US media visa

Something I'm very proud of, my US media visa that I got last week.

Hard won: a few hundred bucks, return flights to Akld, online form that took a couple of hours to fill out - all for a 5 min interview in front of a teller screen.

But whoa the relief. I thought they might worry about the fact I've been to Iraq and Syria. Guess I must be a nobody enough! Surely they must google you, right? 

I'm going to hop-skip across the States interviewing some Assyrian historians and outside experts on the language. (There is one I hope to do with an expert on terrorism, but that's proving bit harder to pin down).

Hope it all works out.

What I'll Miss from NZ

This is what I'll miss:

1) Good coffee (the Arabic stuff is like drinking sand)
2) Energy drinks (V. Red Bull, Mother, Demon etc - all banned in Iraq)
3) Baths
4) Flushing sit-down toilets
5) Showers
6) Salmon sushi
7) McDonalds, fish and chips, Indian takeaways, Hell pizza, and oh just about any kind of takeaways really

You know, these things are like my staples in NZ, my feel-good things. Am sending myself a care-package of V's, Red Bulls, and peanut slabs so it will be a treat for a bit. But then there are lots of things there that make me feel good - the quiet, the space, the people. So I guess I'll be ok, yeah?