DATE: 28 Mar 2007, 12:27 pm / MOOD: Other

Dreams

    It was the voice of a young adolescent teenage girl that brought him out of his slumber, that awoke him from a bed that wasn't his own.  It was this voice that had reached him in a world so far away.  So distant indeed that no matter how far and long a person could travel, they would never reach this place.
     The night that proceeded his disturbance had granted him a dream that was unlike most he usually has.  In fact, his dream was very different that most dreams that most people have, or at least the people and dreams that he has been told about.  In this dream, he was caught in the middle of something that he didn't necessarily wish to be: a bank robbery.  He couldn't escape the people he was with and decided to make the best of it.  The cadre of professional bank robbers escaped unscathed.  Our character made it out alive as well.  However, there was a huge fat man that was chasing him through a tall and maze like building.  There was a lot of commotion in that building and he had become lost.  Along the way the huge fat man would give him the occasional beating in the hallway. 
    The part that was different from most dreams that most people have about being chased by monsters, demons, ghosts, and so-on, was that our character was able to outrun his pursuer.  Unlike so many dreams before of being chased by ghoulish like creatures, this time our character had enough.  He had enough and wanted to take control of his situation.  If he did not, whatever chases him will eventually hold him in their suffocating grips.  He may not have found his way in the building in which he had become lost but at least he had lost his pursuer and could begin to find his way out.

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DATE: 27 Mar 2007, 1:36 pm / MOOD: Other

Here is a link to some photos from Dubai. They're not that great of quality on this website....sorry!

http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s197/DeLaOchoa/


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DATE: 27 Mar 2007, 12:38 pm / MOOD: Other

I just added some stuff that I had wrote during my trip.  I posted them in order with dates.  I hope you at least enjoy some of my ramblings!

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DATE: 27 Mar 2007, 12:37 pm / MOOD: Other

Not sleeping truly becomes a problem for me.  I think I'm manic.  I  have decided to cease the pursuit of writing. 

I cried on the airplane when I was flying somewhere over the atlantic.  Actually, I cried twice.  Once during a movie and once when I was blinded by the sun.  Maybe it was all the cheap red wine I had or maybe I'm just a big baby.  I think the answer lies somewhere in between.  It usually does.

 The  movie?  Well....it was Stranger than Fiction.  To be honest, I don't really remember which part I cried at.  Maybe there were two parts.  Either way, I really enjoyed the flick.  It was creative beyond a shadow of a doubt.

I wonder why god taunts me with such beautiful girls in the airport.  Does she think it's funny because I don't really get it.  This time it was a nice young slim red head with a back full of tattoos and red toe nails.  She was on her way to India and then from there she was going to Tucomcari (or something like that) to teach at a school.  She was doing this all on her own with the desire to do some positive work in the world.  Rarr....

Anyway, let me know what you think of this, "Our virtues are often just our vices in disguise."

Extra points if you can tell me who said it.

 

the store is our jungle.

I walked in calm and collective as I normally would have.  My strut crossed the paths of a thin framed clerk all the while I had my eyes set and knew what I wanted.  I trekked straight to the saltines and locked in on my targets.  I pounced on the crackers as a silent cat preys upon unaware victims.  Yes, there was gnashing of teeth and the screams of tiny salted and unsalted crackers breaking between my foracious fangs.  I ripped open their protective covering with my bare hands and ripped with my teeth what wouldn't initially budge.

 

"Hey, YOU!," shouted a pathetic store clerk who was sweeping the isles. 

"They're mine!" I screamed. 

"What the FUCK are you doing?"

"What?  What do you want?  Money? Here! TAKE IT!" I shouted as I threw twenty dollar bills at him.  "More? Take these fucking credit cards! These crackers are mine!"

I ripped off my clothes, ran up the clerk, and pushed him down.  I picked up his broom and broke it in half over my knee and screamed so voraciously that it would have silenced even the strongest and fearsome beasts to ever walk the earth.  I flung the makeshift spear straight to the crackers.  I had a hunger that only saltines could satisfy.  BAM! Direct contact...

 

Crumbs and broken crackers all over the isle.  I lay sprawled out amidst my kill...naked.  The clerk....he joined in the bounty.  Who could resist?

 

 

Is it time to leave yet?  I'm losing my mind.

