Saturday, September 19, 2009

On Tehran time

Hello, blog buddies.  You're in luck!  Facebook is now blocked by the Iranian government, so since I can't while my internet time away over there, I'm going to come here and make an update.  Much to my dismay, YouTube and Flickr are also blocked.  Once the tour starts in earnest tomorrow, I won't have much time for internet anyway.  Keeping track of a dozen retirees on vacation doesn't leave me with much energy at the end of the day.

I arrived at the crack of dawn and immediately set to catching up on all the sleep I missed out on while I was up packing my suitcase until 3:00am on departure day.  There's not much to say just now. I slept most of the day and then went out for a walk. Now I'm tired again - thank you, jetlag. Oh, there's a talking bird here in the lobby lounge. He squaks "SALAAM!" at regular intervals to folks passing by. I'll try and get a video, but of course I'll have to wait to upload it because of the whole lack of YouTube thing.

My copy of "The Package Deal" didn't arrive before I left.  I was really hoping it would, because it's so nice to have a good book to read a bit of each night before bed.  I brought "The Life of Pi" instead and I'm not enjoying it as much as I feel like I should.  It's for book club when I get back to Glasgow, so I'll carry on reading it, even though I'm finding it quite directionless and just generally blah.  At least I know "The Package Deal" will be waiting for me when I get back.  That's one more thing to look forward to!

Some of you have asked about pictures.  I was going to give you a direct link, but I can't get into Flickr to pull up the set.  So here are the long form instructions on how to see my Iran pictures from last April: go to http://www.flickr.com/ and search for "devinshire" - that's me, and then click "view sets."  Iran is in there, as well as pictures from the other places I've been.

I might not be back on the blog for a few days, but I just wanted to pop in and say I'm here and safe.  Take care, everyone.

4 comments:

La Belle Mere said...

Thanks for the update! Can't believe they've blocked Facebook! OMG, I couldn't cope!!

I was wondering if your "Package Deal" had arrived yet? Shame you couldn't take it with you.

Have fun and enjoy the rest of the trip!

LBM xx

Me said...

Wow. I didn't realize Facebook had been blocked as well. I can't imagine being censored that heavily.

Be careful in your travels.

Izzy Rose said...

I'm so sorry you didn't get the book before you left. I sent it weeks ago! Please let me know if it doesn't arrive and I will pop another in the mail... such a pet peeve of mine... mail not arriving in a timely fashion.

Have a safe trip.

IR

Anonymous said...

Just a shout out to say Hi and hope you are having fun on your travels! - G