minarets is the Sultan Ahmet asked for a gold (altin) and the architect heard six (alti). That was probably just an excuse for him to build six, really. And, of course, I have to mention the crazy cool dome.

Next I headed over to the Hagia Sophia, a church-turned-mosque-turned-museum. It was built to mimic the Blue Mosque (no wonder I was confused last night!) It has a ridiculous soaring dome too, which has been under restoration for years apparently. But, with th
e 10-story tall scaffolding, it is still impressive. The Christian idols were covered by plaster when the Ottoman Empire (I think) invaded, so some are destroyed forever, some were preserved because of it. When's all said and done, they were impressive. The vastness and openness that they tried to achieve with dome (which is bigger and better than the Blue Mosque's) worked.

Then it was the Underground Cistern, which was a luminous wonder. The reflections in the pool of all of the mismatched columns was beautiful. I should have a place just for pictures, since this is getting a bit full of them.

So that is basically the end of the typical tourist part of the day. Now, it was time for adventure. Well, once I passed the Hippodrome (a former chariot race track) where I found not one, but two obelisks!

I went to an off-the-beaten-path mosque (not that off-the-beaten-path though, there were a few other tourists there), then followed a random cobblestone road down a hill. There, I found a street of artisans, so I stopped in the first shop that caught my fancy.

And for the first time, I was not harassed until I bought something or left. In fact, I looked around the little shop for five minutes until the artist came up. When I finally chose a sketch of a whirling dervish, it was only about $7! And he packed it up with such care... He cut a board to put behind it, and taped up the envelope really well. I would show you a picture of it, but it is so well-packed, I don't want to take it out. And such a dear, too.

So, fresh with that experience, I went across the row to another little shop, where a woman was printing on fabric. She welcomed me, and then I asked (using the universal language of hand gestures) for her to show me. She painted on the black (India?) ink, put it on a cloth, and pounded. I was very impressed, and then, she gave a scrap cloth to me with some of her printing! When I asked her name, she gave it to me, then used her signature stencil to print it on my bandanna-sized piece of red fabric. I was already very thankful, then she offered me some Turkish delight. What a blessing.

I wandered down to the bank (crossing a very busy street in a less-than-opportune spot... but not getting hit!) After I walked along for a ways, I began to meander my way back toward the hostel, because my camera battery was going down, I was getting tired, and I wanted my sunglasses. While walking around the backstreets, I heard a man ask in English for a beer. My curious and friendly nature got the better of me, so I sat by him and asked for one, too. Gustaf from Sweden was headed to Ethopia to learn medicine, and when he went back to the WC, I started chatting with two other guys that came up and had been smoking like chimneys since we got there. They happened to be heading to the same hostel, so after an hour or so of chatter, we headed back that direction... where I subsequently fell asleep.

I woke up and was ready for dinner, but not really feeling up to walking around in the dark alone. But, I toughed up and made it to a cafe where I had some sort of potato pastry, and another one that I didn't know anything about. I made it back to the hostel, met the 8 other girls in my room, and chilled. And wrote this huge post. Sorry for the length, congrats if you made it this far! Time to socialize more. :)

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

I'm In The Future, or how my first morning in Istanbul is


So I made it to sleep before 1am (Istanbul time, which is +10 from PST and +7 from EST)...

But then I woke up. At 4:30. And laid in bed for almost two hours before giving up and deciding that a hot shower would be nice. (And nothing makes you stink like 18 hours of travel.) (Though it was really just the 45 minutes of figuring out the trams and being scared they would stop running that really set the stench.) (Sorry if that was too much information.)

So now, it is about 7am and I have a picture of the sunrise for you!

Here are some of my first observations about Istanbul. There are stray cats and dogs wandering around, all the streets are cobblestone, and the buildings are fairly claustrophobic.

Here's my "arriving to Istanbul" story.


I got off the airplane, paid the $20 for my visa, and picked up my luggage. I knew the trams stopped working at midnight, and it was 23:00, so I was getting a little worried, not knowing how long it would take me to get to my transfer location.

I wound my way through the airport, past some ATMs, and down the slowest escalator I've ever been on to the entrance to the light rail (which I had to take to the tram transfer.)

I walked up to the window, and they didn't take credit. I was a bit frustrated, but not too surprised. So I figured I would just walk back up to where the ATMs were and get out some cash.

Wrong.


Unbeknownst to me, when I walked out the doors to go down the exterior escalator, I had passed security. The only way to get back was to put all of my bags on the conveyor and walk through a metal detector.