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DATE: 27 Mar 2007, 12:36 pm / MOOD: Other

Ah, civilization....I'm sitting in the Dubai airport and what an airport it is.  They have a hotel in it.  Have you ever seen such a thing?  Anyway, I'm leaving the land of the strange.  Hmmm....I've been to the city of the dead and the land of the strange all the while I can't help but think about the state of love...Grr...I make a lame poet and an even lamer lover. I've had a linguistic breakthrough!  I'm startying to learn Arabic.  I can read some of it and even write it.  I've never taken on the task of learning a foreign script.  I know some that have and never really pursued something of the like for myself.  Here are some of the words/names that I can spell in Arabic:  Carlos, Josie, Jessie, Jen, Norma, Salome, Masafi, Dubai, Bab Al Shams, Norma, Aarika, Syria, fanta, coca-cola, Costas, Baskin Robin, Kara, Eric, I guess I could probably spell fuck too.........And most combinations within.  Fasciniating?  You betcha! I just remembered that I have a picture folder in my documents titled "Alaska".  Do you know what's in it?  Pictures of myself!  Dang....   Okay, so I've learned a great trick to do ANYTHING in the world.  Pretend like you know what you're doing and most people will believe you.  Last night my friend Eric and I snuck into the Bab Al Shams: Desert Resort and Spa.  This place sits in the middle of the desert and costs about 300 bucks a night.  It's awesome.  Anyway, Eric hungout in the plush lobby and I took a swim in a tiered pool with cascading waterfalls and gazed at the stars and moon.  No one second guessed us.  We just kinda waltzed in and acted like we knew what we were doing and that we belonged there.  I'm pretty sure this will work in most cases. Be creative though.   I have a prospective future I think.  I've kind of been offered a job by one of the most prominent archaeologists in Dubai.  HOWEVER, the thing is that it wouldn't start until the fall....SO?, you say? I may be getting funding to go to school in the fall.  This is something that I've talked about for a long time and finally I have the chance to do it and get it paid for.  What happens in the job offer comes through AND the funding for school comes also....?    I need a massage....I think tulsa has really cheap places to get one of those...   I just paid 20 diram to make a lame rant on myspace....LAME.   I need more inspiration. Running low.... GONE.

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DATE: 27 Mar 2007, 12:34 pm / MOOD: Other

Abu Dhabi, Walk It Out.

I am becoming exhausted and frustrated.  I've lost my little black book...I think I may know where it's at but have to wait until tomorrow.  That's what I get for drinking a huge ass beer at a fabulous resort and spa.  Go figure.

With that said, I don't know if I will be able to write postcards to the many people that I promised.  What a shame. 

It's hot in this cubicle and my feet are sunburned.  I saw a lizard today that had a curly tail.  Have you ever seen such a sight??  It was amazing.  Tomorrow I think I'm going to slide down a huge sand dune.  Wish me luck.

 

Socrates said that if a man can marry, he should.  BECAUSE, he may get a good wife, which is good OR he could get a bad wife in which case he would become a philosopher.  I wonder what would happen if you got both?  Which reminds me, only because I hope to find a rich wife soon, that we, the archaeological crew, has been invited to a swanky dinner this weekend with some important govermnent employees.  I look forward to it.  I like to wear a suit and tie, so any excuse to do so is welcome.

I once stayed on north Padre Island for a week and never had so much sand covering my body.  The Arabian desert has now taken lead over sand drenching experience.  Ah, the feeling of sweat, sunblock, and sand cacked upon my body is delicious.  Not really...

Oh, what IS delicious is this honey that I've been eating.  Is it true that you're not supposed to eat the honeycomb?  Well, I've been eating it.  I can't help it. Anway, let me know if I should stop.

I saw more wildlife out here in the desert.  Let me see.....Today, I saw : a dung beetle, a heard of camels, a weird acrobatic bird, some animals that resembled ibex, lizards with curly tails, and......a gecko.  Can you believe it?  I should be Jeff Corwen or however you spell his name.

Tomorrow we cannot work at the site because the army will be doing military operations out in that region and they don't want to blow us up.  This means we are going to go do some surveying in other parts of the desert. I'm looking forward to this because driving in the sand dunes is my favorite part of the day.  Actually, I enjoy riding in the car while someone else drives for me.

 

Okay, this place is shutting down.

 

From the Arabian Desert...

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DATE: 27 Mar 2007, 12:33 pm / MOOD: Other

My hips don't lie? Shakira? Dang!

Maybe I feel  a little out of it today...

We surveyed the site to set up grids for the GPR and then and put in topo points to reference the prior excavation, with the total station of course.  What the fuck does that mean?

