One week

It does not seem possible that exactly one week ago right now I was sitting on a crowded 747 flying over Baghdad en route to Dubai. Everything that's happened over the past 168 hours seems like a month, not a week.
By the way, we did fly right over Baghdad. On the plane they show a map of the route and the current position. The flight plan was interesting. It seemed we purposefully flew east over Turkey to avoid Syrian air space and then SSW down to Dubai. That track took us right over the Iraqi capital. What was this plane's flight plan in 2003? Did they book in an extra 2 hours to avoid Iraqi airspace?
Here's my question for you to answer in the comments section: Do you pay attention to the airplane you fly on? Ann makes fun of me because I knew the Airbus model I was on from Chicago from to Frankfurt and the Boeing I was on from Frankfurt to Dubai. My response? Don't you want to know what to expect? The new Airbus had a great per seat LCD to watch what I wanted. The old 747 had a community TV. BIG difference. So, back to my original question: Do you pay attention to the airplane you are flying on?

Arrival in UAE

I made it in safely. Thanks to the University, upon arrival in Dubai I was able to bypass very long (and not very pleasant smelling) lines.
Ann and I went shopping this morning and I really couldn't think of anything I couldn't find. In other words from really cheap red onions to stew meat I found every non-pork product I was looking for...
Ann said cabs were cheap. Imagine a 15 minute cab ride for $1. Roundabouts will take some getting used to but the traffic is not that bad.
Anyhow, I'm in and alive. Everything went smoother than I could have expected.