So I put item after item on the belt, and tried walking through the metal detector. And I set it off. Then I put another handful of stuff on the belt, and still set it off. I was getting a bit frantic at this point, and by the time they let me walk through (I had still set it off, but I think they were sick of me), I was frazzled. So I collected my belongings and got to the ATM.

I don't think I got enough cash out (my brain was converting the wrong direction), but it is a start.

Then I realized that I didn't have my coats. I walked back toward the security lane, got my coats, and hustled down to the light rail.

The light rail system (and the tram, for that matter) operate on these little plastic tokens, so I popped one in and was all set.

Both the light rail and the tram were pretty easy to navigate (which is good, because I'll be using the tram a lot.) And at the nice price of $1 (1,50 Turkish lira), it's a pretty sweet deal. And I made it to the hostel by midnight (with a little bit of help from a taxi guy and tea seller by the side of the road.) Not my fault the Blue Mosque doesn't look very blue at night.

Well, since I couldn't find my converter while I was digging around in the dark this morning, that's all for now, folks!

I Hope We Will Be Good Friends, or how I made it to Istanbul


I've landed, ridden the trams, followed some directions, and I'm here at the hostel.

In order to keep the jetlag to a minimum, I also must keep this post to a minimum, since it is past midnight!

Here is what I wrote while between flights:

I was anxious all day, waiting for my 6:30 (sorry, 18:30) flight. We ran some last minute errands, including getting a travel towel (I'll let you know how that works out later). This gave us just enough time to pick Dad up from work so he could accompany Mom and me to the airport.

We got there; I had checked-in online, so just needed to drop off the large backpack (and carrying on a smaller backpack and rolling bag). We approached the front desk and was alerted that...


My flight was two hours delayed. I jumped to the worst conclusion, thinking I'd be bumped off my next one, but, in my first stroke of luck, my four hour layover, just turned into a two hour one.


It was two hours before I even needed to be at security, so Mom, Dad, and I drove to Southcenter and bought me a watch and dinner.

Getting through security was a breeze, and so I sat and waited at the terminal for a bit. The new security measures for coming into the US had caused the delay, but the flight attendant assured us that we would be “home soon.” Even the security guy assumed I was traveling to London to go home after the holidays.


A movie, five hours of sleep, and a bit of light reading later, I am sitting in the terminal in Heathrow. No, not “home.” Just the next step on this adventure that has gone smoothly thus far.


But, there are still more stories! Like the guy I "made friends with" on the tram, or the fact that I had to go through security in a really weird way, or how my hostel is in this cute little random area that is difficult to navigate behind the Blue Mosque. If I could even tell which the Blue Mosque is!

But here is a plane flight picture for you, and off to bed for me!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

!!!!, or why I'm freaking out

BECAUSE I HAVE ONE DAY LEFT.

This time tomorrow I will be in the AIRPORT about to BOARD my FLIGHT to ISTANBUL!

There is righteous anger, right? This is righteous freak-out.

I guess I never told you, but the airline strike was called off due to mis-voting. The trains around London are still screwed up last I heard, but I'm safe.


My room has been delineated into the "taking" and "not taking." I still have a few piles to go through, a bit of shopping to do, another round of sorting, massive amounts of scanning and printing, a load of laundry, a few phone calls, and then... I'll be "ready."

I'm taking a small rolling suitcase and a hiking backpack as of now. If I can consolidate them into the backpack I might try to do that, but I'm not thinking I'll be successful (or even want to do that).

It has gotten to the point where I'm ready to be in Doha.

However, for Christmas, I got a Rick Steves' book on Istanbul (and some of you know how I adore Rick Steves) and began reading it. But on my 10 hour flight to Heathrow, then 4 hour flight to Istanbul, I'm thinking I'll have time to finish it, memorize it, translate it into Pig Latin, and re-copy it upside down.

So, my next post will either be a) tomorrow's Freak-Out Part Two or b) from Istanbul!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Can't Cut a Break, or how my other flight is in danger

So. I thought that all of my airline troubles were over.

Mais non!

British Airlines workers voted today to start a strike on Dec. 22. The sources I've read said it will go 12 days. That would be Jan. 2.

My ticket departs Seattle on Dec. 28th. I haven't gotten any alerts from British Airlines (i.e. they haven't outright cancelled my flight) so there is hope. I'm betting that BA gets things resolved before Christmas and I'll be able to flight out as scheduled.

If not, I still have a house to go home to in Seattle. They'd probably let me come back from the airport. In fact, they might even drive me back.