I'm tired and hungry. 

What is it that I want and how to I get it?  What is the chair that I seek?   Damn, how confusing.  I'm also trying to over this sickness I have.  Maybe it's Valley Fever from Tucson.  It consists of shortness of breath, fatigue, irritability, and a slight cough.  Any doctors?  Health practicioners?  I don't have insurance so you'll have to cut me some slack.

This reminds me...I think the chances of me returning to Fayetteville have risen since the last time I checked.  I have insider information about it all.  I'll have more on that at a later point.

Today we were all having lunch and the rest of the crew were chatting about calling cards and phone services out here in Dubai.  Jesse told me that he had a phone that I could use if I needed it and then he told me he could get me a phone to call or text people back in the states.  I told him no because I didn't really have anyone to call anyway.  It wasn't as sad as I just made it seem.  It was kind of funny.  But now that it's later and I'm reflecting upon it, I guess it makes me feel a little lonely.  Oh well.

I need buttons for my clothes because they are falling apart.  I'm wearing a button down shirt that I usually wear when doing work and there are two buttons missing in the front.  My flesh being exposed.  It's a little favor I do for the world, though I'm not sure they appreciate it.  Go figure.

I have much, MUCH, more to say, though I wont. Not yet.  Oh, I think I'll be taking a hiatus after I get back from Dubai.  Too much planning into the future?  Well, maybe.  Actually, yeah, you're right.  It's too much.  I know what is REALLY too much, rhetorical questions.  This is especially true whe I answer them. 

 

Served on a silver platter from the kitchen of the strange.

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DATE: 27 Mar 2007, 12:33 pm / MOOD: Other

Bicycles and Girlfriends

I'm not really doing too much right now, so I thought I would take the time to talk about my dreams, well just one really.

 

I had a dream that I was riding a bicycle to an ex-girlfriend's house.  Upon arrival I realized that the bike I was riding was broken but I had another one exactly like it in the back of my car.  When I got to her house, she was there standing in the window on the second floor.  She and I could not stop crying.  She wanted me to say something and I did too, but I couldn't. I had to get back to my car and back to the bicycle that wasn't broken.  I felt sick, heart broken, and relieved.

 

Sharoush Al-Hadid

How much time do I have?  It must be rather late in the evening in the U.S. because I only have one view today.  That couldn't possibly be right if it were during the day??  Or could it.

Something exciting!  I've drove in a foreign country!  Fuck yeah.  An accomplishment?  You betcha!  What's more?  I navigated around the city after only being led around once before.  I'm proud of this fact.

The site!

Amazing.  All kinds of slag deposits.  The archaeologist who have  been working on this site for a few months now have not yet answered the questions that we have because they have not yet asked themselves those questions.  It's bizzare.

What are the layers of occupation, if any?

How much slag is there?  Density? 

What are these HUGE deposits of ash?

What kind of firepower does it take to produce one kilo of slag?

These are just a few of the questions which hopefully will be closer to an answer by the end of this month.

I would have more but today is the first day that we have been able to go out and actually visit the sites.  Last night two more crew members joined us in the small Villa south of Dubai, which is pretty nice considering typical field living conditions.

Tomorrow I think I'm going to learn all about the magnotometer.  I'm excited about it.  Oh, also I have to learn more about the total station, you know that thing that you see the people using on the side of the road.  Someone looks through a little box at someone who is holding a prism?  Yeah, that thing.

We have a swimming pool that is disgusting.  Supposedly someone is to come and clean it up.  Who knows?

I have a crap load of pictures already and will post some, somewhere at a currently undisclosed location in cyberspace....ones and zeros.  Delicious.

 

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DATE: 27 Mar 2007, 12:31 pm / MOOD: Other

 

Rarr

Ah, Dubai.  The city for the strange, rich, and poor.  Yes, in that particular order.  Last night I had an authentic Arab cuisine: Southern Fried Chicken.  What a delicacy!  Do you pick up my humor?  This is a bizzare city and I have only been here less than a day to pick up on the oddities.

Again, my luggage is lost.  Supposedly I'll be able to pick it up today.   Who knows though? 

Oh, I met a really amazing woman from Wales.  I say woman, but she was about my age.  We chatted it up in the airport and she's staying here in Dubai.  We lost eachother in the baggage claim and customs entrance.  I don't think I'll ever see her again. 

