And speaking of airports, I arrived at Erbil International Airport this afternoon to catch my Austrian Airlines flight to Vienna. Security is extra tight, as you might imagine at any airport in Iraq, but everything went smoothly until I arrived at passport control. "You did not check in with the residency office," the passport man said accusingly, pointing at a stamp in my passport. Sure enough, it said: Contact residency office within 10 days. Apparenty, every visitor to the Kurdish-controlled north is supposed to register with officialdom but this was the first time I'd noticed that stamp. And, as I told the man, customs officials hadn't bothered to point it out when I first arrived. He still seemed angry, and I had visions of being forced to miss my fllight and go back to Erbil. Then, I pointed at "United States of America" on front of the passport, smiled and said, "I'm American. Americans are friends of the Kurds." He grinned and let me go. I'll leave you with one of my favorite photos of the trip - a beautiful, peaceful view of Iraq that Americans rarely see.
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July 30, 2007
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About This Blog
 Susan Taylor Martin is the senior correpondent for the St. Petersburg Times. During the past few years, she has written frequently from overseas hot spots including Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel.E-mail Susan Taylor Martin: susan@sptimes.com |
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I look forward to the columns and blogs.It is amazing she has undertaken such dangerous assignments with minimum assistance.
Posted by: wm. leesemann | September 02, 2007 at 02:54 PM
I enjoy your writing. It's always informative, balanced and have the human element to them.
As a former foreign service brat, now living the life of a typical American, I like to live vicariously through you from the safety of my couch.
Posted by: Frances | September 19, 2007 at 10:12 PM
I enjoy your writing. It's always informative, balanced and have the human element to them.
As a former foreign service brat, now living the life of a typical American, I like to live vicariously through you from the safety of my couch.
Posted by: Frances | September 19, 2007 at 10:13 PM
I really enjoy your writing, and I consider my self lucky because I got the chance to know you and accompany you in your amazing trips in Kurdistan as your interpreter.
Posted by: Avan Dizayee | September 25, 2007 at 02:31 AM
Are there any plans to reactivate this blog? I would love to be able to access a world news blog on tampabay.com.
Posted by: RDC | November 05, 2007 at 11:08 AM
I have never traveled out of the country, so I do not know much bout passports, but the passport man seemed nice. And it's a good thing you did not miss your fligth!
Posted by: Stephanie | December 03, 2007 at 02:02 PM