So now, as the drama continues, I sit and wait, watching and listening. What else could screw up my flight? I'm ready.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Slowly but Surely, or how I my trip planning is coming along

"A snail's pace" would accurately describe how my Turkey planning is coming. And my Qatar planning? Ha, give me a break.

Actually, a break is exactly what I need (and exactly what I'll get in just a few days!) I now OFFICIALLY have a flight from Istanbul to Qatar (finally! Just made my last call tonight confirming that) and have a hostel to stay for the few days I am there. It is close to all the tourist attractions in old town, but the trek I'll have to make at 23:00 to get there might not be so fun.

Another "preparation" that I made for my trip is going to smoke hookah with some friends around here. "But Corinne, how is filling your lungs with cancerous smoke preparing for your study abroad?"

A friend on Facebook said it best when he said "It's like 'cocktails with the boss' over here." Since Qatar is a Muslim state, there is no alcohol legally allowed. (Though apparently, if I try hard, I can get a liquor license since I am a foreigner, but THAT isn't exploring the culture, now is it.) Well, since I can't kill my liver with alcohol, I can kill my lungs with tobacco and flavorings. But seriously, it was fun and very low-key, which is not what I expected. Now, I am prepared for the "Doha Happy Hour" scene!

Monday, December 7, 2009

TimeTravel 2, or how my next semester is scheduled

A few handy (and interesting) tidbits for those of you interested in doing some live communication via Skype or IM with me while in Qatar (which, I hope, is at least a few of you...) :

The work week is Sunday through Thursday. Since I don't have classes on Thursdays, that only makes my week weirder : Sunday through Wednesday. See my class schedule here.

The timezone is AST (UTC +3), which means it is 8 hours ahead of EST and 11 hours ahead of PST right now. When that spring time change thing happens, I'll get all confused again. I think Daylight Savings would make it 7 hours ahead of Eastern Time. We'll cross that desert when we come to it.

This all means that the best "time" to talk would probably be between morning to early afternoon for those stateside, and evening for me.

Example 1, you are in Seattle, I am in Doha; you talk at noon, I talk at 23:00.

Example 2, you are in Pittsburgh, I am in Doha.; you talk at 5pm, I talk at 1am (the next day... time travel!).

And here's another fun fact for free! The latitude is that of Orlando... I'm ready for a balmy spring.

Acronym, or how I talk about where I'm going

So, for those of you following who know nothing about Qatar, Doha, or possibly even Carnegie Mellon, this one's for you. Notice the pervasive use of acronyms (like always).

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) : Where I have gone to school for 2.5 years now, studying Computer Science (CS) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). It has a few campuses; I've been studying in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, the main campus.

Carnegie Mellon University-Qatar (CMU-Q) : Where I am spending spring semester, continuing my studies in CS and HCI. It specializes in degrees in CS and Information Systems. It is located in Education City, part of Doha, a city in Qatar, a peninsula off the north coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

Education City : The area of Doha that I am spending spring semester. It
also hosts Virginia Commonwealth University (focus in fine arts), Cornell (medicine), Texas A&M (engineering and science), Georgetown (foreign service), and Northwestern (journalism and communication).

Doha : The city where I am spending spring semester. The capital of Qatar. Fun fact, also the headquarters to the Arabic news channel Al Jazeera.


Qatar : The country where I am spending spring semester. It is located on the northern side of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering Saudi Arabia. Yes, I know there are at least three different ways to pronounce it. Yes, I know I often use more than one in a conversation. Yes, I know which one is the Arabic pronunciation (sounds almost like "guitar"), which one is the BBC pronunciation (sounds like "cutter"), and which one is the Mark Stehlik pronunciation (sounds like "cu-TAR"). No, I don't know which one is "right."

The Arabian Peninsula : The shoehorn-looking thing between Europe, Asia, and Africa where I am spending spring semester. Bordered by the Persian Gulf to the north, the Red Sea to the west, the Mediterranean to the northwest (if you want to extend it that far), and the Arabia Sea (part of the Indian Ocean). The other countries considered to a be a part are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen.


The Middle East : That ambiguous area between Europe, Asia, and Africa where I am spending spring semester. Thought of as a place of great turmoil and wealth (and oil).

The Earth : The planet I'm spending spring and all other semesters on.

