And I'm back. I just returned about 4 hours ago from a whirlwind trip to Dubai, Nottingham, and London. It was great! I flew to Dubai and spent a day with Jyoti Grewal, a professor from Luther who is now teaching in Dubai. She was kind enough to share her apartment with Anna O (who spent 5 days in Dubai or so) and I and we had an awesome time in Dubai. The only way I can describe Dubai is the city of the future. They are extremely tolerant and it is the norm to see multi-ethnic couples. They are also filthy rich from trading and oil distribution so everything is universal there for citizens: education, health, and even housing. There are no taxes and they built a place that rivals Disney World in neatness and man-made beauty in the frickin desert! It was a very interesting place. Just unusual to see people dressed head to toe in traditional, conservative Muslim clothing while shopping for hundred dollar outfits in a four story mall. The time went quickly there and the next day I zoomed to Nottingham!



There I met up with Jacqueline Smith who goes to Luther and is spending the semester in Nottingham with about 10 other Luther kids. I hung out at their flat, went to the pub, toured the city and the college, and basically felt like I was at luther for awhile. It was very relaxing and the cool weather felt great under the black leather coat I borrowed from the flat!



I set out on Monday for London to meet up with my family, minus andrea and brian. I pulled up just as they were going out to eat and so started our vacation. We stayed in an awesome little hotel and basically spent the whole week doing mostly family stuff (chilling, eating, talking), some theatre (saw Bombay Dreams a spoof on Bollywood films, Blood Brothers dramatic musical, and Les Miserables the classic french revolution musical), and a few tourist things (the London eye, Tower of London, Bath, and Stonehedge). It's hard to encapsulate the week, but essentially it was good family time. It was an obvious shock to be surrounded by so many cars, things, and lights...but it was good. I was very ready to come back because I don't feel ready to leave TZ yet. It was a good break though and one that I think will help me appreciate TZ.



I returned without significant problems and am just trying to catch up with stuff. I'm working on pics now that will give you a better feel for the travels. I'm very excited because Bekah is coming on Thursday and will be here for two weeks. It should be awesome! I have a lot of work to do before she comes though so wish me luck!