Did you know that romance novels out sell any other genre?  The plots and characters are about all the same: lacking and undeveloped.  BUT, that doesn't stop people from buying and reading them by the TON.  Was David Byrne right?  Can we do without justice and freedom if we can just have someone to love?  Well, that's still up for debate. 

I remember reading about the Mexican Revolution in the early 1900's, that is when it happened and not when I read it.  The leader of the Revolution, in my opinion, was Emilano Zapata.  His entire life he just wanted to get married, have some land, and watch his children grow up. However, he couldn't do it because of the way the Rancheros and el Gobierno was opperating.  Maybe it was his drive for love that led to the revolution.  Can you believe it?  I think I buy it.

My tattoo is a bit dry and I didn't bring my A & D ointment.  I'll have to go buy some non-scented lotion.  SOON. 

Breakfast was DELCIOUS.  Tomato, hummus, pita, fried eggs, beef sausage, some sort of weird meat, fruit, yogurt, coffee, and water, the essence of life,.  I'm staying at the Golden Sands hotel.  If you asked me how to get here, I would have no idea what to tell you.  People are outside playing volleyball.  Ah, the things people are doing in the world.  We really have no idea about anything.  However, I can safely say that the entire experience is a bizzare one. 

 

From food to life....

 

Today is one where we are to relax and unwind.  My colleagues have jet lag.  Not me.  Which is a good thing.  I woke up with the sun and was ready to go, which is the way things should be (well at least sometimes). 

What would happen if the difference between working and not-working changed?  What if the concept of weekends disappeared?  What a sight that would be.

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DATE: 18 Mar 2007, 9:13 am / MOOD: Other

It's been a while, hasn't it?  I've got a lot to say and not enough time AND I don't know where to start.

One of the reasons I love archaeology is because it takes me places that I've never seen and I learn things about those places that I never would have known had I never been there.

Mark my words: there will be an Indian uprising here Dubai within the next 15 fifteen years. 

"A dog starved at the master's gate, predicts the ruin of the state."

Yesterday I went to the Mall of the Emirates because the people I'm working with wanted to go the indoor ski slope.  Yes, that's right...an indoor ski slope in the middle of the arabian desert.  I didn't partake in the event but I did go to the mall.  It's an interesting place to watch the rich do their thing.  I bought some post cards and started writing them to people.  I apologize if you don't get one but there are just so many that I can write in nor particular order to anyone in specific. 

I think I fell hard for a girl but she's forbidden fruit.  Do you know what I mean?  I haven't felt that way about anyone for quite a long time.  Many, many years...AND I probably shouldn't say anyting more than that.

So, Haliburton moves to Dubai?  I'm not surprised.  Hell, I thought about opening a Mexican restraunt here.  I think I could make a pretty penny.  This city is extravagent.  Over the fucking top, for sure.

I've seen about four different types of lizards out here.  A few of them have the ability to run fast and dive into the sand.  BIZZARE.  Most bugs do that here too.  The kind of life that takes form in the desert is one of the most interesting things I've seen so far here.  It can be such a harsh environment but life seems to find a way.  Keep strong and anything can happen.

In the desert, when I walk through the sand, I look back at the tracks I've made and realize that when I thought I was leading a straight path I was actually weaving from side to side, almost as a blind man had led it. 

I guess you would also like to know about the site.  There hasn't been too many developments.  It's all going very slow.  It is the begining of a new project and there are politics like you wouldn't believe it. 

HOWEVER!  We have been discovering new sites based on geomorphological characteristics, mostly hydrologic in nature, on aerial and satellite photography.  THAT MEANING...we look at pictures and make guesses as to where a potential site might be located based on where water sources may have been.  We found a HUGE neolithic site and many other smaller ones.  These are the some of the only ones ever discovered here in the Emeriates.  It's all very exciting.  I may come back next season...but...maybe for different reasons.

So, that's about all I have for now...it's been a long three weeks so far and I'm ready to come on back to the states and see some familiar faces.   Oh, and I'm getting smashed tonight.  Thank God for beer....

That reminds me!  I was walking around Borders book store yesterday and they had a childrens Koran book.  It was the Koran translated into english and was all cartoon like.  It was AMAZING, to me, how similar that book is to the Old Testament.  I couldn't believe it.  "Allah made Adam" then he made "hawa" to keep Adam company.  There is a "Shaytaan" who was not an angel pure of heart and always tried to decieve Adam and Hawa".   Wow.


Okay, I really must go now.  My battery is about to die.  I hope to see many of you soon.


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