Sources : http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Arabian-Peninsula

The Drama Continues, or how I spent yet another hour of my life getting a ticket

Man, I have the worst luck with these ticket things. After all the calls to my credit card company to have THEM approve my purchase, the AIRLINE doesn't approve my purchase! I can't show up in New York or Chicago to show them the card, so I got it approved electronically. At least, it is pending now, not just suspended.

See, if I hadn't been doing all this stuff to figure out this plane ticket, I would know what I'm doing in Istanbul (or Doha for that matter). I haven't packed, I've barely started saying my goodbyes... and don't even talk about studying for finals!

The itinerary thus far is:
Dec. 28th : Leave Seattle
Dec. 29th : Arrive in Istanbul, head to hostel
Dec. 30th - Jan. 3rd : Do stuff and don't die
Jan. 3rd : Fly to Doha
Jan. 5th : Orientation starts
Jan. 10th : Classes start (yes, that is a Sunday)
Feb. 25th - March 6th : Qatar Spring Break
March 6th - March 14th : CMU-Pittsburgh Spring Break (so saying hi to the IMPAQT group!)
April 25th-26th, 28th-29th, May 1st-2nd : Finals
May 26th : Leave Istanbul, arrive back in Seattle

...which leaves 11 weekends (13 if you could those right before and during finals) to travel!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Updated: Quarter a Minute, or how I still don't have a ticket to Doha

After another call, and another 3 transfers, I talked to an "account specialist" who didn't see a transaction for Air Arabia, but did for Etihad Airways. So he allowed that merchant and finally, FINALLY, I have a (more expensive) ticket to Doha.

Whew. Thanks, credit card company, for trying to protect me, but this was a bit ridiculous. And who knows if I'll ever be able to by an Air Arabia ticket!

Now, to plan, scheme, mastermind, and pack! 24 days until take-off!

A Quarter a Minute, or how I still don't have a plane ticket to Doha

No worries, I still have my ticket to Istanbul. It is just pesky Air Arabia. Again.

So, I called Capital One again, and they have a live credit card payment tracker (which is cool, and great customer service). However, none of my transactions were reaching them. Which means something is screwed up on Air Arabia's side. We even did a three-way call with Visa proper to see if they were stopping the transaction. (But they don't have a live tracker, so they didn't know.)

So, now, I have the option of... a) spending another $60 to get a ticket on Etihad Airways and save myself the trouble or b) calling Air Arabia (at $.25 per minute) and hopefully doing it over the phone.

As I'm sitting here with these choices in front of me, I think I'm going to go with Etihad. Did I mention the layover is 2 hours as opposed to 10? So now, when to leave Istanbul... January 3rd (super late though) so I can have a day to settle in.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So I just tried to pay for my flight through Etihad. And it failed! With the same screens that the other failed with... something about "Verified with Visa, you'll be asked to submit your password shortly." So now, I'm on the phone (and have been for 15 minutes now...)

ARE YOU KIDDING ME AGAIN? I just finished the call, and now, the "fraud specialist" just removed the blocks. Why wasn't I told this THREE calls ago?

Well, at least I'm just a poor college student with nothing better to do at 3am. Before I publish this post, we'll see if the transaction goes through. (I'm going to do the Air Arabia again. I mean, $60 is $60...)

NOOOOOOOOOOOO...

Those liars. This card still doesn't work. For either merchant.

I have an interview in the morning. I need to go to bed. I give up flying... I'll just wander my way to the Arab Pennisula. How bad can hitch-hiking through the Middle East be?

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Credit Card Declined, or how I was prevented from buying my flight from Istanbul to Doha

I've never had my credit card declined before, so thankfully this first time was online with no one watching. But I'm still not really sure why.

I need to get from Istanbul to Doha before the 5th of January. There is a flight from Istanbul to Sharjah, then from Sharjah to Doha on January 4th on Air Arabia. So I go to the Air Arabia site, find my flight, enter all my information, am taken to a secure site where I enter my credit card information and...

"Processing..."

Declined? What? Maybe I typed my card number incorrectly, so I go through all the screens again. No luck. Maybe it really is declined, because it is a foreign charge. I call my credit card company (putting a travel warning on my card for later, which I had to do anyway) and ask, but the charge isn't showing up. No luck there either. Maybe it is because, at the home screen, I put my country in as "Qatar," and there was that weird thing about no selling one-way flights from Qatar. So I try again, saying "UAE." Still no luck.

I've sent an e-mail to Air Arabia. Maybe they can come up with a solution. Otherwise, I suppose I will make an international call with Skype or something and do it with an agent.

