Greece/Italy

Farah Dunn is on vacation until June 2, 2008. There will be no blogging during this time, as all the stories are too scandalous to publish.

I am off to Italy tomorrow to meet up with Kelsey for a week. Spending time with Jennifer in Greece was beyond fantastic.

more to come.
Miss you all!

3 Months!

I can't believe 3 months have passed since I left California. I feel grounded, secure, strong, confident and at the same time, I feel calm and peaceful. Navigating part of the world, alone, has put all my emotions to the test. I am better than before, I feel better, I think I look better. Or it could be that I finally got a hair cut and an eyebrow wax. The lady at the salon said I looked "lighter". Not sure if she meant physically or spiritually, but it's a good description of how I feel.

I'm in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, visiting my very good friend Masha and her family. Her children are beautiful and even though we don't speak the same language, throwing the ball, chocolate and hugs are universal. I'm getting primed for my jaunt to Europe, other than having my hair cut, I'm trading in my convertible pants-to-shorts, my scruffy t-shirts, and all my 'roughin' in gear' for some European appropriate attire. Which means, jeans! And maybe a dress! And some shoes!

From here I'm meeting my best friend in Greece for a 10-day holiday during my holiday and then a quick trip to Italy for a wedding (since I'm in the area and all). And then I head back to Eastern Europe: Turkey, Czech Republic, Romania, and potentially Russia. I'm trying to stay away from countries on the Euro, since the dollar is doing so poorly...
But you know, this could all change in a minute, given I have no set plan. And given the way things have gone so far, I'm rather expecting that what I expect to do, will change. So for all of my lovely friends who are anxiously awaiting my return, I can only say that it will most likely be sometime this year, but no promises :) However, I will give you plenty of advanced notice so you have time to chill the drinks and draft your toasts to how much you missed me. Thank you for your well wishes. I enjoy reading your comments on my blog...and that you actually read it and like it! That's to much :) I miss you too!

Jerusalem, Israel

I crossed the border into Israel yesterday. I wish I could say that it was easy, but it wasn't. I thought for sure my US passport would be the golden ticket, but Farahana Shiraz Dunn was not allowed in without an hour's worth of questioning. The custom's girl (she could not have been over 25) asked me about my name, my last name, my maiden name, where I'm from, where my family is from, what religion am I, why did I decide on this trip, how did I decide on the countries, why did I quit my job, do I have enough money, when am I leaving. I think she confused herself with all the questions. In the end, I got through, although they did raise their eyebrows again when I asked them not to stamp my passport. But I guess this is all part of the fun :)

It is Israeli Independence day! And I found out how much Israeli's like to celebrate. When I finally arrived in Jerusalem around 8pm, people were filling the streets. I headed out with another traveler I met from San Francisco and we came upon a huge street party. A concert style stage was set up for, what I assume, were popular Israeli bands, at least 50 spotlights accompanied the laser show and fireworks, I mean it was going OFF! Families were out, old and young were dancing in the streets. I saw only one young man get carted off by the police, otherwise, it was a pretty civil event given the throngs of people - this would never happen at home!

Because of the holiday, the museums were free today, so we head out. Half way there a police car pulls over and asks Steve for his passport. Next thing you know, the police have asked the poor guy to empty his pockets, dump his bag out and the entire time I'm just sitting here, totally ignored. There is no reason other than 'security'. It's a little nerve racking because these are kids, no joke, under the age of 25, wielding machine guns, questioning you.

But security aside, Israel is a beautiful country. Jerusalem is so unique with Muslims, Christians and Jews all coming together to visit the myriad of holy sites. Even if you're not religious, to walk through a town that's written about in holy books and see the Dead Sea Scrolls from the 1st Century (!) is a pretty humbling experience.

Petra, Jordan

I flew from Dar to Dubai, overnight in the airport, then to Amman, Jordan on Saturday morning. I have had my fair share of 24+ hour travel days and I have done some hard traveling, but there is nothing worse than spending the night in the airport. Trying to curl up around the armrests of a plastic chair is no fun. But, the Dubai airport has 24/7 Duty Free shopping, so i spent my time and money wisely :)


I arrived in Amman, obviously haggard from my journey, and still had a 3+ hour bus ride to Petra. I took the bus from the airport to one of the 3 bus stations, only to find out it wasn't the right station. But Jordanians are notoriously friendly, and I was headed in the right direction in no time. The Jordan I saw is desert, and not the sandy kind, but the rocky kind with mountains and scrub brush - its very desolate but beautiful. The only reason I'm in Jordan is for Petra and now I cannot find any words to describe it. Dramatic, breath taking, intense, overwhelming... they don't even come close to what I saw and what I felt. This place is magical. I spent 19 hours in Petra over 2 days. I met a Bedouin, Ahmed, who took me around on his Bedouin Ferrari, aka, mule and I got a local's point of view. Ahmed and his family live in Petra, there is a Bedouin village not far from the ruins, but he lives in a cave. I drank tea with his family and looked after their jewelery shop while they chatted with their neighbors.


If you've ever seen pictures of Petra, it's probably been of the Treasury, think Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But what you don't see is the miles and miles and miles of carved sandstone, wind and rain eroded rocks, cave formations, it's brilliant. Once past the Treasury, Petra opens up into an ancient town, with a street of facades, monastery, cemeteries...it can easily take a week to explore all of it. But I did my best with 2 days. This is one of those things you must see in your lifetime...I am truly at a loss for words.

I have been promising pictures for a month! I know, but the Internet connections have not been great and one picture can take up to 30 minutes. I'll keep trying :)