Back in Iraq
Ha! Most people probably never knew I left it...
I've just returned to the country after a lovely R&R back in the District (of Columbia, that is) and then 3 days in Amman. We're all gearing up now for the elections and basically waiting to see what is going to happen.
It's almost difficult to determine if the number of security incidents are actually higher these days, or if more are being reporting in anticipation of the elections. Kurdistan still feels like a safe bet, but reading about Baghdad makes me very glad I don't have to be there. Just traveling through the airport on the way back was enough for me.
The entry/exit process at the airport still seems to fluctuate every time I go through it. Sometimes you get a visa, sometimes they send your luggage in, sometimes they check it...and sometimes they don't. My co-worker Aca and I were traveling together and had to wait first to get our visas, and then to have our passports stamped. It seemed as if Tuesday had been a particularly favorable time to travel, and the lines were quite long. However, unlike most people at the airport, we actually had a limited time to catch our connecting flight to Erbil.
The Baghdad airport also makes some attempts to act like a fully functioning airport, and actually sends our luggage through on the baggage claim. The only problem is - you don't really know what's going to happen to it if it takes almost an hour to get through the visa line. "Normally", the procedure requires one to go through the visa line, pick up your luggage, take it to have it searched, haul it upstairs to go through the x-ray machine, and then take it to the Air-Serv counter where it will be taken back to the plane for the second leg of the trip.
This time, however, we were running so late, that the Air-Serv representative told us to just have our luggage inspected and then take it back over to the pile by the baggage claim, where it would be taken from there back to the plane. I'm so glad that we can just make our own rules about whether or not it needs to go through the extra security check upstairs!
To make the Baghdad airport experience more fully enjoyable, we were treated to the sounds of a loud "boom!" and a rattling ceiling as we sat down to eat our $3 bread and cheese sandwiches (even the poorly-functioning airport in Baghdad has figured out how to vastly overcharge travelers). The loud noise certainly seemed to give the guy at the gate with his machine gun something to run and take a look at, but no one else seemed particularly concerned about the noise. Considering the place was teeming with security contractors, who probably are carrying an arsenal of weapons in their luggage, I suppose I would be one of the first to know if the problem was serious. But - no serious incident seemed to have occurred, thankfully, and we took off to Erbil as planned. The good news to report is that now Air-Serv has started flying a larger plane (at least 33 seats!!), complete with a flight attendant. She serves peanuts and drinks, and even wears a uniform. It's just such an odd contrast - you're flying around in a war-torn country that requires spiral landings to avoid MISSILE attacks, but would you like some juice and nuts to help you enjoy the flight?
I've just returned to the country after a lovely R&R back in the District (of Columbia, that is) and then 3 days in Amman. We're all gearing up now for the elections and basically waiting to see what is going to happen.
It's almost difficult to determine if the number of security incidents are actually higher these days, or if more are being reporting in anticipation of the elections. Kurdistan still feels like a safe bet, but reading about Baghdad makes me very glad I don't have to be there. Just traveling through the airport on the way back was enough for me.
The entry/exit process at the airport still seems to fluctuate every time I go through it. Sometimes you get a visa, sometimes they send your luggage in, sometimes they check it...and sometimes they don't. My co-worker Aca and I were traveling together and had to wait first to get our visas, and then to have our passports stamped. It seemed as if Tuesday had been a particularly favorable time to travel, and the lines were quite long. However, unlike most people at the airport, we actually had a limited time to catch our connecting flight to Erbil.
The Baghdad airport also makes some attempts to act like a fully functioning airport, and actually sends our luggage through on the baggage claim. The only problem is - you don't really know what's going to happen to it if it takes almost an hour to get through the visa line. "Normally", the procedure requires one to go through the visa line, pick up your luggage, take it to have it searched, haul it upstairs to go through the x-ray machine, and then take it to the Air-Serv counter where it will be taken back to the plane for the second leg of the trip.
This time, however, we were running so late, that the Air-Serv representative told us to just have our luggage inspected and then take it back over to the pile by the baggage claim, where it would be taken from there back to the plane. I'm so glad that we can just make our own rules about whether or not it needs to go through the extra security check upstairs!
To make the Baghdad airport experience more fully enjoyable, we were treated to the sounds of a loud "boom!" and a rattling ceiling as we sat down to eat our $3 bread and cheese sandwiches (even the poorly-functioning airport in Baghdad has figured out how to vastly overcharge travelers). The loud noise certainly seemed to give the guy at the gate with his machine gun something to run and take a look at, but no one else seemed particularly concerned about the noise. Considering the place was teeming with security contractors, who probably are carrying an arsenal of weapons in their luggage, I suppose I would be one of the first to know if the problem was serious. But - no serious incident seemed to have occurred, thankfully, and we took off to Erbil as planned. The good news to report is that now Air-Serv has started flying a larger plane (at least 33 seats!!), complete with a flight attendant. She serves peanuts and drinks, and even wears a uniform. It's just such an odd contrast - you're flying around in a war-torn country that requires spiral landings to avoid MISSILE attacks, but would you like some juice and nuts to help you enjoy the flight?
posted by SBM @ 11:02 AM
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