Otherwise, I'll be crossing the Arabic Peninsula some other way.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

One Winter Jacket, or why I haven't decided what to pack

I checked the average winter temperature for Istanbul. It's on the order of 40 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the coldest it will ever be my entire semester anywhere, by probably 20 degrees.

Which begs the question... how little warm clothing can I bring to get myself through that single cold patch? Since I'll be traveling, and have substantial weight restrictions, my baggage is already going to be very, very limited.

I'm thinking a few long sleeve shirts stacked with a scarf should do the trick... right?

So many things to be thinking about!

The One Way Question, or the reason I haven't bought my flight to Doha

I was reading the fine print at the end of an Air Arabia flight, and it said, "One way fares exclusive of taxes and surcharges. Standard terms and conditions apply. Not valid for sale from Qatar."

That last bit mystifies me. I can't buy one way fares in Qatar? I can't buy a flight from Qatar? I can't buy from Qatar? The ambiguity of the sentence is too much to bear!

I also am having trouble deciding between my options: January 2nd or January 4th. (I have to be in Doha by the 5th.)

January 2nd:
  • Pros: cheaper by $30, less than 2 hour layover, arrive at 9am
  • Cons: leave earlier in the week (only spending 3 full days there), leave at 1am on the 2nd
January 4th:
  • Pros: another 2 days (spending 5 full days there)
  • Cons: more expensive, 10 hour layover, leave at 1am but arrive at 6pm
I mean, the really good news is that AirArabia is
pretty cheap regardless.

I'm still a bit scared about the one way bit. Does that mean that I'll have to buy a roundtrip ticket to get out of Qatar (when the time comes)?

If you have any suggestions, comment away!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Time Travel, or how I bought my plane tickets

The first round of plane tickets are bought. I am freaking out because I just spent $1000 dollars. And I have to use them now. Which means it is real.

I've been researching how to get to Doha for weeks now, and going the direct route seemed silly, since I am staying for an extra 3 weeks after my classes end. So I looked into going through Dubai or Bahrain, but, though they are bigger hubs, the flights there weren't any cheaper than going straight to Doha.

So Tuesday night, with two days left in the British Airways fare sale, I still didn't know where I was going. I looked at the cheap transatlantic flights; flying into London or Madrid or Frankfurt did nothing for me, since the money saved was less than the flight from there to Doha. Finally, finally, Istanbul caught my eye.

So Istanbul it is! I'll be there over the New Year, leaving Seattle on Dec. 28th, then returning home on May 26th (I know, happy birthday Dan and Rosie). I think it is pretty funny, but getting back from nearly half way around the world only takes "6 hours." I'll leave at 14:00 and get back around 20:00. That isn't as amusing as a flight I saw between Sharjah and Doha which takes 0 hours, leaving at 12:55, and getting to Doha at 12:55.

Whew.

My next step should actually be looking up flights from Istanbul to Doha. (Anyone know anything cheaper than the $270 ticket I found through AirArabia?)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Holes in Both Arms, or how my bloodwork is preventing me from buying plane tickets

I have been researching tickets to Europe/Middle East for weeks now, and I promised myself I would get them bought by Monday, the last day of fare sale at British Airways. However, then I discovered it lasts until Thursday, and that promise ended.

One of the requirements for entering Qatar is to be HIV and TB negative. I finally went to Health Services today and got blood drawn and a little bubble of dead TB put under my skin. I'll be going back on Thursday to get the results, and, being the irrational worrier I am, I'll buy the tickets after that.

I've decided that going to Istanbul on the 28th, then taking a plane to Doha a week later is my plan of attack. Slightly cheaper than going straight to Doha and back, and could provide more flexibility and fun. (If you really want to know the breakdown, it'll be about $1100 to go to Istanbul, then $270 to get to Doha one-way, versus $1600 to roundtrip Seattle to Doha.)

This post feels a bit drab. I'll spice it up with a picture of myself!

Poking the World with a Stick, or how this blog was titled

In high school senior year English class, we read an essay entitled "Loss of the Creature" by Walker Percy. This philosophical work argues that worldly influences cause us to lose "sovereignty" and we begin to base all our experiences on expectations. In the essay, a boy finds a dogfish on a beach and pokes at it, learning more about the dogfish than a student in the classroom.

The point of this diatribe is that I want to explore the world with a sense of wonder. I have expectations of all the places I am going, heavy research into what to do, where to go, where to stay, but when it comes down to it, all I should be doing is poking it with a stick.


I've also previously posted in both my personal blog and a Europe trip with friends. Check those out too!